PUPPETMASTER Pre-release

Description

+Reflex, +Luck, +Vitality

“True beauty lies in things that last forever, never rotting or fading.”

— — Sasori, Naruto Shippuden

You are a shadowy performer, projecting your will through deadly figurines. You are deceptively versatile and dangerous, with unfailingly obedient marionettes that are equal parts tool, distraction, and weapon. That said, you are all but helpless without your puppets, requiring you to exercise caution and avoid being caught out of place.

Conduits designing a mission for you should pay special attention to puppet- or doll-like constructs that might feature in their setting — such as toys, statues, or even simple robots — that you might take control of with your Abilities. While your puppets can be quite effective in combat, you yourself are not, so if the Conduit wants to really challenge you, they could create smart, observant threats who can single you out of your entourage.

Grounded in actual stage puppetry as well as characters in later culture who employ animated puppets to battle on their behalf.

Examples from history and pop culture include:

  • Uemura Bunrakuken & other Bunraku puppeteers
  • Donna Beneviento (Resident Evil Village)
  • Alice Margatroid (Touhou Project)
  • Neil Gallagher (Puppet Master)
  • Quattro (Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL)
  • Enchantress (DNF Duel)
  • Carl Clover (Blazblue)

Challenge Level: Mid

Class by Reece C. Downie

Edition: Advent v2

Public: Yes

Signature Gear

Base Gear

Zukin

Base

Black hood that fully covers the face and head, somewhat restricting vision.

  • The owner’s voice may emit from one or more humanoid constructs (dolls, statues, etc.) at will (Mid Range).
    • While doing so, the owner themselves is more likely to go unnoticed or be overlooked.

Opera Cloak

Base

Fancy, floor-length cape with many internal pockets.

Boost/Limiter 1
LMH
  • Renders any item carried beneath it much harder to detect, no matter how bulky.
    • Dramatically flourish this cloak before an audience to teleport any such item to the owner’s hand.

Gimmickry Gazette

Base

Mail-order catalog depicting simple, frivolous toys.

Uses
5x
  • Tear out a page to conjure a Pitched toy, instantly appearing within a Low Range, thematically linked to a Signature Item the owner has recently revealed.

Elective Gear

Minionettes

Elective

Autonomous dolls the size of human newborns, each tethered to their owner with a separate string. Feeble but perfectly obedient and intelligent enough to use tools and follow complex commands.

Quantity
5x
String Range
Mid
  • Strings are harder to detect than normal, but a doll will fall limp if its string is severed.

Clutching Doll

Elective

Bulky, legless puppet with exaggerated, human-length arms. Not sentient, but able to act when prompted so long as it remains in constant contact with its owner.

Lightness Boost
Mid
  • Must be prompted to act through fitting, non-verbal gestures (cannot hear).
  • Substantially exceeds its owner in strength, speed and dexterity (Mid Boosts).

Looming Mannequin

Elective

Oversized human figurine, only able to follow simple commands.

Strength Boost
High
  • Durability scales Low–High on how many people are observing it.
  • Speed inversely scales Low–High on how many people are observing it.

Abilities

Kipple

Replicate a puppet, doll, or similar construct while it remains completely unobserved.

Essence Cost
Low–High
Cooldown
Mid

Paired Action: Converse one-sidedly with the construct for a Low Duration, then stash it alone in a small, enclosed space.

  • Replicas will gradually fill the chosen enclosed space over a Mid Duration, with Essence Cost scaling accordingly. (e.g. Filling a hogshead barrel would have a Low Cost; filling a janitor’s closet would have a Mid Cost; filling a master bedroom would have a High Cost).
  • Only the construct itself is replicated (rather than any paraphernalia it is given), and all replicas are completely mundane, regardless of any supernatural properties possessed by the original.

Ideomotion

Issue a specific task to any number of puppets, dolls, or similar constructs, animating them for the purposes of doing so.

Essence Cost
Mid
Activation Range
Low
Max Duration
Low
Cooldown
Low

Paired Action: Gesture as though manipulating invisible puppet strings. You must continue to do so or this Ability will end prematurely.

  • Upon use, choose either Jitter or Slump:
    • If Slump is chosen, affected constructs move slowly and clumsily, falling limp once the Ability ends.
    • If Jitter is chosen, affected constructs move quickly and deftly but break apart once the Ability ends.

Patchwork

Combine multiple puppets, dolls, or similar constructs into a grotesque chimera, fully animated and larger than the sum of its parts.

Essence Cost
Low–High
Range
Low
Duration
Low
Cooldown
Low–High

Paired Action: Gather together your chosen playthings, then grandly announce a fitting name for the chimera.

  • The chimera’s appearance is Pitched by the user. It may be up to twice as large of its combined pieces, with Essence Cost and Cooldown both scaling on total volume. (e.g. A human-sized chimera would have Low Cost and Cooldown, one the size of a cart horse would have a Mid Cost and Cooldown, and one the size of an elephant would have a High Cost and Cooldown.)
    • Simple weapons (blades, spikes, teeth, etc.) may feature in the chimera’s body, as well as a single, magically-augmented weapon, also Pitched, befitting one or more of the combined pieces.
    • The chimera is fully obedient to the user but wholly unthinking — it cannot take action by itself.