Spirits and Demons

As some of you may be aware, I've been working on a new campaign intended to be played both as a tabletop game and through the forum.  Well, this here is it.  What I'm currently posting is an unedited (fear the typos and brain-damaging sentences) version of *most* of the lore.  Currently absent is education, national wonders, and the conflict in Uluhara.  Even with those missing, there still is a lot of material.  I will likely post a summary later for those who'd rather not read piles of text.  The primary reason I post this now is so that you may ask questions, find loopholes, and plan your character.  Character creation and mechanics rules will be posted later.  Without further ado:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16549035/Spirits%20and%20Demons/Altare.docx
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16549035/Spirits%20and%20Demons/Beasts.docx
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16549035/Spirits%20and%20Demons/Demons.docx
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16549035/Spirits%20and%20Demons/Humans.docx
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16549035/Spirits%20and%20Demons/Spirits.docx
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16549035/Spirits%20and%20Demons/Magic.docx
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16549035/Spirits%20and%20Demons/QA.docx
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16549035/Spirits%20and%20Demons/Combat.docx
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16549035/Spirits%20and%20Demons/CharGen.docx
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16549035/Spirits%20and%20Demons/Example%20Chars.docx
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16549035/Spirits%20and%20Demons/Example%20Abils.docx

What races are playable?

Since a beast is classified as any living thing other than the ones mentioned could I be a human/plant hybrid? Or half human half flu virus Bubonic plague? Is there a size limitation? If I am part lobster do I keep growing until I am killed like a lobster so I am the size of a small house when I get to be 100 years old? Am I above instinctual processes if I am part dolphin or monkey?

When an immortal gains a new body and transforms it to look like their old one do they keep their memories from before?

And I want to know if I understand the duel souls. So every one has this sort of energy core that keeps them alive. This energy source is NOT a soul and when the energy runs out the core dies and thus the human dies. A duel soul is simply a person with two of these energy cores. This person is still just a single person with one mind/personality but everything else is essentially doubled? They live half as long and but feel twice as much of the world making the world just sort of seem more alive to them right? Do they have keener senses than other people like the people that could channel in the wheel of time books? They also describe the world seeming to have more... "color". When not channeling the world just seems duller.
So if a duel soul lost one of its soul bodies would its perception of the world seem duller as well?

Does demonic magic and divine magic deplete a resources like soul magic does?
Can non-demons find a way to use demonic magic as well?

Does a spirit inheritor fear any sort of corruption if they use demonic magic

How strict will the character building be? As in, how far will leniency go? I'm assuming it will be a "pm me and I'll give you a yay or nay," but I would like to know how much room there is to attempt a creative, fun, awesome character before having it shot down for some reason.

@Elite:
What races are playable?
-->Mortal, Dual-Life, Demon-Blooded, Immortal, Half-Beast, Noble, Spirit Contractor, Spirit Inheritor, and Half-Human are acceptable base races (a mortal that turns into an earthspawn via abilties is okay).  Other types are allowable with super special permission and a very convincing face.

Since a beast is classified as any living thing other than the ones mentioned could I be a human/plant hybrid?
-->  Yes.  You could be a half-bacteria or half-protozoa if you can conceptualize the character.

Is there a size limitation? If I am part lobster do I keep growing until I am killed like a lobster so I am the size of a small house when I get to be 100 years old?
-->  Effectively, yes.  Your abilities will only be so powerful.  Abilities like "I'm house sized 100 years in the future" are beyond the scope of gameplay and are essentially free.

Am I above instinctual processes if I am part dolphin or monkey?
-->  Hybrids are more feral as a race, although this effect would most assuredly be lessened in those species which lack such traits.  I'm fairly certain monkey's can be quite instinctual; you'd have to do your homework regarding dolphins.

So every one has this sort of energy core that keeps them alive. This energy source is NOT a soul and when the energy runs out the core dies and thus the human dies.
-->  This depends on your definition of a soul.  If the soul is an immaterial fragment of the individual which represents who they are (retaining memories and personality) that persists after death, spirit bodies/fundamental cores are not the same as a soul (and whether people have souls is still up for question).  If a soul does not include memories and personality, immortals could be said to have souls since their spirit will live on even if the physical body dies.  If a soul is inviolate, the destructible spirits in this world cannot be their equivalent.

[Duel-lives] live half as long and but feel twice as much of the world making the world just sort of seem more alive to them right?
-->  In comparison to a mortal, except that for a dual-life they don't realize they experience the world different.  Perhaps an easy way to think of it is that they interpret or experience everything twice.

Do they have keener senses than other people like the people that could channel in the wheel of time books?
-->  No.  Their senses are not superior in any way, they have the same eyes and ears a mortal body would have.

if a duel soul lost one of its soul bodies would its perception of the world seem duller as well?
-->   Perception, yes.  Physical senses and ability to react to them?  No.

Does demonic magic and divine magic deplete a resources like soul magic does?
-->  A lot of your questions will be answered by the magic lore, but for the sake of expediency I'll answer in shorthand now: yes and no.  Divine magic (both demonic and holy) does not expend resources at a elementary level.  In practice, divine magic is performed imperfectly which limits its usage.  Purespawns are always an exception while other individuals may become perfect or near-perfect in some regards.

Can non-demons find a way to use demonic magic as well?
-->  Once again, magic lore.  Divine magic is accessible by humans and demons.  Humans (minus demon-blooded) must rely on external means of demonic energy whereas demons and demon-blooded can draw from their internal energies.

@Nailo:
Does a spirit inheritor fear any sort of corruption if they use demonic magic?
-->  Formerly, a spirit inheritor could use demonic magic the same way as any human, although this may exempt them from the possibility of inheriting a contract, make them last pick, nullify an ongoing contract, or nullify a would-be inherited contract.  A recent change to the rules prevents any creature of the spirit type from using divine magic, and I'll edit spirit lore to reflect this change when I post magic (hopefully I remember).

@French:
How strict will the character building be?
-->  There is a set of character generation rules which will be posted in the future.  This will not be as freeform as Western Rock, game mechanics will govern character actions.  Obviously, full leniency will be allowed within the rules.  I'll roll with any character concept that seems feasible: I already approved Elite of a immortal character from a steampunk country who swam across the ocean, a guy with a fungus brain, and a monastery of Jedi in the desert.

It seems a single post can only handle so much text, so I'll be moving all lore and such to dropbox.  The first post will be updated with the links.

Magic has been added.
Anchored have been added (a type of human-demon that are playable).

Are ALL demons considered evil? I know pures are, but are even the simplest of demons created through evil and hatred and whatnot?

Demons spawn as a result of coalescing demonic energies of compatible types. Demonic energy types are different sins, so demons are at least born from evil. They're made of it, sustained by it, and use it metabolically. The majority of non-demon populations regard demons as evil.

Now, as if for demons are actually evil... recall that only a subset of Earthspawn (your classic demon) have any semblance of sentience or intelligence. Most demons mindlessly pursue indulging in or spreading their sin. Are lions evil because their carnivores? Do bees fall on the moral compass?

Consider this example of a particular breed of sex Earthspawn. Using its human appearance, it performs as a prostitute and otherwise engages in much sex as possible without compromising its position (it is intelligent). It's not exactly hurting anyone, is it evil? Human-demon interaction has a way of producing demonic energies though, and demons casually push humans into depravity. If the sex demon's subtle, sometimes unwitting influences lead to the creation of a truly malevolent demon, is it evil then?

Are anchored slaves who hang onto life by obeying a demon overlord evil?

Is a half-human who fights their demonic inclinations in favor of their humanity evil? What about when they inevitably lose?

Sin is defined as an evil force, but some sin has a way of appearing fairly mundane. Humanity has been prey to demons since humans existed; a history of torment has lead to a narrow view of the value inherit in a demon life as well as a demon's potential to be anything but evil.

Does that answer your question?

It does. Thanks very much.

The demons act towards their sinful tendencies; not necessarily feel the urge to slaughter all of man-kind all the time. Lol

You said that way faster than I did.

Combat rules have been added.
Magic has been modified: all instances of "spirit body" were replaced. "Spirit body" will now refer to the immaterial body of a spirit rather than the fundamental core of any living thing to avoid confusion.

You can only use a defensive ability once a round. If I have two different defense abilities can I use both of them once?

@Elite:
You can only use a defensive ability once a round. If I have two different defense abilities can I use both of them once?
--> No. You would need an ability that specifically could break that rule to achieve two free defensives around.

Character generation rules have been added. I will likely avoid answering difficult questions until I have also posted (an) example character(s).

Combat has been modified to display rules I previously had in character generation.

QA should be updated soon.

One example character has been made. Those interested in playing can begin making characters and I will review them. I may put up more example characters or fill out the lore before making a proper OOC thread (pending that there are actually enough interested players).

Name: Chance
Age: 70 (looks: Varies)
Gender: Varies
Race: Human
Stats: Str F, Agi F, Tgh F, Res F, Ext C

SP 11 Creation points, 9 Action points

Background:
Chance was an entertainer, often traveling between towns, villages, inns, taverns and even noble houses. He is a masterful story teller and no instrument is beyond his skill. Unfortunantly his talents were noticed and well liked by a demon. She captured the poor human and forced him to play in their home non-stop until he collapsed from exhaustion. Unsatisfied with Chances frail body the demon ripped out what was deemed "weak" and replaced them. For the next 50 years Chance served this demon, his only true companions being his harp and and his dreams of freedom. Not one to surrender Chance bid his time, waiting for the right moment to escape and practiced his magic in his very few moments of privacy. His opportunity showed itself in the form of a grand party thrown by his master. Lulled to sleep by wine and his playing Chance removed the "gifts" in his body while his master slumbered and waltz out the front door in disguise.
That was a little over three years ago and now the demon hunts Chance, the only slave to ever escape her grasp. As of now Chance is working for the church in hopes of finding a way to kill the demon hunting him.

XP: 15
Expertise C
Expertise Domain: Bard/Rouge
These skills reflect a life lived on the road and somone who did not have a steady income and spent their fare share of time in seedy taverns and in high court. He knows how deal with people, entertain, sink into the background, cheat, gamble, ect.

XP: 73
Biological manipulation B+
Utility (Creation, Action)
This ability allows Chance to control all aspects his biological make-up. Chance can control life on a cellular level, including but not limited to, genetic alterations and physical distortion and/or augmentations of biological functions. He can cause cells to augment to induce advanced or declined biological healing, induce diseases like cancer, induce appearance alteration, manipulate pheromones, and even increase physiological maturity. It takes only a few moments for simple changes. Rewriting genetics rather than just cosmetic changes will take a few minutes.
Note: Basic changes are a major action.

XP: 0
Marked X
Passive (Dominion)
From being filled with demonic energy for so long Chance has sort of become "marked" with it. He gives off a very faint aura of demonic energy and those sensing feel that something about the aura seems wrong. It feels more like an echo of an aura if anything.

Shelved

Spoiler:

Lol try again.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16549035/Spirits%20and%20Demons/CharReview/Elite%201.docx

EDIT:: Disregard the part where your disguise was hard to detect and impossible to remove. I was being very unimaginitive in a framework where abilities are blank slates. The ability could be B+ rather than A, holding all else true (you mean for it to be a disguise power with limited secondary utilizations).

Lol
You didn't like Emergency Propagation? Damn.
Any suggestions on an ability that costs 1 XP?


Biological manipulation
As for the weakness of "self" i thought that it was a good inherent weakness. Without that weakness Chance could control and mess with anything within range which would result in instakills.
And the power was not made with it being a disguise power in mind. With the ability to manipulate DNA one could turn into any biological thing given enough time.

Natural attack
I also completely for got about the nature of the attack. It is totally illusion by nature. 

The "may" on Calcium burst is dependent on where Chance would get hit. If he would gets smacked in the face and used the ability he would be effectively blinded until he removed it. Likewise his movement would be inhibited if he defended against an attack that would hit him in one of his joints.

Any suggestions on an ability that costs 1 XP?
--> Save it for later?

As for the weakness of "self" i thought that it was a good inherent weakness. Without that weakness Chance could control and mess with anything within range which would result in instakills.
--> The range is self, so he was only able to "instakill" himself.  If you want a power that messes with the anatomy of your opponents, have an offensive, not a utility.

With the ability to manipulate DNA one could turn into any biological thing given enough time.
--> That's more of a power suite.  Don't shoot so high.  That's the "can be anything" ability I already mentioned was a higher grade ability.  You could secure a similar ability as you gain experience, but don't think your budding "hero" is pulling that off.

...Calcium burst...
--> I think I get it now.  I thought the calcium was projected outwards with the drawback that sometime residual carapace would lock up the joints.  So what happens during an aoe attack that hits the whole body?  Body lock and sensory deprivation that can be removed via minor action?  If the weakness happens every time it defends against a impact against the surface body, and requires a minor to remove, I'd say that's basic+ or major- depending on the range of abilities that calcium burst can block.

With the ability to manipulate DNA one could turn into any biological thing given enough time.
--> That's more of a power suite. Don't shoot so high. That's the "can be anything" ability I already mentioned was a higher grade ability. You could secure a similar ability as you gain experience, but don't think your budding "hero" is pulling that off.

The weakness of humanoid makes it so Chance CANNOT turn into anything. That was the point I was making with that weakness and to avoid the "do anything" thing.

As for Calcium burst it takes a small action to crack it. One minor action causes a small break that that shatters the entire piece regardless of the size of the piece. So if hit with an area attack it would cover the entire body and a minor action to crack allowing the entire piece to fall off. So I suppose other people could crack it and an attack to a spot that is covered with the caprice would break through it without resistance.

The be anything effect, as I've mentioned, is grade A. A grade A ability could very well have a set of weaknesses that make it about as valuable as a grade B (like being limited to human forms), but a grade B can't have a weakness that makes it worth a grade B ability (nothing really was lost). A grade B utility should not claim the effect/power/usefulness of any higher grade utility. Grade A abilities have their own tier of experience costs (at the current, starting tier of play your characters can't access a grade A ability package), so it would cost differently even with the downgrading weaknesses. An opponent which tried to undo a transformation with an offensive might oppose the grade of the transformation, in which case the grade A would rightfully outperform the grade B.

If you reworked the ability to be a human disguise power/appearance alteration power (which I've already approved as grade B), what functionality would you be losing?

The calcium burst thing is pretty cool. Friendlies can spend action(s) to remove it.

The main purpose of the ability is not disguise, that's just a byproduct. Would it be better if I added serpent tattoos that coil from the shoulders around the arm and end in the back of the hand and are a blue and red constantly swirling color? These tattoos would be demon in origin and always present.

I also updated my sheet a bit.

Are you gonna add an item creation guide like how much dmg an item can do or any special effects it may have. Im thinking ofmaking a blacksmith and id really like to know more on that

The allowance of infinite creativity will be the death of me.

FrenchPopo wrote:The allowance of infinite creativity will be the death of me.

Lol seriously

If you need inspiration.
http://powerlisting.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Browse