ARCHER ♤ an unknown hero. ♤ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
swordedpast) wrote2014-02-11 09:27 am
swordedpast) wrote2014-02-11 09:27 am
Entry tags:
powers ♤
SERVANT STATUS
This power is only active when Archer has made a contract with a Master: any human being with some form of magical power. If he hasn't, he's just a human being with a few magical powers of his own (see below). If he has, he has some bonuses and drawbacks.
The first bonus is that the link itself exists, and through it he can feel if his Master is in danger, or if they have an extremely urgent emotion or command to send to him (it won't be flat-out telepathy, just a general awareness of what's going on). The second is that they can tap into their own magical energy supply to keep him topped up--a necessary thing, since his abilities all rely on this mana. And the third is that his body is a spiritual one befitting of a Servant, with far greater physical and spiritual capabilities than it would have otherwise. Specifically, he will not need to eat or sleep, and his statistics (yeah, sorry, I went there--he has RPG-style stats) will be much higher than the human norm. His strength is twenty times the human norm, his agility and endurance thirty times it, his mana capacity forty times, and his "luck" ten times, although that's a nebulous enough statistic that it doesn't really matter here. He'll also be able to heal injuries notably more quickly than usual, with life-threatening ones being conquered in a matter of days.
He will also have a certain drawback of being a Servant: any Master he takes on will be given three command seals at the start of the contract, which they can use at any time to lay an absolute command on him. If it's something he wants to do anyway, the command enhances his ability to do it; if he doesn't want to do it--well, tough luck, the seal makes him do it (or prevents him from doing it, if it's an injunction against something) anyway. Once all three command seals are used up, though, the contract between him and his Master is over.
Finally, being a Servant allows him to go into "spirit form," wherein he is invisible and intangible, capable of passing through walls and evading physical detection. However, any form of psychic or magical awareness will detect him, and any psychic, telekinetic, or magical barriers will repel him.
MAGECRAFT
Archer was a magus in life, with very little innate talent but a great deal of bloodyminded determination that allowed him to hone what scraps of talent he did have to a truly impressive degree. While he has some basic ability, like all magi, to detect and resist other magic, it's not very extensive, and he lacks a lot of things considered basic to other magi (such as healing abilities). His more specific magic falls into three related categories. Note that all abilities here tap into and use up his mana supply to some extent.
--structural analysis--
Through examining an object with magical perception, Archer can determine what its internal structure is like--information he later uses when practicing the following two forms of magic. In addition to helping him there, this analysis makes it easier for him to study an opponent's moves and weapons in battle. If a material is particularly complex, supernatural, or otherwise beyond human understanding, he won't necessarily be able to use this power on it successfully.
--reinforcement--
Through applying reinforcement magic to just about anything, Archer can strengthen it in its intended purpose. While he originally, long ago in the mists of backstory, used this on objects that became weapons, he's long since switched to using projection to make his weapons, with reinforcement applied to them automatically as he does so. Now he mostly uses reinforcement on its own for more subtle purposes, like applying it to his eyes to enhance his vision.
--projection--
In short (because the alternative is endless philosophizing), as a master of projection magic, Archer can temporarily materialize apparently perfect copies of other objects through his magical energy and force of will alone. In his particular case, the things he can project best are weapons and sometimes shields--and the weapons in question will almost always be swords, since that is overwhelmingly his specialty. That said, he's put so much singleminded practice into projecting swords that he's unbelievably good at it. It takes him only an instant to summon a sword he's familiar with to his hand, and while any projected sword will disappear completely as soon as it takes any damage, he's gotten really good at constructing them so that they resist damage.
It's worth noting that he can project other things, so long as he's completely familiar with their structure both external and internal, and he has the mechanical aptitude to be able to project a fair variety of tools, cool gadgets, and simple appliances, though nothing that wouldn't fit in his hands. Once again, though, even the smallest bit of damage to these creations will make them disappear entirely, and he's not as good at constructing them to resist that damage as he is with swords.
In theory, he can reproduce the special abilities of most magical or otherwise extraordinary weapons and shields this way as well, because he's that damn good, though truly divine weapons are beyond his reach. In practice, this only really works for specific swords and shields he's had a lot of time to practice (primarily Rho Aias, a legendary shield with incredible defense against projectile attacks), and even then the ability is slightly inferior. In the case of most legendary or otherwise special weapons, their magical abilities will be notably degraded by virtue of being copies (and attempts to copy the abilities of the weapons of other characters in Mask or Menace may fail entirely, because the 'Porter says so).
After all the practice he's had, he can project swords almost without limit in a battle, so long as he's not trying to reproduce too many particularly esoteric magical ones that he's not familiar with. Shields, however, require three or four times as much energy as swords, so he has to be more cautious when projecting those.
COOL THINGS HE DOES WITH SWORDS
The following apparently separate powers are both simply extensions of the previous power--his magecraft--that happen to be more impressive and use a lot more magical energy.
--Broken Phantasm--
As it turns out, despite all the swords, there is a reason Archer is an Archer. While under normal circumstances he sticks to melee combat in order to conceal his greater powers, if he's willing to expend more magical energy, he has a more powerful attack where he does use a bow. With Broken Phantasm, he summons a bow and fires a copy of a legendary weapon of his choice, tweaked as necessary to work better as a projectile weapon and also rigged to explode from all its magical energy when it hits its target. It's a pretty damn potent attack--the equivalent of an exceptionally powerful short-range grenade, but easier to target. Unlike when he fights using regular old projected swords, though, firing off a Broken Phantasm will start to significantly deplete Archer's magical energy. Two at any given time before resting is probably his limit, and even that would be pushing him to the point of collapse; one would be safer.
--Unlimited Blade Works--
Archer's ultimate power is something called a "reality marble"--the physical manifestation of a magus's own mind that can be projected out onto the world around them. His is called Unlimited Blade Works, and surprising no one, it turns out to be an endless grim landscape of thousands of melee weapons, mostly swords, and the materials required to forge them. A copy of every sword he's ever seen can be (and usually is) stored in this world, sometimes with the addition of tweaks to improve its power. That's where the weapons he uses for Broken Phantasm come from.
Under normal circumstances, he can easily pull up to dozens of weapons at a time out of Unlimited Blade Works with just a thought in order to rain them down on enemies, although that's somewhat more taxing than just projecting a couple of swords to fight with normally (and it's also easier to deflect and destroy those dozens of swords). He doesn't do it all that often, since it gives away too much about his powers, but he can if he needs to.
The main and most devastating attack he can call up through this power is the titular Unlimited Blade Works itself. Given several moments to focus and recite his stupid Engrish mantra, he can transform the world in his immediate vicinity into the landscape inside his head, trapping anyone nearby inside it with him and giving him free rein to pummel them with his swords at his leisure. If he's sufficiently hurt or exhausted in this state, the reality marble will vanish and everyone will be deposited back in the real world; also, both magic-nullifying powers and particularly strong will may be able to break the boundary field and return everyone to the real world before that.
He can only fully manifest Unlimited Blade Works once at any time before he needs to rest to restore his magical energy.
This power is only active when Archer has made a contract with a Master: any human being with some form of magical power. If he hasn't, he's just a human being with a few magical powers of his own (see below). If he has, he has some bonuses and drawbacks.
The first bonus is that the link itself exists, and through it he can feel if his Master is in danger, or if they have an extremely urgent emotion or command to send to him (it won't be flat-out telepathy, just a general awareness of what's going on). The second is that they can tap into their own magical energy supply to keep him topped up--a necessary thing, since his abilities all rely on this mana. And the third is that his body is a spiritual one befitting of a Servant, with far greater physical and spiritual capabilities than it would have otherwise. Specifically, he will not need to eat or sleep, and his statistics (yeah, sorry, I went there--he has RPG-style stats) will be much higher than the human norm. His strength is twenty times the human norm, his agility and endurance thirty times it, his mana capacity forty times, and his "luck" ten times, although that's a nebulous enough statistic that it doesn't really matter here. He'll also be able to heal injuries notably more quickly than usual, with life-threatening ones being conquered in a matter of days.
He will also have a certain drawback of being a Servant: any Master he takes on will be given three command seals at the start of the contract, which they can use at any time to lay an absolute command on him. If it's something he wants to do anyway, the command enhances his ability to do it; if he doesn't want to do it--well, tough luck, the seal makes him do it (or prevents him from doing it, if it's an injunction against something) anyway. Once all three command seals are used up, though, the contract between him and his Master is over.
Finally, being a Servant allows him to go into "spirit form," wherein he is invisible and intangible, capable of passing through walls and evading physical detection. However, any form of psychic or magical awareness will detect him, and any psychic, telekinetic, or magical barriers will repel him.
MAGECRAFT
Archer was a magus in life, with very little innate talent but a great deal of bloodyminded determination that allowed him to hone what scraps of talent he did have to a truly impressive degree. While he has some basic ability, like all magi, to detect and resist other magic, it's not very extensive, and he lacks a lot of things considered basic to other magi (such as healing abilities). His more specific magic falls into three related categories. Note that all abilities here tap into and use up his mana supply to some extent.
--structural analysis--
Through examining an object with magical perception, Archer can determine what its internal structure is like--information he later uses when practicing the following two forms of magic. In addition to helping him there, this analysis makes it easier for him to study an opponent's moves and weapons in battle. If a material is particularly complex, supernatural, or otherwise beyond human understanding, he won't necessarily be able to use this power on it successfully.
--reinforcement--
Through applying reinforcement magic to just about anything, Archer can strengthen it in its intended purpose. While he originally, long ago in the mists of backstory, used this on objects that became weapons, he's long since switched to using projection to make his weapons, with reinforcement applied to them automatically as he does so. Now he mostly uses reinforcement on its own for more subtle purposes, like applying it to his eyes to enhance his vision.
--projection--
In short (because the alternative is endless philosophizing), as a master of projection magic, Archer can temporarily materialize apparently perfect copies of other objects through his magical energy and force of will alone. In his particular case, the things he can project best are weapons and sometimes shields--and the weapons in question will almost always be swords, since that is overwhelmingly his specialty. That said, he's put so much singleminded practice into projecting swords that he's unbelievably good at it. It takes him only an instant to summon a sword he's familiar with to his hand, and while any projected sword will disappear completely as soon as it takes any damage, he's gotten really good at constructing them so that they resist damage.
It's worth noting that he can project other things, so long as he's completely familiar with their structure both external and internal, and he has the mechanical aptitude to be able to project a fair variety of tools, cool gadgets, and simple appliances, though nothing that wouldn't fit in his hands. Once again, though, even the smallest bit of damage to these creations will make them disappear entirely, and he's not as good at constructing them to resist that damage as he is with swords.
In theory, he can reproduce the special abilities of most magical or otherwise extraordinary weapons and shields this way as well, because he's that damn good, though truly divine weapons are beyond his reach. In practice, this only really works for specific swords and shields he's had a lot of time to practice (primarily Rho Aias, a legendary shield with incredible defense against projectile attacks), and even then the ability is slightly inferior. In the case of most legendary or otherwise special weapons, their magical abilities will be notably degraded by virtue of being copies (and attempts to copy the abilities of the weapons of other characters in Mask or Menace may fail entirely, because the 'Porter says so).
After all the practice he's had, he can project swords almost without limit in a battle, so long as he's not trying to reproduce too many particularly esoteric magical ones that he's not familiar with. Shields, however, require three or four times as much energy as swords, so he has to be more cautious when projecting those.
COOL THINGS HE DOES WITH SWORDS
The following apparently separate powers are both simply extensions of the previous power--his magecraft--that happen to be more impressive and use a lot more magical energy.
--Broken Phantasm--
As it turns out, despite all the swords, there is a reason Archer is an Archer. While under normal circumstances he sticks to melee combat in order to conceal his greater powers, if he's willing to expend more magical energy, he has a more powerful attack where he does use a bow. With Broken Phantasm, he summons a bow and fires a copy of a legendary weapon of his choice, tweaked as necessary to work better as a projectile weapon and also rigged to explode from all its magical energy when it hits its target. It's a pretty damn potent attack--the equivalent of an exceptionally powerful short-range grenade, but easier to target. Unlike when he fights using regular old projected swords, though, firing off a Broken Phantasm will start to significantly deplete Archer's magical energy. Two at any given time before resting is probably his limit, and even that would be pushing him to the point of collapse; one would be safer.
--Unlimited Blade Works--
Archer's ultimate power is something called a "reality marble"--the physical manifestation of a magus's own mind that can be projected out onto the world around them. His is called Unlimited Blade Works, and surprising no one, it turns out to be an endless grim landscape of thousands of melee weapons, mostly swords, and the materials required to forge them. A copy of every sword he's ever seen can be (and usually is) stored in this world, sometimes with the addition of tweaks to improve its power. That's where the weapons he uses for Broken Phantasm come from.
Under normal circumstances, he can easily pull up to dozens of weapons at a time out of Unlimited Blade Works with just a thought in order to rain them down on enemies, although that's somewhat more taxing than just projecting a couple of swords to fight with normally (and it's also easier to deflect and destroy those dozens of swords). He doesn't do it all that often, since it gives away too much about his powers, but he can if he needs to.
The main and most devastating attack he can call up through this power is the titular Unlimited Blade Works itself. Given several moments to focus and recite his stupid Engrish mantra, he can transform the world in his immediate vicinity into the landscape inside his head, trapping anyone nearby inside it with him and giving him free rein to pummel them with his swords at his leisure. If he's sufficiently hurt or exhausted in this state, the reality marble will vanish and everyone will be deposited back in the real world; also, both magic-nullifying powers and particularly strong will may be able to break the boundary field and return everyone to the real world before that.
He can only fully manifest Unlimited Blade Works once at any time before he needs to rest to restore his magical energy.