Backstory:
Most adventurers come from humble beginnings. The nobles of most lands are content to just lay back and pay for people to take care of their problems, all while living lavish lives. Vale was once no exception, growing up in a minor noble house: The Asterlite house. However, the decadence of noble courts means that it is easy for midara to blend in among them, their own lewd tendencies rarely sticking out among the nobles.
This is why the Asterlite house collapsed one day. A midara attacked and ravished the entire familly... It only took a single hour for each and every one of them to fall. Except for Vale, who through some miracle decided to leave to hunt game this day. As he returned to his manor, there was nothing left but a den of lustful creatures, leaving him to run away with nothing but the clothes on his back, and the rapier at his hip.
Since then, he has tried to live as he could among the commonfolk, the streets and wilderness forcing him to learn how to defend himself... But making a living only gets you so far. Vale still intends to reclaim his title, and has decided to venture wherever he might need to in order to eventually get stronger and go back.
Appearance:
Vale is an average sized man (a slight bit on the short side), with chin-length blonde hair, and green eyes. It appears obvious even at a glance that he lacks physical strength, but he is also slim and nimble. On his hip is a decorated rapier, with a well-kept thin blade and a handle that has clearly seen better days, as have his clothes. He wears a coat decorated by some faded crest, under a practical short cloak.
Passives:
Noble Pride - Vale is a noble, even though it may not seem so, and while he tries to remain humble, making a fool out of him is a very good way to get on his bad side.
-Whenever an enemy attempts to humiliate or insult him, he gains 1Wp and one turn of Attack Up.
En Garde! - Vale strongly fears ambushes, and has taught himself to quickly draw his blade should a fight break out.
-During the first turn of a battle, pick one Stance as a free action, even if stunned.
Iron Knuckles - He's been on his own long enough to have learned a few dirty tricks and hand-to-hand combat. Disarming him will deprive him of his swordplay, but it will not cripple him.
-Automatically enters Bladeless Stance if Disarmed.
Stances:
Vale may use Stance Change and En Garde! to gain a stance, which is a status effect that does not expire and cannot be dispelled without disarming him, or unless he changes stances. Only one stance can be active at one.
Starblade stance - Vale, despite not being a good mage, can cast a small enchant on his rapier, turning it into a magic weapon that directly strikes at his enemy's mana ignoring any weapon or armor in its way, but making the blade pass through anything else harmlessly
Halves all of Vale's damage and prevents him from landing critical hits, but allows him to roll all attacks (except Feint) at advantage. Non-midara enemies take no damage while he's in this stance.
Fool's stance - A stance that relies on simply striking as hard as possible. However, it is incredibly exhausting to use, and damages the user's arms if overdone.
Every attack Vale uses costs him 0.5St, but damage dealt is increased by 1.
Duelist stance - A defense stance that relies on quick footwork and keeping his rapier as far away from himself as possible, forcing his opponent to remain at a distance while letting him quickly strike back.
-Reduces damage taken by 1 (0.5 on attacks that only deal 1 damage) and allows the use of Riposte after a failed attack roll from his opponent
Bladeless stance - Sometimes, you just want to punch someone in the face. This "stance" consists of Vale dropping his sword and raising his fists instead.
-Inflicts Disarm on self. Some moves are only usable in this stance.
Basic Stance - Returning to a neutral stance has uses.
-Removes current stance.
Moveset:
Stance Change
-Can be used with another action. Changes Vale's stance, 3 turn cooldown.
Iron Sting - A basic rapier thrust, aimed for the torso.
-Deals 2St damage.
Riposte (Duelist Stance required) - A quick strike with the tip of his rapier take takes advantage of any possible opening.
-Can be used with another action, 1St damage, cannot critically fail.
Manaslash - Using a weaker version of the spell used for Starblade Stance, Vale punctures his enemy's mana reserves, causing them to lose energy at a rapid rate.
-1St, 50% chance to cause Manableed (1St/turn). Does nothing on non-midara enemies.
Chain Strike - A combo of three consecutive slashes, ending with a slower thrust.
-3 hits for 1St/hit, deals 2 bonus St damage if all three hits succeed.
Steel Flash - A very rapid swipe of his rapier, with little actual strength behind it, meant to throw his opponents off.
-Targets all enemies close to him. 1St, inflicts two turns of Attack Down.
Feint - While bound, Vale pretends to strike at his captor... Only to lightly hit them somewhere else, slipping out as they flinch.
-Replaces Struggle. When breaking out of a bind, deal 1St.
Heartbreaker - A single heavy strike aiming to hit the weakest point of his opponent's guard or armor, though this technique is too predictable to be overused.
-Deals 4St damage, but has a five turn cooldown.
Windblade - A spin-slash that cuts through the air to increase its own range... So long as he manages to keep his grip on his rapier.
-2St damage, AoE attack. Disarms on crit fail.
Respite - A moment to compose himself, or patch up any wounds.
Heals for 3Wp/St, cooldown of three turns.
Disarmed attacks:
All these attacks require Bladeless Stance.
Basic Attack (1.5St)
Sunrise Kick - A mix of a backflip and a kick, aimed at an opponent's head.
-2St, 1St to self on a miss. 50% chance to stun.
Shake It Off - Vale tries to get himself back into a clear state of mind by decking himself in the face like a ruffian.
-Removes all non-stackable/permanent status effects. Deals 0.5St damage to self per status effect removed this way.
Distraction - Through some dirty trick (kicking up sand, tossing a rock, etc), Vale attemtps to distract his opponent before diving to get his blade.
-1St, rearms on success, returning to Basic Stance.
Resistances and Weaknesses:
Special attribute: Dignity - Despite being as vulnerable to the charms of midara as the average person, Vale is somewhat able to shrug off the long term effects of his defeats.
-Vale may only have up to three extra weaknesses. Any permanent ending from losing to a midara become a non-canon "what if" scenario instead of retiring the character for real.
Resistance: Sadism - Vale has a reasonable pain tolerance, and as such, any attacks done with the sole purpose of inflicting pain tend to not affect him much. He simply takes no pleasure in being hurt.
-Halves all pain-based damage, and automatically uses Riposte when hit by a crotch shot.
Resistance: Stench - As a former noble, he's quite squeamish and easily disgusted by nasty smells, which is one hell of a way to get him out of any aroused state.
-Attacks based on "stinky" scents deal zero damage to him whatsoever. In fact, they restore Wp instead. Note: this does not include mild sweat. Perfume and natural feminine scents are more than fine though.
Weakness: Temptation - Vale has frankly had little affection as a kid, and is shyer than he'd like to admit. It is not actually that hard for a midara to convince him that they just want a bit of a fun time, and it's hard for him to not consider the idea, especially if the midara is truthful.
-Vale must roll an additional will check whenever an opponent tries to talk him out of fighting (by tempting him to surrender or promising affection), or he ends up skipping his turn. Unless the enemy's clearly got ill intent.
Weakness: Gentleness - Vale gets weak in the knees for girls who are assertive yet kind, and melts in any kind of hug or touch that isn't just fucking him into submission.
-Takes 1 bonus Wp damage whenever getting hit by an attack the game master would qualify as one of the following: pampering, kind, wholesome, gentle-dom, motherly, sisterly, relaxing, etc, and must roll at a disadvantage to get out of binds that are of that nature.
This is frankly long overdue. Aze was a character that sucked. I hope this guy's better.... Since i've got less free time these days, i might end up being a bit more of a player than a GM. I still don't know how balanced he is and might need a test run sometimes, but in the meantime here's his profile.
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