Roleplaying: The Doomguard

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*Bloodlines
Posts: 139
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am

Posted by *Bloodlines »


The Sinkers are a funny bunch, and no screed. They claim that the Multiverse is in a constant state of decay; things are wearing down and breaking; life grinds itself to a halt. Maybe they've got a point...just count the number of civilisations that've brought destruction to themselves after growing too large...the Blood War to name but one (though a cutter who called the fiends "civilised" would need his brain-box looking at).

The Doomguard, then, revel in the falling down, and rather than try to prevent things collapsing they cherish it in all its forms; decay, rust, corruption. You'd think that they'd also support the Anarchists' incessant demands for the dismantling of the factions (after all, that's entropy ain't it), but, curiously, the Sinkers ain't keen on the idea. Maybe they ain't the selfless philosophers I've painted them to be...


Roleplaying the Doomguard

The Doomguard doesn’t bother marking namers and factotums: the only distinctions it makes are among faction members who push hard for entropy, those who let nature take its course, and those who slow it all down. ’Course, as the first hunch of Sinkers is usually the most vocal (and violent), the latter two groups often find themselves viewed as agents - tools, really - to be manipulated by ‘right-thinking” faction members. This can often lead to blows when Sinkers of different leanings try to work together. But infighting’s natural, they’d say -just another manifestation of decay.

The Doomguard‘s one of the factions most open to a body’s personal interpretation of its tenets. Regardless of how a Sinker leans, he always responds to a direct threat to entropy. But the method of that response varies from one body to another, depending on alignment and faction leaning. Say a Hardhead moves to break up a brawl, or an Indep tries to quiet a stampeding herd. A Doomguard who believes in speeding up the decay of the multiverse would physically restrain the berk hying to restore order. Another Sinker might take a longer view: Perhaps Letting the Harmonium basher make his arrest is the entropic thing to do, as it may engender more hatred for the Hardheads and eventually spark a mass uprising.

A Sinker’s got to live with his own choices, and that extends to personal habits, as well. Some Sinkers use only the newest of gear, delighting in the erosion of virgin materials. Others use equipment that’s passed through many hands, insistent that secondhand articles he shepherded their demise. And some sport clothing and weapons so old as to be barely functional. ’Course, a Doomguard warrior who fights with a broken sword won’t be much loved by his adventuring group - except perhaps, by a rogue who follows the Sinker along, picking up gold coins that drop through the hole in his worn pocket.

ALIGNMENT. The Doomguard‘s open to bashers of all alignments. But a Sinker’s world view tends to put him in one of the three competing cliques that’ve popped up in the faction. 

Those of chaotic alignments usually fall in with the Sinkers who want to accelerate the pace of decay; those of neutral alignments generally agree that the multiverse should crumble at its own pace, with no help or hindrance; and lawful cutters try to hold entropy to a slow crawl. What’s more, these three distinctions are further colored by whether a Sinker leans toward good or evil. Good Sinkers prefer inaction as a method of pushing their agenda - rather than tearing down a new kip, they’d merely stop others from shoring up a decrepit one. But evil Sinkers play a more active role, figuring that it’s better to start a fire than sit around and wait for one.

CLASS. Priests with access to the spheres of creation or healing are banned from the Doomguard: their spells are a slap in the face to the forces of entropy. However, all other classes - including priests who can't use those constructive spheres - may join the faction.

Fact is, a Sinker's class often determines how fiercely he fights for entropy. Many fighters take a direct approach, using their strength and weapon skills to weaken bridges, upend merchants' carts and so on. Wizards and priests tend to step back and more readily grasp the big picture, promoting decay in a subtle, long-range fashion. and rogues like to use their abilities to stir up chaos, rather than build their fortunes - a thief might plant stolen goods in the mayor's pocket, for example, or a sweet-tongued bard might incite oppressed masses to riot.

FACTION ABILITIES
RP Abilities only: Requires consent of a DM/EM or all players involved/affected by its use if no DM/EM is present. (per Server Rules)

A Doomguard can sift through destroyed material and gain a psychic impression of what caused the destruction. He just picks up some broken rubble, etc,. He then lets the material filter through his fingers while he spends a round in quiet meditation. A Namer can determine its destruction as far as 10 years, a factotum can determine as far back as 500, and a factor can read as far back as 1,000 years. For every round spend in meditation, the Sinker can relive five minutes of the disaster (namer), can hear or smell as well as see (factotum), or can actually enter the scene of a disaster (factor) as if they had gone back in time, though they cannot interact with their environment.
 
A Doomguard priest can sift through deceased organic material and learn the cause of death. The mental images received are particularly vivid if the death was a violent one, or if the destroyed beign was of the same alignment as a priest.
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