Shushu (蒁蒁), Scaredy-Fox Exorcist

[Colette]

Name | Shushu (蒁蒁)

Refresh | 3

 

High Concept | Scaredy-Fox Exorcist

Trouble | Stalked by the Ghost of Tamamo-no-Mae

Aspect III | Half-God Scion of Huxian Niangniang

Aspect IV | Sees Earthbound Spirits Everywhere

Aspect V | Has Handled a Hundred Cursed Relics

 

Backstory

Shushu never thought that his illustrious heritage as a child of Huxian Niangniang and his training under the East Asian Exorcists' Association would culminate in him joining up with a band of rogues just to secure access to cursed relics around the globe. He might not be the most talented spirit-soother around, and he might shiver and shudder during every single mission, but Shushu still strives to do his best and bring peace to the world's many earthbound dead. The ghost of Tamamo-no-Mae, his half-sister, has stalked him in recent months; Shushu is quite grateful to the team's leader for preventing Daji from possessing him and running off with the scion's body.

 

Great (+4) | {Fight} {Notice}

Good (+3) | {Athletics} {Chi}

Fair (+2) | {Empathy} {Resources}

Average (+1) | {Investigate} {Rapport}

 

Stress | [1] [1] [1] [1] [1] [1]

 

Mild Consequence | -

Moderate Consequence | -

Severe Consequence | -

 

Stunts

Coin-Sword Conjuration

Shushu can conjure a coin-sword in one hand without an action. It functions as a weapon, gradually subduing the spirit of anyone it strikes. It also grants a +2 bonus to attacks with Fight against the supernatural.

 

As Jumpy as a Fox

While not the most glamorous of manifestations of divine heritage, it certainly helps Shushu flail around quickly enough to land a hit before anyone else. He gains a +2 bonus to initiative rolls with Notice.

 

Evade the Miasma Clouds of the Sesshōseki

Shushu sure has practice in desperately dodging and parrying supernatural dangers. He gains a +2 bonus to defend with Athletics or Fight against the supernatural.

Extras

Chi Training

Permissions: Interact with the supernatural

Costs: Ranks in Chi

Shushu is an accredited spirit-soother of the East Asian Exorcists' Association... though probably not the best of them.

Personal Equipment & Gear

• A uniform for the East Asian Exorcists' Association's rank and file
• A wide variety of apotropaics, exorcismics, and talismans
• An eight-trigram handheld spirit radar, powered by a prism of god-blessed jade
• A spirit-sealing gourd, for those spirits who cannot be immediately soothed

Note: List here any equipment your character reasonably has that will be narratively relevant to the story. This should include any gear they commonly use to accomplish their goals, and weapons without WR they use to fight with. Also anything with personal significance to them. Don't worry about being super-complete, you can have everyday items that most people have. Phone, keys, wallet, handbag, laptop, etc. You don't need to include your ride here.

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Note: Do not delete this line. Insert new items above this line.

 

Edited April 16 by Colette (see edit history)

[Rune Knight]

Interesting character. I see you have a great grasp of Fate's mechanics, at least. I also like the dedication to using Asiatic names.

Is Shushu... a catboy? Or a foxboy, I suppose. If so, I'm afraid this setting isn't quite anime enough to allow for such a thing. If the image just fit the character best and we're meant to ignore the ears, then that's fine.

What's the balance of silly to serious with this character? The setting is lighthearted, of course, but I don't think I'd describe it as "silly", which is a little bit of a vibe I'm getting from the tone of the backstory and the way Shushu "shivers and shakes" all the time.

If this were a full campaign, I'd iron out the details of Coin-Sword Conjuration more; +2 to attack a favored enemy is a potent ability, and while spirits are rare enough that I'd allow that, I'm not sure if I'd allow the ability to cover mystics (a.k.a. Chi users) too.

For the sake of transparency, though, I don't currently plan to have any spirits in this combat, so the only target that Stunt would apply to is Queen Heqet herself. I'm imagining Shushu duking it out with her, and I'm not really vibing with it, ngl.

Evade the Miasma Clouds is a little too ambiguous as well, and I would like to iron this one out. I'm thinking it should grant it's bonus against "spirits and supernatural attacks", specifically. Does that sound fair to you?

[Colette]

I am looking to play a superficially cowardly character who is, in actuality, (reluctantly) willing to scurry into battle and fight. They prove reasonably efficacious, luck willing, thanks to divine providence and supernatural charms lending unusual accuracy to their wild flailing. Will this be a problem?

You asked us to describe an enemy as part of our application. I have described a great ghost as an enemy. Will the enemies that the players describe appear in the battle?

Yes, that seems fair for the defensive stunt.

[Rune Knight]

Honestly, I think a character like this would be a problem, yes. There's just too much tonal dissonance between this character and the setting - they don't mesh.

Take your primary opponent for this battle, for example: Queen Heqet. While the tone is generally lighthearted, she is a relatively serious character from an evil empire, one that has done terrible things on it's path of conquest and destruction. When I see Shushu's character image and read about his personality, it doesn't make sense for a character like him to exist in the same world as a character like Queen Heqet, you know?

Oh, so that ghost is meant to answer the nemesis question for your application? It is intended for the nemesis to be in this battle, but the intention is for the nemesis to be a single, shared enemy with a reason for each of the PCs to face them. There's a lot that is open for the nemesis character to be molded into, but I think making them a ghost is simply too drastic of change. Sorry.

I apologize if this seems overly critical: I'm not coming from a bad place here, honestly. At the end of the day, I want you to end up with a character that you want to play, that fits in this world and as a member of this team. I think there's just a misunderstanding of the tone of the setting, and that's why these issues are popping up.

If there's anything I can do to help with that, let me know. I can come up with a list of films and shows that the setting is inspired by, or whatever else you need.

[Colette]

Earlier, you mentioned that "Without any ranks in Chi, a person would find it nearly impossible to attack or defend against a spirit in combat. With ranks in Chi, a person can treat a spirit as a normal target, using skills like Fight, Shoot and Athletics to attack it and defend against it." What purpose does this stipulation serve if there are to be no spirits in this game?

Edited April 17 by Colette (see edit history)

[Rune Knight]

This specific game - the one you are applying for - is a playtest which includes just a single combat situation.

When I was referring to spirits, I was referring to them in the hypothetical sense, as in "this is how the skill would work if we were playing in a full campaign".

Adding a spirit to this combat would probably overcomplicate things too much: the objective of this game is to playtest a mechanic, so the less complex the battle itself is, the better.

Edited April 17 by Rune Knight (see edit history)