faderift app

[cyberware]

PLAYER

Name: Zee
Age: 18+
Contact: plurk: zeeco
Other Characters: n/a
Interests: My main interest is in exploring a new version of an older OC I've had around for a while -- I've been hungry for a fantasy setting, one that isn't as plot-heavy as a few I've tried lately, as I am old and tired and lost the RP strength of my younger days. tbh Fade Rift looks perfect just as is, from what I've seen so far!

CHARACTER

Name: Vanadi de Vadarta
Canon/OC: Dungeons & Dragons OC
Canon Point: A few seconds after his death, before realizing he technically qualifies as "undead" now.
Journal: implying
Age: 125

Canon World

Vanadi is from a pretty typical swords-and-magic fantasy setting, where dragons roam and "adventurer" is a legitimate profession. It's largely just straight-up Dungeons and Dragons, with a few personalized touches. His corner of the world in particular was the rich upper crust of an elven kingdom called Aluthsa, where he lounged his days away as the youngest adult child who refused to stop throwing lavish parties on the family estate and go be a wealthy merchant or something.

History

Vanadi was raised well by a wealthy family, taught the usual skills of nobility (his favorite was sword fighting, closely followed by gourmet cooking). As the youngest child of several, not much was expected of him. His older siblings were doing just fine to bring money and fame to the family name, Vadarta, and Vanadi was happy just to enjoy himself. And he was really good at enjoying himself. It began to wear on his tolerant parents, that he had no greater aspirations than throwing the next most outrageous party in the kingdom -- and on their dime.

They didn't really intend to do more than hint with growing exasperation that maybe he get out there and make something of himself ... but when the opportunity arose, well, they took it. The opportunity was a slowly growing fanatical cult, obsessed with summoning and brokering a deal with a demon. They needed a "beloved" sacrifice, and they had a full arsenal of coveted magical items to pay with. Word made its way to Vanadi's family, and ... they had so many children, didn't they? And some of those items were so rare, and would bring so much esteem. They made the trade.

The ritual didn't really go as planned, though. The entity was indeed called, but it added a fun twist: rather than speak to the cultists, it made a deal with the intended sacrifice instead, as he lay dying with his throat cut. The entity would save Vanadi's life, restore his body partially destroyed by the ritual, and allow him to exact revenge on the cult -- for the small price of serving it. He took the deal, of course.

Time passed, Vanadi grew familiar with his new dark magic, and the dark price for using it, and he never quite regretted his decision. His eyes had been opened to the uglier side of the world that he'd never had to pay much attention to before, and he found that he slotted very neatly into it. People were cruel, starting with his parents, and he was well equipped to repay them in kind. He always intended to get around to paying back those parents of his, but never quite summoned the nerve for it. And before he could, his capricious entity sold him just as they had. He was once again a sacrifice for a demon, sold for more power. Vanadi was severely outmatched when this new demon's pet warlock showed up to carry out the sacrifice, and slit Vanadi's throat just as the cult had years ago. Fortunately for him this isn't the end of his story, but it's the last thing he'll remember.

Personality

Vanadi has spent most of his life being a charmer. He was an expert at the ins and outs of his old high society life, and it was a simple thing to butter someone up to get just what he wanted out of them. His arsenal consisted of friendliness, compliments, favors promised, and of course sheer persistence. He was — and still is — a difficult man to dissuade when he’s determined to have something from someone. All this has led him to be quite good at reading and understanding people, because how else can he work his way around someone without anticipating their desires and reactions? He’s comfortable with people even now, and always knows just what to say to keep things moving smoothly.

Although this easily and frequently lends itself to manipulation, that isn't all there is to it. Vanadi genuinely enjoys the company of others; he takes comfort from their presence, and particularly from the expression of physical affection. Which is to say, he really, really enjoys sex. He’d do a great deal to gain someone’s attention, in particular their companionship, and most especially physical intimacy with them. His interest is keen enough to push over the edge into addiction sometimes, and it doesn’t take much to become an easily manipulated weakness of his. Despite all his understanding of people, he is still a sucker for a pretty face. Sometimes it's just worth it to be played.

Vanadi has become much more wary of people since seeing the full scope of them, though. He needs them, and craves company, but he is nonetheless keenly aware of the fact that people are, ultimately, out for themselves. You can trust someone only until it’s convenient for them to betray that trust, and so betrayal should always be anticipated. He goes into every interaction expecting to get something only if it’s beneficial to the other party to give it, and with an eye out for attempts at scamming him. He has very little patience for someone being actively awful, and while in previous years he’d have taken rudeness and a lack of manners in stride, these days he’s more likely to snap and snipe back. He's taken enough life by now to know that he can, should he need to, but he frequently prefers not to. Still, a choice between keeping himself alive and keeping someone trying to hurt him alive isn't really much of a choice at all.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Vanadi is reluctantly competent. He prefers to call no attention to himself and build no expectations of himself, so he doesn't tend to be any kind of useful unless he's backed into a corner about it. When he does need it, though, Vanadi relies on stealth, misdirection, and clouding his opponent's mind. He's very capable with the daggers and rapier he carries, but they're a last resort.

The power the entity gave him (the source of which I'll dip into at the end of this section) allows him to manipulate the minds of his opponents. He can convince them they're seeing a completely fabricated scene of his choosing, weave a hypnotic image before their eyes to charm them into a stupor, ply them with simply-worded sly suggestions, or even make himself seem invisible. He can also focus this power into a blast of energy if he really needs something offensive and isn't near enough for a knife or sword to do its job. His magic never lasts long, and is more for the short duration of a fight than a long con.

The flip side of this is that although he's quick and hard to pin down for an attack, Vanadi has really very little strength or endurance. He tires quickly, both in terms of magic usage and physical exertion. He usually has to escape than see a fight through to the end, if his opponent doesn't go down quickly enough. His left arm and parts of his chest are crystallized, and while the limb itself is strong and insensate, a blow to the divide between flesh and stone is a strong weakness of his. It hurts, don't poke.

Back to the entity powering all this -- this connection was technically severed shortly before he died in his own world, but death changed the rules. He can now maintain the abilities as long as he powers them himself. His new status as undead will mean he has to drain energy from other people every so often, like a sort of psychic vampire, and enough of this energy will allow him to keep up use of his magic. Draining takes physical contact, and leaves his target weakened afterward.

Suggested Nerfs

I think I've wrangled the wild world of D&D powersets down into a digestible form above, and focused on sticking to like magic to build a kind of brand for Vanadi (for example, I am kicking away teleportation, creating his weapon out of nothing, gaining energy from a felled opponent, running super duper fast, manipulating things with a floating hand, making magic fire, and Basic Cold Air Attack ... he can just be puzzled that he seems to have lost access to some of his spells), but I am definitely open to any other nerfs you think would be necessary! And for the abilities that involve confusing the senses/hypnotizing opponents, I will only ever do so to other characters with explicit player permission.

Arrival Inventory

At the moment I am thinking to take him from one of two dreams. In the first he'll dream of being murdered over and over, which will mean he's dressed in his usual clothing and armor, armed with his rapier, usual multitude of daggers, pack with basic supplies, like rope, flint, etc ... the other option is a sex dream, which will mean he's got absolutely nothin. I'm not sure yet which one I'll go with, so here are the inventories for both options!

Humanization

I'm going for elf! Which means no real changes, but his ears are a bit shorter now and he will find this very aggrieving.

Fit

I am pretty into playing a character being roped into a good cause, who has very little interest in fighting for anyone. He's tired and grumpy and wants nothing to do with anything, as he thinks the world has done him enough harm and he owes it nothing. That's contrasted against a very begrudging sense of right and wrong, as he doesn't actually want to see harm befall other people. I'm also very into the social aspect; his backstory is laden with self-interested ne'er do wells who have convinced him that everyone is awful, so I look forward to running a bitter but ultimately lonely guy up against any other type of character. :]

SAMPLES

A log sample, and an in-game network sample.