World of Freedom 3.2 - Whatever Comes To Mind

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
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Davies
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - The Patchwork Man, Black Fang

Post by Davies »

Voltron64 wrote: Thu Jun 08, 2017 4:28 pm Well, talk about unofficial promotional timing. ;)
Sometimes, synchronicity isn't just the best Police song ever made.
catsi563 wrote: Thu Jun 08, 2017 5:41 pm Heheh Frank Langella

I see what you did there :P
And also Christopher Lee.
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - The Patchwork Man, Black Fang

Post by Voltron64 »

catsi563 wrote: Thu Jun 08, 2017 5:41 pm Heheh Christopher Langella

I see what you did there :P
I guess we can now call Dracula the poor man's Frank Langella. :mrgreen:
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - The Patchwork Man, Black Fang

Post by Voltron64 »

And of course, there's always the backup identity of Gary Lugosi. ;)
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - The Patchwork Man, Black Fang

Post by Davies »

Also Thomas Bergin, Leslie Butler, and Jack Jourdan. He chose Chistopher Langella for its dual blasphemy ("Christ" and "angel").

Tomorrow: someone who helps Dracula navigate the depths of black magic.
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - The Patchwork Man, Black Fang

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Hus'aus-l'yi

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Like most of the Deep Ones spawned in the ruins of Y'ha-nthlei in the eight thousand years* after the Unasked Devastation, Hus'aus dreamed of the day that he would avenge the death that the upper-earth men had shot into the sea. Not for him the pointless meanderings of his cousin and playmate Huq'aus, who kept asking ridiculous questions like 'why had the upper-earth men done this?'. As though such considerations mattered at all! No wonder that Hus'aus was accepted into the fraternity of the sorcerer-scientists, and became Hus'aus-l'yi, where foolish Huq'aus became nothing more than a simple soldier.

Of course, when Huq'aus deserted his comrades and fled to the upper-earth, it ceased to matter whether the rest of his family had been loyal; a penance would be done, and it would not be light. Hus'aus-l'yi's talent and accomplishments now mattered nothing at all, and a kind of madness settled on his mind. Where most of the deep ones subjected to such things would simply have accepted them stolidly and then returned to their business, Hus'aus-l'yi continued to know anger. When he was readmitted to the fraternity, he abandoned earlier projects in favor of concentrating on seeking out Huq'aus and taking a personal vengeance on him.

He finally found Huq'aus -- or Aquaos, as the traitor was now known -- and traveled to the great city where he now lived to attack him. To Hus'aus-l'yi's surprise, the upper-earth men with whom Aquaos was associated, Project Freedom, did not abandon the renegade to his fate, but rallied around him and even fought back against Hus'aus! Unprepared for such a large confrontation, Hus'aus-l'yi was driven back into the depths, his anger now all the greater.

But his keen mind was greater even than his anger, and an answer to the problem soon presented itself. Aquaos had numbers on his side, so Hus'aus-l'yi must gain numbers as well. He went to his fraternity and revealed what had happened -- with some slight shading of the truth, such as portraying himself as the one who had come under attack -- and humbly asked for their support in avenging the insult. To his disgust, the elders were unmoved. What matter if a renegade had taken shelter among the upper-earth men? Sooner or later they would turn on their supposed ally and that would be that ... there was no need to speed up the process. After all, it wasn't like the traitor actually knew any valuable secrets.

Hus'aus-l'yi's anger grew even further. He ceased to spend much time in the company of his fellows, instead seeking out ancient submarine ruins in hopes of finding some advantage. On one of these expeditions, he did discover the Crown of the Kraken which he has worn ever since, but it was not the mighty weapon he hoped to find. On another expedition, however, he traveled sufficiently far into the shallows to hear a calling spell coming from Innsmouth, of all places. Vanishingly few among the fraternity would have heeded that call, but Hus'aus-l'yi was driven by obsession and had no hesitation. So he swam up to the surface and confronted the vampire who stood on the shoreline singing the ancient song.

Just what passed between Dracula and the deep one is known only to them. It seems likely that Dracula has offered Hus'aus-l'yi the opportunity to return to his fellows and tell them of conquered coastal cities which now lie defenseless against them. Or perhaps the alliance of monsters he has created will serve as the numbers needed to fight against Aquaos and this Silber Agency that now employs him. Be that as it may, he serves as Dracula's primary magical aide in the vampire lord's current campaign.

* For obscure cultural reasons that certainly aren't as simple as a desire for aggrandizement, the Deep Ones multiply all times in their writings by a factor of one hundred.

Hus'aus-l'yi - PL 11

STR 4 | STA 3 | AGL 2 | DEX 3 | FGT 3 | INT 3 | AWE 8 | PRE 2
Powers: Aquatic (Immunity 3 [Cold, Drowning, Pressure], Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation: Aquatic), Senses 1 [low-light vision], Swimming 4), Claws (Strength=based Damage 1), Crown of the Kraken (Communication 1 [mental]; Comprehend 2 [languages]; Enhanced Advantages 1 [Fascinate (Intimidation)]; Removable), Magic (Array: Ranged Damage 14, AP: Ranged Cumulative Affliction 9 [Resisted by Dodge; Hindered and Vulnerable, Defenseless and Immobile] Extra Condition, Limited Degree, AP: Teleport 7 [Portal], AP: Remote Sensing 7 [visual, auditory, mental), Mystic Senses (Senses 2 [danger sense, magical awareness]), Mystic Shield (Sustained Burst Area Affects Others Selective Protection 8), Scales (Protection 2), Swim-Speed Spell (Enhanced Swimming 4).
Advantages: Artificer, Fascinate (Intimidation), Ranged Attack 3, Ritualist, Trance.
Skills: Deception 8 (+8), Expertise: Magic 14 (+17), Intimidation 13 (+15), Ranged Combat: Magic 3 (+5)
Offense: Initiative +2, Unarmed +3 (Close Damage 5), Magic +8 (Ranged Damage 14), Magic +8 (Ranged Affliction 9).
Defense: Dodge 9, Parry 5, Fortitude 10, Toughness 13/5, Will 12
Totals: Abilties 56 + Powers 91 + Advantages 6 + Skills 19 + Defenses 20 = 192 points
Complications: Corruption--Motivation. Disabled (sunlight causes blindness). Weakness (dehydration).
Last edited by Davies on Fri Jun 09, 2017 8:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Ta-heru-ah, Hus'aus-l'yi

Post by Voltron64 »

You may wanna do some exposition/write-ups on Aquaos and the rest of your incarnation of Project Freedom because I never really paid attention to that aspect of your setting.
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Ta-heru-ah, Hus'aus-l'yi

Post by Davies »

Voltron64 wrote: Fri Jun 09, 2017 8:44 pm You may wanna do some exposition/write-ups on Aquaos and the rest of your incarnation of Project Freedom because I never really paid attention to that aspect of your setting.
That, like many of my ideas, will have to wait until Freedom City 3E comes out and I acquire and argue with it. For now, suffice it to say that there's a good guy deep one named Aquaos.
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Ta-heru-ah, Hus'aus-l'yi

Post by Davies »

With special thanks to Tattooedman ...

The Harvester

Image

The story goes like this: Born in 1959, with severe disfigurements and mental handicaps, Declan Culverton was raised by his single mother, Lillian, in isolation, homeschooling him and sheltering him from the world. When he was 11 years old, Declan’s mother was unable to get a babysitter for him, which forced her to bring him to Camp Avon Lake in New Jersey, where she worked as a cook. Unfortunately Declan was bullied by the other campers because of his handicaps. Declan attempted to escape from his tormentors only for the cruel children to catch up to him at the dock and throw the disfigured boy into the lake where he drowned. The counselors who were supposed to be watching the children were instead having drug- and alcohol-fuelled sex in the woods. Even though Declan's body was never found, the camp was closed because of the ensuing police investigation, which ruled Declan’s death an accident, but reopened a few years later.

Many of the previous members of the camp’s staff returned, among them Declan’s mother as well as the two counselors she held responsible for Declan’s death. Suffering a mental breakdown, Lillian went on a homicidal rampage killing several of the counselors at the camp to avenge her son. After slaughtering most of them in cold blood, Lillian was beheaded by one of the survivors with a machete. After the counselors fled the camp, Declan (who had somehow survived his near-drowning), perhaps directed by voices only he could hear, collected the discarded machete and his mother's remains.

Over the following decades, Declan would live as a hermit in the woods surrounding Avon Lake. Living among the dilapidated cabins of the camp, stealing what he needed from nearby residences while killing those who trespassed upon his territory, disposing the bodies of his victims to make it seem as if they had simply disappeared. The locals soon became aware of Declan and avoided going near the old campgrounds, correctly believing that if they left him alone he would do likewise.

A few years after, a tabloid reporter got a hold of the story after another group of teenagers mysteriously disappeared and began doing research on the area. It didn’t take him very long to realize what he’d discovered – a serial killer was living in the Avon Lake area. In his published story, he named Declan “the Harvester” in reference to the killer’s supposed purpose being to harvest the souls of his victims. The article inspired a movie, which had several sequels all supposedly recounting the many horrible murders of the Harvester.

Yet again -- all lies.

Well, not all. He was born Declan Culverton in 1959 and he did suffer disfigurements and mental handicaps, and he did almost drown, and his mother did kill all those camp counselors (though her reasons for doing so aren’t known for certain). Declan did become a hermit in the woods surrounding Avon Lake, but he never killed anyone himself. The stories about all the supposed killings in the Avon Lake area were nothing more than urban legends, and in one case the result of a group of teenagers accidentally discovering a portal to another world from which they never returned. (Long story, doesn't pertain.)

And then everything changed. Around the time of his most recent visit to Freedom City, Dracula also scouted a variety of locations of interest to him all along the east coast of the United States. Among these was Avon Lake. It took him only a short time to determine that the stories about the Harvester were nothing more than stories, and on something of a whim he decided to change that. Capturing the hapless Declan, he performed a ritual that bound one of the many spirits known as the Wild Huntsman to his captive, granting him superhuman abilities at the cost of what little mental stability Declan had managed to retain.

Satisfied with the results of his labor, Dracula withdrew to allow the Harvester to begin his harvest. The spiritual energy of the killings would be transferred to Dracula, facilitating his black magic without the need for bloody ceremonies. Unfortunately, the results of the experiment proved to be less helpful than Dracula imagined, as vanishingly few people trespassed on the Harvester's hunting ground, thanks to the legends warning people against doing so. Thus, the lord of the un-dead found himself defeated by the Next Gen, and fled swallowing curses once more.

On his recent arrival in New York to begin his latest campaign, Dracula caused the Harvester to be transported there to join him. He dispatches the Harvester to randomly kill people; most often to help prepare for rituals that require large amounts of human sacrifices, but other times simply for the Count's personal enjoyment of watching the Harvester work. At this point it seems that the legend of the Harvester will continue unless someone is able to figure out a way undo the ritual that first bonded the spirit of the Wild Huntsman to its host and permanently put the destructive being to rest.

The Harvester -- PL 11

STR 8 | STA 12 | AGL 1 | DEX 1 | FGT 8 | INT -1 | AWE 3 | PRE 0
Powers: Inhuman Hunter (Immunity 10 [interaction skills; mental damage], Senses 2 [darkvision]), Keeps Coming Back (Immortality 1; Regeneration 2, Persistent, Regrowth), Master of Improvised Weapons (Strength-Based Damage 3, Improved Critical 2, Penetrating 4, Removable).
Advantages: All-Out Attack, Close Attack 3, Fearless, Hide In Plain Sight, Improved Critical 2 (Improvised Weapon), Improved Initiative 2, Improved Smash, Power Attack, Skill Mastery [Stealth], Startle, Takedown 2, Tracking.
Skills: Athletics 5 (+13), Expertise: Survival 9 (+8), Insight 6 (+9), Intimidation 15 (+15), Perception 7 (+9), Ranged Combat: Thrown Objects 9 (+10), Stealth 13 (+14).
Offense: Initiative +9, Unarmed +11 (Close Damage 8), Improvised Weapon +11 (Close Damage 11), Thrown Object +10 (Ranged, Variable).
Defense: Dodge 9, Parry 10, Fortitude 15, Toughness 12, Will 7.
Totals: Abilities 64 + Powers 25 + Advantages 15 + Skills 32 + Defenses 17 = 153 points
Complications: Obsession (Hunting prey). Psychopath--Motivation. Weakness (anti-fairy traditions).
Last edited by Davies on Fri Jun 09, 2017 10:34 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Ta-heru-ah, Hus'aus-l'yi

Post by Davies »

Tomorrow: A nightmare on (fill-in-the-blank) Street.
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Ta-heru-ah, Hus'aus-l'yi

Post by Arkrite »

Davies wrote: Fri Jun 09, 2017 10:31 pm Tomorrow: A nightmare on (fill-in-the-blank) Street.
And because I'm a horrible person my first thought was:
A Nightmare on 34th Street
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Ta-heru-ah, Hus'aus-l'yi

Post by Davies »

Arkrite wrote: Fri Jun 09, 2017 11:52 pm
Davies wrote: Fri Jun 09, 2017 10:31 pm Tomorrow: A nightmare on (fill-in-the-blank) Street.
And because I'm a horrible person my first thought was:
A Nightmare on 34th Street
Hmmmm! <takes notes>
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Ta-heru-ah, Hus'aus-l'yi, The Harvester

Post by Davies »

For those like Voltron64 who find some of the references a bit confusing, you might want to view this thread at the Atomic Think Tank archive. The current thread is a sequel to that one.
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Ta-heru-ah, Hus'aus-l'yi

Post by Tattooedman »

Davies wrote: Fri Jun 09, 2017 10:29 pm With special thanks to Tattooedman ...

The Harvester
You are welcome.

Nicely used.
Davies wrote: Fri Jun 09, 2017 10:31 pm Tomorrow: A nightmare on (fill-in-the-blank) Street.
Looking forward to this the, likely, inspiration is one of my favorite series (stopping at the 3rd film).
Jabroniville wrote: Tue Jul 13, 2021 11:45 pm
LOl- "The Tattooed Man"? What kind of ABSOLUTE DILDO would refer to himself as "The Tattooed Man" :P!?!
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Ta-heru-ah, Hus'aus-l'yi

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Tattooedman wrote: Sat Jun 10, 2017 2:06 am Looking forward to this the, likely, inspiration is one of my favorite series (stopping at the 3rd film).
I hope to do him what passes for justice in my twisted belief system. :twisted:
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Ta-heru-ah, Hus'aus-l'yi, The Harvester

Post by Davies »

Dream Demon

Image

In the late 1960s, there lived a man named Garry Potter who worked as a janitor at the Willow Point school in the small town of Summerland, New York. When the town suffered a rash of child disappearances in 1968, Potter was implicated as a suspect and arrested for the crimes, but released on bail owing to a lack of evidence. Owing to a rumor that the charges against Potter were going to be dismissed due to a legal technicality, a group of concerned parents took up arms against Potter and attacked him at his workplace. In the ensuing melee, Potter was set on fire and burned to death. None of the vigilantes would admit who was responsible for this, and in the end no one was ever convicted for Garry Potter's death.

A decade later, however, the same reporter who "discovered" the Harvester visited Summerland and reported the town's unusually high rate of suicide, homicide, and disappearance, which had if anything increased after the death of Garry Potter. The alleged killer had become a creature of local folklore, even featuring in children's songs. The reporter speculated that the ghost of Potter was haunting the town, either metaphorically or literally. And just as with the Harvester, this speculation gave birth to a series of movies that portrayed Garry Potter as a malevolent ghost that haunted the teenagers of Summerland and other parts.

Was Garry Potter the Summerland murderer? Almost certainly. After his death, clothes said to have been worn by the disappeared children were found in his house. But the question of whether he continued to haunt Summerland after his death is a different matter.

The creature responsible for that haunting was a species of fairy known as a nightmare. Where it had come from is unknown, as is how long it had been bedeviling humanity. What was important was that in Summerland, the creature found a particularly rich feeding ground owing to the horror of the recent murders and the guilt (or in some cases sadistic enjoyment) experienced by the parents who'd been in on the death of Potter. So it began to feed, sometimes posing as Garry Potter in the horrific dreams that it inflicted on the people of Summerland.

In 1979, however, a young woman paused briefly in Summerland as she fled south from Freedom City. The nightmare settled in her dreams and discovered that she feared a vampire of all things, and so filled her dreams with the idea of the vampire catching her until she could bear it no more and killed herself. The nightmare's enjoyment of its crime was sadly interrupted when the vampire -- indeed, the vampire, Dracula -- arrived in pursuit of the young woman, and was not best pleased by the fact that her 'escape' from him had been facilitated by another creature of the night.

The nightmare was certain that the vampire couldn't harm it, underestimating the lengths which Dracula was willing to go in order to pursue a vendetta. Employing magic, Dracula was able to confront the creature of dreams in his own idiom, where the nightmare found himself outmatched. Binding the fairy to his service, Dracula occasionally used the nightmare as a weapon against his enemies in the next few weeks, before he was finally forced to flee back to Transylvania, abandoning the nightmare in the process.

Somewhat chastened, the nightmare eventually returned to its habits, but elected to move on from Summerland when a group of ghost hunters visited the town. The movies made about Garry Potter eventually allowed him access to the dreams of many places across the nation, and it fed very well in the two decades that followed. Occasionally other would-be monster hunters or even superheroes would try to do something about the creature, and sometimes they even succeeded in preventing it from taking some of its victims. But they never managed to capture it, and it could always find more.

Then Dracula returned, and called the dream demon (as it now thought of itself) back to his service. It came reluctantly but aware that torment awaited it if it did not obey. Since then, Dracula has used it as an assassin when a touch of subtlety is necessary, but more often simply as an agent to change people's minds. The dream demon is less than happy about the fact that it doesn't get to finish the job as much as it would like, and would certainly be open to discussions about how it could regain its freedom ...

Dream Demon -- PL 12

STR 4 | STA - | AGL 2 | DEX 1 | FGT 4 | INT 3 | AWE 5 | PRE 3
Powers: Born and Reborn From Dreams (Immortality 2; Impervious Protection 8; Regeneration 1), Dream Mastery (Array: Perception Ranged Affliction 12 [Resisted and Overcome by Will; conditions vary], Dynamic, Variable Conditions, Variable Descriptor 1 (nightmares), Feedback, Limited to Sleeping Targets, DAP: Illusion 12 [all senses], Feedback, Limited to One Sleeping Target, AP: Accurate Extended Teleport 12, Medium [dreaming minds]), Illusory Nature (Concealment 10, Materializing*; Immunity 30 [Fortitude saves]; Insubstantial 4, Materializing*; Morph 2)
Advantages: Assessment, Improved Initiative, Speed of Thought, Startle
Skills: Deception 10 (+13), Intimidation 12 (+15)
Offense: Initiative +7, Unarmed +4 (Close Damage 4), Dream Mastery (Perception Affliction 12)
Defense: Dodge 6, Parry 6, Fortitude -, Toughness 8, Will 12.
Totals: Abilities 34 + Powers 142 + Advantages 4 + Skills 11 + Defenses 13 = 204 points
Complications: Compelled to Obey Dracula. Sadism--Motivation.

* This is basically quick code for "character is normally subject to these conditions, but can become (unconcealed/substantial) as a free action for a Sustained duration".
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