Campaign: Curse Eater

[prof]

This world is cursed.

Was it brought upon us by some ancient evil? Did we bring it about ourselves? Is humanity so wretched that this is the fate we deserve?

Even if it is, we won't accept it. So long as any of us still draw breath, we will fight. Even if humanity must end in blood, let our final struggle have meaning...

The world of Dolorosa faces an existential threat which has worked towards its gradual destruction for centuries. Only one continent remains where human civilization exists. There, humanity's last stand plays out, slowly and brutally, against the Curse.

There's no clear pattern to who is afflicted with the Curse. It can happen to anyone, at any time, and it turns you into one of the Afflicted - humanlike monsters that draw sustenance only from the act of murder. The more they kill, the stronger they become, growing into monstrous beings far beyond the scope of what humans can possibly defeat.

However, humanity has one weapon against the Curse, and that is the Curse itself. The cursed hearts of the Afflicted can be transplanted into humans; the process is dangerous and has a low survival rate, but those who do survive become Curse Eaters - half-afflicted warriors with abilities far beyond humanity. The Beasts Templar, the organization that creates, trains, and directs the Curse Eaters, are the final line of defense protecting humanity from extinction.

As a Curse Eater, your task is simple: Slay the Afflicted. However, simple does not mean easy. The Afflicted can hide anywhere as ordinary humans, and even when cornered, their powers are deadly beyond any other evils in this world. Even among Afflicted, there are monsters that stand far beyond the rest, pillars of death against which victory can scarcely be imagined. Your enemy defies comprehension, and your death is all but certain.

Nevertheless, will you fight?

Setting Info
The World of Dolorosa

Gritty Deets
As is usually the case, expect a 1-20 Valor campaign with five players meeting once a week. I may be experimenting with some additional custom rules for things like getting limbs taken off - this is gonna be dark and challenging. PC death will be a real possibility.

Game is scheduled to replace Meteor, which hasn't started yet, so... early 2022 maybe? Lol.

Signups
Nobody knows what their schedule will look like in 2022. Guess anyway! If your schedule changes, the worst that can happen is you'll have to back out and I'll find a replacement. OR we'll move the slot. Who knows! the future is weird!

Reply with this:
<b>Name:</b> <b>Character Concepts:</b> if any. connections to the Imogen Incident, direct or indirect, are encouraged but not required. <b>Availability:</b> In broad strokes, assuming nothing dramatic chance in the next year <b>Questions:</b> about the game or the world or whatever <b>Memes:</b> This is the joke field

Comments

[404godnotfound]

Name: Wing
Character Concepts: Inquisitor Annabelle, a sharpshooter Curse Eater with a knack for investigative work, and has a reputation for flushing out particularly crafty Afflicted that have been living among humans and dispatching them. She seeks to find the truth of what happened to Imogen, having lost a family member in the incident - Annabelle suspects the incident could have been avoided, and wishes to find out if this was true.
Availability: Assuming KV has wrapped up, any evening but Saturday is good, knock on wood.
Memes: i'd put something here, but i'm at a loss,

[atrypical]

Name: Matt
Character Concepts: A strong warrior who wields a sword and shield (think stereotypical paladin stances) who comes from a line of Curse Eaters with many siblings - some of who survived the transplant and some who didn’t. Their father was slain in the Imogen Incident and they seek to grow powerful enough to take revenge.
Availability: Eastern US time zone - if Lorica is over Tuesday nights are available as well as the currently free Wednesday nights.
Memes: This is based on an anime I haven’t watched, isn’t it?

[andthisgunifound]

Claymore, loosely.

[alopex_plasma]

Name: Holly
Character Concepts: Pretty attached to:
Heartbreaker Salvezra: Broody introvert and survivor of Imogen's rampage. He's been a Curse Eater as far back he can remember, and doesn't even consider himself human. He can detect changes in the heartbeats of others and alter his own to superhuman degrees in order to produce concussive strikes and shoot out blood with the force of a cannon. Str/Aura/Guts crisis build. No brain cells only the consuming urge to fulfil his mission and or die trying.
Availability: Subject to SUCH change. Preferably not running past midnight est. Soliel and JJBTT will probably be over by then and my Saturday game definitely will be - call it free on all days that you are.
Questions: 1. Do the Beasts Templar have Curse Eaters in training/development as well as on the field?
Memes: throws a muppets with great gatsby cast list on the ground and leaves

[prof]

They do! Curse Eaters need thorough training before taking the field, because untrained Curse Eaters tend to Fall very easily.

[spelleton]

Name: Ruka
Character Concepts: Sharpshooter Ancelin - Jovial Curse Eater who fought Imogen and lived. Emaciated due to shooting an entire ballista. A ranged specialist who eats voraciously to produce ammunition for their bow from their own flesh.
Availability: Any time except like Friday American time (i'll be out the whole time).
Questions: n/a
Memes: behold wiggles

[lastnamepunkhead]

Name: Sven
Character Concepts:
Agatha, a Curse Eater whose power is one parts massive sword and two parts heating her own body up to superhuman temperatures, turning herself and her sword red-hot. Cynical and defiant, Agatha carves a bloody swath through the Afflicted to find the truth behind the disappearance of her partner, Cassandra, herself a Curse Eater who was caught in the Imogen incident five years ago, no matter if that puts her in the path of the Beasts Templar or not.
Availability: Saturday evenings (8 EST) are a no-go since I doubt Trails will be wrapped up by then. Sundays evenings (9 EST) I'll likely still be running a bi-weekly game. Everything else is fair game.
Questions: N/A
Memes: I got nothin'.

[allagain]

Name: AF
Character Concepts: Tramp and their older sister Lady were orphaned a at a young age and grew up on the streets until the Beasts Templar abducted took them in and turned them into Curse Eaters. Tramp can "steal" the abilities of others (mimic core build) and Lady used barriers, but she pushed herself too hard (probably shielding someone) during the Imogen Incident and Fell. Tramp's goal now is to find what used to be their sister and put her down.
Availability: Working third shift, assuming nothing changes between now and then, so setting aside Suffering Sunday and raid static because those time periods aren't available anyway:
-Sunday through Thursday, game would have to be done by 10 pm EST
-Thursday also I have another game starting around 7 pm EST
-General preference that nothing starts before 5 pm EST
Questions: nah
Memes: I'm on my phone but pretend I posted something clever and hilarious here.

[overbringer]

Name: Eric
Character Concepts: George the curse eater was mortally wounded during the battle with Imogen, and him falling MIGHT have doomed everyone else, but George found someone else. A stupid punk human kid, Sabra, who wanted to be a curse eater because it sounded rad and she wanted to be strong. Sabra was ALSO mortally wounded, so George used his last ounce of strength to rip his own cursed heart out and jam it into Sabra's torso. The odds of this working were ASTRONOMICALLY low, but George figured they weren't zero, so it was an improvement on their current situation.

Miraculously, it worked. Sabra somehow survived the process and became a curse eater on the spot, and totally blindsided Imogen with a critical hit that didn't kill her, but it did distract her enough for the actually experienced curse eaters to turn the fight around.

It's a few years later, now. Sabra has gone through some hectic training and has figured out the basics of her new life, and is ready to JOIN THE TEAM.

Designated team idiot. Lightning/Darkness themed powers. Main backstory hook is how the FUCK did she survive having a cursed heart jammed into her torso in the middle of a battle.
Availability: Preferably not Saturday or Wednesday, but who knows what my schedule will look like by then.
Questions: How much do normal people know about the Beasts Templar? Are they like public figures, or are they more like MIB mysterious secrets?
Memes:

Hey, whatever floats your stoat

[prof]

Missed question! People know the Beasts Templar exist and that they fight the Afflicted. That's usually about it - things like classifications of Afflicted and ranking systems are less common knowledge, and things like the existence of Fallen are an imperfectly-kept secret heard in unconfirmed rumors.

[fearinahandfulof]

Name: Zoe
Character Concepts: A Curse Eater who was there for the Imogen incident but demoted either directly because of the incident or shortly after. Wants to prove herself again/learn what caused it and whether it can happen again. Still working on name/powers.
Availability: Schedule is more or less open
Memes: