#parapersonality

[the-antiapocalyptic-man]

Sasha Bordeaux and "Michael Costner", hosts of the OMAC virus

(more under the cut)

Hired by Wayne Industries as a personal bodyguard for Dr. Victoria October, Sasha Bordeaux's time in Gotham ended in tragedy when she was framed for the murder of her ex-girlfriend, Vesper Fairchild. Eventually exonerated by evidence collected by Batman Inc, an attempt on Sasha's life left her with severe damage on the left side of her body, leading to the amputation of arm and leg as well as the removal of her left eye.

Dr. October, desperate, asked acting Kord Industries head Victoria Kord for help. In exchange for access to October's research, Kord used an experimental version of what would become known as the OMAC (Omni Mind And Community) Virus to rebuild Sasha's body.

The implementation of the virus was a success.

Sasha, no longer comfortable in the city that had destroyed her body and reputation, abandoned Gotham against October's wishes, choosing to return to living internationally as an agent of Checkmate. Filling the open position of The Black King's Knight, Sasha found herself in the employ of Maxwell Lord.

Given an undercover operation, Sasha took on the identity of "Vienna Barstow" a Las Vegas showgirl, during which she was responsible for observing and maintaining the safety of one Michael Costner, an orphaned youth originally from Metropolis before moving to Gotham and onto Vegas.

As time went on, it became clear that "Michael Costner" was not a real person but a parapersonality created by someone within Checkmate to keep Sasha's mark hidden and under control.

Following the death of Maxwell Lord IV at the hands of Wonder Woman, Michael's true identity spontaneously emerged: Maxwell Lord V, a second generation bio-organic OMAC only to be activated by Brother Eye in the event of their father's death.

Using the nanites carried by Sasha, Max V underwent a rapid transformation into the first of a new line of mass production OMACs, a new army for Checkmate in their coming wars with metahuman, extraterrestrial, and extradimensional threats alike.

Sasha, now a fugitive from Checkmate, sought assistance from the Black Queen's Knight, Jessica Midnight, and went on the run. Finding shelter with Diana and her revitalized Justice Society, found another unexpected ally against Lord the Younger: Ted Kord, saved from death by the OMAC virus as well.

Back within the halls of Checkmate, Lord had two priorities: finishing the process of installing Amanda Waller in the role of US President, and hiring out Lex Luthor's bodyguard Mercy Graves for a single hit: kill Sasha Bordeaux.

[uncleasriel]

Pathfinder, for a D&D 3.5 derived product, tries really hard to add verisimilitude to their world despite the constraints of their ruleset. There is a specific cleric archetype in 1e pathfinder called the Separatist which mechanically (though not necessarily lore-wise) allows for various sorts of heresies and schisms to occur.

More broadly, fantasy mythologies tend to be caught between the gameability of certain deities and the actual needs of real-world religions. A fantasy RPG player seeking adventurous thrills would absolutely delight in their cleric of a fire-god being able to lob fireballs at will. In the actual religious practice of real-world peoples, though, would rather wish a fire god would grant blessings like an always-warm hearth that cooks meals quickly, or hearth that burns all week with only a single log as offering, or a forge which never burns its smith once given the proper prayers. There is a disconnect between adventure fiction and what real humans actually wish for in their lives, and this is the source of this tension.

I do recommend The Pamphlet of Pantheons by James Holloway. The host of the podcast Monster Man (and it's Patreon sister, Patron Deities), James has given a lot of thought to how verisimilitude in D&D works given the game's aesthetic and mechanical goals. Pamphlet of Pantheons is a great system-agnostic guide for how to build a fantasy Pantheon, and it includes themes like Assimilating a God/Demon from an Enemy Culture Into Your Own and Older Gods Taking On New Aspects That Shift Their Divine Portfolio.

I rather like the idea of inverting an As Above, So Below approach, and having Divine Magic be born of nebulous forces that react to their specific mindset of their adherents. Sarenrae exists because enough followers of a cultural milieu hold onto a Light And Life And Goodness vision of her. The Cult of the Dawnflower is almost a tumescence or parapersonality which grows within the goddess as her worshippers shift their worldviews and ideologies. I'd almost characterize Sarenrae smiting her non-good Dawnflower followers in the same way one would cut off a gangrenous limb and toss it into a fire, before it tainted the host and/or split off into a new creature which weakened its host and becomes a competitor in the divine ecosystem.

It struggles to fit within canons of D&D-like settings & canons - especially with things like Domain spells being a neat-and-tidy bundle to give a player a cute set of toys to fight monsters with. D&D is, after all, a tactical game that had themes of sociology and morality and creative expression smooshed (sometimes rather awkwardly) into it. But my approach, in my worlds, I try to make the Divine more distant, and leave the mystery up to people who actually live in the world (i.e. the Player Characters, who are reacting to the in-game real-world issues like politics, survival and other practical needs.)

Got talking about religions in RPGs today and reminded me of an old concept I had for a religion-focused worldbuilding game. So often rpg religions feel very static. Like there's supposedly this millennia old religious tradition except everyone basically agrees about it. No schisms, no heresies, no apocrypha or misconceptions or syncretism. Sure, if there's an Objectively Real God there to keep things in line the whole time that might make sense. Maybe. But otherwise it ends up feeling like a very shallow part of a world.

[thecryptocreep]

@cryptid-wendigo 

Have some lazy cryptid themed asks I pulled out of my arse. Anyone can use these if you want to be asked them, btw. Feel free to reblog!

Cryptooo: If only one cryptid in the world could be proven real, which cryptid do you think has the best evidence to support their existence? Why?

FIGHT!: Let’s say you come across a hellhound, mothman, and chupacabra in a three-way battle to the death. Which cryptid wins?

Loch Mess: Which aquatic cryptid do you think has the least amount of evidence to prove their existence? Why?

Proof, Bitch: You have the opportunity to prove the existence of ONE cryptid, regardless of supporting evidence. What cryptid’s existence do you want to prove?

Real Science: What animal (that isn’t a cryptid) do you think belongs in the category of cryptozoology because of how weird and unusual it is?

Toofgib: You’re hiking in the mountains when you stumble upon a sasquatch. What’s your initial reaction and how do you handle this situation?

Parapersonal: Have you ever had a weird experience that you couldn’t explain? Have you ever brought it up to someone and found they had a similar experience?

Fake News: What cryptid do you think has the best hoax presented to the public as real evidence?

Mollusk Among Us: Was a cryptid’s possible existence explained in a way you never thought of? Did it surprise you with how much it made sense?

Cryptids Gone Wild: What’s your favorite “caught on tape” video that supposedly showed proof of a cryptid?

[acreaturecalledgreed]

if i was a brainwashed paraperson id wanna be a centipede thing

[xehanortsreport]

Mort mort mort!! I was looking at stuff thinking about designing my parasona (?), and I was reviewing the zombie parasites and sometimes they have growths that come out of their host. So maybe, if a paraperson dies, but the parasite piece inside them is still alive, growths sprout and it takes full control of the corpse??

Like, maybe the growths work as radio antenna? Because, it's only a small piece of Kira, and so in order to control the corpse on its own, the host can't provide any aid in moving their own body, it needs to communicate with him better than it did before????????? That might not make sense hm.......... 

oooh no that makes a lot of sense to me and really adds to the creepy factor of the whole thing...like what if, before josuke really knew what he was doing with healing people, he had to kill someone to stop them and it didnt even stop them? brrr

[duncanpr]

#UltraComics Lives! This reminds me of the #parapersonality from #TheFilth. Very cool. 🤓 The #Multiversity by #GrantMorrison #DCComics #comicbooks #deluxeedition #multiverse

[xehanortsreport]

I know bugging a person supresses their identity and makes them accept being a paraperson but I like to think there's a dark part of Shinobu that would already be like "fuck yeah SPIDER POWERS I made out on this deal!"

oh trust me, there is. she’s not a bad person by any means, but she’s a person who’s wanted to be special and treated specially all her life, so this whole thing is just an extremely dark way of fulfilling fantasies she’s always had.

kira honestly lucked out on the host he picked after his first body was rendered obsolete--shinobu ended up being a rather large boon in his favor (see: super silk suit and a tendency to be complacent rather than fight the change)

[xehanortsreport]

I’ll do a bug rohan later but here’s a quick doodle of horrible mutant paraperson yukako

goddamn i can only imagine fighting her to be terrifying (excellent)

[xehanortsreport]

I think Kira turning Shinobu into a paraperson would be EXCLUSIVELY used to torment Hayato, like Kira's teasing of him but coming through the person he cares about the most would be a pretty big heartbreaker

You’ve pretty much got it spot on--though of course it helps to have a layer of control anyway, he has Shinobu bugged SPECIFICALLY to attack Hayato should he try anything subversive. Shinobu, moreover, is not aware of this--but Kira has made Hayato painfully, explicitly aware of the fact that his mom could snap and attack him at any moment.