An altered receptacle hounded by a cacophony of voices. A cosmic coincidence puts a crack into the Script before it can even truly start. Yet still, there is the same trail to blaze, as changing destiny is not so simple a task. Good luck, Stelle, and I'd suggest seeing a therapist at some point.
(Honkai: Star Rail quest with Disco Elysium mechanics)
FADE IN:
The same two Stellaron Hunters make their way through the same space station, searching for the same quarry, to start the same story.
Same same same same same same same same. One beginning to one end.
An illusory choice presents itself to the spider, and with but a moment's hesitation, her finger presses down.
[] Receptacle: Caelus(♂)
[] Receptacle: Stelle(♀)
The chosen receptacle forms accepts the Cancer of All Worlds, and You come into being. You open your eyes to see someone whose name is both on the tip of your tongue, yet remains ever distant. The words she speaks, something of vital importance, can't be heard. Your mind is filled with dozens of voices speaking, observing, yelling. You start to hyperventilate, which in turn makes the voices worse, black spots fill your vision, the woman is gone, her message gone unheard, your mind spirals before a single voice speaks calmly over all the others.
<Vo??ti?n> It's alright. You may not have heard, but we did. All you need to do right now is calm down. Take a deep breath, drift off, and put your mind into order. The story can continue afterwards.
And everything goes black.
______________________________________________________________________
You don't have an answer to who you are, but perhaps you can find out what you are? Where you excel and where you fall short?
Firstly, your base attributes?
(Weak and Good can be selected once, Average can be selected twice)
Intellect, your capacity to reason.
(Relevant Skills: Logic, Encyclopedia, Rhetoric, Drama, Conceptualization, Visual Calculus)
[] Weak Intellect (2)
[] Average Intellect (3)
[] Good Intellect (4)
Psyche, your power to influence yourself and others.
(Relevant Skills: Volition, Inland Empire, Empathy, Authority, Esprit de Corps, Suggestion)
[] Weak Psyche (2)
[] Average Psyche (3)
[] Good Psyche (4)
Physique, your musculature, how strong you are.
(Relevant Skills: Endurance, Pain Threshold, Physical Instrument, Electrochemistry, Shivers, Half Light)
[] Weak Physique (2)
[] Average Physique (3)
[] Good Physique (4)
Motorics, your senses, how agile you are.
(Relevant Skills: Hand-Eye Coordination, Perception, Reaction Speed, Savoir Faire, Interfacing, Composure)
[] Weak Motorics (2)
[] Average Motorics (3)
[] Good Motorics (4)
I see. How about your signature skill?
(If you haven't played Disco Elysium I would recommend briefly reading over their full descriptions on the Wiki, as there are more to some than meets the eye. Just replace every mention of 'cop' with 'Trailblazer', I suppose.
Most importantly: The higher the skill level the more likely you are to use it automatically; the louder a voice the higher its influence.
Second most importantly: Endurance and Volition affect Health and Morale respectively, your two healthpools.)
[] Logic
Wield raw intellectual power. Deduce the world. Cool for: Analysts, Genius Society Members, Obviously Logicians.
[] Encyclopedia
Call upon all your knowledge. Produce fascinating trivia. Cool for: Thinkers, Historians, Trivia Freaks
[] Rhetoric
Practice the art of persuasion. Enjoy rigorous intellectual discourse. Cool for: Ideologues, Conversationalists, Would-Be-Politicians
[] Drama
Play the actor. Lie and detect lies. Cool for: Masked Fools, Thespians of the Stage, Psychopaths
[] Conceptualization
Understand creativity. See Art in the world. Cool for: Creatives, Psychedelic Fanciers, Critics.
[] Visual Calculus
Construct possibilities using your mind's eye. Make use of the laws of physics. Cool for: Forensics Scientists, Tactical Fighters, Math-Minded People
[] Volition
Hold yourself together. Keep your Morale up. Cool for: Sane People, Well-Adjusted Trailblazers, The Non-Suicidal
[] Inland Empire
Hunches and gut feelings. Dreams in waking life. Cool for: Dreamers, Para-Natural Investigators, Mental Creators
[] Empathy
Understand others. Work your mirror neurons. Cool for: Judges of Character, Interviewers, Generally Nice People
[] Authority
Intimidate others. Assert yourself. Cool for: Leaders, Experts of Psychological Warfare, Respect-Junkies
[] Esprit de Corps
Connect to your fellow Trailblazers. Understand their small gestures. Cool for: Trailblazers, Astral Express Fanboys, Pretend-Nameless
[] Suggestion
Charm men and women. Play the puppet-master. Cool for: Diplomats, Charmers, Sociopaths
[] Endurance
Take the blows. Don't let the world kill you. Cool for: Fighters who can take a hit, Lookouts who don't sleep, Human Batteries
[] Pain Threshold
Shrug off the pain. They'll have to hurt you more. Cool for: Unstoppable Fighters, People who don't die, Masochists
[] Physical Instrument
Flex powerful muscles. Enjoy healthy organs. Cool for: Muscle Men, Bare Knuckle Brawlers, Gym Teachers
[] Electrochemistry
Love and be loved by drugs. Understand sexual dynamics. Cool for: High-Fliers, Party Enthusiasts, Hedonists
[] Shivers
Raise the hair on your neck. Tune in to the universe. Cool for: City Lovers, The Wisest of the Street Wise, The Genuinely Supra-Natural
[] Half Light
Let the body take control. Threaten people. Cool for: The High-Strung, Shoot-Now-Ask-Questions-Later Types, Surprise Haters
[] Hand-Eye Coordination
Ready? Aim and fire. Cool for: Trick-Shooters, Snipers, Jugglers
[] Perception
See, hear and smell everything. Let no detail go unnoticed. Cool for: Detectives, Sensualists, Urban Scavengers
[] Reaction Speed
The quickest to react. Be untouchable. Cool for: Shot-Dodgers, Thinkers on their Feet, Gamers
[] Savoir Faire
Sneak under their noses. Stun with immense panache. Cool for: Acrobats, Thieves, Unbearable Show-Offs
[] Interfacing
Master machines. Pick locks and pockets. Cool for: Machinists, Tinkerers, Instrument Players
[] Composure
Straighten your back. Keep your poker face. Cool for: Card Players, Military Fetishists, Cool People
Interesting choice. A final question, then. Is there anything particularly odd about you? A quirk or special trait?
[] Elation-Stricken
Aha has seemingly taken an interest in this journey, and wishes for there to be even more twists and turns. (Whenever a Critical Success is rolled, the next roll will automatically be a Critical Failure, as well as vice versa. This, of course, does not occur consecutively.)
[] Overly Specialized
You are utterly spectacular at your main attribute, however the biggest stars cast the deepest shadows. (Increases your strongest attribute by 1, but also decreases your weakest by 1.)
[] Heart of Glass
An open heart makes gaining friends and allies easier, yet also leads to an easy target for the opportunistic and the callous. (Whenever you gain Affinity with someone, it is increased by 25%, though this increase also applies to any Morale damage taken during conversations.)
[] Aeonic Intervention
The Stellaron within you has made you incredibly attuned to the Aeons… all of them. (Gain a special action in combat to call for help from an Aeon, on a successful roll a random Aeon will heed your call. They all have different definitions of 'help' however.)
[] Heroic Compulsion
You have an innate need to try and save people, no matter the cost you might incur. ('Heroic' actions will add a +3 modifier to their roll, but any roll that is not directly helpful to someone will have a -1 penalty to its result.)
Are you feeling better? More… complete? I truly hope so, because it's time to wake up.
Welcome to my first quest! Also, I am rather new to Sufficient Velocity, so please do tell me if I do anything wrong with the posting/voting/etc. As for where I got the idea for the quest from: I have no idea, I might be insane. I think I'll be able to make it work though, so I hope everyone enjoys the ride!
So there isn't much to ramble about for this first chapter, as the large majority is Character creation, which is almost entirely from Disco Elysium outside of the Traits portion(and the gender selection). Said Traits did make me want to slam my head against my desk while thinking about them, because I wanted each one to affect something different about the quest. One directly affecting rolls, one for conversation, one for combat, etc. So I hope those 5 offer a decent choice to make.
The actual writing portion at the beginning was very short, but considering it is the exact same as the opening to the actual game I felt it was prudent to simply sum it up very briefly. For those who haven't played Honkai: Star Rail, let's just say it's in character to not know what really happened, alright?
Stelle
Gender: Female
Weaponry: Nameless
Path: Destruction
Element: Physical
Health: 50/50 Morale: 30/30
Credits: 100,000
Intellect (2)
Psyche (3)
Physique (4)
Motorics (3)
2] Logic
3] Volition
5] Endurance
3] Hand-Eye Coordination
2] Encyclopedia
3] Inland Empire
7] Pain Threshold
3] Perception
2] Rhetoric
3] Empathy
5] Physical Instrument
3] Reaction Speed
2] Drama
3] Authority
4] Electrochemistry
3] Savoir Faire
2] Conceptualization
3] Esprit de Corps
5] Shivers
3] Interfacing
3] Visual Calculus
3] Suggestion
3] Half Light
2] Composure
Aeonic Intervention
The Stellaron within you has made you incredibly attuned to the Aeons… all of them.
(Gain a special action in combat to call for help from an Aeon, on a successful roll a random Aeon will heed your call. They all have different definitions of 'help' however.)
[Roll Details: d100, with rare modifiers based on the current situation. 60+ is a success, but the higher the roll the more intense the outcome. Called upon Aeon will also be rolled randomly.]
High-Functioning Masochist
+2 Pain Threshold: Loving it.
-1 Half Light: Headfirst into danger.
Heals Morale by ½ of any Health damage taken.
Nameless(Rank 2) Stalwart Sentry Perception and Savoir Faire increases by 2 when targeted by a surprise attack.
March 7th(Rank 1) No current benefits.
Dan Heng(Rank 1) No current benefits.
Nameless
+1 Pain Tolerance: Grit your teeth.
+1 Visual Calculus: Shared combat experience.
-1 Composure: Yet another voice in your head.
Oh! The HSR forum has actually made up a few posts about this concept! While we never felt like doing a whole quest, we definitely have a few snippets.
Mr @CryoIce, have a thought for your trouble: Thought Gained: Human Raccoon "The great Tatalov once walked the same path as you. Among hundreds of trashcans, he alone inspected them with tender loving care. The delight and the caress, found upon the envelope of a bag's plastic encystment -- or the iron sheen of their second skin, you don't discriminate -- is a blessing few can enjoy. Why is that? Perhaps, Tatalov's time has truly passed..."
Oh! The HSR forum has actually made up a few posts about this concept! While we never felt like doing a whole quest, we definitely have a few snippets.
Mr @CryoIce, have a thought for your trouble: Thought Gained: Human Raccoon "The great Tatalov once walked the same path as you. Among hundreds of trashcans, he alone inspected them with tender loving care. The delight and the caress, found upon the envelope of a bag's plastic encystment -- or the iron sheen of their second skin, you don't discriminate -- is a blessing few can enjoy. Why is that? Perhaps, Tatalov's time has truly passed..."
Oh, thanks man! I'll be sure to add it to the list if we end up scrounging through too many trash cans. Which, let's be honest, we almost certainly will.
Alrighty, so far it's two votes for the Overly Specialized Torque Dork and four for the Aeon Attuned Whispers of the Divine Metropolis.
I'll likely be keeping this vote up until Saturday morning, with the chapter coming out later that day or the next! Hopefully we can get some more plans in as well, add some more spice to the votes.
Side note: I find it funny that with how different the two current plans are they both dump intellect, lol.
I'm thinking Honkai Star Rail is a more physical combat focused setting, with significantly stronger tech compared to Disco Elysium.
You also get good gunnery skills and the ability to notice things. Volition and Endurance are both necessary to avoid bad ends because we don't have save/reload privileges so dumping psyche or physique is a bad idea.
I totally understand the desire to go for a more esoteric build though.
I'm thinking Honkai Star Rail is a more physical combat focused setting, with significantly stronger tech compared to Disco Elysium.
You also get good gunnery skills and the ability to notice things. Volition and Endurance are both necessary to avoid bad ends because we don't have save/reload privileges so dumping psyche or physique is a bad idea.
I totally understand the desire to go for a more esoteric build though.
Torque Dork is probably one of my favorite builds in Disco Elysium, so I get it!
It's also always logical to keep yourself from dying to some mean words or, like, a knife.
That's definitely fair. My own build is still decently combat capable, just with a greater priority to endurance than agility. I'm not sure whether Physical Instrument or Hand-Eye Coordination matters more for melee, but I figured having an Average Motorics would help with that while having the health to tank any hits that come.
[X] Plan: Whispers of the Divine Metropolis
-[X] Receptacle: Stelle(♀)
-[X] Weak Intellect (2)
-[X] Average Psyche (3)
-[X] Good Physique (4)
-[X] Average Motorics (3)
-[X] Shivers
-[X] Aeonic Intervention
I'm mostly voting for this one because an int of 1 doesn't really interest me. Personally, I'd rather an int/psyche focused plan, but I've not got the creativity or wakefulness to come up with one myself
I can try something but I have my doubts about how it'd perform in the HSR setting.
[q]Plan: Fragile Thinker 1
-[q]Receptacle: Stelle(♀)
-[q]Good Intellect
-[q]Average Psyche
-[q]Weak Physique
-[q]Average Motorics
-[q]Signature Skill: Conceptualization or Inland Empire
-[q]Aeonic Intervention
Conceptualization or Inland Empire is intended to encourage trashgoblin type antics. The alternative uses signature skill to mitigate weak Physique's HP problem
That's definitely fair. My own build is still decently combat capable, just with a greater priority to endurance than agility. I'm not sure whether Physical Instrument or Hand-Eye Coordination matters more for melee, but I figured having an Average Motorics would help with that while having the health to tank any hits that come.
Both Physical Instrument and Hand-Eye Coordination will have opinions on how to use a melee weapon, Physical Instrument will help more when a strike needs some force behind it, while Hand-Eye Coordination will generally deal in parries or quick slashes/bashes.
[X] Plan: Fool me once, but never again.
-[X] Receptacle: Caelus(♂)
-[X] Good Intellect -[X] Average Psyche -[X] Average Motorics -[X] Poor Physique -[X] Inland Empire -[X] Heart of Glass
Definitely a skinny nerd whose a little insecure, but that just means we have to think a bit harder before we go in for the punch. Plus I just enjoy a good thinker character in an RPG. Inland empire for a bit of spooky action that we might otherwise miss out on with low shivers.
