Note: With Yun's suggestion, I am open to the possibility of postponing the familiar in favour of those 2 extra traits. Do others want to tread that path of high risk/high reward?
Is there a particular reason why we can't acquire a familiar after character creation? Obviously we won't be able to do immediately, but it should be possible with time, and more importantly there are other options which are unavailable after character creation like Mana conversion, and Peak Condition rank three.
The lose in combat ability doesn't seem worth an increase in options in a "what if" scenario.
Problem is, I belive she will be very useful during this case, what with her tracking spell, superior senses, and most importantly, support and healing spells. Whatever I do with my build, Emma
can not heal. And I don't see a way to acquire anything nearly as useful in compensation. Sure, a third rank in both Mana Conversion and Top Condition would make her a beast in melee combat but... crippling overspecialization. And this is a case where we don't get a party to balance it, watch our back, or drag us out of trouble. Hmm...
@Bki: Would tacking on a competence with teleport spells be too much for the familiar? Going with the image, her jumping about the battlefield (in the far future, of course) feels... right. It's just now that I've caught up with that suggestion posed earlier. EDIT: If doing so dilutes her current abilities considerably, I would rather not go there, though.
So, finally...
[X] Plan Ferian
[] Shooting spells : Spells firing small sized projectiles. Power, precision and range all vary wildly.
[] Bombardment spells : Spells firing large, powerful stream of energy. More powerful than shooting spells*. Compared to shooting spells, they are slower, and often shorter ranged (but not always)
[++] Mêlée spells : Close combat spells and weapon enhancement.
[] Barrier spells : Defensive spells covering several directions.
[++] Shields spells : Defensive spells covering only a single direction in exchange for more stopping power. Often repel an attack.
[+] Field spells : Often defensive spells applying a particular effects to an area. Also, Barrier Jacket/Knight armour/whatever you want to call it.
[+] Capture spells : Spells used to restrain or detain a target, covering both bind and cage.
[--] Force-fields : Spells separating a large area from the outside world, often also applying some kind of effect inside the force-field.
[--] Support spells : Spells increasing the capabilities of allies. Also, healing spells.
[-] Disruption spells : Spells that disrupt the opponent magic.
[++] Movement spells : Rapid movement and flight spells.
[+] Dimensional spells : spell involving manipulation of the dimensions. Notably include teleportations spells. Things like the Arc-en-Ciel would also fall under this.
[+] Information spells : Spells related to information gathering and data processing. Notably, include reflexes enhancement spells.
[] Illusion (Can only be taken with the Illusionist trait)
[] Summoning (Can only be taken with the Summoner rare-skill)
[] Other trait/rare-skill based spell type.
I had actually expected bombardment spells to be less of an issue than shooting spells, but the inherent penalties compel me. As such, it's bombardment that suffers greatly, alas.
Meh, switched that to Disruption spells.
As for other choices - melee and shields is sticking with what works for her, movement is a necessary specialization if she doesn't want to keep playing tag with her opponents, field spells to improve her Knight Armour (since I want it to be quite advanced), capture spells and information spells (because reflex enhancements) are also important to Emma's fighting style.
What are the different forms of your device? Each one may be either general, or specialized in a specific area, and the forms must reflect that role. You must chose between 1 and 3 active forms, and the standby form.
[X] Standby Form. A bracelet of classical Belkan design, usually carried around her left wrist.
[X] Bident Form. It looks like a bident with two straight, parallel blades, and it works like a bident. It's used as a bident/spear, even. But if you look at it as just a bident, you will miss the small muzzle between the two blades and will get shot in the face at point-blank range. This is the device's shooting/sealing mode. The bident's blades double as conductive rails for Emma's most powerful powerful shooting spell, which fires a metallic projectile carrying a potent magical charge at several times the speed of sound using the principle of a railgun and mana conversion to power it; this allows for unmatched penetrative property and outright excessive destructive ability. Due to high risk of collateral damage and high lethality, this particular spell does not see much use. In fact, its use can be troublesome due to laws regarding mass-based weapons on worlds within the TSAB sphere of influence (it isn't, technically, one but as a magical attack that uses mass-based projectiles, it is up to interpretation; and people already pissed off at you for property damage will be more inclined to interpret things not in your favour). As such, the muzzle between the bident's blades is typically used to fire lesser shooting or bombardment spells.
[X] Crescent Form. A polearm with a large, heavy blade on its business end. This is the mode primarily used for close combat, and on top of being a highly effective weapon by itself in Emma's hands, it's the form most attuned to her melee spells. A plasma extension can be generated around the blade, dramatically increasing the weapon's cutting power. Alternatively, the blade can be used to focus and hold a strong charged of conversed elemental mana that can be unleashed on a moment's notice; this trick is often used if the opponent chooses to block an attack with a melee weapon of their own, placing them within range to be thoroughly shocked. The back of the blade holds a thin chasm that can likewise accumulate
unconversed mana and release it in a torrent of force driving the weapon forward towards its target for a much faster and more powerful blow than anticipated. Alternatively, a spell derived from flight/motion spells can be used to generate a similar effect, of lesser effectiveness but continuous. Other melee spells can be used with this mode as well, of course.
[X] Slash Emperor. A new mode devised fairly recently on Chrono Harlawn's suggestion. The shaft of the device is shortened for more comfortable wielding, and the physical blade of the polearm is substituted with a torrent of plasma focused into a thin, flat shape.* The lesser weight of the weapon allows for faster, if lighter, swings. The issue of decreased striking power is mitigated by the increased penetrative power and overall destructive capability. The size of the blade can be altered by increasing or decreasing the energy output. Using the cartridge system, it is possible to extend the blade to colossal proportions, with the limit being the user's ability to hold that amount of power in a coherent shape. Due to her control issues, Emma cannot effectively use this form for extended periods of time or extend it to truly huge length without a risk of it exploding effectively in her face. For the time being, she has found applications for the principle that the original wielder would probably pale upon hearing about. For example, using a manoeuvre similar to Barrier Jacket Purge, Emma can overcharge and forcefully disperse the blade, thus unleashing a torrent of lightning and plasma in a short- to mid-range conical area in front of her.
*The appearance of the resulting weapon is akin to Sannosuke's zanbato
Yup, I'm totally not stealing Fate's trick here.
Also, what is your device name? (It wasn't in the plan, and it's actually better to put it here, so...)
[X] Astra Purna
The professor, who had helped design and had personally overseen the device's creation, was given the honor of naming it. The foreign to her ears term "Astra", according to the professor himself, denotes a divine power in a culture from a far-away non-administered planet. "Purna" translates to perfect, complete, absolute, all. The naming theme for her spells is also derived from the same culture. She thought it largely unimaginative, what with every other spell ending with the same "astra" but hadn't objected out of respect for her teacher; it was also a convenient convention, as she later found.
Master, let's shoot it, "Vasavi Shakti". And then Gil Graham bravely ran away.
As an enforcer, one of the elite of the bureau, you received a fair amount of physical conditioning. Higher baseline of physical capabilities mean that self-enhancement magic is easier to use (it does not, however, affect how far you can push it). Assign two D and one C among the three physical attributes :
[D] Toughness
[C] Reflexes
[D] Strength
You may have been born with some advantage. Or maybe hard training helped you develop some trump card of your own. Whether innate or not, you have four points to spend over the following traits :
[] Mana regeneration (cost 1, can be taken up to three time) : You recover mana faster than someone with the same amount of power.
[] Parallel spell-casting (cost 1, can be taken up to three time) : May cast several spell at once, or maintain them, without needing to rely on your device.
[XX] Mana conversion (cost 1, can be taken up to three time) : Increase efficiency of spells of the relevant "element"
-[] Lightning
[] Illusionist (cost 1) : unlock Illusion magic.
[X] Familiar (cost 2) : You have a familiar
-[X]
http://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/posts/1616188
[XX] Peak condition (cost 1, can be taken up to three time) : Increase all physical attributes by a rank. Level 2 or 3 are expression of gene-modifications, implants, effect of a lost-logia, or some other similar cause.
[] Rare skill summoner (cost 1, can be taken up to three time, which increase the rank of your most powerful summon) : unlock summoning magic. Give access to one or several summons.
[] Rare skill : internal computation (cost 1, can be taken up to three time). Allow device-less casting. When using a device, give additional processing power.
[] Rare skill : shape-shifting (cost 1) : You can shape-shift. Cost may increase if exotic form.
-[] Describe your second form.
[] Write-in : There might be many traits or rare-skills that aren't listed there.
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