CORELINE (D20 Modern/D20 BESM Setting).

[marcoasalazarm]

(Little Note to Add: I have been recently adding TV Tropes a lot as a slang on the posts. I have been rather seriously been thinking about pretty much saying that a good deal of Fictions consider it their personal bible. We Will Use Wiki Words In The Future-and some of them are Trope names).

Just a crazy idea I wanted to toss in here.

[setting brainstorm] Kung Fu Transhumanism. - RPGnet Forums

Manga Fox: History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi Vol.28 Ch.249: "The Person I Made A Promise With" Online Manga Scans
Manga Fox: History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi Manga Series

Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Essentially, reading those things I linked gave me an idea for a faction (or adaptating one): that would be YAMI, or 'One Shadow, Nine Fists'. The thing was (once upon a time) your generic 'evil martial artist who favors Darwinism through combat' faction. Now it has evolved into pretty much an evil martial artist faction that seeks 'human trascendence' through superhuman martial arts, transhumanism (and martial arts), and eliminating those who would endanger this ascension (through martial arts). They are also split about 'killing' vs. 'saving' techniques and mentality and 'bare handed' vs 'weapon-wielding' martial arts styles. And that they have accepted much more 'disciples' (including a bunch of Clanners (you know, 'Children of Kerensky')) doesn't helps ANY.

And of course, there's still other factions like Shadowloo and the like out there, who think of the same 'purity of combat' thing.

Hmmmrrrrrfffff.....you are right,y'know....in that unless you can (temporarilary,at least) suspend the higher brain functions or some similar skullcoja tech trick, they will win a fight....unless I missed some detail or other?

No, you're right. These guys take luck, skill, trickery and overwhelming firepower to even have a chance of victory. They are a threat because there's a high chance one of them might get very Ax Crazy soon and 'graduate' from killing people in one-on-one curb-stomps and start bombing city blocks with Ki blasts.

I had another pair of ideas running around my head-one being that there's a 'good guy' variant of this faction (with at least one Alternate of the Ryonzampaku (sp?) Dojo among the group, as well as the Tendo Dojo and heaven knows what else)-on one side, they *are* 'good guys' and it will show. On the other hand, they are as much condescending Smug Supers as their dark counterparts, and follow the unwritten rules of the Martial Arts World to the letter-even if it might get *your* poor Muggle rear killed.

Kenichi The Mightiest Disciple - Television Tropes & Idioms

The second idea was a short story for the sake of flavor-dunno what to title it, probably something like 'To Make A Superman Bleed'. In it, for some damn reason that he keeps to himself, 'Invincible Superman' Hayato Furinji reprises (from his POV) an attack on the U.S. Army base on Okinawa.

The man is so out there that if someone went and said in the manga that he's a WH40K Primarch, it would sound plausible.

He's forced into retreating because the base, which had been slaughtered almost to a man during the 23 Hours by Chiropterans and has since rebuilt to handle attacks by them and worse things, counterattacks with everything they've got. Which includes (stolen) Macharius Vulcan Super-Heavy tanks. And worse.

Manga Fox: History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi Vol.41 Ch.382: To Okinawa Online Manga Scans

 

[TheVengefulKoala]

Marco! Don't you know that TV Tropes Will Ruin Your Life?

...

See? There we go!







The entire post is the result of an odd sense of humor.

 

[marcoasalazarm]

TV Tropes has Enhanced My Life (or at least been entertaining reading).

In Coreline, TV Tropes Will Enhance Your Life... by letting you to continue living it.

Hmm. Thinking about it, 'Knowledge: Fiction' might have to get restructured. Or not. Dunno yet.

As I see it, Knowledge: Fiction insofar had been knowledge about Fictional works. Okay, let's keep that. If you see an Evangelion, Knowledge: Technology or Knowledge: Military Hardware or Knowledge: Big Honking Mechas or whatever gives you an exact, Jane's Military Weapons-like breakdown of the Evangelion's capabilities (Example: Unit-02 is a 'Production'-type, the TV series version has on its 'fins' a holster for a Progressive Knife, a Spike Launcher and (arguably) jets for deceleration from falls. The 'Rebuild' version also has the 'Beast Mode'. You do not know if it's from the Canon or Rebuild-verse-only that Unit-02 has those devices on board as standard).

Knowledge: Fiction makes you look at an Evangelion and what it can do (you might now know EVERYTHING that the Eva does and its statistical value, but you'll know the 'signature' things) and allow you to differentiate if it's from the Canon, Rebuild or Gregg Landsman's Nobody Dies universes, and if so, what is beneficial (example: the ND!version of Asuka is a geek stuttery moeblob unless she's Getting Dangerous... and the Unit has a dog-like AI) and what's hazardous to your health (ND! version of Rei is... well, she's something you get from mixing Rei, Haruhi Suzumiya and Alucard. And she's not alone).

Also, rolling Knowledge: Fiction in a certain situation (interacting with Fictions, for example) *might* allow you to 'read' the Tropes that are happening (if you're on a Die Hard On An X, rolling gets you a breakdown of what people who make a Die Hard On An X might be going for. You'll probably get a 'Top 10 Reason Terrorists Take A Hockey Stadium Hostage' list as a result-and a good roll might allow the GM to include the 'true' reason among them).

Well... just a thought. Or a rant.

Lack of sleep makes me write like crazy. Sometimes it's like that.

 

[TheVengefulKoala]

Ah. Good old "Knowledge: Fiction".

If I recall correctly, I had an AdC that used that pretty extensively....

Time to bring the Otaku to its new home.













Otaku-
The obsessed. The passionate. The completely wacked-out fanboys/ fangirls. The Otaku is, put simply, a specialist, an expert, on all things fictional. Be it an Otaku who's specialty is Japanese Fiction, or the reclusive gun-nut who can name every firearm ever made by Colt by caliber and year made since 1875, an Otaku is your best friend...or worst nightmare, depending.

Requirements:
Pre-Vanishing Human Only
Skills: Knowledge, Fiction- 6 ranks

Class Information

Hit Die: The Otaku gains 1d6 HP per level.
Action Points: 4+ half the Otaku's level, per level, rounded down.
Class Skills: Concentration (Con), Craft (Writing) (Int), Disable Device (Int), Knowledge (Fiction, Popular Culture, Tactics, Technology) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Read/Write Language (none), Speak Language (none), Tumble (Dex)
Skill Points at Each Level: 15 + Int modifier.

Class Features:
Favorite Subject- At 1st level, the Otaku chooses one genre or type of fiction (Anime and Manga, horror, fictional weaponry, etc.) The Otaku gains a +5 bonus when dealing with this category (attack, defense, etc.) The GM has final say over what is and is not appropriate for this class ability.

Gandalf's Apprentice- At 2nd level, the Otaku no longer suffers the -4 racial penalty to using magic. However, they keep their resistance to magic.

A Genius to Himself- At 4th level, the Otaku gains a +5 bonus to Knowledge, Fiction.

Weak Spots- At 5th level, the Otaku is able to spend two action points and a full-round action to determine the weakness of a particular Fiction (i.e. where a mecha's armour is weakest, for instance).

Keep Your Friends Close...- At 7th level, the Otaku gets the "Judge Opponent" feat free.

I'm Learning as I Go- At 8th level, the Otaku gains the Feat "Weapon Focus" free, as well as the proficiency for that specific weapon (should they not already have it).

Killing Blow- At 10th level, the Otaku may, when quipped with the weapon they have specialized in (see above) for 5 Action Points, once per session, may treat a successful attack as a Critical Hit.

Bonus Feats- At 3rd, 6th, and 9th level, the Otaku may select a Bonus Feat.
The bonus feat must be selected from the following list, and the Otaku must meet all the prerequisites of the feat to select it.

Alertness, Athletic, Archaic Weapons Proficiency, Educated, Deceptive, Defensive Martial Arts, Exotic Weapon Proficiency, Gearhead, Improved Initiative, Low Profile, Quick Draw, Personal Firearms Proficiency, Renown, Weapon Finesse, Windfall.


Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special　 Def Rep
1 0 0 0 +3 Fav. Subject +0 0
2 +1 0 0 +3 Gan. Appr. +1 +1
3 +1 0 +1 +4 Bonus Feat +1 +1
4 +1 0 +1 +4 Genius to H. +2 +1
5 +2 0 +1 +5 Weak Spots +2 +2
6 +2 0 +2 +6 Bonus Feat +3 +2
7 +2 0 +2 +6 Keep your... +3 +2
8 +3 0 +3 +7 Learning... +4 +3
9 +3 0 +3 +8 Bonus Feat +4 +3
10 +3 0 +3 +8 Killing Blow +5 +3

 

[TheVengefulKoala]

And now my last little blurb (for now) about the Vanderhavens and Co.


The Nightblades
Symbol: A pair of pitch-black knives, crossed at the hilts, behind a white full moon.
Agenda: To bring some semblace of order to Coreline via covert operations.
Structure: Corporate-sponsored covert paramilitary organization.
Most Common Allegiance: Vanderhaven Arms, Justice
Requisition Limit: 60 (Classified)


There's no shortage of conspiracies on Coreline. From NERV to Firewall to AEGIS, chances are there's some secret group somewhere that wants to do something without anyone else knowing about it. The Nightblades are one such conspiracy, and they'd like to keep their activities as secret as possible.

Founded by Markus Vanderhaven shortly after the creation of Vanderhaven Arms, the Nightblades are a corporate-sponsored paramilitary organization, similar to the Stingray Ghosts. The Nightblades serve both a preventative and reactionary role, constantly watching for potential "problems" and preventing them if possible...and quickly ending them if not. Much like the assorted security forces of Stingray Industries, the Nightblades attempt to police Coreline, ensuring that nobody's planning on dropping a nuke into the planet's core or somesuch.

The Nightblades prefer to remain as secret as possible, and as such their recruitment is very covert: if somebody catches their attention, a recruiting agent will infiltrate their home, usually at night, and make contact, explaining the organization's basic goals. If the possible Nightblade accepts, then they are taken to the Nightblades' training center. If they refuse, they can say good-bye to roughly an hour of their memory.

This, combined with the ultra-strenuous training program, ensures two things. First, most conservative estimates place the number of active Nightblades at no more than 1,000. Though nobody except for the Vanderhavens know how many there actually are. Secondly, even the most inept Nightblade is a capable combatant.

Outside of the organization, the only people who know of the Nightblades' existence are Sylia Stingray, Washu Hakubi, and perhaps a handful of others. NERV suspects their existence, and has attempted a few "probes", as have Third Echelon. All such attempts at infiltration have been thwarted, but despite the Nightblades' security, it's only a matter of time before somebody slips in.





Markus Vanderhaven (Charismatic 10, Field Officer 10)
"Alright. Torch the bodies, just to be safe. We're moving in five."

Markus vanderhaven is one of the two founders and CEOs of Vanderhaven Arms, as well as the Commander of the Nightblades. Standing at just a little over six feet tall, this brown-hair, hazel-eyed former Stingray Ghost has police training, a steady gun hand, and an entire paramilitary organization at his command.

Originally from Bad Rock, Arkansas, Vanderhaven was a member of the Chicago Police Department when the Vanishing occured. Everyone else in his precinct ended up dying, and when the madness ended 23 hours later, Markus was curled up under a desk in an office in the PD, a dozen or more zombies scratching at the door. Thankfully, he managed to work through most of the psychological damage afterwards, though Vanderhaven still has a phobia of the undead.

Afterwards, Vanderhaven joined up with Stingray Industries, eventually becoming a Ghost and losing his right arm (though not at the same time. The arm was also replaced). Next came the Pieta Raids, wherein Coreline was first introduced to the claymoreverse Youmas. After fighting through a small Canadian town to disable a CLULESS-infected computer, Markus retired. Now as the CEO of his own weapons company and commander of a secret paramilitary organization, Markus Vanderhaven shows no signs of slowing down yet.

Markus is known to be on firendly terms with Sylia Stingray and Washu Hakubi, and despite his "retired" status, still assists them in whatever mad venture they're undertaking, though it's usually as a consultant of some kind. Very rarely does Vanderhaven venture into the field...on behalf of Stingray, at any rate. When it comes to the Nightblades, Vanderhaven is often on the field as well, if the mission is important enough. And given the kinds of missions the Nightblades tackle, it usually is.


Jason Vanderhaven (Smart 5, Engineer 5, Technosavant 10)
"Guys...I'm tracking about 30...no, 31 inbound hostiles. I'd get out of there, unless you like being Swiss cheese."

Jason vanderhaven is the younger brother of Markus, and the other co-founder/co-owner of Vanderhaven Arms. A former computer programmer, he was at home in Bad rock when the 23 Hours started up. During the first few hours, he managed to survive a xenomorph attack and a gunfight against the Golden Minions of Panther Zora armed with nothing but a .45 2-shot Derringer and an antique longsword taken from a fallen knight.

After the Hours, Jason worked for the U.S. government, analyzing CLULESS before founding Vanderhaven Arms with his brother. Jason acts as the Nightblade's Tech Director, and the Operations Director when Markus is in the field. Despite thier similar roles (or perhaps because of them), Jason does not get along well with Washu, and they usually play horrible inter-organization pranks on each other.

Jason is still unhappy about the HCl in his thermos, by the way.


The Captain (Smart 3, Otaku 10, Soldier 7)
"Hmm. A .50 AE round at point-blank range will all but vaporize a human finger. Interesting. Now...What was it you were saying you were going to do to my family?"

The Nightblade known only as "the Captain" is one of the most experienced among the organization. He has more experience than almost every Nightblade put together, and he's widely-regarded as Markus Vanderhaven's "go-to" man. Not bad for somebody in his mid-20s.

The Captain is not particularly forthcoming with personal details about himself. What is known is that he survived the Hours when he was 12 (in his hometown somewhere in Illinois), attended Furinkan High School in Nerima, Japan (one of the deadliest high schools in the world), was a Junior Agent of the Goddess Relief Office during high school, somehow impressed Sylia Stingray during that time, and was recruited by the Nightblades almost as soon as he graduated. After one-and-a-half-years of college education, the Captain was ready to rock.

With an almost-unparallelled knowledge of anime and manga, and a damn good knowledge of every other type of Fiction, he's an expert in a number of academic fields. He's also a really, really, really good shot (but then again, you'd be too if you have to live through the things he has).

The Captain is a verbose fellow with a light, stoic face and sharp blue eyes. His dress varies by situation, but he prefers black BDUs and body armor in combat. He also has a simple golden ring on his left ring finger.

Much like his personal history, the Captain avoids discussing where he lives, who he's married to, and other details. As he puts it, "I work for a secret paramilitary organization sponsored by a multinational weapons company, who in-turn supports another corporation with influence in other universes. I have a lot of enemies. Enemies plus family? No, thank you."

 

[Aquarius Alodar]

Ah. Good old "Knowledge: Fiction".

If I recall correctly, I had an AdC that used that pretty extensively....

Time to bring the Otaku to its new home.













Otaku-
The obsessed. The passionate. The completely wacked-out fanboys/ fangirls. The Otaku is, put simply, a specialist, an expert, on all things fictional. Be it an Otaku who's specialty is Japanese Fiction, or the reclusive gun-nut who can name every firearm ever made by Colt by caliber and year made since 1875, an Otaku is your best friend...or worst nightmare, depending.

Requirements:
Pre-Vanishing Human Only
Skills: Knowledge, Fiction- 6 ranks

Class Information

Hit Die: The Otaku gains 1d6 HP per level.
Action Points: 4+ half the Otaku's level, per level, rounded down.
Class Skills: Concentration (Con), Craft (Writing) (Int), Disable Device (Int), Knowledge (Fiction, Popular Culture, Tactics, Technology) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Read/Write Language (none), Speak Language (none), Tumble (Dex)
Skill Points at Each Level: 15 + Int modifier.

Class Features:
Favorite Subject- At 1st level, the Otaku chooses one genre or type of fiction (Anime and Manga, horror, fictional weaponry, etc.) The Otaku gains a +5 bonus when dealing with this category (attack, defense, etc.) The GM has final say over what is and is not appropriate for this class ability.

Gandalf's Aprrentice- At 2nd level, the Otaku no longer suffers the -4 racial penalty to using magic. However, they keep their resistance to magic.

A Genius to Themself- At 4th level, the Otaku gains a +5 bonus to Knowledge, Fiction.

Weak Spots- At 5th level, the Otaku is able to spend two action points and a full-round action to determine the weakness of a particular Fiction (i.e. where a mecha's armour is weakest, for instance).

Keep Your Friends Close...- At 7th level, the Otaku gets the "Judge Opponent" feat free.

I'm Learning as I Go- At 8th level, the Otaku gains the Feat "Weapon Focus" free, as well as the proficiency for that specific weapon (should they not already have it).

Killing Blow- At 10th level, the Otaku may, when quipped with the weapon they have specialized in (see above) for 5 Action Points, once per session, may treat a successful attack as a Critical Hit.

Bonus Feats- At 3rd, 6th, and 9th level, the Otaku may select a Bonus Feat.
The bonus feat must be selected from the following list, and the Otaku must meet all the prerequisites of the feat to select it.

Alertness, Athletic, Archaic Weapons Proficiency, Educated, Deceptive, Defensive Martial Arts, Exotic Weapon Proficiency, Gearhead, Improved Initiative, Low Profile, Quick Draw, Personal Firearms Proficiency, Renown, Weapon Finesse, Windfall.


Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special　 Def Rep
1 0 0 0 +3 Fav. Subject +0 0
2 +1 0 0 +3 Gan. Aprr. +1 +1
3 +1 0 +1 +4 Bonus Feat +1 +1
4 +1 0 +1 +4 Genius to Th. +2 +1
5 +2 0 +1 +5 Weak Spots +2 +2
6 +2 0 +2 +6 Bonus Feat +3 +2
7 +2 0 +2 +6 Keep your... +3 +2
8 +3 0 +3 +7 Learning... +4 +3
9 +3 0 +3 +8 Bonus Feat +4 +3
10 +3 0 +3 +8 Killing Blow +5 +3

[pedant] After spellchecking to make sure....'Aprrentice'?!......'Apprentice' more like.[/pedant]

 

[TheVengefulKoala]

Ah, yes. My apologies. This was written back when I was younger and more stupid than I am now. I practically just copy-pasted it to the thread.

I'll run it through spellcheck. Thanks for pointing that out!

 

[Aquarius Alodar]

Ah, yes. My apologies. This was written back when I was younger and more stupid than I am now. I practically just copy-pasted it to the thread.

I'll run it through spellcheck. Thanks for pointing that out!

Ahem....[sotto voce] I have something of a confession to make....Marco's slightly dyslexic, but you probably already knew that.....and, well, I'm (high-functioning) ASD......I just have slightly more tolerance for people with innate grammar and spelling difficulties, than the errors others make that they could just revise, IYKWIM. [/sotto voce]

 

[marcoasalazarm]

I'm not dyslexic. I have English as a second language on a country that has a so-so education system (not horribly bad, but in dire need of improvement at times).

And concerning what you said, Aquarius... well, yeah, probably a dumb idea to talk about stories that you wanna write about this setting (probably require a specialized thread someplace... like SpaceBattles, or someplace else.... any recommendatons?).

OTOH-I wrote a new story for this. It's a Vanishing survivor talking about his experience and what he feels about this setting. I haven't posted it here (yet) because it's a Cluster F Bomb.

http://browse.deviantart.com/?order=5&q=coreline#/d328suh

 

[Aquarius Alodar]

I'm not dyslexic. I have English as a second language on a country that has a so-so education system (not horribly bad, but in dire need of improvement at times).

And concerning what you said, Aquarius... well, yeah, probably a dumb idea to talk about stories that you wanna write about this setting (probably require a specialized thread someplace... like SpaceBattles, or someplace else.... any recommendatons?).

OTOH-I wrote a new story for this. It's a Vanishing survivor talking about his experience and what he feels about this setting. I haven't posted it here (yet) because it's a Cluster F Bomb.

Browsing deviantART

Ah.

As for recommends....de nada, mi amigo. The 'spoiler block' code test turned out muy bien, in fact. Fyi, its like this: spoiler ->
/spoiler.