Wednesday, August 22, 2018

API: The House of the Awakened


The Awakened Ones are a group of ruthless killers and assassins, a group of Those who Know who found themselves blessed with unimaginable powers.  Now they seek to use their powers to carve out a kingdom for themselves.  They do this by dominating and destroying every other faction in an area, stealing magic items, and recruiting useful humans to use as proxies and subordinates.  They offer protection to those without power, and to those with it, they sell their own of a kind services, lending their strength for favors and funding.  This has enabled them to amass great status among the Downworlders as fearsome and dangerous warriors.  For most mortals, to even be in the same areas as one of the Awakened Ones is to court death, but to face them is to embrace it.
 
This is because each member of the House of the Awakened has a special power called a Semblance.  Semblances are a projection of a Human soul, one that has the ability to affect the real world but is hard to affect themselves. 

<note>
This is the same type of ability that the Agents of API wield, albeit an upgraded form.  There will be a version of the API class with Semblances like this one day, so just sit tight.
</note>

Rules for Semblances:
1: A Semblance is a projection of one person's soul.  All Semblances are unique to each person.  They are sustained as that person.
2: The Semblance counts as the person for purposes of being targeted by a spell or effect.
3: Semblances are not affected by non-magical damage.  Non-Magical damage either ricochets off them harmlessly or passes right through them.  However, if a Semblance does take damage, that damage is felt by the user.  If a Semblance is destroyed, its user dies as well.  Ex: If you cut a Semblance  with a magic sword, the user feels the pain as well.
4: All Semblances can act independently to protect their users.  This is because they are also linked to the user's subconscious mind, and are acting on the user's animal desire to survive at any cost.  Other then that case, all Semblances obey their user completely.
5: All Semblances look strange and odd, and can give you clues about who a person is.

Additionally, there are several types of Semblances:

- Creature: These are Semblances that appear as a creature that sticks close to its user, and obey its will.  These are perhaps the most famous type of Semblance. 

- Bound: These Semblances are bound to one particular item, and work through it.  This item can vary, such as a Semblance that can be bound to any deck of cards, or one that is bound to one particular item.

- Organic: These Semblances are part of the user's body, and sometimes manifest as an body part.

- Object shaped: These are Semblances that manifest as an object.  They have all the normal properties of a Semblance, but also function as an object of that kind.

- Colony: As creature, except instead one one creature, they are swarms of smaller creatures. 

- Automatic: These Semblances can look like anything, but how they work is vastly different to any other type.  For an automatic Semblance, once activated, they carry out any orders given to them by their user.  The user does not directly control them, and thus, does not need to be near them to see them work.  However, Automatic Semblances are not actually intelligent, only able to follow instructions and rely on simple programming.  Figuring out their patterns and triggers will give you an enormous edge in defeating them.



Finally, each Semblance has a special, magical ability that it can use at will.  These abilities come in several types, and while it is not as important to know the types of ability unless you want to design your own, I will be including it for completeness sake.

Ex: An ability that lights things on fire.

- Heaven: Generally short range, high power, an ability that requires no other input but your will. Ex: Anything your Semblance touches with its hands bursts into flame.

- Ground: Require a trigger, change something to alter the situation to your benefit.  Ex: You can teleport from one source of fire to another if it is within your Semblance's range.

- General: Grants the user bonuses or improves some ability of theirs'.  Ex: You can absorb fire, and take no damage from it.

- Law: Triggered by a condition, indiscriminate in who they affect, proceed without direct input.  Ex: Anyone who lies within range of your Semblance has an article of clothing catch fire.

- Bonds: Provide some benefit to your or your ally.  Ex: You can create a fire that produces light that gives various effects.  For example, when fed blood willingly offered, it causes anyone who is bathed in its light to heal for a damage equal to the damage taken by the shedding of blood.

Finally, here are some additional Tables to better understand the Semblance Stats:


Now, onto the Awakened themselves.

Base Semblance User Statblock
User:
HD Varies  AC as armor Atk as weapon
Mor 8    Saves 10+
Semblance:
HD 1+Toughness AC 10+Speed Atk(+Precision) 1d6+Power
Mor as Body Saves as Body

Semblance: Immune to non-Magical damage.

Magic Fist: All damage done by Semblances counts as magic.

You are Me, and I you: Any damage to a Semblance is reflected on its user.  If it is destroyed, the user dies.

Tactics:
- Vary
- See below 

The Awakened Ones



Powers Boothe

Powers Boothe looks like a cold-blooded killer, with murderous, intense eyes and snow-white hair.  But the truth is, he gets quite worked up when he fights.  He loves the struggle and the challenge, and how one's true colors are revealed at the moment of death.  He would spare anyone who he thought was honorable, but if you cheat or stand in his way, he would kill you without mercy.

Weakness: Boothe does not like to crush someone he views as helpless, or someone who refuses to fight back.  He will spare them, even if he knows he might regret it later.      

Semblance- Breathe Electric [Creature] [General]
Ability- Can cause electrical energy to flow through anything it touches.  Can also sense the presence of metal.
Appearance- A floating humanoid made of smoky blue glass, black plastic, and steel.

Semblance Stats:

Power: +2
Speed: +2
Toughness: +4
Range: B
Precision: +5
Development Potential: A


Statblock Changes:

HD: 6

Armor: 14 (Kevlar Ceramic Vest)

Atk: Iron Rod 1d6

Semblance
HD 5 AC 12 Atk(+5) Thunder Fist 1d6+2/1d6+2 or Defribulator Hands
Mor as Body Saves as Body

Defribulator Hands: Anything his Semblance touches has electricity flow through it.  This electricity can flow through metal as per normal, and acts like normal electricity.  This does 1d6 damage to anything it touches, but Boothe can choose whether or not he wants to make this damage lethal.  If the damage is nonlethal, it's like being hit with the world's largest taser.

Metal Sense: Boothe's has a X-in-6 of detecting someone's presence based on X, which is the number of metal items they have in their inventory.

Tactics:
- Prepare an attack for when they try and surprise you
- Fight ruthlessly against those who fight without honor
- Be generous to those with Honor


Davis Crakehall

Davis Crakehall is a kind-eyed, older man with a preoccupation with the outdoors.  He wears aftershave and flannel shirts, and appreciates the quiet.  He likes poetry about nature, hunting, and Autumn.  He speaks softly and seems to be well liked by his companions.

Weakness: Crakehall cannot stand the thought that he might be in the wrong, and as such, he will not fight anyone or even take action against them unless he knows they have committed some kind of sin, or are actively threatening the lives or him, his comrades or someone else.

Semblance- They buried me in the Mt. Pleasant Cemetary [Organic] [Heaven]
Ability- Turn people/things to wood
Appearance- His body hair grows into long, thrashing cables that lash out like bullwhips to strike those Crakehall feels threatened by.

Power: +3
Speed: +3
Toughness: +4
Range: D
Precision: +1
Development Potential: D


Statblock Changes:

HD: 6

Armor: 14 (Enchanted Hair Shirt)

Atk: .308 Rifle 2d6

Semblance
HD 5 AC 13 Atk(+1) Hair Whip 1d6+3/1d6+3 or Wooden Touch
Mor as Body Saves as Body

Wooden Touch: Instead of dealing damage, Crakehall can choose to cause anything his Semblance his touches to start to turn to wood.  This does 1d6 DEX damage, making delicate movements harder but otherwise leaving the person unaffected.  If the amount of DEX damage anyone was taken ever equals or exceeds their DEX score, they turn to wood.  He can turn people back as easily.
Organic: Crakehall's Semblance is not really a projection of magic, instead being his extended body hair.  These hairs have all the properties of rope and wire, and can harden and stiffen themselves enough to function as if they were solid.  These hairs also have the usual properties of a Semblance.

Tactics:
- Use your Hair Whip to disarm people
- Capture and take hostages, use your power
- only fight people who deserve it


Jon Orphan

The House of the Awakened doesn't have a real leader, but is does have a secretary.  Whenever something needs negotiation or an important deal must be made, Jon Orphan is the one who does it on their behalf.  Orphan is their treasurer and negotiator, a math-whiz and cunning, ruthless bargainer.  Orphan gives off the air of being totally untrustworthy, the type of guy who would slit your throat for a cup of coffee and later complain how you bled onto his shoes.  And while not all impressions are, this one is totally accurate.

Weakness: Jon Orphan is intelligent, but he's not as smart as he thinks he is.  This is because he thinks himself a genius, and as such, usually underestimates his opponent's intelligence.

Semblance- Carnival of Rust [Organic] [Heaven]
Ability- Can manipulate metal within his range that he or his Semblance touch, bending and folding it like clay.  Can also rust it into nothingness.
Appearance- Orphan has lepreous spots all over his arms, legs and chest.  If he touches metal, these spots flow off of his hands onto the the metal.  Once one has landed on a piece of metal, Orphan can manipulate it at will.  These spots can also float off his body as bubbles of yellow-brown, which he can then direct at people.  These bubbles, if they strike metal, are the same as if he touched them, but they can also fly at people with terrible speed, striking with the force of a rubber cannonball.

Semblance Stats:

Power: +5
Speed: +2
Toughness: +1
Range: B
Precision: +2
Development Potential: D


Statblock Changes:

HD: 1

Armor: 11 (Natural Dexterity)

Atk: Concealed Derringer Pistol 1d8

Semblance:
HD 2 AC 12 Atk(+2) Bubble Shot 1d6+5
Mor as Body Saves as Body

Metal Control: Any metal object struck by his Semblance or by his own body is under Orphan's control, and cannot be used to harm him.  Guns will misfire, swords will fold on his skin, and knives will ricochet off him without leaving a scratch.  Similarly, metal armor he has touched is all but useless against him, parting like the Red Sea around him.

Unstoppable Rust: Orphan can cause any metal he's rusting to be reduced to dust in seconds.

Tactics:
- Sabotage an opponent's weapons as soon as possible
- Pretend to still be in danger
- Never stand and fight


Robinson Mortlock

Robinson Mortlock is a scared, sad young man.  He never wanted to be special.  He just wanted to be happy.  Now he's trapped in a nightmare of monsters and magic, with no real way out.  He just wants to go back to the peaceful days before he got woken up, but this is impossible as far as he can tell.  As such, he is mopey and sad most of the time, and his companions often have to tell him to do basic things like take care of himself.

Weakness: Mortlock is forgetful and tired.  As such, he often overlooks things that aren't immediately obvious, and sometimes makes mistakes that are more cautious person wouldn't.

Semblance- Going Under [Automatic] [General]
Ability- Trapping people in an isolated space
Appearance- A man in a tophat and tailcoat, his face and skin painted white, his clothes solid black.  He has six arms.  His eyes are shielded behind mirrored shades.

Semblance Stats:


Power: +3
Speed: +5
Toughness: +4
Range: C
Precision: +2
Development Potential: D


Statblock Changes:

HD: 4

Armor: 14 (Motorcycle Riding Suit)

Atk: Pistol 1d8

Semblance:
HD 5 AC 15 Atk(+2) Silent Fist 1d6+3/1d6+3/1d6+3
Mor as Body Saves as Body

Invisible Box: Mortlock's Semblance can make up to three melee attacks, but it can also choose to replace any number of these punches with a use of Invisible Box.  These attacks are rolled for as normal against one person also within melee range.  This person, on a hit, takes 1d6 WIS damage.  If this damage ever equals or exceeds their WIS score, they will think themselves trapped in an invisible box, like the time a Mime would pretend to be stuck inside, except it's real.  However, this box is not real.  To anyone who has taken at least 1 point of WIS damage, the box seems real but insubstantial.  To anyone who has taken enough WIS damage so that it equals or exceeds their WIS score, the box is real and impenetrable.  To anyone who has not taken any WIS damage, the box doesn't exist.  If you are trapped in a box, you can be released from it by your companions grabbing you and taking you out of range (50' away or more).

Tactics:
- Trap one person in a box with your Semblance
- Have your Semblance flee bring that person with it
- Use that to set a trap


Edward Dalton

Before he was a maniac, with no morality, self-control or a good circle of friends to hold him back.  Now he's all that, but he can summon swarms of tiny, deformed monsters that explode.  He's terrifying.  The other member of the Awakened consider him a massive liability, and keep their distance from him.  They let him come over and he helps them with their projects, but they're more than happy to let him do his own thing.    

Weakness: Dalton is way too excitable.  If he is pursuing someone he believes to be helpless, he will ignore everything else unless it presents a clear and obvious danger to him.  For example, he wouldn't fall into an obvious trap, but if he was fighting someone and they turned tail and ran, he would probably try and follow them, to kill them. 

Semblance- The Unearthly Ones [Colony] [Heaven]
Ability- Can detonate one of the little creatures his Semblance produces without hurting himself.  These bombs explode in one round, unless they are too close to Dalton that they might hurt him, and as such, will not detonate.
Appearance- His Semblance creates 60 tiny little spider-like creatures covered in fuses, wires and tiny clocks.  You need to destroy a good number of them to actually hurt him.

Semblance Stats:

Power: +2
Speed: +2
Toughness: +5
Range: A
Precision: +5
Development Potential: A


Statblock Changes:

HD: 3

Armor: 16 (He conceals 10 spiders in his clothes, which act as total protection from anything non-magical.  He also throws the spiders at people if they ambush him.)

Atk: Switchblade 1d6

Semblance:
HD 6 AC 12 Atk(+5) Swarming Bite 1d6+2
Mor as Body Saves as Body

Variable Attacks: Depending on how many people are nearby, the can attack any number of people within range.  However, their bites only do 1d6+2 damage, divided evenly among the number of people they successfully hit.

Clamping Jaws: If the spiders manage to successfully bite someone, the spider that did the bite clamps on, and must be removed with a successful STR contest against the spider (who all add +2 to their rolls).

Bomber: One of the spiders, upon getting close to someone, can detonate themselves, doing an additional 1d6+2 damage, save for half.  This initial explosion also affects anyone within 10' of the spider.

Swarm: All attacks against this enemy only do 1 damage against them unless they target an area.  A sword does 1 damage, a pool of burning oil does full damage.  Torches do 1d4 damage.  Spells that only target one being can only target one of them. They always fail their saving throws against area-of-effect spells. 

Tactics:
- Send in your spiders from long range
- Rig one person to explode, then when their friends come to help them, blow them up
- Never let them get a chance to shoot at you


Simone Hart

Simone Hart thought of herself as someone with no chance of success in life.  She knew that her society was not friendly to women of color, and while she had many white friends and felt no prejudice herself, she thought she was doomed to remain an insect amidst the giant her whole life.  The fact that magic was real and that she could wield it was a complete and total shock to her, and caught her totally off guard.

But when she learned this, she also learned two important truth.  That as different as humans are, they had worlds of similarity compared to the freaks, monsters and horrors that also inhabited their world.  And secondly, the systems that she originally thought were oppressing her were actually a defensive measure.  This was because the world was not at relaitve peace, as she saw it.  This was not a measure put in place because of racism, but because humanity was at war.  Equality between the races of humanity would and never could be achieved in such a tumultuous time.  As such, Hart became a monodominant, a Human who believes that all Xenos should be exterminated or subjugated, until they regard Humanity as the sovereign rulers of Earth, and are never in a position to threaten Humanity ever again.

Hart's ideology is very strong, and she is actually the one guiding much of the Awakened actions, acting as the wind in their sails.  Add besides, despite the fact that she has totally abandoned her former anti-racist views in favor of human chauvinism, she is also quite a good friend to them, a supportive, spunky young woman who inspires her male friends to greater heights of heroism and valor.  Even Dalton, who despises Crakehall and disdains almost everyone else, can't bring himself to dislike her. 

Semblance- Year Without Rain [Automatic] [Bonds]
Ability- Drains water from someone, reducing them to a mummified corpse.
Appearance: An old diving suit that is loose and limp at first.  Year Without Rain's touch drains water, doing 1d6 Con damage on a hit.  Year Without Rain appears to aid his Master and helps her.  He is very slow and not that tough, but he is very precise and strong enough to ruin your day.

Semblance Stats:


Power: +3
Speed: +1
Toughness: +2
Range: C
Precision: +5
Development Potential: D


Statblock Changes:

HD: 5

Armor: 11 (Stabproof Vest)

Atk: Shooting Iron (Revolver) 1d8

Semblance
HD 3 AC 11 Atk(+5) Soggy Punch 1d6+3 or Dessication
Mor as Body Saves as Body

Dessication: Instead of taking damage from one of her Semblance's attacks, the Semblance can instead take their water.  This gives the person struck -1 to do anything until they get a chance to drink some water, and causes them to take 1d6 nonlethal damage.  If this nonlethal damage reduces someone to zero, they instead are reduced to 1 HP and start suffering severe dehydration (dizziness, sleepiness, dry skin, head aches).

Tactics:
- Send [Year Without Rain] to weaken the opponent
- Challenge them to a shootout once you have no chance of losing
- Conceal the fact that you and [Year Without Rain] are connected

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