A shimmering rainbow arch materialized in the dark street and a thin man stepped out. As it disappeared behind him he paused to survey the destruction he saw everywhere. He was dressed in all black - a black leather jacket over a black button-up shirt, black jeans, and black boots. A prismatic artist's palette floated near him and, in his hand, something shifted between a paintbrush, an ink pen, and a marker. Releasing it, the tool hung in the air next to him, exuding a sense of power that rippled through the very fabric of The System.
It would have been mesmerizing, if there had been anyone here to see it.
The neighborhood around him was burned to cinders, with bodies scattered around the house directly in front of him. The tracking illusion he'd created to follow Father Gabriel had led him here and he lamented, once again, his inability to use his magic more frequently. I guess that's what happens when you try to wield unlimited power in a human body, he thought.
Before The System came he'd had decades of experience as a successful artist, with books, graphic novels, and children's books in bookstores across the world. When The System arrived he knew he wouldn't get stronger by running into the night and killing monsters - that wasn't his character in the story. He'd drawn enough comic books to know the front-line heroes, the ones who gained amazing powers and could smash through enemies like gnats. Those characters were necessary, but they had never been his favorites.
He'd loved the magicians and the support characters that proved instrumental to victory when the might of muscle and weapons wasn't enough. The ones who used their brains to outthink enemies or to come up with the most beautiful deus ex machinas, stealing victory from the hands of defeat at the crucial moments. He loved the characters that stepped in at the penultimate moments, when the heroes had fallen and all hope seemed lost, only to say "Here, let me help." To him, those characters were the most heroic, since they didn't have stupendous strength or invincible skin to save them. They had to face the danger as they were and get the warriors back on their feet.
He'd thought that would be enough and he had dived into The System with all the fascination and exploration of someone determined to understand why it worked the way it did, and how best to turn it to his advantage. He'd started to see behind the curtain and peel away the layers of mystery of their new reality. He began to grasp the inner workings and make them his own.
That was when Father Gabriel arrived, and his life was reduced to ash.
No. He shook those thoughts away and focused on the task at hand. He walked to the house with the bodies scattered around it, stepping carefully around a body in the driveway that had been run over by a vehicle. The house was a blackened skeleton of ash and wood, with occasional limbs sticking out of the rubble.
He pulled his brush out of the air and transformed it into a pen, then started drawing symbols in the air before him. He changed it to a colored marker and filled the Seeking spell with the colors of life, sending it on its way. It wouldn't take long, but he was still impatient. He wanted to be away from this charnel house as soon as he could, impacts to his stats be damned. Minutes later colors flowed from all directions of the neighborhood and settled back into the pattern before turning black and fading out of existence.
Nothing lived here. Once again, he was surrounded by the dead, too late to stop it.
He dipped his head in silent respect for the dead before summoning his palette and brush. A few quick strokes in the air and the rainbow arch appeared again, facing the direction that Father Gabriel was currently at. He didn't know if he was close enough to jump directly to him this time, and didn't know if he'd be strong enough to defeat him even if he was. His magic wasn't that of heroes, it didn't kill. He'd just have to hope that he'd find a hero along the way, and that he'd get there before Gabriel had done his evil work again.
The System responded to his call and the portal vanished as he stepped through, leaving no witnesses behind to see it.
Mason: A New Hunt Begins
Mason gripped the running motorcycle with one hand, Dante's head in the other. Dante screamed as Mason shoved his face closer to the spinning back tire.
"I swear it, boss, that's all I know!" His eyes looked ready to pop out of his skull as his face was pushed closer to the tire that was about to rip the skin off his recently healed jaw.
Mason glared at him with disgust and rage, then dropped the bike and hurled Dante fifty feet into the pool. Mason stomped to the pool as Dante sputtered, hauling himself onto the concrete lip with a wet slump. He planted a heavy boot on Dante's back, pressing him into the concrete. "You're telling me one single black bitch did this to two of MY lieutenants? ONE??"
Dante waved feebly, unable to speak. Mason felt a soft hand slide up his arm to his neck. "He can't answer if he can't breathe, Sweetie," a sultry voice said. Mason sighed, stepped off Dante, and walked to a lounge chair, dropping heavily into it. He grabbed a bottle from the table and gulped half of it down.
"He said he saw their names when he identified them coming out of the zoo," Blake said. "The dad was Zavier Torres, and the other two were his kids, Cassian and Luna. He never saw the woman but we can guess that she must be Tess."
Mason grunted. "That family that beat me on the leaderboard, huh?" He stroked his beard in thought. "Well isn't that a fucking coincidence then." He was out of the chair again, facing his crew. "Well I guess this means war then. No one comes after me and lives. I never liked them getting the jump on me like that, looks like we got the chance to set things right."
Rodrick stepped up, the only one of his lieutenants that matched Mason in size. "We got a pretty good thing going here, boss."
Rodrick saw the backhand coming for him but knew better than to dodge it. It took him hard and sent him skidding across the manicured lawn.
"I said, 'No one comes after me and lives.' Anyone have a problem with that?" He glared at each of them, watching eyes lower in deference. He activated Dominion and watched with satisfaction as their eyes took on the haze of his will. "When I say we go to war, we go to fucking war."
This time they cheered.
Edward Steck, Level: 10
Class: He Who Creates
Core Stats:
● STR: 8
● AGI: 8
● END: 13
● INT: 25 (30)
● LUC: 10
● CHA: 20 (27)
Combat Skills:
● Melee Combat: Basic 1
● Ranged Combat: Basic 1
● Defense: Basic 1
● Tactics: Intermediate 3
● Attack: 1
● Defense: 1
Magic and Technology:
● Magic Affinity: Advanced 1
● Tech Savvy: N/A
● Spellcraft: Advanced 1
● Enchantments: Intermediate 5
Ancillary Skills:
● Leadership: N/A
● Survival: Basic 2
● Crafting: Advanced 1
● Stealth: N/A
Special Attributes:
● Enhancements/Impairments:
Skill Name: The Pen Is Mightier (System Reward)
Type: System Manipulation
Description: Awarded by The System for your extreme efforts to rewrite reality after a devastating loss, this skill represents your tireless efforts and genius artistic mind giving you a deep understanding of the inner workings of The System. It allows you to manipulate The System itself, altering small aspects of reality according to your imagination and level.
Effects: Through this skill, you can make minor adjustments to reality, such as altering the properties of an object, changing the appearance of a location, or slightly enhancing your own abilities. These changes are temporary, their duration dependent on the level of your Enchantments skill, allowing for strategic advantages in critical moments. The System Override ability lets you bypass minor System limitations or create temporary loopholes, enabling creative and unexpected solutions to problems. Your creative imagination can manifest minor physical changes within a 50-foot radius, making you a versatile and unpredictable force.
Limitations: The alterations made through The Pen Is Mightier are inherently minor and temporary, unable to cause permanent changes to reality. Overuse or attempting major changes can attract The System's attention, leading to potential penalties or System interventions, making it crucial to use this skill judiciously. Each use of this skill requires significant mental energy, reducing your Intelligence by two points for each subsequent use within an hour, ensuring that you must carefully consider when and how to employ its reality-bending powers. Reduction of penalties dependent on your Enchantments level.
Skills and Abilities:
Skill Name: Art Becomes Reality
Level: 3
Type: System Manipulation
Description: This skill allows you to sketch elements that can temporarily alter reality. The scope and complexity of these alterations depend on your level and imagination. These changes are not permanent but can have lasting effects if used strategically.
Effects:
● Sketch Manifestation: You can draw objects or entities that manifest in reality for a limited duration. The complexity and size of the manifestations increase with your skill level.
● Creative Influence: Grants you a +2 bonus to Intelligence and Charisma when using this skill to manipulate or deceive.
● Artistic Control: Allows you to control the movements and actions of your sketched creations within a 50-foot radius.
Limitations:
● Duration: Sketches last for 10 minutes per skill level, with a maximum of 30 minutes.
● Complexity: More complex or powerful creations require more time and concentration to sketch, with a chance of failure if rushed. Complexity and success rate dependent on the level of your Spellcraft skill.
● Mental Strain: Using this skill repeatedly within a short period can cause mental fatigue, reducing Intelligence and Charisma by 1 for each subsequent use within an hour. Penalty reduced based on the level of your Magic Affinity skill.
Skill Name: An Artist Always Walks Unbound
Level: 2
Type: Spatial Manipulation
Description: This skill allows you to teleport to locations you have visited before or places where you can get a strong impression through pictures or videos. The accuracy and range of your teleportation depend on your skill level.
Effects:
● Memory Portal: You can teleport to any location you have previously visited with perfect accuracy.
● Impression Travel: By focusing on a picture or video, you can teleport to a location depicted, with a slight chance of error based on the clarity and detail of the image.
● Spatial Awareness: Grants you a +2 bonus to Perception and Intelligence when using this skill to understand and navigate new environments.
Limitations:
● Familiarity: The accuracy of your teleportation decreases with locations you are less familiar with or have only seen through images.
● Cooldown: Each use of this skill requires a cooldown period of 1 day before it can be used again effectively.
● Overclock Energy Drain: You can overclock this skill and use it more than once per day but each teleportation requires significant mental energy, reducing your Intelligence by 1 for each subsequent use within the 24 hour period.
Special Items:
Item Name: Brush of Reality
Type: Tool
Description: A magical brush that enhances your ability to manipulate reality. It allows you to make more precise and effective alterations to The System and reality itself. This tool can change shape to meet the user's needs, becoming any artistic implement. Note that it cannot be used as a weapon itself.
Effects:
● Precision Control: Grants a +3 bonus to all artistic skills, allowing for more precise and stable changes.
● Energy Efficiency: Reduces the mental strain of using The Pen is Mightier, allowing the penalty to Intelligence be reduced based your level of the Enchantment skill.
● Enhanced Creativity: Increases your Creativity and Intelligence by 2 when using the brush.
Item Name: Palette of Possibilities
Type: Tool
Description: A magical palette that allows you to mix and blend different realities, creating unique and powerful effects. The palette enhances all of your creative skills.
Effects:
● Reality Blending: Allows you to combine aspects of different skills, creating hybrid effects that are more powerful and versatile.
● Creative Boost: Grants a +4 bonus to all creative skills.
● Adaptive Power: Enhances your ability to adapt your creations to different situations, making them more effective and versatile. Creations become more potent based on the following improvements:
○ Magic Affinity: Speed, ease, and cost of the casting
○ Spellcraft: Potency, longevity, and complexity of the casting
○ Enchantments: The spell's ability to impact reality, including its likelihood of becoming real or permanent