Saturday 16 March 2024

Freebie: Ocularion (Adversary)

This week's freebie started out as me making BREAK!!'s version of a certain popular game's iconic  floating eyeball monster and then throwing some curve balls with it. I cut down the amount of eyes to one, and opted to use existing BREAK!! rules to create a more game appropriate and slower acting version of a disintegration ray. I thought giving it the ability to link up with other Adversaries would give it a clear function as a useful minion for greater threats.

If you want to turn it into something a big closer to the inspiration creature, I'd up it's Rank to 8, make it a Mega-Boss, give it a legendary ability that allows it to fire more than one kind of status ailment beam a round, and remove it's bond ability to replace it with something that justified a slightly higher defense rating.

OCULARION

The melting ordeal of being perceived 

Introduction

  • These strange flying eyeballs are theorized to be the result of ancient Calian bio-sorcery. Unsettling due to their odd vestigial claws and unceasing gaze, Ocularions are often found skulking around old ruins or in a symbiotic partnership with other monsters or magic users.

Menace Level

  • Boss

Rank

  • 6

Allegiance (Dark)

  • 3 (Dark) 

  • 1 (Light)

Home Region/Habitat

  • Ocularion’s are most common in the Wistful Dark, but have managed to find themselves all over the Outer World.

Aptitudes (Observant, Mesmerizing, Fragile (+2 Insight, +1 Aura, -2 Grit)

Primary Aptitudes: Deftness, Insight, Aura

Secondary Aptitudes: Might, Grit

  • Might [9]

  • Deftness [10]

  • Grit [7]

  • Insight [12]

  • Aura [11]

Combat Values

  • Hearts [4]

  • Attack [+4]

  • Speed [Slow]

  • Defense Rating [14]

Abilities

Fleshwarped Form (Standard, Species, Magic, Dark)

Ocularions are homunculi created by ancient magic and their physical forms reflect this. Their “bodies'' are enormous eyeballs that are about the size of an average human’s torso, with four sharp claws jutting out at different points in its circumference. 

  • Ocularions have surprisingly sturdy bodies, granting them a natural Defense Rating of 14. They do not need to eat or breathe, managing to sustain themselves by absorbing mana.

  • Ocularions are able to manipulate and grasp objects with their claws in the same way other humanoids can, though certain actions may be easier or more difficult thanks to their odd spherical shape. These claws are also able to strike as Standard Weapons.


Floating Eye (Standard, Species, Magic, Light)

Thanks to the arcane nature of their body, Ocularions move through a limited version of levitation.

  • Ocularions are able to hover through the air.

  • While they have a Speed Rating of Slow, they are able to avoid effects related to walking or crawling along the ground (such as the Perilous Battlefield Condition) among other advantages of being able to float.


Liquifying Gaze (Advanced, Magic, Dark)

The Ocularion’s most feared power is its oppressive glare, which has the ability to desolidify objects and individuals alike.

  • Ocularions may use this Ability in one of two ways:

  • They may target an Area up to 2 Areas away with their gaze. This takes an action and prompts a contest between the Ocularion’s Insight and the Grit scores of any individuals in the targeted Area. 

    • If the Ocularion wins the contest against any of the targets, they are afflicted with the Jellyfied Status Ailment. This effect lasts for an hour unless otherwise dispelled.

    • If a Jellyfied target is subject to this Ability, they automatically take 1 Heart of damage. If the target’s hearts are reduced to 0 or less by this method, they melt completely into formless sludge and are physically destroyed.

  • They may also use this Ability to target objects in an attempt to sunder them. Each turn spent gazing on an object reduces its Hearts by 1. If the Object is not destroyed, hearts lost this way will be restored in an hour. This Ability can melt even magical materials, so it’s considered to be very powerful.


Shared Sight (Advanced, Magic, Dark)

Ocularions have the curious ability to telepathically bond with more powerful entities, allowing their ally to see what they see. It is theorized that they were created to be scouts and guardians for practitioners of dark magic.

  • Ocularions are able to bond with individuals that have at least one Point of Dark Allegiance. Both parties must agree to the arrangement and the bond is established instantly. The bond may also be canceled at any time by either side.

  • Ocularions may only bond with one individual, but said individual may bond with multiple Ocularions without hindrance.

  • Those bonded with the Ocularion are able to communicate with them telepathically regardless of distance. They can also see whatever the Ocularion sees at any given moment.

  • Either side of the bond will know if the other is unconscious or killed.

Communication Methods

  • Ocularions communicate through a form of telepathy that involves sending messages in Dark Tongue though the flow of mana. They understand the spoken and signed components of that language as well.

Tactics

  • Ocularion’s avoid direct combat whenever they can, often opting to try and keep away from an enemy and incapacitate or eliminate them with their melting gaze. Multiple Ocularions will often all use this ability on the same area at once for a truly devastating coordinated attack.

  • They also tend to take advantage of their ability to float, trying to keep an Area or so above their targets or trying to escape via maneuverability if things aren’t going their way.

Yield

  • Characters with the appropriate skills can harvest a Deliquescing Iris from a fallen Ocularion’s body.


Deliquescing Iris (Additive)

This part of the Ocularion’s eye hardens into a strange looking stone when exposed to the air. It makes for an interesting conversation piece, but also can be used to empower imbued items with the Ocularion’s powers.

  • Attack: This item gains the use of the Ocularion’s Liquifying Gaze Ability. This Ability may only be used once every 24 Hours, unless the Imbued Item also incorporates a Spell Engine in its construction. Each additional use of this Ability in this 24 hour period takes a single charge from this Spell Engine.

  • Eldritch: This item allows the bearer access to the Ocularion’s Shared Sight Ability. This differs from the normal version of this Ability in that the bearer may only use it with one person who they already have an existing social bond with.

  • Price: 100 Coins per Unit

Miscellaneous

  • Indicators - The unnerving feeling of being watched, the sound of something slowly cutting through the air, glop that may have vaguely humanoid features

  • Roleplaying Notes - Ocularions are intelligent, observant, and curious but also have little understanding of social niceties and come off as cold and blunt in the best of situations. They may be merciful to those willing to converse with them.

  • Customization  - There are almost certainly other variants of the Ocularion whose gaze causes dangerous versions of other status ailments.

Random Encounter Reaction

  • Friendly/Benign (1-5)

    • This Ocularion is currently not bonded to anyone, and wandering curiously about. Depending on the situation it may take interest in the party, and will respond to inquiries from them in kind.

  • Indifferent/Wary (6-13)

    • This Ocularion is bonded with an authoritative entity in the region, and constantly reports back what they see to them. It is no doubt suspicious of the party, and may retreat or attack if they give it reason to.

  • Hostile/Bloodthirsty (14-20)

    • This Ocularion is bonded with someone that has it out for the party and it is stalking them, waiting for them to enter a dangerous situation 

Variants and Related Entries

  • The Ocularion’s gaze attack could be given to other creatures to represent things like breath weapons or hexes that target a wide area. 

Thursday 29 February 2024

Setting: Mariah Doeheart

One figure is on the cover of BREAK!!'s rulebook, featured on a completed character sheet in the back, and scattered in a few small illustrations throughout. This is Mariah Doeheart, a Battle Princess and a character conceived as the closest to an ideal BREAK!! adventurer as one could manage. She went through many iterations during the game's development, initially beginning as melancholy and serious sort but eventually transforming into the eager heroine she is at present.

This blog entry gives her a more detailed introduction in hopes of giving Players and Game Masters ideas for their own characters, as well as giving us a chance to flesh out our mascot a bit. So without further ado:

Mariah being a bit more excited for her next adventure than the rest of her party is
 
 
Her story so far...
Mariah Doeheart is quite fond of her given name. Her parents got it from a great heroine of the early 4th Aeon, a storied warrior who is said to have protected folk in the difficult times following the shattering of the Sun Machine. Her feats included driving off a shadow beast with a small retinue, helping found the first of the Shard cities, and negotiating peace with the Queen of Weeping Shadows. 
 
In contrast, Mariah herself earned the nickname "Poke" as a child due to her habit of getting into places she wasn't supposed to (including some dangerous Akenian ruins where a mysterious little creature she later named Churly Paws protected her) and it stuck with her until adulthood. As a result she has a habit of announcing herself before it's even requested, as if she's trying to make certain that people won't give her another unwanted sobriquet.
 
The child of Starlight Farmers, Mariah's days were split between learning the family trade and her aforementioned expeditions to the interesting places around her home. Her heart was never quite in agriculture, and she found herself yearning for new places to explore as she outgrew her previously favorite adventuring sites. By the time of her 20th birthday, it was clear that her younger sister was far more interested in inheriting the farm than she was and it freed her to move on. When a neighbor asked if the daring tenebrate would escort them to the city of Magia, Mariah took on the job and decided it was going to be a one way trip. She grabbed her things, exchanged a farewell note for a bag of her mom's cookies, and began her journey.

The trip turned out to be even more eventful than expected. She discovered her ability to call forth a Heart's Blade when she had to chase off a patrician who thought it would be fun to test his new sword out on the pair, found out her neighbor was an aspiring sage while assisting them with their first assignment, and even helped retrieve an important tome for a little wizard in grey (even if Mariah was partially responsible for it being lost in the first place). While these first few adventures were filled with close calls and stumbles, they also burned away any doubts or trepidation that Mariah had from leaving home. She'd found her calling.

Noting her enthusiasm, the little wizard even offered her a reward for another task - he needed someone to find a wayward fool of an Otherworlder and bring him back to Magia. With a new quest and a smile on her face, Mariah set out on another adventure.

Demeanor
Mariah is cheerful and enthusiastic, eager to make new friends and seek out new adventures. She'll introduce herself without hesitation, be the first to charge into a dangerous situation, and has a bad tendency to jump to conclusions here and again. While it can be a bit much at times, it's all part of her earnest nature. This, combined with her genuine (if sometimes clumsy) kindness, has earned her more than a few friends and allies.
 
She's also naturally gullible, but fortunately her Cry of the Heart ability has helped mitigate that quite a bit. 

Churly Paws, Mariah's feline-like Soul Companion, is her opposite in many ways. He's reluctant, sarcastic, and often suspicious of people he doesn't know. Sometimes a voice of reason for Mariah and other times just a grouch, he can still be counted on to always come through in the end.
 
Using Mariah in your games
While mostly intended as an example of a completed character sheet and a potential pre-generated character in the BREAK!! rulebook, Mariah can also be used as a Game Master Character. She might be the face of a party of rival adventurers, a friendly random encounter in an adventure site, or someone the players can meet and hire in a settlement.
 
If you like, an older, wiser, and higher Ranked version of Mariah might even be a mentor and quest giver for the party as well. Whether her adventures helped bolster her courage and eager nature or tempered them a bit is dependent on your version of Outer World.