Nobilis

I'm not decrying it or anything, I'm just a little amazed that it went that way.

Okay, so Super Sentai runs on Techno and Adventure Fantasy, with stuff like Kakuranger and most of the newer Sentai using more Techno. That's why there's so many Rituals/Transitions in it— time to do the morphing sequence and the roll call! Time for the finisher! Etc. Though if I actually had to count it, the actual Rituals would be limited to just the important ones. It also explains why there's so many scenes where a character is down on their knees frozen over their issue when one of the rangers will pick them up and tell them an inspiring message or that they're going to protect them; it's Sympathetic Action in play.

Kamen Rider is Epic Fantasy, especially Heisei Kamen Rider, which is all about heroes pondering the right thing to do before transforming and declaring their reason to fight, characters testing out their ideals against one another by transforming and having a fight, and characters doing the wrong thing out of their messed up circumstances/edgy rival status, and then probably transforming and fighting. This goes double especially for Kamen Rider Ryuki and Kamen Rider Gaim (and honestly, probably Kamen Rider Blade), which are these just characters repeating all three of these actions constantly. Newer shows from the second era borrow from Sentai more and use more Techno: the sequences are flashier, Sympathetic Action kicks in all the time. Kamen Rider Fourze was written by the Gurren Lagann/Kill la Kill dude and is pretty Techno in particular. The trippier series probably use Fairy Tale more.

I have a lot of thoughts on what individual Riders and Rangers could be running, but since there's no real frame of reference for anyone else, I think the main thing is that the three basic types of heroes in toku, especially recent toku, fit pretty well into the Immortal/Frantic/Sickly framework (Kamen Rider Agito has three heroes that are Immortal, Frantic, and Sickly respectively) generally and there are so many Riders on Bindings, since one of the main themes is "Kamen Riders are tragic rebels that use the same powers as their enemies." Plus, Kamen Rider loves its broody rival characters that could use Wounded Angel. I think a lot of Magical Girl show arcs show up pretty frequently in toku too, especially with later shows where those genres have gotten to cross-pollinate more.

I think the modular collectible gimmick powers would mostly be represented with Specialist and possibly Primordial.

edited 8th Jan '16 12:12:59 AM by Inari2600

Indomitable, AKA Immortal Silver.

The arc's Curse is literally "You are Cursed with Awesome".

You are dazzled by my array of very legal documents.

Interesting. I like the whole, strength as relative, not really on a level, just stronger than you. Trying to think about characters that could fit; I feel like it's pinging at a lot of examples in my head but I can't figure out particular instances.

One Punch Man feels like he has Inhuman Strength, but I don't really know about Fear or Keen Sense. Villains who have some kind of, unbeatable strength or gimmick that get taken down by the heroes going outside of the box feel like they fit.

Kamen Rider Amazon and some others, might have this.

edited 8th Jan '16 4:51:49 PM by Inari2600

Parody Janeway from SF Debris has Inhuman Strength in the field of willpower, the Curse of being on Voyager (she uses the power mentioned in the writeup but not coming until the next update to inflict the downsides on her crew), and uses the Fear power to torment her underlings, especially Harry Kim.

You are dazzled by my array of very legal documents.

Batman, Indomitable with Inhuman Planning??

And his Keen Sense is the ability to determine the five-by-five square any given bit of Gotham dirt came from.

It definitely looks like an overpowered-manga-villain powerset from what's up so far, although I'm not always sure where the keen sense comes in. I'm seeing Dio and Kars (Inhuman Regeneration?), Hao (Inhuman Spirit Power or a like trait), Gaara (Inhuman Defense), and Orochimaru (Inhuman Cunning?).

"Broody rival messing with forbidden powers and failing to be good and perfect" definitely has some overlap with magical girl stuff.

The thing about Batman is that his character is so old that you could associate any number of arcs to him, depending on what you'd want to emphasize, particularly Frantic arcs. He can have a low-level The Ace because he's awesome at anything human. He can have Become Somebody because he fights hard to adapt himself to any circumstance as a crimefighter. Creature of Fable makes him the iconic man in a bat suit. Liberal interpretations can give him Knave of Hearts to build around him the Batman Mythos, including his Rogues Gallery and Bat-family. Sentimental can give him lots of cool toys and allow him to empower people he cares about more directly... the list goes on.

It's a common recurring pattern when it comes to characters that have undergone a lot of interpretations and examination: you can build them lots of different ways.

I can totally see Dio on this arc (along Self-Made). Some examples you listed seem better for Superior Skills, though, and given that this is an Immortal arc, there's no need to focus all that much on their defenses. Dio might have Superior Vitality as per normal, but Cars I could see with Superior Life Manipulation or something? Gaara can have Superior Sand Control or something, maybe.

This is such a 'monster-powers' arc it's great. I agree that it's very suited for overpowered shonen villains. Really, the one guy I think doesn't have it is probably Aizen, but only because he's rocking a high-level Creature of Fable arc.

Dio has Superior Vampire Laser Eyes. Or Superior ZA WARUDO.

From the examples given, it seems like Inhuman Whatever is supposed to be something that humans have, just ramped up. And Inhuman Shooting High-Pressure Jets Of Eye Goo, for instance, is kind of redundant because shooting high-pressure jets of eye goo is something inhuman to begin with.

For Gaara specifically, I'd put the emphasis on his defense rather than his sand control because the former's played as the thing that makes him this, well, indomitable badass. He's not scary because he's got unstoppable sand powers, though his sand attacks ain't no joke. He's scary because he's the guy who's never been hurt. Not so much as a scratch. Sees his own blood for the first time when he's a teenager and has a breakdown over it. That all gets played up a lot more than him having sand powers.

Superior STANDO POWAH.

Indomitable is the arc for that villain that pops up in every shonen/tokusatsu and beats up the heroes with their ultimate power/regeneration/super speed/gimmick, then the hero goes on some kind of personal journey or training to get a power-up that circumvents it.

I kind of want to do a character whose Curse is "I am so much better than you it hurts me" and an Affliction that has Leonardo appearing from behind bushes and out of fruit stalls like some goth Pinkie Pie to demand his schtick back.

You are dazzled by my array of very legal documents.

Doublepost: Indomitable pt 2.

I don't think I'll have time to read it yet - I have stuff today - but I'll settle down at the next opportunity.

You are dazzled by my array of very legal documents.

I get the feeling that Indomitable + Creature of Fable, and then some Green or Black Arc would make a good fairy tale monster. Which I guess makes it fitting that Darklords have that.

I think this arc would work decently well for a werewolf character I've been thinking about for a story.

Jenna's been posting up Renegade, the Frantic Blue arc for applying gratuitous Handwavium. I love this game.

Edit: Also, I'm well informed that the arc has gone through a great number of names - Ruffian, Rascal, Rogue, Rationalist, Russian, Rube Goldberg, among several others.

edited 22nd Feb '16 12:34:06 PM by Crinias

I second your love for this game.

Along with Specialist, this seems like a good Arc for modeling a Jojo character. Blanking on any other characters it fits, which is annoying because I'm pretty sure I know a bunch.

Batman probably has this, although as I've suggested before, a lot of arcs fit him due to his long history. I posted on the Rpgnet Patreon thread that Lexiarchos is definitely on this (the super-preparation and Gambit Roulette are dead giveaways), and so are probably some Metal Gear protagonists and villains. I can only imagine Ocelot has Renegade 5, given his simply absurd levels of being a Double Reverse Quadruple Agent.

Talking it over with some friends, we concluded that Togame from Katanagatari is on this, being a self-declared Strategist, while Shichika is a Warmain on Creature of Fable, if we assume his Cut the Soul version is him nullifying other people's martial arts with his own (and going by how by the end he ends up Testing all the blades). Meanwhile, Shichika's sister Nanami is a Deceiver advancing her Second Skin, judging by how she can copy other people's martial arts techniques. Funny how these things work.

Oh man, In The Shadows is just the coolest power. You get to lurk around where only the audience can see you, dropping subtle hints about your presence until someone dramatically reveals you.

Chekov's Clue looks like a lot of fun as well.

By the way, Jenna's started posting Magical Hero.

Chuubo's is a very anime sort of game, but unless Of A Certain Place pulls out all the stops, Magical Hero is taking the cake for the most anime thing to come out of it. Shield and Raw Magic in particular.

>_> Sure is dead in this thread. I'll still post the last two parts of Magical Hero here in case anyone wants to comment on it.

Mind if I chime in? I have been looking for a thread to talk about Nobilis. :P

I hope I am not doing something crazy by posting it here.

A bit unsure of how the character I have in mind would work. I mean... It is pretty much a Nobilis Of

That empty space is intentional. If I were to put it in words it'd be Nothing or Nothingness. Hardly the most original idea but I find the concept (heh) fascinating. If I were to describe the theme I had in mind... It'd be Tabula Rasa. :p

Problem being that I feel like the Excrucians (I think that is how they are spelled?) seem to fill that role but with far more sinister (maybe) implications.

This sorta ties in to that story I had in mind a few years back (and still do). I'll just paste the post since I am feeling lazy.

---

Here is a bit of an oddity. Or maybe it isn't. I am not sure. Writing a story from the perspective of an abstract personification of a force or concept. I've read the Book Thief and I have to say that it was... a special experience and refreshing. At times it felt like I was reading Terry Pratchett's Discworld!Death, only with a more somber tone and less dry wit.

And so I wanted to try out something similiar. But not from the perspective of Death but... wait for it... *drumroll* Nothing. Yeah, you read that right. For me this is quite an interesting idea since it deals with quite a few interesting subjects: Isolation and a sense of purpose.

You might be asking: Why? Well, I would like to think of it like this: So far, every anthromorphic personification i've come across has had some sort of duty, whether it has been causing war and destruction, creating fire or more obscure things. So then a thought appeared in my head: If Nothing was an anthromorphic personification, what would their duty be? To do nothing? And then there is also this. The alienation from the rest. Imagine, if you will, a pitch-black darkness. Sort of like the Void Between Worlds. Only for this tranquility to be broken into pieces with a Big Bang.

How would such a creature experience such a change? Such a being? A being that has no shape or form, but only consciousness. Or atleast what seems to be consciousness. If I may draw a comparison... it would have to be like that of a jellyfish. It is living in the sense that it can interact with the World, but not quite so intelligent as to be seen as sentient.

By using this above comparison with a jellyfish, we can assume that Nothing's intellect is nonexistent at this point in time. How would it deal with this? To see strange and alien shapes that it has no words for?

I know, I know. At this point it might seem like pretentious drivel, but bear with me.

I was thinking that throughout the aeons, this being experiences change. The realization that it in and of itself is a paradox. A meaningless existence. Perhaps this might sound like a Contemplate Our Navels story with a Heavy dose of existential angst, but I think it ould be quite an interesting story to tell.

Would it be feasible? Any books or tricks that might give me an insight to this subject? I am currently keeping an eye on Sandman, a comic book that was written by Neil Gaiman.

edited 8th Mar '16 7:15:30 AM by EvilMegaCookie

Hi! Go ahead, we welcome any ideas. And yeah, I'd definitely agree that that sort of concept works best as an Excrucian of some sort. When making a Noble, you want something tangible and understandable. Deceivers, Warmains and Strategists have more room for conceptual nonsense, in a manner of speaking. So it'd be feasible, but you'd have to figure out how it would work.

Correct me if I am wrong but Exrucians aren't evil by default, right?

They're not.

Deceivers believe that there is an inexpressible truth beneath the lie that is the world, and they want to reveal it - unfortunately, the only way to do that is usually indistinguishable from destroying or irrevocably transforming the world into something it's not.

Warmains seek within the world something that is in their eyes worthy of them - but the general way to find those things is to cut the world in little pieces and put them through hell.

Strategists just outright loathe the world and destroy everything they don't like about it - but then, that's usually because they're terribly broken and have suffered from a curse that has twisted them.

Mimics were once Imperators, but they've been transformed into something that works at cross purposes with the world. For the most part they're ok, but they tend to warp the things around them in unnatural ways.

None of them are necessarily good or evil, for the most part they're all abnormal and alien to the world. There's nothing that inherently forces them to try to destroy the world, it's mostly a choice.

I see. Honestly, I was thinking that the character I had in mind could be a Imperator or something but that would probably not work unless I had a really, really good sheet and/or idea.

I feel like Mimic could fit. But at the same time it doesn't seem to be a solution since, while it is hardly original, I wanted my character to be something that tries to interact with the world.. With varying degrees of success.

"You are supposed to leave footprints in the sand when you walk. Not pass by like you were a bloody ghost."

Just something I had in mind as an example. Or that they'd feel that there is something off about the way he or she moves, almost like something imitating a human. Problem being that the movements are so perfectly done that it removes the flaws of being human entirely.

But if I did have it be an Exurcian that tries to fit into human society, but due to its inexperience things often go wrong or people easily pick up on its weirdness.

Maybe it would be a bit too weird but I guess that could work with the final goal being that this entity grows to be as human as possible.

So to sum it with this little brainstorming: An Exurcian that unwittingly causes mayhem while trying to understand the universe at large and its own role in it. A keen interest in humans and their society.

I think I picked a freaking hard concept. >.<

Edit: Basically it'd have a human form but at the beginning it doesn't understand that it consists of organs, blood and that it interacts with the environment in various ways. Not to mention that it really shouldn't look so empty inside nor should it shatter like glass.

edited 8th Mar '16 11:39:11 AM by EvilMegaCookie