There are those who are born with talent and those who are not. When you were young, you thought that you were one of those people with talent, but the reality is that you are just barely above average. And then there are people with talents that cannot be logically explained—the gifted; they appeared out of nowhere 12 years ago during a disaster called the soul contamination crisis. It has been estimated that there were over a thousand casualties due to people mutating into an aberrant state. While in this aberrant state, they would attack others without reason. There is a good chance you will know someone who had a friend or family member attacked by or turned into an aberrant. The gifted ended the crisis, and so a lot of people around here look up to them as heroes.Anyway, that is all in the past. Your life will be decided by how well you do in college. You may not be elite like the gifted, but you are good enough, or so you think."I didn't expect to catch you outside," you hear in a familiar voice. "Ran out of books to study?"You look behind you and see your friend Paul, whom you met as kids."I take breaks every now and then; I am busy and you are busy, so we don't see each other very often." You quickly explain this to your friend."Hey, I am just messing with you, bro." He replies. "Anyway, did you see that new commercial, the one with Johnny?""No, and I don't particularly care. He is just a showoff who wants to stay relevant to the world; I haven't even seen him use a gift; are you sure he still has it?" You ask him."Absolutely, because he is Johnny." He answers, "I bet his power has something to do with the sword that he always carries.""He calls himself Johnny Excalibur, and he uses swords?" You reply mockingly, "How could you tell?""To be fair, all their names are pretty obvious." He replies, "If you don't like Johnny, you must have another favourite, do tell.">Actually, Johnny is my favourite after all. You have to admit, he is pretty cool.>It would be Miss Gateway, her gift actually can't be explained by physics, and she keeps her private life separate.>It has to be Alraune after all, there is an excessive amount of plantlife in this city, and it must be due to her gift.>Spectre because you never hear about him, so he must be doing something right.>Marksman's skill with weapons puts the world's greatest military forces to shame.>Atlas puts the city back together after each geological or weather disaster.>None. You really aren't interested in the gifted at all.
>>6059902>Spectre because you never hear about him, so he must be doing something right.
>>6059902>None. You really aren't interested in the gifted at all.
>>6059902>None. You really aren't interested in the gifted at all.Gotta grind these studies bro
>>6059908>>6059955>>6059998>>6060026Gonna get to writing, going to count it as a sort of tie
>>6060036"As I said, I don't particularly care about any of them. Gotta grind those studies, bro," you assert."But maybe you have some you hate less than others?" He asks."The ones that don't try to milk their 15 minutes of fame, like that ghost dude." You reply coldly."But aren't you a little jealous? Won't you totally love to have a special ability like them?" He asks."Give me the ability to live without sleep. So I can study more." You jest."That's not exactly an impressive ability." He replies."Then time manipulation. Want to know why?" You ask."It's so you can study, isn't it?" He responds dejectedly."Yeah, but that is not all you can do with it." You reply."Talking about time, it sure passed quickly; it's starting to get dark." He says this as he looks up at the sky."It shouldn't be, at this time of day, during summer," you reply."Well, it's not like crazy things haven't happened in this city before." He says calmly.You get the urge to look up; you don't know why, but you know you want to. You see a rain of purple liquid coming from the moon. Your vision blurs as the downpour continues.
>>6060065You get up. In place of your right arm, there is a blade. In front of you, there is a monster with a tail. It's a monster, so you have to kill it. Your arm blade seems to want to taste another's blood. And if your body hungers, you should feed it, shouldn't you? So you make a run for him... You get caught in a tail sweep. You made a mistake; you shouldn't make mistakes. You should think of a way to kill an enemy like this.>You have 3 unspent stat points, your 4 main stats are: strength, agility, endurance, and arm blade.>Come up with a plan of attack for taking on this foe and roll 1d100. Good and creative planning is rewarded.
Rolled 26 (1d100)>>6060081>+2 Agility>+1 Arm Blade>Do a feint and make it go another sweep and then step on it's tail>>Stab it
>>6060081>+1 strength>+1 agility>+1 endurance>Do a feint and make it go another sweep and then step on it's tail>>Stab it
Rolled 15 (1d100)>>6060108Forgot the roll.
Rolled 54 (1d100)>>6060085We may be cooked. Supporting this plan though
Rolled 32 (1d100)>>6060085+1
Rolled 1, 4, 1, 3 = 9 (4d4)>>6060085Will go with this option then.>>6060114I like the thought put into the plan, I will take that 54 so its not a bad result. I am a noob QM and figuring out this combat system as I go along, will try to keep people up to date on combat information going forwards
>>6060145Aberrant BLADE activates double crit - When you crit once you get an additional hit which automatically crits. (Crits can be granted for really high rolls or if the plan before the attack is good)Aberrant BLADE 6/10 HP (YOU): - 1 HP from aberrant TAIL's first strike tail sweep, -3 HP from aberrant TAIL's first round tail lash.Archetype: Assassination buildAberrant TAIL 4/14 HP: - 2 * (1 + 4) from aberrant BLADE's first round double crit blade somersaultArchetype: Defensive build.You came up with a genius plan: you would move in as if you were attacking to bait him into another tail sweep, then afterwards you would step on his tail so he couldn't defend himself while you stab him. One problem, though: he flung you into the air with his tail as you stepped on it. Well, it was a problem until you realized your body was more flexible than you had imagined, and you stabbed him as you somersaulted over him, and you were reminded of how much of a genius you are again, and then he hits you mid-air with his tail and sends you back down like a basketball. You got hurt, but you can tell from his wounds that he is hurting more than you are. It's time to deliver the coup de grace; the only question is, how are you going to do it?>Choose a plan and roll 1d100
Rolled 49 (1d100)>>6060178>Make it seem like we're jumping so he does a high tail sweep, then use our flexibility to limbo under.>>Stab
Rolled 77 (1d100)>>6060178>This... this is Paul, isn't it? The facade of social banter falls away and all that is left is the raw emotion of the moment, and the belief that this hulking savage beast is my kind-of-friend Paul. It can't keep up with me, can it? I feel so limber and swift. It expects me to close in, so I jump back to create some distance between us, and call out "Paul? Don't attack! It's me, Anon!">If he still attacks then I.. I'll have no choice. I'll use his own momentum against him as he charges me.
>>6060280>>6060427Going to start writing
>>6060716You run at him and make a jump for him. As he moves his tail to hit you back, you turn just in time to avoid a direct hit. You end up within striking distance of him, giving you an opportunity to strike while he can't defend himself. For some reason, you are hesitating to do this.Why, why, why?You want to speak but you cannot.Is it because you know him? No, if he is not worth killing, it must be because he is weak. You reassure yourself. But you have already been hurt, it would be bad if you got damaged and didn't even get a kill for it, you think. Well, you could always kill someone else. If you are sneaky about it, you might even get them before they can react.>Finish him>Retreat, you are faster than him.
>>6060735>Finish himSorry brother, but we gotta do what we gotta do
>>6060735>>Retreat, you are faster than him.Make a trap and ambush him in a way that would make it safer for us to kill him. What if he has a poison sac or something when we are about to kill him?
>>6060735>>6060744>Retreat, you are faster than himThe bloodlust is overpowering, but this voice inside calling me to kill is not my own. If I kill, it will be on my own terms.
>>6060737>>6060744>>6060767Writing
>>6060803You run away, preparing to ambush him later. You look behind you, he is running in the opposite direction. You want to go back and chase him, but there are even more monsters roaming about now, and he has already gained a lot of distance.Still, you seek blood, and you wonder what to do about it now that he has fled. Around you, you can see two monsters ganging up on a bigger monster with a large scoop for an arm, It looks like the big one is going to win, so perhaps you can run in at the right moment and get some easy kills. There are also two monsters fighting each other, one with a hammer shaped arm and the other with a clawed arm. There is also one monster on his own, but he has quills on his back. Or you can go up high and avoid them because none of them seem nimble enough to catch you on the rooftop.>Character information: https://pastebin.com/7bLZUnzQ>Go after the big one that is fighting against the two other ones.>Go after the two who are fighting against each other.>Go after the one by himself.>Go up high and rest (recover HP).
>>6060828The bloodlust is incessant. I try to hold onto my humanity, but it's harder now. I don't know these people. I don't owe them anything. If I don't kill em, someone else gonna kill em. My blade must feed. I give in.>Go after the two who are fighting against each other.
>>6060828>Go up high and rest (recover HP).
Rolled 1 (1d2)>>6060946>>6060998Dice to decide tie breaker and writing
>>6061156You eye up the two who are fighting each other and move in closer. One of them slashes, and the other swings his hammer at the other. The hammer monster's weapon knocks out the other monster and knocks it back. That makes things simpler, as only one of them will be a problem for you. How are you going to attack?>Plan your attack and roll 1d100
Rolled 1, 3 = 4 (2d4)>>6061160For enemies damaging each other
Rolled 19 (1d100)>>6061160I am close enough. I make use of my speed and run silently at full speed at the hammer monster's blindspot with lethal intent to drive my blade between his shoulder blades. I will bathe in its blood.
Rolled 40 (1d100)>>6061162Edgy. But Sure. +1
Rolled 83 (1d100)>>6061162>>6061166I am going to do an additional role as many quests allow three rolls. I will also be introducing a new mechanic involving positioning that is going to help you a bit as you are fairly fragile right now and a few blundered rolls would be deadly. Also a little bit of edge is fine, you're a monster right now so it is in character.
Rolled 3, 1 = 4 (2d4)Well looks like luck is on our side, will be rolling for combat
>>6061295New Mechanic: Flanking - If you get a positional advantage(Attacking back or sides) on the enemy you are guaranteed critical damage. Combos well with skills that rely on critical damageAberrant BLADE 6/10 HPAberrant HAMMER 1/12 HPAberrant CLAW 9/10 HPYou sprint towards the monster with the hammer. It doesn't pick up your approach at all, and when you are in range, you leap towards it, landing on its back. You swiftly plunge your blade into the narrow ridge of its shoulder blade and then hack into the other shoulder next. It lets out an anguished squeal, and your face is hit with a fountain of blood. It's in pain, but it's still breathing, looks like it can still take a little more. The monster that was knocked out earlier has gotten up and is readying for an attack.>State your combat plan and roll 1d100.
Rolled 94 (1d100)>>6061310>Quickly finish off Hammer and retreat. The Blade thirsts for a kill.
>>6061527That roll is insanely good, will wait for other people to vote but the first three dice will be used regardless of what is voted in
Rolled 16 (1d100)>>6061527+1
>>6061527>>6061720BLADE activates kill heal restoring 2 healthCLAW activates flurry striking the corpse of HAMMER twiceAberrant BLADE 8/10 HPAberrant CLAW 9/10 HPYou thrust your blade into the monster's skull, the other monster makes its way to swipe at you but you quickly jump behind him leaving him clawing at an already dead corpse. You could retreat right now or you could hopefully bring it down in one attack, it will be highly beneficial to have another kill here.>Use attack of opportunity(Flanking applies)>Retreat
Made some shit art of what the protagonist would look like. Can't put out many updates as not many people are reading.General question to readers, what do you like about the quest and what do you dislike.And yes I know the beginning is a little weak, it will get more interesting later on
>>6061822>RetreatWe are an assassin not a bruiser going head to head. Stick to taking advantage of our superior speed.
>>6062268You decide it's not worth taking any more risks today, so you back up and make a retreat. Drowsiness starts to set in, so you make your way to the roof of a nearby building, While it isn't a foolproof place to sleep, it is safer than sleeping on the ground, where there are many monsters roaming about.The sky is still dark, with the only source of illumination being the moon, but it has only been a short while, and you are bound to see the sun again after your rest, you think. You make a quick scan of the surroundings to reassure yourself of your safety. Satisfied that you are as safe as you can be given the current state of the neighbourhood, you start to nod off.In your dreams, all you can see is black. There is a single splotch of red in the darkness. You quickly come to realise that it is the blood of the monster that you killed today. You wonder what will happen if you kill even more monsters, and you think you need to do so in order to become stronger.>Every 3 kills can be exchanged for new skills, skill upgrades, and skill research at resting time, some enemies are worth more when killed.Additionally, you think back to your first kill. You had to finish off a monster that was on deaths door. It might hurt you in the future if you do not improve on your ability to kill. You will need to kill quicker, more gracefully.>Learned assassin skill efficiency.>Efficiency(1/3) - An attack that would bring an enemy to 10% or less HP instead finishes it off.>1 level has been gained, you have 1 point to increase your stats with. Stats primarily affect the skills that you can learn and upgrade, endurance has a secondary benefit of increasing your health pool by 2 points, so it might be worth investing a few points initially in order to survive longer.You wake up, and you notice that the sky is still dark. You are not sure what time it is, but you must do something with the day. The big monster might become a problem for you later, but you are unsure if you can take it in your current state. You can go looking for a fight elsewhere, which might be easier for you. Or you could try and find a monster that is asleep, it is cowardly but might be the easiest way for you to get kills.>Roll 1d100 and choose>Look for the big monster>Look for other fights>Look for sleeping monsters>Write in
Rolled 48 (1d100)>>6062691>chooseI've played enough video games in my time to know I need a dump stat. Endurance will be important at some point, while speed and blade are our obvious bread and butter. So strength is our dump stat. Whatever damage and lethality we get will be developed through our Blade or delivered with our speed. For now, I'm already faster than every monster I've seen. That won't hold out forever, but for now it is sufficient. What I need are faster kills, more lethal strikes. My life of studying books is over. Now I must study the Blade.>Blade Arm (1/1)>Look for other fightsIt seems that only the killing blow matters. I can sneak up on two wounded monsters and kill one with an assassin's strike and then finish the other off. I had hoped the bloodlust would subside after a kill, but it has only intensified.
Rolled 1, 2, 4, 1 = 8 (4d4)>>6062812
>>6062857Aberrant CLAW A 5/10 HPAberrant CLAW B 7/10 HPYou happen upon two of the clawed monsters as they are fighting each other. They don't notice you so you could sneak up behind and kill one right away.>Combat plan + 1d100
Rolled 84 (1d100)>>6062858>Combat plan + 1d100I use the terrain, such as cars or passing through buildings to get closer and flank one or the other, preferably the weaker one. When I will simply let the bloodlust overtake me and charge whichever one is flanked and attempt to cleanly decapitate it, testing out how much a 100% increase in Blade Arm 'stats' improved my Blade.
>>6062872You use cars as cover in order to close the distance, and then you make a dash to decapitate the closest one. That was easy; you can just let the enemies do half of the work and then steal the prize.The other monster looks at you like it's pissed off because you took its kill and rushes at you, getting ready for an attack. You brace yourself, but the attack never happens. A new monster drops from a nearby building and splits its head open.The new monster appears to be slender, with a blade for a leg. You are mad at her for stealing your kill, but you do not know if you can take her in a fight. Your capabilities are geared towards flanking attacks and finishing off injured monsters; if she has any decent combat ability at all, you would be toast.Maybe you could lure her towards the big monster. If they fight each other, you can wait for the right moment and kill two birds with one stone.>Combat plan + 1d100
Rolled 8 (1d100)>>6062905>Combat plan + 1d100In this chaos, I was never going to be able to get by with just ambush kill stealing. Sometimes I will have to stand and fight.I examine my prey. She has one leg. I have to have some kind of a mobility advantage over her. I will try to fight, testing the waters by dancing around her and delivering multiple small wounds rather than a killing blow. Her leg has more reach than my arm. If things look bad I'll just outrun her.
Rolled 4 (1d4)>>6062912
>>6063608BLADE girl triggers Parry, negating a hit and responding with a light counter attack.BLADE girl critsAberrant BLADE 2/10 HPBLADE girl 12/12 HPYou circle around the monster, waiting for a gap in her defence. You think you find it and get closer to shank her.CLANGYour blades collide; you try to put more strength in and overpower her, but she doesn't yield. In fact, she repels your blade with her own and gets a solid slice on you.You back away; if you can't get a hit on her, then you can't win this battle; it would be better to run.Your head starts throbbing."RUN AND GET RAN DOWN LIKE A DOG!"You hear something, but it's not your own voice."GIVE YOUR BODY TO ME, AND I WILL END THIS BITCH!"Yeah, no way. It doesn't sound like a good idea at all to trust the screaming demon voice in your head."YOU THINK YOU HAVE A CHOICE; TRY AND OUTRUN HER WHILE BLOOD IS COMING OUT OF YOU LIKE A FOUNTAIN!"A more compelling argument, but you still don't even know who he is."I AM YOU, BUT MORE VIOLENT!"As much as you distrust the voice, you do not know if you are in a position to refuse it.>Let violence take control>Run! (Roll 1d100)
Rolled 58 (1d100)>>6063626>Run! (Roll 1d100)This might be the end. The Blade would certainly save itself, but it would be the last loss of humanity that I have been fighting this whole time. I have to risk it and believe in myself, and my own desire to live. If I fail and die here then so be it. I will never give up who I am to the Blade. I stay in the driver's seat, for better or worse. Deal with it, Blade.
>>6063774And you start running, and she starts chasing."YOU IDIOT, SHE IS GOING TO CATCH US AND I AM GOING TO DIE TOO!"Shut up demon voice, and besides, she has a sword for a leg, so I am bound to outrun her."YOU THOUGHT THAT AT FIRST TOO, AND THEN YOU GOT FUCKING SKEWERED!""APPEARANCES DO NOT MATTER, SKILLS DO, AND RIGHT NOW YOU DO NOT HAVE THE SKILLS FOR A FAIR FIGHT!"Well, it's not like he would fare any better."DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE ME. I AM SUPERIOR TO YOU IN EVERY WAY!"Maybe I will die from blood loss before I get caught."IF WE WERE HUMAN, YOU WOULD DIE. BUT WE ARE NOT, SO WE CAN STILL FIGHT!"So blood loss is not really a problem then."WE CAN STILL BE TRACED BY THE TRAIL OF BLOOD!"Then you would just keep running until the wound closes or you ran out of blood."A PREDATOR WON'T LET US GO UNLESS IT FINDS TASTIER PREY!"You turn around, and you do not see anyone behind you."DON'T STOP JUST KEEP RUNNING BEFORE SHE IS BACK ON OUR TRAIL AGAIN!"You run and run, and eventually you can't see your own trail of blood anymore. You are not satisfied with your safety yet, but the drowsiness is starting to set in, so you climb up somewhere high to recover. In your dream, you go back to the pitch black place, a new splatter is on the wall, and you see someone else in your dreams; that might be the intruding voice from earlier.>Are there any questions you want to ask in this dream segment?
>>6064769Nai.
Quest was dead on arrival because I am a massive fuck up, so I am going to disappoint the one person reading this and abandon the quest.Things I could have done better>NameThe name doesn't exactly tell you what you are in for, a better name would be something like monster reborn.>IntroDoesn't really hook people in, maybe start from the action instead.>Opening imageIts just lazy, even for my artlet standards.>SystemStats and level-ups might not be necessary for the type of quest I want to run. Allow the player to take one skill from a defeated enemy each day and give special advantages with number of kills. Give classes a better starting set of skills. Rework hit-rate and flanking mechanics
>>6065985>Things I could have done betterbetter OP image, it didn't communicate what your quest was aboutand yes, the name>introI generally don't like cold opens but it would have worked here>SystemSystem was too swingy, you need to put the heroes in a tree, then put the tree in a lightning storm, then set the tree on fire. Degrees of success and failure. One failed roll pretty much put us near death so that was going to inevitably happen eventually.
