ReaperofInterest, post: 77431663, member: 309377 Wrote:

[USER=401659]Arthicern[/USER], since this is the informational thread, could you please go into a bit of detail on the twelve combat types used by the classification system? Some of them are self-explanatory, but some of them are a bit more obtuse. Like, what's the difference between a Bruiser and a Scrapper? How does Tactician differ from Overwatch? Why is Guardian its own distinct classification?

I intend to give this it's own informational with an explanation of how these became a thing and what they're used for after I get past all of the Primary Deviancies and Major organizations, but for now the rough list is:

(Quick Note: Most Masks are given two-four of these based on how they primarily operate.)

Offensive Classes Bruiser: Short-range, heavy-hitter, high-durability Juggernaut- Mobile Bruisers Scrapper: Short-range, fast/agile, crits/effects over base damage Ravagers: Scrappers that have a means of mitigating damage as they fight. (Regenerators) Marksman: Long-range, percision based attacks Gunslinger: Shorter range, with a greater focus on rate-of-fire and mobility Blaster: Short to Mid-range, area of effect based attacks Demolitionist: Blaster who specializes in destructive attacks, or destruction of area. Arsonists: Blaster abilities leave behind residue that can cause persistant damage. Tactical Classes Tactician: Manipulates battlefield through various means, in-field unit Jinx: Specializes in crippling enemy capabilities. Infiltrator: Sneak attacks and assassinations Saboteur: Focuses on dealing with tactical objectives over combatative. Puppeteer: Uses non-human minions (Can kill minions) Minion Master/Swarm-puppeteer: Uses a large number of minions Elite-puppeteer: Uses a handful of specialized units. Slaver: Controls human minions (Do not kill minions) Possessor: Forms direct connection to controlled humans. (Harming Slaver harms minion until connection is broken.) Support classes Medic: Heals or buffs allies Guardian: Protects allies using shields, obstacles, and etc. Overwatch: Changes/monitors situation to team advantage, non-field unit Transport: Specializes in moving objectives from one place to another.

(I'll probably add a few more sub-classes before the final informational on this, which will also contain more information about each class and how they operate.)

Now for the actual questions.

Bruisers are typically more tank-y and can occasionally one-shot people while scrappers are more agile and fast hitting. (Think: Hulk vs Spider-man or Superman vs Batman as far as fighting styles go.)

A Tactician is an in-field control unit while Overwatch is a non-field unit. A Tactician would be someone who sets traps and obstacles or specifically targets enemy weaknesses, while an Overwatch would be more commonly super hackers or scryers who gather information and manipulate the battlefield from a range.

Guardian is a bit of a unique class in the fact that its entire purpose is protecting other targets rather than fighting themselves. Meaning even if they can't fight as long as they can keep something else from taking damage then they are a Guardian. (This class is most likely to overlap with Bruisers, Tacticians, and Puppeteers.)

rush99999, post: 78598756, member: 380992 Wrote:

What is a Jack exactly?

It's not something that's been revealed just yet, but the Cheshire occasionally brings it up during his appearances. It's also an overarching plot point for several of the stories in this setting, though it mostly applies to the characters connected to Madness and the Cheshire.

rush99999, post: 78716890, member: 380992 Wrote:

[USER=401659]Arthicern[/USER]

Is it possible for one person to have multiple Deviancies? For example, could someone who is already a Deviant then learn magic to also be a Practitioner, strike a bargain with some extradimentional entity to also be a Corrupted, and then die in the presence of Ectoplasm to also be a Deadman?

I think I mentioned something like this before, but since it was split between different questions I'll try to put it all together here while answering this question.

On Deviant Practitioners

First it is possible for other Deviancies to become Practitioners, it's just that most will end up passively using their Deviancy's Primary Energy Type (I.E. Deadmen = Ectoplasm, Slashers = Malice, Wonderlanders = Madness) and will be considered Practitioners rather than Corrupted.

On How Corruption Works

Next excluding Deadmen and Ectoplasm, most Deviancies can be Corrupted -albeit rarely- in one way or another by the various Deviant Energies taking on a few of the traits of said energy. (I.E. Anima = Energy, Madness = Rule Bending/Insight, Malice = Violent Growth, Psionics = Connections)* Now how this manifests can vary a bit depending on which Deviancy and energy combine and how much energy exposure there is, with heavier exposure resulting in disproportionate power and downsides. (I.E. One psychic with Madness exposure can overclock their powers while another can become a pseudo-and twice as insane-Wonderlander.)

*(Note: This is not a list of all traits for each energy, just the most common one.)

On The Deadman Exception

Now for Deadmen, who -thanks to the nature of their existence- were occasionally born with different Deviancies, said Deviancies' remain part of their self-image and in turn become part of their innate powers. Just with a few adjustments to compensate for the fact that they're running on Ectoplasm rather than their previous energy type. And while they aren't actively considered as such, these Deviant Deadmen can technically be considered the Deviancy's Corrupted given what Corrupted are.

On Deviant Mimicry

Due to the adaptability and variation of most Deviant energy uses, it is fully possible for one Deviancy to mimic several abilities of a different Deviancy despite being mechanically different on the most basic level. For instance Slashers have Hexes which are essentially Malice based Arcane, with their powers acting like Malice rather than Anima. Next an Arcane with a 'tech' affinity would be fairly similar to a tech M.A.D. depending on how they advance themselves. And Wonderlanders depending on their theme may dress themselves up and insist they belong to another Deviancy despite evidence to the contrary. (A more powerful example of this can be seen in the Deadman Exception.)

On Incompatible Energies

It should be noted that despite the many ways that Deviant energies can interact with each other that there are two combinations that do not go together at all. These energies, despite being able to mimic each other on some level, cannot Corrupt or interact with each other without an extreme breakdown on a metaphysical level. These combinations are:

-Anima and Malice, which often results in the Corrupted losing their ability to use Magic, bursting into soulfire, rapid physical mutation and/or worse.

-Madness and Ectoplasm, which results in Wonderlanders being incapable of becoming Deadmen, and Deadmen falling into a state of extreme insanity as their obsessions consume them.

(Note: It is theorized that Psionics and Necro would have similar problems if ever exposed to each other, but the lack of Necro users makes this difficult to confirm.)

rush99999, post: 79514629, member: 380992 Wrote:

Hold up. You mean to tell me that the public has a tendency to give grief to any Slasher group they know of that is focused on restraint?

Yeah, uh, this is a politically/socially complicated one but I'm going to try and break it down without getting too preachy, since this is partially a serious topic that should be discussed even if I want to avoid derailing the thread because of reactions.

First -because this is mostly setting specific- in order for someone to know they're a Slasher nine times out of ten they have to kill someone, meaning that they are technically killers even if some of them are found to have reasonable cause, and a lot of people aren't happy about killers hanging out together period.

Second -ignoring the fact that Slashers are killers-, this is actually something you see in real life where because a member of a group did something bad all members of said group are held responsible by the larger public. I'm a little scared to elaborate given the political nature but look at what happens to some minorities that are demonized because a couple of people from said groups committed a high profile crime.

Lastly in a mix of the above two reasons, in real life sometimes peaceful protesters get attacked by people who disagree with them. If said group fights back then there's this whole thing about victim blaming and other garbage that tends to be instigated by the opponents of said peaceful movement in an attempt to turn them into the bad guys of the situation. A series of events that would be made notably worse if the victims fighting back are literally empowered by murder. (Which is why Sanctuary tries to suppress knowledge of peaceful Slasher groups, so that they can live peacefully.)

At the end of the day real life or fiction it all sadly boils down to the fact that some people are just a**holes who can't live and let live.

rush99999, post: 79518547, member: 380992 Wrote:

I had a feeling that would be the case. But even so, I can't help but marvel at mankind's propensity for self destructive a**holery.

Yep.

rush99999, post: 79518547, member: 380992 Wrote:

People seriously think it's a good idea to antagonize and attack groups of individuals who require murder like M.A.D.s require invention?[citation needed]

Technically it's closer to addiction than the meta-physical need M.A.D.s have. In fact there are some Slashers who have managed to quit killing, but they've usually given up all violence and being near it is like being an alcoholic in the same room as a drink.

rush99999, post: 79518547, member: 380992 Wrote:

On an un related note, how do Slashers learn that they're Slashers? Do they just instinctively realize that they're a Slasher now after shanking a guy? Are they overwhelmed by some sort of music once the Deviancy triggers and are left to figure it out from there once they come to like how Josh was only without some weird malice doctor guy to help things along? Does something else happen?

Usually the Slasher Deviancy will trigger upon either the first time a Slasher kills someone or the first time they die. (Whichever comes first.) When the Deviancy triggers they'll feel like fire is running through their veins as their heart pounds inside of their chest and they'll be able to just feel the Malice around them with the actual high varying person to person.

Now whether or not they realize they're a Slasher varies, and regardless of their acknowledgement once the Deviancy triggers they'll have this sort of instinct telling them that they'll get another hit of Malice if they kill something. From there either they'll stick to killing the same type of people (low level Slashers) or eventually realize that the 'greater' the thing they kill is the better the high (level Slashers).

(Note: Slashers can gather Malice from animals and insects but unless they have a notable amount of a Deviant energy they won't offer as much Malice as a Sapient creature.)

rush99999, post: 79520554, member: 380992 Wrote:

The first time they die? You mean to say that Slashers can die more than once?

Xevan, post: 79521895, member: 487791 Wrote:

Was wondering the same thing, maybe they have multiple lives, kinda like a video game?

Yeah, you know how in Slasher films they kill the big bad and yet he still keeps popping back up? It's like that.

You see some Slashers can burn through a large chunk of their Malice to resurrect themselves, with the actual amount varies based on the Slasher's powers and how much damage they're healing from. (In video game terms it'd be like those systems where you can die an infinite amount but every time you die you lose a large chunk of XP.) The big difference is that the Slashers that can do this will eventually run out of Malice and when they do and stay permanently dead.

Standard Sanctuary and Guild protocol when dealing with Slashers is that if the body hasn't been found and permanently disposed of then the Slasher is to be presumed still alive.

Xevan, post: 79530625, member: 487791 Wrote:

You know, with the way Josh is building up his power, it would seems he's a Slasher/Wonderlander hybrid.

Is the Organization that gave Josh the Malice Vials gonna think he is a Mad-Corrupted Slasher?

No, since they're the ones supplying him with Malice they know he's a Mal-Corrupted Madness User, they just haven't realized what kind of Madness User he is yet. And since he can't naturally produce Malice -yet- no one is going to immediately connect him to it outside of the organization either unless he takes the drug in front of them.

rush99999, post: 79530748, member: 380992 Wrote:

What difference does the backing of an actual Ripper make?

What difference does having a nuke make?

Slashers get stronger the more people they kill and to become a Ripper (of which there are maybe six or seven on earth) a Slasher needs to rack up a body count of 10,000 minimum (and there's nothing saying they have to stop there). Like the informational says, these guys are army killers by definition and everyone considers them a legitimate threat if they become active.

rush99999, post: 79544683, member: 380992 Wrote:

Are Trappers able to hear the Whispers too or does some other force guide their creative process?

While some Trappers can hear whispers they're more a sign of psychosis than what M.A.D.s experience. In reality what they're doing more often than not is mixing real engineering with a form of Malice manipulation. Which results in what could be considered (darkly) enchanted machinery.

rush99999, post: 79550389, member: 380992 Wrote:

If it's not the Whispers telling them what to do, how do Trappers know how to make things? Is it as instinctive as their knowledge of the fact that murder equals power? Is the Trapper Sub-Deviancy only available to those who trigger while possessing a working knowledge of engineering and enchantment?

They learn how to make things like anyone else it's just that thanks to their powers the things they make are supernaturally good at killing things. And yes the Malice enchantment are largely instinctive with lower level Trappers not even realizing they're doing it.

As for the requirements a basic understanding of some form of mechanics is required (be it guns, electronics, chemistry, or etc.) Enchanting knowledge on the other hand is not since that side of the power is largely instinctive to them and applied via raw Malice manipulation rather than the Enchanting used by Arcane, Practitioners, and/or Hex.

rush99999, post: 79552921, member: 380992 Wrote:

If someone with the potential to become a Slasher were to die in a manner that would turn them into a Deadman, which Deviancy would win out?

Most Slashers have trace amounts of Malice in them, and since Malice eats other things, nine out of ten times they'll become a Slasher. That said there are rare exceptions where a large amount of Ectoplasm can override the Malice though in that case it requires twice as much Ectoplasm as Malice and the Deadman will be less stable mentally and physically than other Deadmen.

rush99999, post: 79558210, member: 380992 Wrote:

Is there enough of those trace amounts to be detectable? If so, do people make a habit of checking for it? If so, what happens if someone is found to have these trace amounts of Malice in them?

All Deviant energies -save Madness which is a dice roll for them- can be reliably detected by machinery if in use. In fact Sanctuary typically brings a handful of drones capable of detecting said energy to each event they respond to to help determine the best response to an incident. That said as long as someone isn't actively using their powers they can't be detected quite so easily with the exception of Deadmen and Malcontent both of whom cannot turn their powers off without painful and often lethal consequences.