Soushishin | Twinned Souls | 双子神

[Celes]

 

Soushishin | Twinned Souls | 双子神

 

Amongst the several feats achieved by the clan progenitor, Hoshi Shira, greatest to the preservation of his progeny came in the form of a seal that would influence the lives of all those a part of the Hoshi bloodline. Years after the ordeal with the yokai that possessed his father, Shira discovered that in his body, intertwined with his own chakra was the exact same chakra that belonged to the yokai, which strove to take on a life of its own from within him. He sought various methods to separate the heinous life energy from his own through his expertise in the Sealing Arts and succeeded eventually. Unfortunately, in the process of sealing away every trace of the chakra beast's remnant life, the man's body grew exponentially weaker. The ghastly realization that his own life energy was linked to that of the beast's shook him to his core. Though his immeasurable hatred for the monstrosity remained unwavering, his dreams of ridding the world of the beast's kind was far greater. Even after reluctantly merging the beast's chakra with his own once more, the Hoshi forefather sought an alternate method, though highly theoretical in nature.

 

The so called method involved the eventual creation of a certain seal, deemed the Gobosei Fuin or Pentagram Seal, which Hoshi Shira imprinted upon himself. This seal's purpose was to seal away the consciousness of the beast, forcing its body and mind to be separated and while it was successful, something gravely unexpected occurred. The yokai chakra's, without a conscious thought in place to control it, began to 'rampage' inside the body of the Hoshi not unlike a mindless beast lashing out indiscriminately, with its targets being the chakra of Shira. Whether a bizarre side effect of the seal or not, the yokai's chakra gradually assimilated itself into the young man's own, transforming it in the process. When the assimilation concluded, Shira could eventually hear a voice from within not unlike the yokaigata's from before. But it was different. And yet familiar.

 

With time came the discovery that the yokai's chakra connected to Shira's consciousness as if to replace the 'overwritten soul', so to speak. No longer was the inner voice the yokai it once was, but instead it was in many ways an extension of the Hoshi's self, an other half or an alter ego altogether. With time, these beings were even capable of manifesting themselves as quasi-physical entities, coined shikigami by the clansmen, with appearances not entirely different than the yokai species, albeit smaller in most cases or even taking on humanoid shapes with animalistic features. Regardless, it is from there that the Hoshi have utilized their shikigamis for a myriad of purposes over the generations, including as helpers in the waging war against the rampant yokai threat that plagued the world.

 

Requirements: Hoshi Clan. Ranks in the following skills may be taken once every 20 levels.

 

Soushishin; Evolved Physiology

Through the generations of genetic inheritance from the first Hoshi clansman, wielders of the kekkei genkai have been bestowed with a body drastically altered through the chakra of a yokaigata from centuries before. As a result, many have obtained a physique overflowing with life energy that mimics those with yokai sealed within them, the only difference being that a Hoshi has no chakra separate from that of the "yokai's" - they're one in the same.

Effect: Characters with this skill replace their Chakra statistic with the tank statistic 'Yokai Chakra'. Yokai Chakra may pay for Chakra costs and all effects that would apply to Chakra for characters with this skill apply to their Yokai Chakra instead. The character gains an additional 2x% of their total Yokai Chakra per turn. Additionally, the character's base Yokai Chakra statistic is treated as being permanently increased by 10x% for RP and passive equipment bonuses, with 'x' being equivalent to the rank in this skill. This ability is treated as Advanced Regeneration.

Ranks: 5

Cost: -3

 

Soushishin; Partial Manifestation

The Hoshi have always been attributed to using every resource at their disposal to oppose the chakra beasts that roam the world. This includes the quasi-physical manifestation of their chakra into beings that are appear no different than the yokai that roam the world. What makes them unique, however, is that they are a part of the Hoshi and possess wills that, while generally aligning with their other selves, are their own. These yokai-esque creatures also pose an inherent threat not only to the Chakra beasts the clansmen are opposed to but to anyone in possession of Chakra. When contact is made, they disrupt and inhibit the natural flow of Chakra and even assimilate the energy into their bodies.

Effect: Characters with this skill gain one (1) pet and may only possess said pet. The pet may be added or removed from the battlefield once per turn as a free action during the Setup Phase. Each time characters with this skill level up, their pet gains 15 Health, though this Health may not stack with Health granted by Training Points. The character may perform one (1) Pet Action during their turns but they cannot gain or activate Pet Abilities without the 'Path of the Tamer' skill. When performing Basic Pet Attacks, the character's pet may only absorb Chakra or Yokai Chakra equal to half the damage a regular Basic Pet Attack would deal unless they possess the 'Path of the Tamer' skill. Characters with this skill may also learn Pet Techniques with the 'Hijutsu; Hoshi' descriptor with the purchase of the second rank in this skill. These techniques allow the character to absorb Chakra and Yokai Chakra as long as the technique's Pet Combination is activated but they may not have any other effects unless they possess the 'Path of the Tamer' skill. Absorbing Chakra or Yokai Chakra through the effects specified in this skill heals the pet for 100% of the Chakra or Yokai Chakra absorbed. If the Health of the pet would be reduced to 0 or below, it is removed from the battlefield. Additionally, the character may choose to not regenerate Yokai Chakra during their turn as a Setup Phase action. The pet is healed for the amount of Yokai Chakra the character would have regenerated but the pet may not be added to the battlefield again until its Health is at 50% of its total or higher. The pet may be revived in this manner once per battle and may not be healed through any other means.

Requirements: Soushishin; Evolved Physiology Rank 1

Ranks: 2

Cost: -2

 

Soushishin; Elemental Imprint

While the Yokai that are born alongside the Hoshi are created differently, they too possess affinities to certain elements like their distance cousins. Often times, this element coincides with those with their other half but it isn't uncommon for them to be dissimilar. Nevertheless, these elements, no matter how rare, can be shared with the Hoshi to expand their abilities in the ninja arts.

Effect: Upon taking this skill, characters may purchase one (1) Element regardless of the required Subtle Element skills. If the Element has a Skill Point cost of two (2) or higher, their effects are reduced to 100(x/y)%, with 'x' being equivalent to the rank in this skill and 'y' being equivalent to the Element's Skill Point cost. Characters may not take ranks in this skill that exceed their element's skill point cost.

Requirements: Soushishin; Evolved Physiology Rank 1

Ranks: 4

Cost: -1

 

Soushishin; Full Manifestation

As the two halves of the Hoshi grow more proficient in their abilities, more possibilities open in how those abilities can be employed. While the manifestation of the yokai-like beings are strange and miracle occurrence of nature, it is only a half measure. When full measures have been taken, the entity is conjured fully onto the material plane with a physical body of varying sizes rather than a chakra-constructed form tied to that of the Hoshi clansman. Despite being separated, the shikigami possesses all of the same abilities as its other half though its new body is prone to being entirely different in terms of physical prowess.

Effect: Characters with this skill gain the skill ‘Contract Manager; x’ for the cost of 0 Skill Points, with 'x' being the pet granted through the 'Partial Manifestation' skill. Using Kuchiyose no Jutsu, the character may add the Level y 'x' Summon to the battlefield without requiring a summoning roll, with 'y' being equivalent to the rank taken in this skill or any number below it to a minimum of one (1).

Requirements: Level 30; Soushishin; Evolved Physiology Rank 2, Partial Manifestation & Elemental Imprint Rank 1.

Ranks: 4

Cost: -1

 

Full Manifestation Summon Rules:

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-Summon Families acquired through the 'Full Manifestation' ability of this bloodline must possess summons of each level except 0. They must be submitted in accordance with the Summon rules without stats, techniques or skills, requiring only their equipment to be approved.

-When these summons are added to the battlefield, they may allocate an amount of statistics equal to the total amount a Summon of its Level would possess but none of its statistics may exceed any of the statistics of the character that summoned it. Additionally, their Chakra statistic is replaced with the Yokai Chakra statistic as though they possessed the 'Evolved Physiology' ability of this bloodline. These statistics cannot be changed once the summon has been added to the battlefield but are removed once the summon has been removed from battle.

-When these summons are added to the battlefield, they gain access to an amount of techniques and skills, excluding bloodline skills, known by the character that summoned them equal to the amount of JP and SP a Summon of its Level would possess. These techniques and skills cannot be changed once the summon has been added to the battlefield but are removed once the summon has been removed from battle. When gaining techniques and skills from the character that summoned them, the points paid by the summon is based on the points the summoner paid for those abilities.

-All statistics, skills and techniques gained by the summon must be revealed in the post in which they were summoned.

-The Summon Element these summons possess is the same as the Element purchased in the 'Elemental Imprint' ability of this bloodline and possesses the same bonus it grants the owner of the skill.

-While these summons are on the battlefield, the user may not add the pet granted through the 'Partial Manifestation' ability of this bloodline to the battlefield.

 

 

Soushishin; Blended Souls

Effect: Characters with this skill may use their Yokai Chakra statistic to pay for any abilities that require Yokai Chakra granted by the yokai sealed within them.

Requirements: Soushishin; Evolved Physiology Rank 1

Cost: -2

 

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A lot going on in this bloodline but fits exactly what I want from the clan from both a mechanical and thematic standpoint. Some things might need to be adjusted but to address each one with explanations and the sort that might be pretty out there:

 

So the first ability changes Chakra to Yokai Chakra. For those that don't take the Blended Souls skill further down below, its just a flavorful effect for all intents and purposes so any concerns can just be directed towards that particular skill. Otherwise, the skill is partly an advanced regeneration skill that breaks up the regeneration increases over more ranks and partly a method for allowing one an increase to their total equipment stats by treating their Yokai Chakra as being 1.5x at the max rank, so 2000 Yokai Chakra functions as 3000 Yokai Chakra for that purpose. Might need some wording adjustments on that front however. But with the total chakra regeneration come in at 10%, that's 10 SP similar to Chakra Flow and the remaining 5 SP goes to the total stat boosting aspect for a total of 15 SP.

 

Perhaps the strangest skill of them all is the second. It dabbles in the territory of the Path of the Tamer by granting a pet but still meshes well enough if the character would actually take the Path. If that happens though, it prevents gaining a second or multiple other pets with separate Health granted by Training Points, forcing you to apply those Training Points to the pet obtained in the skill solely for gaining access to Pet Abilities since it already has its own Health. The other two uses for Pet Actions are available but are limited in what they can do, especially for Pet Techniques which can only be used for absorbing Chakra and Yokai Chakra (which is accounted for in the skill's cost, being -2 SP for absorption effects). Because the pet can't really do a whole lot on its own (without specialization through Tamer), I wanted to at least opt for the ability to revive it in case it goes down by sacrificing the user's regeneration to bring the pet "back to life" but only after gaining so much Health and just once per battle. Also can't be healed by anything else, particularly that one vet healing skill.

 

Next skill is the mostly straightforward in that in the same way a yokai has an Element, so does the pet which grants it to the user. For Elements that cost 2 SP or higher though, their bonuses will be reduced when using the technique until they purchase the exact amount SP needed to take the Element. This technically opens the possibilities to non Subtle and Combinatorial elements, but they largely require permission and/or are tied to bloodlines, so not too outrageous I think.

 

And lastly (for the core bloodline skills at least), there's the ability to turn the pet into a summon. The whole thing is like a Build-A-Summon kind of thing on the fly to sum it up in a nutshell. I believe all of the rules presented covers most of the bases and questions that need to be handled on how it works but I think the wording and such might need to be cleaned up or clarified still. I tried is all I can say. In any case, while I believe the skill should perhaps cost more than what it currently does given the flexibility it kind of offers on top of avoiding the randomness associated with a summon roll, I feel like its mostly justified in that while the summon is active and on the battlefield, the user can't use anything at all from the Partial Manifestation skill. So in a sense, you could say the SP paid for that skill (the non-absorption part of it anyway) lends itself to the summon skill but ultimately, don't mind bumping up the SP cost more if desired.

 

Now for the truly last skill, which can be taken with all of the bloodline skills or just the first, I'm not 100% sure how sound it is but that was largely the intent behind having the Chakra statistic replace the Yokai Chakra so as to kind of blend the bloodline with the yokai Advanced System if desired. With the statistic being able to regenerate, it helps a tad bit with the costs of using the Yokai techniques but its nothing major I feel like since at 2000 Yokai Chakra, which is 100 Yokai Chakra per turn. That could amount to like 2 uses of the Yokai-dama, albeit not back to back if you're pushing it to its max power for 1300 Yokai Chakra instead of the base 1000. Still, at maximum rank running full throttle, that's two extra turns of being in the Yokai Cloak at most.

 

Edited February 4, 2022 by Celes