Lionel- pronounced with a clear "lion" before the "el"- an adventurer following in her brother's footsteps, is a plucky and inexperienced 19-year-old trying to learn the ropes in order to travel the world. Besides her personal desires to learn by doing and understand by seeing, her adventures are motivated in large part as a tribute to her brother, who was lost in his own travels due to the midara.
Appearance:
Lionel is 5'4 of pure scruffiness. Her short, curly dark-brown hair is only partially contained under her yellow bandanna- both of which contrast nicely with her hazel eyes. Her outfits revolve around being light, spacious, and earthy-colored; it's not atypical to see her in a green t-shirt and multi-pocketed khaki shorts. She tends to be quick and choppy in her motions, seemingly able to snap into movement at any moment.
Personality:
Lionel is a big fan of learning through experience- she couldn't sit still to read a book for the life of her, but with a hands-on approach she can get hyped up on just about anything. Adventuring thusly came naturally to her- especially so since she had her older brother as a role-model and guide. Nothing brings Lionel joy quite like reaching a new location and learning some new skill or aspect of culture from the locals.
It came as an especially hard hit to Lionel when her brother was lost to the midara- the world suddenly became a much darker and scarier place, with temptresses seemingly everywhere, ready to snatch Lionel's dreams out from under her at any time. Lionel has been left with both a deep-seated hatred of the midara and a profound fear of their power. She doesn't trust herself to travel anywhere alone- she knows fully well that most midara could steamroll her in a fight- so she tends to maintain her traveling tendency through tagging along with heroes or other adventuring parties. She always uses the name Lionel in her travels- a nickname her brother had given her- as a way to keep his memory alive.
Lionel tries to maintain a calm, respectful way of going about the world, both towards her party members and towards the people she meets along the way, but she isn't skillful in keeping her emotions in check. She can get revved up, towards both positive and negative moods, with very little provocation. While she's in good spirits, she can be quite a helpful and caring lass indicative of a support type- while she's down in the dumps, though, she can be quite snappish and self-centered.
Abilities:
Passives:
Love/Hate Relationship:
Love and hate are two sides of the same coin, so they say- Lionel, with her strong feelings of distrust and fear towards the midara, is particularly vulnerable to their ministrations if they can push the right buttons. Lionel starts at half the willpower of her strongest ally, but all attacks against her deal one less willpower, to a minimum of zero. (Weak/simple attempts to sway her have no effect, but she is easily swayed from higher-level attacks.)
Foot Fantasy:
Regardless of personal preference, we all have our guilty pleasures. Frankly, she finds fair feet fascinating- something so enticing about their soft simplicity. Feet-based attacks against her allies cause Lionel to lose an emotion token, since the pleasurable display calms her down. Feet-based attacks against her deal an additional two willpower damage. (Love/Hate Relationship still applies. An initially one-WP foot-based attack will ultimately deal two willpower damage, after the two-willpower rise of Foot Fantasy and the one-willpower fall of Love/Hate Relationship.
Frilly Fabrics:
Additionally, Lionel is a big fan of velvety-soft materials, having rarely come across them in her travels. A midara cloaked in especially soft material, or who uses a bind which wraps the victim in such a material, will automatically succeed in performing binds. (Rolls must still be made to determine if willpower damage is dealt.)
Courage and Cowardice:
At the start of an encounter, a die roll determines if Lionel views the encounter positively (an even roll- courage) or negatively (odd- cowardice). A second die roll determines how many tokens she will receive for the given mood: 1-20 provides one token, 21-40 provides two, etc. Different actions in the battle (described below) will provide tokens for Lionel towards either her courageous mood or her cowardly mood- if she is currently courageous and she receives cowardly tokens, the cowardly tokens will nullify an equal number of courage tokens. (If Lionel has five courage tokens, and she receives three cowardice tokens, she ends up with two remaining courage tokens.)
Courage tokens are awarded when the battle appears to be going well against the midara.
A single token is awarded when:
- An allied character (or Lionel) breaks free of a bind.
- Damage is dealt against the midara for three turns in a row.
- The midara loses a multiple of five stamina over time. (This will occur when the midara hits 25 stamina, 20 stamina, 15, etc.)
Two tokens are awarded when:
- An allied character (or Lionel) performs a critical success.
- A midara performs a critical failure.
- The midara receives a negative status effect.
If an allied character deals three or more stamina damage in a single attack to the midara, Lionel receives courage tokens equal to the amount of damage dealt counting from three. (One token for three damage, two tokens for four damage, etc.)
Cowardice tokens, of course, are received when the midara appears to gain the upper hand. Most courage-token-awarding actions can be reversed to become cowardice-token-awarding actions.
A single token is awarded when:
- An allied character (or Lionel) fails to struggle free of a bind.
- Damage is dealt against any allied character (not necessarily the same one) for three turns in a row.
- Any ally (or Lionel) loses a multiple of five stamina over time. (This will occur when a character hits 25 WP, 20 WP, 15, etc.)
- Any ally receives a negative status effect. (Status effects are more commonly caused by midara, so this is too common to warrant two tokens.
Two tokens are awarded when:
- The midara performs a critical success.
- Any allied character (including Lionel) performs a critical failure.
If the midara deals three or more willpower damage in a single attack to any allied character (including Lionel), Lionel receives cowardice tokens equal to the amount of damage dealt counting from three. (One token for three damage, two tokens for four damage, etc.)
Each mood has its own set of passives and abilities, usually revolving around how many tokens Lionel has available. Lionel needs to have the required number of tokens to perform an attack, and she will lose those tokens immediately upon the attack being performed. (If the attack fails, she will only lose half of the required tokens, rounded up.) If Lionel hits 0 tokens, she will maintain whichever mood she was just in; only when she crosses the 0 threshold does her mood change.
Volatile Mood:
Lionel can't stay in a neutral mood for very long under the heat of battle- for every turn, if Lionel has fewer than five tokens of either mood, she will gain a token for her current mood. (This occurs after every other action in the turn- after her attack, her ally's and the midara's attacks, and any token gains/losses from those events.)
Impressionable:
Lionel's moods don't operate in a closed system; those around her can play a big part. Any ally can spend a turn yelling at Lionel in either a supportive or a belittling way, causing (respectively) a rise in either courage or cowardice tokens. (Two on a success, one on a failure.) The midara, however, can do the same thing- always causing a rise in cowardice tokens. (Again, two on a success, and one on a failure.)
Actives: (Any mood)
Bash:
No matter her mood, Lionel fully-well knows how to hit the midara upside the head. Typically used when her mood is too light to perform any more beneficial attacks. Deals one stamina damage.
I'm a Support, so I can Heal!:
Lionel isn't always true to herself. Deciding that she
has to be able to bring some basic support to the party, she takes it on herself to restore willpower by smacking some sense into her companions. Always deals one stamina damage to her victim of choice, and has a chance to restore one willpower.
Pocket Sand!:
All good adventurers keep a handy pocket full of beach sand in case of emergencies. On a success, interrupts the midara's action and deals one stamina damage. On a failure, looks silly. Only usable once per battle.
Courage:
Passives:
Psyched Up: (No token requirement)
Even with a minor mood, Lionel can really get revved up when she's feeling good. While she's feeling the courage, Lionel's mighty Bash attack also has a chance to stun the midara for one turn.
Helping Hand: (Active while Lionel has 5 or more tokens)
Those sorts of attacks that cause the hero to skip a turn solving something- getting off the ground, retrieving a weapon, etc- they're so pesky! Confident Lionel is here to lend some assistance. Whenever an ally needs to skip a turn to physically clear an impediment, Lionel can skip her turn instead to help the ally out.
One-Woman Cheer Squad: (Active while Lionel has 10 or more tokens)
It's hard to focus on seducing a target when
this weird girl is over there, pumping her fists, cheering any mild action of the hero, and vehemently booing any step you take. The midara is unable to perform critical successes.
Actives:
I Found a Rock: (One token)
Lionel just straight-up throws a rock at the midara. Simple and effective. Deals one stamina damage. If the midara currently has an ally in a bind, Lionel can "accidentally" hit the ally with the rock instead, restoring two willpower and dealing one stamina damage.
Snap Out of It!: (Three tokens)
Lionel can't stand when her allies are put into that mindless, infatuated condition midara like to promote. By snapping her fingers, clapping her hands, and generally shouting in the face of her allies, Lionel has a chance of dispelling their charm or hypnotized conditions, atop a chance of recovering one willpower. (Two dice are rolled, one for status and one for WP. Only one status effect can be dispelled at a time.)
Beneficial Bind: (Five tokens)
While the midara is busy holding one of her allies in a bind, Lionel sneakily comes from behind and ties the midara's shoelaces together. (Or, for the boring midara with fancy shoes, ties their legs together with her bandana.) Causes the Bound in a Bind status effect. The midara can spend a turn of the bind removing the effect, dealing no willpower damage to the target of the bind during that turn. If the midara does not remove the status effect, and the ally successfully struggles free, the ally can perform a free action against the tied-up midara.
(Unfortunately, does not work against midara without legs.)
Touchdown!!: (Ten tokens)
Overflowing with confidence in her team's easy upcoming victory, Lionel expends some energy by charging and tackling the midara. On a success, deals one stamina damage and allows each ally to perform a free attack against the distracted midara. On a failure, allows the midara a free attack against Lionel atop the midara's regular action.
Cowardice:
Passives:
Jittery: (No token requirement)
Lionel's stressful/scared endeavors are causing her motions to get especially blunt and choppy. With the added power in her smack, I'm a Support, so I can Heal! restores two willpower automatically, and has a chance of dispelling charm. (One stamina damage is still dealt.)
What About Me??: (Active while Lionel has five or more tokens)
Heroes have a tendency, at times, of gaining a morbid curiosity of their given midara, to the point of passing a turn so the midara can continue having their way. Lionel, while she's struggling to keep still through her nervous shakes, happens to
not appreciate those heroes, and so she puts a lot of nervous energy into pressuring them against it. Prevents allies from passing turns willfully.
Panic-Provided Protection: (Active while Lionel has ten or more tokens)
Lionel is too jittery and stressed at this point to allow her allies to bare the brunt of the midara's advances. If an ally performs a critical failure, or the midara performs a critical success, Lionel will jump in to absorb the damage of the midara's extra action.
Actives:
In This Together: (One token)
Trying to steel herself and keep spirits high, Lionel takes hold of an ally's shoulders during a lull in the battle, trying to motivate them both to stay calm and keep going. Automatically heals one willpower to the ally, and has a chance of restoring one willpower to Lionel.
Flash: (Three tokens)
Growing desperate, Lionel does the best thing she can think of to keep her allies' attention away from the midara's advances: she shouts for attention and hikes up her t-shirt to show off her free-hanging boobs. Restores three willpower to the flashed ally on a success, or deals one willpower damage on a failure by further enticing the ally. Also restores one willpower to Lionel in either case, because flashing peeps is fun.
Bind Bash: (Five tokens)
Lionel can
not just sit here and watch the midara have her way with a bound ally. Lionel approaches from behind, raises a fist, and
bashes the midara atop the head. Deals one stamina damage to the midara, restores one willpower to the ally, and breaks the bind.
Shriek: (Ten tokens)
Overwhelmed by the fear of her party being wiped out and losing everything, Lionel lets loose a cathartic
shriek. Automatically restores five willpower to each ally, Lionel not included. A die is rolled for each active mind-inhibiting status effect (charm, hypnosis, etc)- each success removes that one effect. A final die is rolled for the effect on Lionel- on a failure, Lionel's self-pity damages her own willpower by up to three points. This can not bring Lionel below one willpower. (If three damage is dealt, this activates Courage and Cowardice to award her one cowardice token.)
There we are- a relatively simple (ish) project to follow up on the mess that was Pray. (Only 3/4 hours, this time around!)
The initial idea for Lionel was along the lines of "a support who's really bad at being a support"- the first (and only major) move I came up with was Bind Bash. While I was spending some time brainstorming how to be innovative with the idea (following the Pray standard), I first came to the conclusion that I could in some way make her rely on spending and gaining a sort of currency to power her attacks. Along the way I realized that the token currency could totally go
both ways, meaning that using heavy attacks on one side of the spectrum would kinda help power her towards returning to the other side of the spectrum. Nifty. (Plus, while it's technically similar to Pray's Hyper Flirt/Hyper Fright alteration, Lionel has the added complexity of being able to switch between the two many times within the same encounter.)
Anywho! It was fun putting her together- I wonder how completely broken she would be in an actual encounter. (I've really got to get into the roleplay a bit, if only to test to see if these characters are completely over-powered or not.)
Once again, please let me know what you think about Lionel! Feedback is greatly appreciated. (This profile is only about half the length as the last one, so you can enjoy the minimized reading time!)
(Next up: a gender-ambiguous hero-type character. And after that, my first midara.)
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