Hellkite Pollux

Now bare your fangs and taste my sin

You hear the chains AND WE BEGIN [echo]

Reveal the lies my golden throne

I’ll vaporize what’s set in stone

(Hate) Bare your fangs

(Sceam) hear the chains

(Fate) see my sin

(Scheme) you begin

(Vaporize) Reveal the lies

(Set in stone) My golden throne

Now strike me down

And claim your prize

~Pollux Boss Theme

Pollux, a set of fulgurite manacles acquired after the player defeats the possessed statue which they originally adorned. Possessing powerful close quarters hand to hand techniques and infused with lightning, Pollux is the fastest melee weapon. Acquiring Pollux allows the player to grind cables while in skating mode.

Pollux—Ball Lightning: Each attack can be charged to increase its effectiveness, with some moves gaining new properties. During Overdrive, all attacks are treated as charged to level one, and in Devil Overdrive, are treated as charged to level 3, the max.

Pollux—Overdrive: With Pollux equipped, while in overdrive, Damage is increased by 20%, Armor is increased by 10%, Speed is increased by 20%, and Healing bandaged health at a rate of 10% of expended Fuel.

Pollux—Devil Overdrive: When in Devil Overdrive, Pollux’s Damage, Armor and Speed bonuses are doubled, and you Heal stitched health at a rate of 10% of expended Heat.

Pollux—Combo A:

1. A quick right jab. Inflicts stagger at Charge 2 and crumple at Charge 3.
2. A right straight. Hits an additional time with crackling electricity for each level of Charge.
3. A left hook. Launches enemies at Charge 3.
4. An uppercut. Launches enemies. If A3 was charged to level 3, this attack will chase them into the air. When charged to level 3, calls down a lightning bolt right before the attack proper hits.

Pollux—Combo B:

1. After A2, pause briefly (weapon will flash to indicate timing) then rapidly tap the melee attack button to launch a barrage of punches. (This attack cannot be charged)
2. A front flipping kick that inflicts knock-down. When Charged, is followed up by a lightning strike. At Charge 3, the lightning strike launches enemies.

Pollux—Static Break:

1. At any time with Pollux equipped, press the Overdrive and Melee attack buttons simultaneously to enter Overdrive with a radial explosion which knocks back nearby enemies. This ability can interrupt any animation.

Pollux—Voltaic Eruption:

1. While locked on and holding backwards, press the melee attack button to perform an intense uppercut wreathed in lightning. Charging increases the radius of the effect.

Pollux—Volcanic Thunder:

1. During Voltaic Eruption, tap the melee attack button to follow your enemies skywards with spiraling fury. Inherits Voltaic Eruption’s level of Charge, hitting two additional times for each level of Charge.

Pollux—Triple Thunder God:

1. During Voltaic Eruption, locked on, and holding forwards, press the melee attack button to jump into a rising, spinning kick that grows in power with each strike and inflicts knock-back with the last hit. [attached is the image which initially inspired this particular attack.]

Pollux—Arc Lightning:

1. While locked on, press back to forward then the melee attack button to perform a flying kick that homes in on its target. Can be used in air or on ground. Charging increases the speed, and at Charge 3, pulls nearby enemies into the attack.

Pollux—Tesla Crash:

1. While locked on in midair and pressing backwards, press the melee attack button to perform an aerial axe kick that knocks enemies down and launches the player higher. At Charge 3, enemies struck by Tesla Crash will ground bounce.

Pollux—Descending Angel:

1. While jumping, press the melee attack button to dive to earth with a kick that launches nearby enemies with the shock-wave. Cannot be charged, but does more damage the higher up it is performed from.

Pollux—Short Circuit:

1. While locked on and pressing forward, press the melee attack button to perform a rhapsody of advancing kicks. Charging increases the number of strikes.

Pollux—Overload:

1. During Short Circuit or Combo B1, rapidly tap the melee attack button to cancel into Overload, performing a more powerful barrage of thundering punches.

Pollux—Direct Current:

1. While locked on, press forward to backward then the melee attack button to perform an overhead kick. This attack produces a shock-wave which launches knocked down enemies and knocks launched or standing enemies towards the player. At Charge 3, the shock wave is trailed by lightning strikes.

Hellkite: Rancor, Overdrive, and Aftermath

Rancor (rough model)

Rancor, the first Melee Weapon the player acquires, is a scythe, and balances well between range, damage and speed.

Rancor—Aftermath: Rancor’s unique effect, called Aftermath, causes some attacks, while in Overdrive, to leave a rippling tear in space that, after a short delay to prime itself, hits the first enemy to come in contact with it. In Devil Overdrive, all attacks cause this effect, with each hit.

Rancor—Overdrive: While in Overdrive, with Rancor equipped, Damage Inflicted is increased by 15%, incoming Damage is reduced by 20%, the speed of your movement and attacks is increased by 10%, and you recover bandaged health at a rate of 15% of expended Fuel.

Rancor—Devil Overdrive: The Attack, Defense, and Speed boosts given by Overdrive are doubled. Additionally, stitched health recovers at a rate of 15% of expended Heat.

These stats can be simplified to DASH: Damage, Armor, Speed, and Healing.

Rancor—Combo A:

1. A slashing attack, holding the weapon close to the center, with the attack going diagonally down from the left, and fluidly chaining into…
2. A mirror of the first attack, forming an “X” of slashes, going diagonally down from the right.
3. A wide horizontal slash from left to right.
4. A spinning horizontal slash that carries the momentum of A3 and inflicts knock-back. Causes Aftermath in Overdrive.

Rancor—Combo B:

1. After A2, pause until the scythe flashes then rapidly press the attack button to spin Rancor overhead, hitting multiple times.
2. After the maximum duration (5 hits) of the whirl, there is a spinning sweep followup similar to A4 with the difference that it inflicts knockdown. This followup attack can be canceled out of by dodging, jumping, or inputting a special move before its animation begins. Causes Aftermath in Overdrive. This Aftermath has the Launch property.

Rancor—Sweeping Gust:

1. Press and hold the melee attack button to begin charging. Has three levels of charge, each of which increases the maximum range of the attack.
2. Release the melee attack button to fling Rancor like a boomerang. When it reaches its max range it will return, bringing back any light enemy it has hit.

Rancor—Gale:

1. While locked on, press forward and the melee attack button to rush forward while spinning, hooking light enemies you pass through. Leaves Aftermath in Overdrive.
2. At the end of the rush, hooked enemies are knocked back with one final spin.

Rancor—Maelstrom:

1. While executing Gale, rapidly press the melee attack button to instead follow up the rush with a whirling attack that draws in nearby enemies, like a more powerful version of Combo B. In Overdrive, creates a large field of aftermath, but significantly drains fuel.
   

Rancor—Rising Wind:

1. While locked on, press backward and the melee attack button to back-flip and launch enemies into the air with an upward slash.
2. Holding the attack button causes you to also rise into the air.

Rancor—High Pressure:

1. During Rising Wind, while locked on and pressing forward, press the melee attack button to chain into a an overhead slash that knocks enemies to the ground while simultaneously pushing you higher into the sky.

Rancor—Dust Devil:

1. While locked on, press back to forward then the melee attack button to charge forward with an upward slash that launches enemies. Dust Devil can be used in air.

Rancor—Head Splitter:

1. While locked on in midair, press forward and the melee attack button to dive down with a powerful slash. Inflicts knockdown.
2. Upon impact with ground, hits again, inflicting knock-back.

Rancor—Downdraft:

1. While midair, press the melee attack button to perform a crescent slash that inflicts knockdown.

Rancor—Steel Cloud:

1. While locked on in midair, press backward and the melee attack button to spin in midair, hitting multiple times. In Overdrive, creates a ring of Aftermath.

Hellkite - Or, If I Had A Budget And A Team...

Hellkite, obviously and foremost inspired by the Devil May Cry series, originated in a particularly chuunibyou phase of my online existence, largely defined by concept fusion RP OCs — taking complementary or amusingly opposed powersets or themes from two or more series — in this case, Devil May Cry, Jet Set Radio, and Air Gear, to give credit where credit is due. Of course, thanks to my wonderfully rampant autism, once I had a character whose abilities were partly based off of a game with detailed and comprehensive combat documentation, I simply *had* to design an entire game around them. It became the vehicle for my annoyances with the series — I distinctly recall thinking that DmC:DMC had *some* good ideas that I could have directed a *lot* better. Admittedly, the resulting control scheme was and is crowded, but also allows for seamless fluidity with the driving design concept that nothing the player character does in a cutscene should be impossible in gameplay.

What follows is the control scheme as it was when I initially designed this concept, updated for readability. Controls are presented with the button layout of a typical desktop gaming controller (not naming any names here). When this was designed, I recall wishing there were back facing buttons, so if that gets more normalized expect these commands to float out a bit to ease the amount of multi-presses.



Controls:
X — Melee Attack
Y — Dash/Evade
LB — Context Actions (based on Directional pad selection)
A — Jump
B — Firearm Attack
Left stick — controls movement
L3 — resets camera
Right stick — controls camera
R3 — changes lock-on (alternate option, change lock-on by flicking right stick)
RB — locks on and can be set to toggle
RT — Cycles melee weapon(hold to choose with Directional Pad)
LT —  Cycles firearm(hold to choose with Directional Pad)
Select button — Taunt.  (hold for alternate)
Directional pad Left —  selects Eclipse (creates singularities that slow time and absorb projectiles in a radius, and can be repositioned and recharged with melee attacks that hit the center) Context Action
Directional pad Right — selects Baby-Doll (Clone effect a la doppelganger) Context Action
Directional pad Up — selects OverDrive context action
Directional pad Down — selects DevilOverDrive context action

Melee attack is bound by default to the left face button.
    Combos are performed by repeatedly pressing the button, with alternate variations used by delaying the next input. Some combos can be further linked by mashing (or, with accessibility mode on, holding) the button. Special attacks use lock-on+direction, and follow more or less the same rules as combos.
Firearm attack is bound by default to the right face button.
     While firearm attacks have no combos, they do also have special attacks usable with lock-on+direction input, some of which can be canceled into each other.
Dash/Evade is bound by default to the top face button.
    By pressing and releasing the Evade button, you can Rush, dashing a short distance in the direction you are currently attempting to move. If no direction is pressed, you will attempt a parry with a very small active window (3 frames). Rushing will interrupt combo chains.
    By pressing the Evade button while locked onto an enemy and moving away from them, you can Dodge, flipping backward. This has more I-frames and less startup than rushing, and can be chained three times (with the second and third allowing you to move in any direction but forward instead of only back) although doing so will result in an obligate taunt, resulting in a moment of vulnerability. Dodging will disjoint combo chains, allowing you to continue the combo from where you were interrupted by pressing the attack button during the Dodge animation. This does *not* reset the number of chained Dodges used, until the combo chain ends.
    By tapping the evade button while in the air and near a wall, you can Wall Trick, grabbing onto it. Jumps from this position are treated as if from the ground, but will not reset air actions. You may fire ranged weapons as though grounded during this technique.
     By holding the evade button near a wall (during Dodge, Wall Trick, or Rush) you can start Wall Running. Depending on the direction of your movement relative to the wall, you can run straight up, diagonally up and forward, or forward. You can attack with firearms while Wall Running, but anything heavier than handguns will end the Wall Run
    If you attempt to Rush while in midair, you will perform an Aerial Rush, dashing a shorter distance in the chosen direction. If no direction is pressed, you will stall in the air briefly by spinning, with a short parry window. (Resets air actions IFF it successfully parries something, but otherwise can only be used once and resets as an Air Action)
    If you attempt to Aerial Rush while near an enemy, you will instead perform an Enemy Rush, using the poor thing as a springboard to dash a short distance in midair. If  no direction is pressed, you will simply move away from the enemy. Unlike Aerial Rush which can only be used once and resets as an Air Action, Enemy Rush can be used so long as there is something to kick off of, and resets Air Actions.

    By Locking On and holding forward and pressing the Evade button while near an enemy or wall, you can perform a Downward Rush, dashing to the ground rapidly and stalling nearby enemies in midair.

Yes, I know, there’s a lot of evasion mechanics and options but they’re all very similar and should flow together. In theory. Now for the JUMPS

Jump is bound to the bottom face button. Jump height is effected by how long the button is held. Pressing in a direction will reduce overall height but allow lateral travel.
    By attempting to Jump towards a ledge, you will Leap farther forward with a notable reduction in height. This can also be forced by locking on and pressing back then forward before Jumping.
    While  near a wall midair, pressing the Jump button will let you Wall Kick, jumping off the wall to get higher. Can only be used once per jump and is mutually exclusive with Aerial Jump. Resets as an Air Action
    While in midair, pressing the Jump button again will result in an Aerial Jump. But…

    If you’re near an enemy midair, Jumping will result in an Enemy Jump, kicking off of the enemy to gain height. Resets Air Actions.

On the next post I will: Talk about mechanics (health and other resources), answer any questions I receive, and (if I have time which I almost certainly will) begin breaking down the starting weapon's move-set (I've got four melee weapons and four firearms already designed... for this character.)

The Vampire Lord

The blood is the life. A simple truth, twisted and engorged by vampirism. And when the blood runs in torrents, and the cup of life runneth over, how perverted can that truth become?

An answer lies in the vampire lord. When a vampire is glutted on a hundred or more lives, its paranormal metabolism kicks into overdrive. Night itself is reified within the vampire's body as the blood is converted first into the typical profane energy which saturates the vampire's body and soul and makes it what it is. When the body is at capacity, and yet more and more sustenance presents itself, the vampiric mind, loathe to abandon any of its spoils, automatically begins to use the excess energy to weave tangible shadows that flow through the veins of the burgeoning lord. Their blood darkens, eventually being replaced entirely with dense, fluid midnight. This state, technically speaking, is not yet a lord, however, for it has yet to undergo the umbral metamorphosis which converts every cell in the vampire's body to living darkness.

While the vampire lord is more than adept at appearing human, its entire physicality it made up of evil made manifest. However, this form retains the accelerated metabolism initially kick-started by the vampire's feeding frenzy, and has roughly ten times the appetite it had before metamorphosis. Often, clever lords will sire subordinate vampires, send them each to feed on multiple humans, then drink their enriched blood.

Umbral Metamorphosis
When a vampire's blood is fully converted to umbraplasm, the body is ready to undergo what is known as the Umbral Metamorphosis. The vampire will seek out a suitable location to hibernate for a week, usually a well-guarded crypt deep in the earth. During its metamorphosis, it is wrapped in a chrysalis of umbraplasm, drawn out from the veins to wrap around the body. First it forms a thin sheet over the vampire's body, which sinks into the skin, fusing with it. Then, the remaining mass of umbraplasm begins to transpose itself with the vampire's flesh, slowly digesting itself. Eventually, it will have replaced every (important) part of the vampire. The only internal organs remaining are a swollen, onyx heart, almost crystalline in appearance, and the feeding apparatus. Unlike a stomach, the vampire lord's esophagus simply leads directly to its body cavity, passing briefly through something similar to a filter, which converts blood into the more energy dense umbraplasm. The soul of any killed and eaten by the vampire lord is destroyed and consumed, being completely digested within sixty hours. [Check when the lord is destroyed. -20% chance, +2% per hour passed, that the soul has been digested. (The soul is never digested within the first ten hours, making these a guarantee for any hoping to free or resurrect the soul of the victim)]
Similarly, their thralls are capable of carrying souls to their lord, although they cannot digest them. This prevents resurrection, but at least offers greater hope to their savior's efforts, as a thrall is much easier to kill, and the only time limit is until they return to their master, and, depending on their orders, that could be days or even weeks.

So, The Dhampir

When a vampire reaches its last remnants of energy, it goes into a sort of hibernation, being sustained only by the evil that goes to and fro in the earth, waiting for a splash of blood. When blood is absorbed and prey is near, the vampire rises, wroth with frenzy and desperation, seeking to feed. Of course, this is the normal process. However, should a vampire be interred in hallowed ground, or within a sealed coffin of a pure metal, it will instead continue to starve, unable to feed on vermin or unquiet spirits. The last vestige of darkness haunting the corpse will die. The corpse, however, remains revivified. In fact, it has been discovered - regrettably, in hindsight - that the "obvious" vampire symptom of being flush with life, was actually the beginning of the dhampiric transformation.

As hell's darkness leaves the corpse, the suppressed soul of the mortal refills it. The body is no longer forced to reject mortal sustenance, though it appears that their more esoteric abilities do still necessitate a sanguinary diet from time to time. Additionally, many of the vampire's weaknesses are purged along with the vampiric mind (that entity which perverts and suppresses the mortal soul of a vampire). Sun, silver, and even holy oil have no effect on these beings. Luckily, they seem to occur only when a human's will is strong enough to prevent the vampire from feeding, and they are fortunate enough to be interred as necessary for a sufficient duration. As a result, those few dhampir which do exist are looked upon by our church as allies, although they trust us far less. This, of course, is understandable, given the quantity of them slain at our command before we learned their true nature. 

They are Providence's gift to the penitent vampire, and carry a spark of fortune's light within their soul. The so-called "Vampire Lord" could be considered their own dark mirror. Please bear this in mind while more information regarding that subject is collected.

~Emmanuel Blochleach (in a letter to the Royal Athenaeum)

Vampires should be thirstier

A vampire that takes only enough to live, and sates its thirst little by little each day? Sure, that's nice, but I don't really think that's as exciting, especially when it's also the easiest to "get away with" in that you aren't killing anyone or starving yourself. So, instead, consider the following scale.

• Dhampir
• Bloodless Vampire
• Ravenous Vampire
• Sated Vampire
• Glutted Vampire
• Vampire Lord

Ignoring, for now, the special cases in bold, we shall begin with the state in which most vampires begin their unlife - Ravenous. Ravenous vampires have just enough blood in them to know they don't have enough. The dark force (whatever it actually is for your vampire) in them hungers for more blood. They are stronger than the average human, but almost entirely feral, especially when first embraced. A neophyte with no prior experience controlling their hunger, waking to bloodthirst with an empty or all but empty stomach, will almost certainly stumble around until it scents blood, then frenzy, falling upon their prey and draining it dry. If they were fortunate enough to feed upon a human, they will have reached the state of Sated. Any less than entire mortal sophont life's worth of blood (beast blood, while technically sustenance, provides no benefit as far as satisfying the Hunger) will leave them Ravenous. Now, most adult humans can lose, according to a quick google search, about 14% of their blood and be fine. So you'd need to drink 14% of seven and change - call it eight people's blood to reach sated. Per day. While ravenous, ceasing to drink blood is an ordeal. Most "conscientious" vampires try to reach a buffer zone between Sated and Glutted so that they can feed on less blood each day. Of course, that will eventually deplete, leaving them with difficult choices to make. Glutted requires (per day) the blood of ten humanoids (or one dragon, if available) and is sometimes called the "Noble" vampire, despite failing to be a true lord, because of their preternatural charisma. Their habits are all but human, and they often pass as mortal nobility, albeit with "quirks."

But suppose the neophyte has no prey, or the prolific sipper an attack of consciousness or dearth of prey? Suppose they starve until the last drop of blood in their hollow corpse is spent? They do not die, but fall into a sleep, often underground. Even a splash of blood or the ichor of worms and vermin is enough for them to move should true prey approach. And, should the opportunity arise, and the conscience of the human the vampire once was is not adamant,  move they shall. Otherwise? Well, I'll get to that in the next post: Dhampir.