Just some informational for everybody: at the moment, it looks like a tie between No, I'm Not, and Maybe Someday in the characterization vote. I'm also considering combining together Pay Any Price with No, I'm Not, but I want to see if there's any last arguments for any other ideas.
I mean, it's less about choosing between (recognizing yourself as) being good or evil, so much as (recognizing yourself as) being a hero or a monster. Benevolent monsters, and malevolent heroes, both exist.
And @dolcevita is entirely correct; Rei will be a good person either way that this vote swings. It's just a matter of if she gives a fuck about whether others see her as such. Oh, and those traits.
Eh Im willing to change my vote. Ive said it before, those that forget the past are doomd to repeat it. Sure we did bad things in the past, but completely forgetting about that ain't the right thing to do, in my opinion. And as much as I would prefer to not alienate either secret society, I see it as the better option of the two. [X] [Are You?] "No, that's not who I am. But I've still got people I want to keep safe."
[X] [Are You?] "I've never really thought about it before. But I'll… be a hero." [X] [A Name] "…I used to be known as Operative Roze. Just call me Roze." [X] [Loot] Grateful Farewelcome
[X] [Are You?] (Write-in?) "I'm barely a person more like a tool for fighting and killing but, for the things that make me feel like an actual person I'll be willing to pay any price for them. IF that price is being hero,, A monster or even a God I'll pay it with barely any hesitation!"
[X] [Are You?] People like you. Those who perform monstrous acts in the dark. Those blinded by and blindly following the light. Maybe not as a Hero, but I'm sure that I will always be fighting against those who seek me and mine harm, no matter where they come. That I'm certain of.
By the way, if anybody doesn't know how to roll, it's simple. Make a post, hit edit, and then hit the "throw dice" button. Be sure to set the number of faces to 100, in this case.
Edit; the chapter is literally almost done, I JUST need these two rolls. Somebody do it or I'll do it myself, and my luck hasn't been the greatest recently.
[X] [Loot] An Archfiend's Armor
[X] [Are You?] "No, that's not who I am. But I've still got people I want to keep safe."
[X] [A Name] "…I used to be known as Operative Roze. Just call me Roze."
Rei will now be known as Striker Roze! She gains the trait [A Monster Seeking Kindness!]
Himari gains (50/100) progress on [A New Suit For A New Me].
Friday, February 24
Rensoku Apartments, ?:?? AM?
With a flick of her wrist, Akemi dispels her transformation, black kimono fading away to reveal an old red jacket. As the body of Archfiend dissolves into a black mist like his siblings before him, she reaches down and pulls out something identical to the black hole orbs you saw beforehand. She examines the object, which is about as large as a pool ball, before putting it into her jacket pocket. She then turns to you. "Hey, do you guys have anywhere to live? I gotta get out of here."
Himari raises an eyebrow, before bending down as well and picking up a plate of armor that was left behind from Archfiend. As she's crouching and inspecting the armor, she looks at Akemi curiously. "What do you need to get out of here for? The Rensoku Consortium has some really good security measures, and it's not likely that Umbra will be able to break into here again…"
It takes you a few seconds to connect the dots, but when you do, the realization makes your heart sink into your stomach. "Well, Himari, it's because there's a chance that Umbra knows where Akemi lives now. It's not likely, but…"
"If this new upstart organization knows where I live, it's unsafe for me to stay in this building even for one more day." Akemi finishes for you. "I can contact someone, get my stuff that I don't need cleaned and torched. Can you guys carry out my manga and Shade Cores? The rest of the stuff in my apartment is just dirt-cheap IDEA furniture, I won't be too heartbroken about that."
"It cost us about 1400 yen for a set of two chairs. In all honesty, we're not going to miss it." Purrson chimes in.
As she gets up from her crouching position, you lock eyes with Akemi, and you can't help but recognize that old look in her eyes.
[Social Check: Autopassed. (Old Friends)]
She's trying to think her way out of a situation instead of running away from it. Trying to run through every single plan to find one that ends up with the friends she's made in this place staying safe. You give her an empathetic look, and something within her gaze seems to wither. "Jun's right outside. We can work something out with him."
"Jun actually let me borrow a small Hammerspace-spell bag, so we should be able to get most of your stuff out, as long as it isn't any bigger than your average closet." Himari adds, offhandedly talking while pocketing that piece of the Archfiend's armor into the bag she just mentioned.
"...Huh, you still know Jun? Sounds good."
You three all quickly walk out of the boiler room, trying to ignore all the damaged valves and plates your fight with the Archfiend left behind. You all turn the corners and get to the stairs down to Akemi's room. But as you open the door to the stairs, someone almost runs into you—
[Physical Check; DC 40]
[d100+15=77.]
But you easily manage to dodge them, shifting your feet back to make sure that they don't knock you over, and taking a step back to let Akemi walk forward. As you do, you take a look at the guy in front of you. Middle aged, with shaggy black hair and bags underneath his eyes. It's the guy who was begging Akemi to get out earlier!
Speaking of, if Akemi's eyebrows would probably shoot off of her face if they went any higher. "Uh… Mr. Hanbara? Why are you here?"
The man seems as confused as Akemi. "Oh! I was just looking for you down in your apartment because… um. Ok, I forgot."
Huh. Some kind of selective amnesia?
You look at Himari, and she seems just as confused as you are. Purrson also climbs up onto the man's shoulder, even claws at his neck a bit, but the dude doesn't even seem to notice. "Yup, he still can't see me."
Akemi points a finger at the guy's cheek. "You've got a bruise. That's new."
The man touches a hand to his face, and almost seems surprised when the purple welt on his face seems to sting. "Agh. Yeah, that's new. Just a mild fall. It's nothing."
"Alright, thanks for checking up on me. See you later."
"Bye! See you later!"
As the man runs past you, you notice that there seems to be a barely perceptible grimace on Akemi's face. "…dammit."
Hearts_II
>Give her some space right now. She needs it.
As you and Himari follow Akemi down the stairs, you meet more people, all of them interacting with Akemi so fast that it makes your head spin. A gray haired man, a woman with teeth falling out… they all seem exhausted, and have various new injuries that they keep on excusing. As you finally hit the floor with Akemi's room on it, Akemi takes off her cap and sighs. "I'm really gonna miss those losers."
Himari tilts her head to the side. "Losers? I thought these were your neighbors."
"I hear that losers is a term of affection in this province." Purrson says.
Akemi chuckles. "No, how do I explain it… they're kinda used to being called that. You see, I picked this place because it was a community of jouhatsu. Complete failures. Reina was a drug addict for a while, and while she's clean now, her teeth are still kinda messed up. Minato was a baseball player from back before we had magic, in one of the big leagues as well. But he got busted for steroid abuse. And Mr. Hanbara… he's sorta like the uncle figure to anybody who lives in the top half of these apartments. But he gave away a sizeable chunk of his rich family's money to some scammer. Wanna know the thing connecting all these people?"
You almost want to say something, but you keep your lips sealed. It's best to let Himari have a chance at this one.
DorMouse_III >Sometimes, the best teacher you can get will be self hand experience.
Himari puts her hand on her chin for a second, before answering. "Is it… that all their families disowned them?"
"Close, but not exactly. They were all failures, in every sense of the word… but they were too scared to die. So they hired a certain breed of people you'll get to the very familar with over the next couple of years. "Night Movers." With the help of those guys, most of the people here were metaphorically spirited away. A blank space on the census, a million miles away from the old family and friends."
Purrson perches on Akemi's shoulder, and does that cat thing where he stretches out his back. "Like ghosts. If ghosts could work minimum wage."
Akemi looks away, lost in thought. "Still though, we were a community of failures, at least. The Guild would have never tried to find me here. You'll see most ex-assassins trying to go stealth on the streets or fleeing to other countries, after all."
That gets you thinking about Jun. Before he left… his old life, you're pretty sure he employed the services of one of those Movers. Hell, you know almost for certain, that he learned from one as well.
Akemi walks ahead of you, putting her hand on the door to her room. "But that's neither here nor there. C'mon guys, help me pack up." Friday, February 24
Nerima, Tokyo
As Akemi finally finishes up a call, you and Himari just barely manage to shove the nineteenth volume of Kagurabachi into Himari's space-warping bag. ("Who even reads manga that old?!?" —Himari)
You all walk out of the room together in comfortable silence. This time, you take the elevator. Akemi walks out in front, waving at the receptionist from before, who almost seems asleep.
As you walk out of the building along with her, you see…
Wait, what? What time is it now? You immediately whip out your phone, and rub your eyes to check that you're not dreaming. Himari's jaw drops, and even Akemi looks a bit surprised.
10:00 PM.
It's. Nighttime.
You got into here at 9 in the morning. It took you about fifteen minutes to help Akemi get her stuff out.
What the fuck.
[HOW.]
??? The hell?
Rabbit_IV >This is not how time works! And considering I'm the getaway person and timekeeper, I should know.
Even Purrson seems confused. "I could tell that we spent a while in that labyrinth, but this is a bit much, isn't it?"
You're snapped out of your stupor by the crowd walking past. Almost in a daze, you, Himari, and Akemi get to the side of the street, and just sit there on a bench.
Himari turns to you and Akemi. You can see her shivering. "I should have brought a jacket."
"Wait, what? You didn't bring one?" Akemi asks.
"Don't really have a wardrobe aside from some shirts I borrow from Jun when he isn't looking."
Akemi seems to hesitate for a moment, before looking at you. "Yo Rei, are you gonna be ok out in the cold?"
You won't deny that it's cold, but you've spent a few classes submerged in sub zero tempatures. You'll live. You nod to Akemi, and she hands over her red jacket to the youngest girl out of all of you. Purrson cuddles against her arm, trying to work up some body heat to make up for what she just did. Himari, for her part, reaches into Jun's bag and pulls out some of Akemi's manga, handing two each out to you and Akemi.
For a while, you're all just sitting there, somewhat ok with your lot in life for once. You're cold, you're out of place, and you honestly don't feel like a good person. Closer to a monster trying to be benevolent rather than a human.
But you're shivering with other outsiders, together in the cold. And maybe that's all you need.
Eventually, after some time, you look up from your manga. You see the black silhouette of somebody approaching you. As he gets closer, you recognize the familiar figure. It's Jun!
He looks at all of you, and looks a bit annoyed, yet somehow glad. "Hey there Akemi. Been a minute since you joined up on me and Rei's calls. As for Rei and Himari— man, where were you guys? The apartments you were in disappeared!"
Himari raises an eyebrow, putting down her volume of manga. "Dude, don't ask us any questions. It's been an hour on our end, and we're all tired and cold here. Unless we're in, like, the Matrix, this makes as much sense to me as it does to you. Also, what do you mean by disappeared?"
Jun pulls out his phone. "Look!"
There's one picture of Rensoku Apartments, next to a few other buildings. It's a stock photo, likely found on some boring search engine.
He then swipes using his finger, and there's another picture. Taken from a similar angle, and in the same place, next to the same buildings. But there's a difference. You can't see Rensoku Apartments next to the buildings it should be next to.
Purrson seems to be lost in thought, and Himari pinches the screen, zooming in a bit to check. "Nope. That isn't Photoshop. That's real, and definitely not normal."
"Did we get sent to another dimension or something? Because that's the only thing I can think of here." Akemi comments.
Jun runs a hand through his hair. "I thought you were going to have an answer to that question! Do you know how worried I was? I even had you guys in my mind while I was fistfighting those Skull Faces outside where the building should have been!"
What is it with you people and being so casual about violence?!
At this point, if Purrson turned out to be the emissary of the apocalypse, you would not be surprised. "Wait, what? Can you expand on that a bit?" You ask.
Something in his gaze darkens. "…they aren't going to find the bodies, if that's what you're concerned about."
"Ok, geez!"
"That's way too dark for right now. I just bashed a sword with my head, I only have so much brainpower."
"Really?"
You roll your eyes. Jun really needs to work on just saying the hard part first. "Ok, we won't ask. Did you at least get any interesting leads from those guys?"
[Mental Check; DC 40/60/80/100, Jun]
[d100+30=109. Incredible Success!]
Jun sighs, but you don't miss the grin on his face. "Don't worry, I got some insane things to lead up on while you guys freaking disappeared for the entire day. We can discuss tomorrow. My house is closer."
"Do you have the yen for a train ride back?" Himari asks, handing over the jacket back to Akemi.
Jun shakes his head, before pulling out two small bags. "No, I don't want us to be tracked by any subway cameras. Someone would probably figure out that Akemi's coming with us, no matter how hard we try. I had the time to walk around Nerima, so I got you guys these."
Jun pulls out two small bags from his pocket, both of them small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. He tosses them onto the floor. The bags shiver and tremble, before they unravel. In a flash of light, you see two motorcycles appear right there in front of you. Jun grins as Akemi and Himari gasp in awe. "Hey, it might be expensive. But Hammerspace is decently one of my favorite enchantments to see just for the wow factor. Rei, you ride with Akemi. Himari, get on behind me."
One of the motorcycles is impressive, especially for something that doesn't look like it's been made with Magitech or even Alchemy. It's red, sleek, fitted out with some advanced parts, and you would not be surprised if it was able to fly.
Red_I >damn, if you opened that thing up, you could probably fry an egg on its engine. Or even play card games on it!
[???] [CARDS?]
The other one is… ok, it just looks more basic. There's definitely some dirt stains. The red paint is a bit scratched, and the wheels are an older model. But it's still pretty impressive that Jun managed to get it into such a small bag. You might have to reevaluate your friend's magical skills.
But wait. Hold up. "…Akimitsu, how much did you spend on those?"
Jun suspiciously looks away and towards the crowd. Dear god, this man's got to get rid of that stress spending habit. "I got the old one teleported over here, didn't cost too much since it was only an object and not a person. As for the other one… it was fine, call it a work expense."
You just decide to take a motorcycle and stop asking.
Acceltech Explorer How much did Jun pay for this? Man, you don't wanna know. When you're on it, it feels like you could go anywhere in Japan and come back within the same day, easily.
-Rei gains +3 to Technical while mounted on this bike.
-Each Week, you may take one [Explore] action for free. This includes Explore Tokyo, Explore Kyoto, and later Explore ?????. This may let you find some interesting things you wouldn't have otherwise!
Lucky Ol' Wheels You feel like you know exactly how much Jun paid for this. It can't have been much. He says that it's a "good luck charm" from an old friend. He's not the superstitious type, so maybe there's something to that?
-Rei gains +3 to Physical while mounted on this bike.
-Each Week, you may roll two dice for Random Events, and choose which one you want to take (if both of them are positive). If one of them is negative, you'll take the one that's better.
-If you roll a Critical Failure (1-10) or Critical Success (91-100) as your Random Event, the other dice will be rerolled to only be from those tables.
-If you somehow roll both a crit fail and crit success, both Random Events will happen at the same time in the same week. Oh God.
Atry's Advice:I'm pretty sure that both of them drive just fine, so what's the difference? Just pick the one that seems better to you.
Cheshire_V's Advice:
>Having good rolls on the luck gacha is arguably funnier, but if you wanna min max on your action economy, you can do that as well >Just pick the one that lets you break the game more!
[…WHAT?]
Cheshire_V
>the game of life it's a metaphor dude
You get on your motorcycle of choice. Akemi gets on the seat right behind you, and holds on tight to your stomach. Purrson is still perched on her shoulder, surveying the area. "I've never been very good on anything like this, so I'm pretty curious to see how it'll feel to ride."
"Rei, please make sure our friend here keeps her hands on your stomach and not on the controls."
As you rev up the motorcycle, Jun and Himari get on the other one. Jun shoots you a thumbs up. "Make sure you've got your phone secured, and wear your helmet. Oh, and just follow me. At the rate we're going, we should be at my house by midnight."
Himari looks back at you and waves, as both her and Jun begin to start driving ahead. As Jun turns the corner, you get the ignition to start, and you slowly begin to follow him.
The rest of the drive begins to melt into monotony. Boredom almost overtakes you, as the sensation of the wind whipping around you goes from fun to irritating on your skin. But you manage the turns pretty well, and nobody falls off the motorcycle. (Except for Purrson, but he manages to fly back onto Akemi's shoulder.)
Around the seventh stoplight, you stop keeping track of time, and just focus on Jun and Himari ahead of you. As you make sure that they're still close enough to see, you feel something fall onto your shoulder. It's Akemi, leaning down on you. "Hey."
"Hey." Akemi looks like she's about to sleep, if not for the fact that she doesn't want to fall off the bike. "What is it?"
"…I'm really gonna miss my old place, Rei. Yeah, there were a lot of weirdos there, but that's what gave it character, y'know?"
Your thoughts turn to Arata and Mai for a second. You wonder what they're doing, on such a boring Friday night. Maybe Arata's putting the finishing touches on a new MG. Maybe Mai's binging another season of whatever's new. "Yeah. I totally get it."
Honestly? Meeting excitable weirdos is one of the best things about making friends. They're the real ride or die ones. I should know.
DorMouse_III >Preach.
Akemi takes a deep sigh, and starts absentmindedly stroking Purrson, who's moved to one of the handles. "Can you promise me something that I really need right now? Even if you aren't a hero."
"I'm not. But we all know that I'm in too deep to pretend like I don't care."
"…promise me that one day, when all the fighting is over, we can actually live. No more trying to survive week by week. I want to actually live safely, on our own merits. No wish or Magic needed."
"…I promise."
And with an old friend on your back and the promise you've made weighing on your soul, you drive alongside Jun, on the way back home.
A home, somewhere in the cold, lonely Tokyo night.
PROLOGUE - END
Origin Of Power/Origin Of Sin "You're gonna carry that weight."
Leveled Up!
Level 4 (150/400)
-Over Damage increases to 4.
-Gain +3 to one stat. Also gain +4 to one stat.
General Buff
Gain two extra +3/+4 upgrades to two unique stats on top of the one buff you already have. So for example, you could get 2 Magical upgrades and one Mental upgrade, or a Physical, Mental, and Social upgrade. Please note that you cannot go with 3 total upgrades into one stat.
Alternatively, you may take 1 skill per level up from one of the below skill trees.
Assassin Skills (Offensive)
Have Rei remember one of the attacking skills that she learned as an assassin, and have her train in it again.
-[ ] Focus On The Target
-[ ] Weaken Target
-[ ] Sudden Kill
Focus On The Target
[Passive]
When you hit a Weakness, it deals x2.5 damage instead! However, you take +3 damage from all attacks.
Weaken Target
DC: 60
(Usable two times per Scene)
Signature Attack of the Guild. Deal 1d8 piercing damage to one character. For every 10+ this rolls over DC, lower Crit Threshold when attacking that character by 5 instead of applying Over Damage.
Sudden Kill
DC: 90
(Usable one time per Combat)
Signature Attack of the Guild. Deal 4d8 piercing damage to one character. If this Crits, deal x4 damage.
Assassin Skills (Defensive)
Have Rei remember one of the not-dying skills that she learned as an assassin, and have her train in it again.
-[ ] Insulting Taunt
-[ ] Inner Focus
Insulting Taunt
(DC 50, Social)
Halve the damage from the next attack that you'll take, and gives Taunt 1-3 to you or one of your allies.
Inner Focus
(Passive)
At 20 HP or Less, you take -2 damage from all sources. You cannot take more than 10 damage at a time while under 20 Health.
Power Of ???
Have Purrson (or Kira, if she has the time) teach you some weird shit.
-[ ] Cat Attack!
-[ ] Spirit Commune -[ ] Trigger V. Burst [STORY REQUIREMENTS NOT MET]
Cat Attack!
DC: 50, Physical
(Usable two times per Scene, only available when Akemi is in the fight)
Throw Purrson at an enemy's face to impart the fear of god and cats into them, dealing d6 Slashing damage. That enemy takes a -10 reduction to their next two rolls, and next turn, you get two actions!
On Crit, it becomes a canonical fact that the enemy you targeted had a cat allergy, and they skip one of their actions when they get hit by this. Yes, really.
Spirit Commune
DC: 70, Magical
(Usable once per Combat)
As an additional cost to use this move, lose 5 Health.
Take a turn to manifest your current Rider Form's Spirit as a summon. This Spirit has stats and health calculated by the stat boosts their rider form gives you. This summon stays around for 2 (3 on Crit) turns, and will act independently using the moves they have.
On successfully using this move, you may have a free Form Change. (However, Break Down's stat buff does not trigger.)
[ ] Plan Stat Buff
-[ ] +3/+4 to…
-[ ] +3/+4 to…
-[ ] +3/+4 to…
[ ] Plan New Skill
-[ ] +3/+4 to…
-[ ] Assassin Training/Power Of ??? Upgrade
Special Note: Please note that you're leveling up twice, thanks to the effect of Break Down and the first wave of Omakes. As such, if you're making plans, please make 2, and specify which one is for level 3 and which one is for level 4.
Author's Note:
A breather chapter, one that gives Akemi a good reason for her to stay around the main characters. I don't have much to say, other than that I'm glad that you all stuck around for this extended Prologue. Certainly, you actually winning against Himari was a surprise, but a welcome one. I've got some crazy things planned for her, just you wait.
I hope that you'll all be around to see "Arc 1: Pride" coming out! (No pun intended. Most of our gay characters already came to terms with their sexuality offscreen.)
Oh, and one more thing: shoutouts! My fellow QM, @chickenbouillon made a reboot of his previous steampunk cultist quest. This time with some help on the system from me (I made sanity a double edged sword instead of being a glorified mana/health meter!) and a better plan for the long term. Check it out! We're going to be art/theater kid cultists, it'll be awesome.
So for the Spirit Commune, if Rei is in MALICE form, does it randomly summon one of the 5 spirits, or do we get to choose?
I think a fair split is one level up being stat-focused entirely, and the other be used to pick up a skill? Currently leaning towards either Inner Focus or Spirit Commune as the skill pickup.
We have to do plan votes for each level up. Spirit Commune is one of the skill choices in the level-up. Has to be in one of those level-up plans to count.
So for the Spirit Commune, if Rei is in MALICE form, does it randomly summon one of the 5 spirits, or do we get to choose?
I think a fair split is one level up being stat-focused entirely, and the other be used to pick up a skill? Currently leaning towards either Inner Focus or Spirit Commune as the skill pickup.
Hmm.. seems like a reasonable plan. Do we want more allies during a battle or in case Akemi or Himari arent avaible, or do we want to have a slight safety net during fights? And what stat should we go for, Mental?
Hmm.. seems like a reasonable plan. Do we want more allies during a battle or in case Akemi or Himari arent avaible, or do we want to have a slight safety net during fights? And what stat should we go for, Mental?
If I'm understanding right, then on a level-up where we don't take a skill we get +3 to one stat, +4 to a different stat, and then can get +3/+4 to a third stat that can be one of the first two? So I think we get 4 stat buffs total if we choose to take a skill for one of the level-ups? Can you confirm how the stat boosting works, @Kermie
Edit: I think the 4 stats that should be focused this time around are Physical, Mental, Technical, and Magical.
Holy heck this seems really freaking nice. If we can ever manage to pair this with consistent regen? It breaks. Even without that, it's some nice safety.
Ah, thanks for clarifying! Now the question becomes: do we devote the level 3 or level 4 plan to Stat Boost? Whichever one we don't should be used to buy a skill. I am leaning towards Inner Focus currently, but knowing that Spirit Commune would summon all 5 of the MALICE gang in that Form is VERY tempting.
[X] [Level 3] Plan: For the Future...
-[X] +3 to Technical
-[X] Inner Focus
[X] [Level 4] Plan: We Will Not Falter
-[X] +4 to Physical
-[X] +4 to Mental
-[X] +4 to Magical
My reasoning for increasing Rei's Technical is because we now have the bike, and I have a feeling that Technical is gonna be involved in a fair amount of rolls involving it. I am open to suggestions/arguments for using the Level 3 stat increase on another stat.
Also before I forget: [X] [The Ride] Acceltech Explorer
