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Emma Barnes, Princess (Worm/Princess the Hopeful Quest)

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[X] Plan Oh God I Have No Idea What I'm Doing Or What's Going On

It's not Swords (yet) but spontaneous clothing generation powers sounds hilarious (hope we can team up with Parian later to kick ass!)
 
If we don't fight Lung in order to punish him in the name of love and Justice then we're doing something wrong.

Really, I've always wanted to see Lung dealing with an actual, factual, magical girl, complete with an In the Name of The Moon Speech and a transformation sequence, and now I can.
 
chocolote12 said:
If we don't fight Lung in order to punish him in the name of love and Justice then we're doing something wrong.

Really, I've always wanted to see Lung dealing with an actual, factual, magical girl, complete with an In the Name of The Moon Speech and a transformation sequence, and now I can.
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We'll even get to "punish him in high heels"!
 
1986ctcel said:
Well she'll still be a Magical Girl Idol Singer then :D
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Well, we'll probably start off with crafting stuff first rather than singing or any other kind of performance, but since it was apparently an IC goal of Emma to raise her expression(ie, take modeling classes) something like that is probably going to happen eventually.

That's not to say shape and appear charms aren't cool though; we can have fun stuff like superstealth and mundane placeholder clones from appear, and bubble shields and bags of holding from shape.
chocolote12 said:
If we don't fight Lung in order to punish him in the name of love and Justice then we're doing something wrong.

Really, I've always wanted to see Lung dealing with an actual, factual, magical girl, complete with an In the Name of The Moon Speech and a transformation sequence, and now I can.
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Hmm.. if we took Fire On The Mountain(speeches) we could even do that with our own personal speaker system.
 
[X] Plan Oh God I Have No Idea What I'm Doing Or What's Going On

Frankly Sailor-Brockton-Bay's-Next-Top-Model is perplexingly and fiercely appealing.
 
Voting is closed, we're going with Courtless Troubadour with a Presence bonus.

Will start working on update tomorrow, we're going to be choosing our Invocation.
 
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Step 2 of Character Creation.
  • Threadmarks
    • You remember.

    You remember when you were four, and you insisted on helping your mother sew your own fairy dress for Halloween.

    You remember when you were nine, and you donate your old clothes, and the volunteers smiled at the quality of your old dresses and told you that homeless girls your age will love them so much.

    You remember when you were eleven, and helped Taylor find a dress to the school dance, and how she smiled and laughed the whole way through in that contagious way she had, and how you two hug when you found the perfect one.

    So many good memories, forming a pattern of happiness, joy in a world that sorely needs it. You recognize this ability to create art fashion, and recognize it as your Calling. A word comes to mind, one that is both new and familiar to you: Troubadour. And you belong -

    NOWHERE

    You jolt up from your bed, your Hope suddenly vanishing lower and lower as the memory of the alley flashes before you in full force. You raise up from your bed, sure that you just woke up from a very strange dream.

    A glance downwards to the new clothes you're wearing shows that that is not the case.

    As you rise from your bed, you can feel incandescent power coursing through you. Though the feeling of weakness that has plagued you for weeks is still paramount, you now feel... a connection.

    But to what?

    (...)

    Ok, everybody, time to vote on your Invocations!

    I'll post a more detailed explanation later, but for now, Invocations essentially Queens' Beliefs spread throughout humanity, that one can channel to improve your own magic. You will start out with three points that you can invest in any of these Invocations:

    Acqua
    Favored by Diamonds

    The Philosopher Queen focuses the lights of knowledge and reason into the Invocation of Acqua, and the Crystals gain mastery of that Invocation more swiftly than any other. It is linked with the virtues the Crystal-eyed holds dear, such as clarity of mind, honesty in word and deed, deep understanding, and to the emotions of curiosity and wonder. It is also tied to the classical element of water, and to liquids in general. The invoked Charms and upgrades based on Acqua relate to these things and to phenomena connected to these.

    Acqua applies at no cost when the target of a Princess' Charm is water or ice, and when she has spent at least one turn studying her target during the scene, and nothing significant has happened to it since. It also applies without cost when a Princess intends to teach someone, to master a body of knowledge, to prove or refute a theory, to discover things previously unknown to anyone, and to carry out a strategy she has previously formulated.

    The Invocation aids only those who are open and candid in all their dealings. A Princess who deceives another person in any fashion, be it simple falsehood, sophistry, or material omission, cannot apply Acqua for the rest of the scene, unless the deception is necessary to shield an innocent from harm, or to keep a secret given her in confidence. A Princess may reserve what she knows, if it isn't relevant and no one asks her to inform them, and apply Acqua; she may not, however, cause another to believe what is untrue.
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    Aria
    Favored by Spades

    The Invocation of Spades is Aria, the enviable lightness of being. It is the principle of detachment, the paradoxical unity of speed with forethought, and the laughter in the wind. Aria is taught by the Queen of Spades and her followers learn it easiest of all.

    Aria applies at no cost when a Princess is blown by strong winds, moves at running speed or faster, or is at risk of falling from a height; and when the target of her Charm is the air, or other gases. It also applies without cost when a Princess intends to catch someone by surprise, to make someone laugh, to cast doubts, to expose pretensions and humiliate arrogance, and to subvert formal rules of an organisation or society.

    Aria will not support any assertion of authority over another person. A Princess is free to advise, to persuade, to appeal to friendship, and even to deceive (within the limits of Belief) while using Aria, but if she issues a command she cannot apply the Invocation for the rest of the scene.
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    Fuoco
    Favored by Swords

    The Queen of Swords raises passionate devotion into magic in the Invocation of Fuoco, and the Adventurers learn it more easily than any other. Love, heroism, and sacrifice are its fuel, the noblest things the Queen Errant knows. It is equally bound to literal fire, heat, and light.

    Fuoco applies at no cost when the target of a Princess' Charm is a flame, on fire, or hot enough to burn; and when the target is someone or something the Princess loves. It also applies without cost when a Princess intends to aid a person she loves, to strike at enemies with her full force, to take great risks for great gains, to inspire others to heroic endeavors, and at the culmination of a major campaign.

    The Invocation abandons Princesses who abandon their beloved. A Princess who betrays or otherwise injures a person she loves or has loved cannot apply Fuoco until the one she has hurt forgives her for the injury, or until a full lunar month has passed.
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    Legno
    Favored by Clubs

    The Queen of Clubs teaches the principles of harmony and inner strength in the form of Legno and the Turtles find it easier to master than any other. Legno encourages a Princess to work with, not against. To find balance, not overpower. To defend, not attack. It also guides a Princess to seek inspiration in the natural world.

    Legno applies at no cost when the target of a Princess' Charm is a living plant or wood, and when her Charm's target is a natural, non-sapient animal. It also applies without cost when a Princess intends to restore things to their natural state, to restrain the reckless and calm the fearful, to defend another from harm, to conserve and cultivate over time, and to influence without drawing attention to herself.

    Those who would make use of Legno must live for harmony in all things. A Princess who attempts violence against someone not involved in combat, or who helps another to do so, may not apply the Invocation until the next sunrise. Self-defense, protecting a non-combatant, and using Charms to stop a fight without violence are unexceptionable, but if a Princess gives tactical support to an ally and the ally attacks one who has not begun to fight, she loses access to Legno just as if she had struck the blow herself.
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    Terra
    Favored by Hearts

    The principles of the Queen of Hearts find their magical expression in the Invocation of Terra, and her Flowers and Gallants learn it more easily than any other. It is bound up with the things the Queen values: mutual trust and peace, the responsible use of authority, sensitive compassion, and punctilious courtesies. It is also tied to earth and stone, especially when it has been refined and property constructed for human service, such as proud cathedrals, elegant jewelry or solid stone walls.

    Terra applies at no cost when the target of a Princess' Charm is earth or stone, including all forms of gemstones; and when her target is a non-supernatural human being who gives informed consent to the Charm. It also applies without cost when a Princess intends to resolve a conflict without violence, to make someone or something beautiful, to give requested aid without expecting any return, to coordinate the efforts of several people in a project, or to help a lawful authority in their mandated duties.

    Terra requires both decorum and consideration for others. A Princess who is rude or insensitive to another person without cause, or who knowingly breaks a rule of formal etiquette, cannot apply the Invocation for the rest of the scene.
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    Lacrima
    Favored by Tears

    The Invocation of Lacrima is the principle embodied and founded by the Queen of Tears, and which her Handmaidens and Esquires find come naturally to them. It is conceptually linked to several things, including ghosts, silence, the element of void, "necessary" actions, and all things connected to these, allowing Invoked Upgrades and Invoked Charms to be based around it. Princesses loyal to Tears are encouraged to attune to this Invocation as fast as they can, because most of their signature Charms require it, and use of Lacrima inures them to their actions. However, many non-Tears Princesses have been known to dabble in it, especially more mature ones, who have founded Nations, and have begun to feel the echoes of devotion that the Last Empress feels towards her own. This will make them suspicious, especially to younger, more idealistic Princesses, but there is acknowledgement that it happens sometimes, and so such dabblers should be watched, but are not automatically followers of Tears.

    Lacrima has the unique disadvantage that many of its Charms are compromises of belief. This is counted as part of their activation cost, and so may not be bypassed. The cold, hard necessities of Lacrima wear down at the soul, smother Belief in a fog of sorrow through which nothing can be felt. As a result, many Lacrima charms are marginally more powerful than their equivalents from other Invocations, because of the greater cost paid to use them. When a Lacrima Charm Compromises Belief it is given a Belief rating. Princesses with Belief at or above that rating always make a Compromise roll with the listed modifier. Princesses with a Belief lower than the Charm's Belief rating may use it freely. Sworn use the same rules with Integrity in place of Belief.

    Lacrima applies at no cost when a Princess touches a ghost's anchor, or is within Alhambra or the Underworld; and when the target of her Charm is a ghost. It also applies without cost in times of true desperation, when failure means death or ruin, and when a Princess intends to act on behalf of the Queen of Tears or her subjects, or in the interests of her own Nation and its members.

    The Invocation does not resonate with those who will not do everything for those they protect, who show any moral compunctions in the deeds needed for survival. If a Princess' situation is such that her present goal can be reached at the least cost to herself and her Nation by committing a sin against Belief, and she chooses another course of action, she cannot use Lacrima for the rest of the scene, and for a further number of scenes equal to the difference of her current Belief and the level of the sin.
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    Tempesta
    Favored by Storms

    The Invocation of Tempesta is the principle embodies and founded by the Queen of Storms, and which her Enlightened find come naturally to them. It is conceptually linked to several things, including anger, acid, radioactivity, martyrdom, cleansing, and sterilizing, and all things connected to these, allowing Invoked Charms and Upgrades to be based around them.

    Tempesta has the unique disadvantage that many of its Charms inflict damage on the user. This is counted as part of their activation cost, and so may not be bypassed. Damage so inflicted is Resistant, and so may not be healed by magical means of any kind, as the rage and hatred of Tempesta burns at the Enlightened body and soul alike. Should a character die due to damage from Tempesta Invocations, or bleed-out because of such damage, the character does not reincarnate, but instead joins with the Queen of Storms. Because of these costs, many Tempesta Charms are more powerful than equivalent ones which lack such painful payment.

    Tempesta also has the unique advantage of a new method for regaining Wisps. After any scene in which a Princess battles against the Darkness she may roll Tempesta and gain one Wisp per Success. The Princess cannot benefit from this rule and Call of Duty in the same scene. Sworn cannot benefit from this rule and the Dedicated Merit in the same scene.

    Tempesta applies at no cost when a Princess has taken enough bashing damage to suffer wound penalties, or any amount of lethal or aggravated damage; and in the midst of violent storms, earthquakes, explosions or other widespread devastation. It also applies without cost when a Princess is fighting servants of the Darkness or agents of the Queen of Tears.

    Those who would use Tempesta must be merciless and swift, striking without hesitation and never showing fear. Displays of mercy to those who have wronged the Princess or those she protects or loves, or retreating from battle (pulling back to carry out an ambush is acceptable, fleeing is not), render this Invocation inapplicable until the sun next rises. If the target spared is a servant of the Queen of Tears or the Darkness, the Invocation cannot be used until the Princess's final health box is filled with damage, for their flesh cannot channel these powers until the weakness has been forced out through pain. A Princess may injure herself to regain use of Tempesta; in fact, such penance is expected and encouraged among Furies.
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    Specchio
    Favoured by Mirrors

    The Invocation of Specchio is the principle embodied and founded by the Queen of Mirrors, and which her favored find comes naturally to them. Specchio is usually turned inwards, more than any other Invocation it can propel a Princess upwards to monumental heights, the abilities it grants tend to be flashy and showy but no less effective for them. Fittingly Specchio can sometimes be inverted as though looked through a mirror, though less common to making the Princess better than others it can also be used to make others worse than the Princess.

    Specchio has the unique disadvantage of causing insanity in the user. This is counted as part of the activation cost, and so may not be bypassed. The first time the Princess adds Specchio to her dice pool, gains a passive bonus from a Specchio Charm or invokes a Charm that require Specchio in a scene she rolls her Specchio (for a Bequest that contains a Specchio based Charm use the higher of the Charm's Specchio prerequisite and the Princess' dots in Specchio). On a Success choose one of the following conditions: Drama Queen, Name of the Moon, Narcissism, or Special Snowflake. On an Exceptional Success she gains Mirror Blindness, Madness, Yandere or one of the previous Conditions as a Persistent Condition. You may create a new Condition that fits the same themes with Storyteller approval.

    Any persistent Charm that would trigger Specchio's drawback may be disabled with a Transformation action, it will remain dormant until the Princess chooses to activate it again.

    Specchio applies at no cost when the target of a Princess' Charm is the Princess herself. It also applies at no cost when the Princess intends to set an example, to convert others to her cause, to impress others, when failure would lead to humiliation or embarrassment, to focus attention on herself or to prove how unique and special she is.

    Those who would use Specchio are expected to be the shining light for the world, the Invocation does not resonate with Princesses who show humility, who deny or attempt to downplay their own accomplishments, or let others shine brighter. Even on a simple disagreement the Princess must prove herself correct, or at least convince the crowd, or else she loses access to this Invocation until the next day. However, in this time period, Specchio may still be used, if-and-only-if it is used on an individual who was responsible for the loss of the Invocation, although the cost of the Invocation is never waived. If this act of pettiness succeeds, full access is granted again.
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    As a Courtless, you have free range to put in any of your three dots in any Invocation, but you cannot put all three dots in one Invocation.

    Please put your vote in a plan format.
     
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    • Hm, I'm not sure what I want for the third dot so I'm not going to put a plan together yet, but how the hell would we not go for 2 dots in Specchio? While I don't think Mirrors fit Emma as a person (as she's too filled with self loathing), as an Invocation it's tailor made.
     
    I'm still in favor of getting 1-2 dot's of tempesta myself.
    Mutton said:
    Hm, I'm not sure what I want for the third dot so I'm not going to put a plan together yet, but how the hell would we not go for 2 dots in Specchio? While I don't think Mirrors fit Emma as a person (as she's too filled with self loathing), as an Invocation it's tailor made.
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    It really isn't. We could never use it to make nice clothing for anyone other than ourselves, for one thing.
     
    I am tempted to vote for Specchio for all the hilarious black comedy that will result, but i don't think is the most fitting choice though. Although denial is what Emma did in canon, and Mirrors are masters or denial (They even have a wonderful denial charm. Clearly the easier and faster way to solve all our issues)

    (Disclaimer: Use of Specchio may cause Overconfidence, Megalomanic delusions, solipsism and general bitchiness. Use with caution)
     
    Also it makes us crazy? As much as it sort of fits canon Emma, we should probably avoid going that route.

    Terra sounds like it would be pretty awesome for 2 dots; it applies when we make someone beautiful or any time we're using it on a non super, so that gives us lots of ways to help people or possibly make costumes for someone?

    Mix with one dot of Tempesta as a last resort option or for combat, and that seems solid as long as we have friends around.

    [X] Plan Tailor
    -[X] Terra
    -[X] Terra
    -[X] Tempesta
     
    racnor said:
    I'm still in favor of getting 1-2 dot's of tempesta myself.

    It really isn't. We could never use it to make nice clothing for anyone other than ourselves, for one thing.
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    One's posse is a reflection of one's self. You're not making the clothes for their sake, but for the purpose of making yourself look good because all these beautiful people are following you.

    Look at Emma; she's constantly striving to prove how strong she is by knocking down others and shining brighter than them. Her greatest striving is to convince herself that she's great and powerful by knocking down other people. This perfectly fits the whole "prove how unique and special you are" aspect.

    So yeah screw it,

    [X] Plan Mutton
    -[X] Specchio 2
    -[X] Lacrima 1

    Because our powers are all about us relying on that nasty, dirty part of our personality. The part we know is wrong but reach to anyways. This also gives Emma room to deny that and to better herself by overcoming a tangible issue in her quest to become a better person. Our goal would be to become worthy of the Radiant Invocations while still being able to carry out our plans here on earth. It's built in dilemmas and tough decisions!
     
    Broken25 said:
    I am tempted to vote for Specchio for all the hilarious black comedy that will result, but i don't think is the most fitting choice though. Although denial is what Emma did in canon, and Mirrors are masters or denial (They even have a wonderful denial charm. Clearly the easier and faster way to solve all our issues)

    (Disclaimer: Use of Specchio may cause Overconfidence, Megalomanic delusions, solipsism and general bitchiness. Use with caution)
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    May also cause obsessive love and compulsive speeches.
     
    Let's see, invocation for invocation:

    Aqua: Honesty and learning, It doesn't fit Emma.
    Legno: Pacifism and naturalism. It might fit pre-trauma Emma.
    Terra: Decorum and Beauty. The Beauty part fits with what we want to do, but i just don't see propiety as very Emma-like, not enough to warrant the invocation.
    Fuoco: Passion and love, doesn't fit anybody with depresion. Although the Blossoming can explain it.
    Tempesta: HATE POWER! GREEN FIRE! Again, it doesn't fit with our current emotions, but the blossoming could have changed that.
    Lacrima: Survival at any cost,depresion and resolve. Very good fit. Note that this will lead to plenty of compromises of belief.
    Specchio: I am awesome and everything is cool and i am certainly not repressing anything! Yep, it fits too.
    Aria: Laughter and friendship, probably fits her personality before the incident.
     
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    We don't have any practical magic (Which is really, really useful) as courtless i think, so yes.
     
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    Broken25 said:
    We don't have any practical magic (Which is really, really useful) as courtless i think, so yes.
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    We do.
    Straight from the PDF
    The Courtless
    Courtless Princesses draw upon their own perfected self rather than their Queen. Their Practical Magic
    works identically to a Radaint's save that they may spend Wisps on any Attribute or Skill that they
    have Transformed Dots in; and that they may not spend more Wisps in a single turn to enhance any
    Attribute or Skill than their Transformed Dots in that trait.
     
    [X] Sow the Wind, Reap the Whirlwind

    While I may change my vote later on (I'm completely new to PtH), I'm going with this for now. A mix of friendship and smoldering rage. Not exactly a perfect fit for Emma, but then again we're still deciding who this Emma is.

    EDIT: On second thought, I'm gonna take @Broken25's advice and hold off until there's been more discussion.
    EDIT2: More discussion has been had, I'm gonna stick with this plan.
    EDIT3: Changed to @NonSequtur's plan name.
     
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