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Table of Contents
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Bonds
My Mindset
My Personal Philosophy
A well-stated Bond says something about the mindset of your Avatar; not just what they can do, but what they care about and why. Try to formulate them as your character would express them, and you'll have demonstrated a great deal of their personality before even beginning on a character description.
Bond: Imagination and creativity trumps a work-ethic any day!
Bond: If I save people from their own stupidity, how will they LEARN?
Bond: I think everyone should donate to charity.
Bond: I like to explore everything and test things to destruction.
Bond: More is always better!
Bond: Humanity deserves better.
Bond: Laws are meant to be broken - including those of physics.
Bond: Tinkering with things is bound to make them better.
Bond: Clothes are silly and uncomfortable things, aren't they?
Bond: I despise the pack of drab lies that is the Prosaic World!
Bond: Blackmail is wrong, threats uncouth - but vengeance, ah, vengeance is divine.
Bond: Song of the Wild
My Code of Conduct
Bond: When I rob someone, I owe them something nice, to balance out my karma.
Bond: A true Thief has no need to kill.
Bond: I couldn't kill someone I don't know - that's uncivilized!
Bond: My mother, father or appointed babysitters should be near me at all times!
Bond: I provide employment for anyone who asks. Yes, even Excrucians.
Bond: I must honor the last request of a burning person, if it is within my power to do so.
Bond: My prey should know why and how they suffer.
Bond: I always rent; I never buy.
Bond: I must speak for those with no voices.
Bond: I must tell you why you are wrong.
Bond: I must always order the most expensive thing on the menu.
Bond: I always return favors, if possible in an extravagant fashion.
Bond: I must avenge wrongs done to me!
Bond: I must be kind to hobos and crazy people.
Bond: Miracles are deeply personal things - they should be granted via touch.
Bond: Those who break their word to me must be punished.
Bond: I follow and enforce the rules of Hospitality.
My Motivations
Bond: Oscar the Grouch is my rival!
Bond: I search for the fountain of youth…or the spring of drowned panda. Whichever comes first.
Bond: I crave attention!
Bond: I hate being changed or bound by others.
Bond: I care about my status as a mysterious media mogul.
Bond: I care about my Familia.
Bond: I yearn for true love…
Bond: I must add to my hoard.
Bond: I thoroughly enjoy exploiting loopholes.
Bond: I want to bring order to messy things
Bond: I like ordering people about.
Bond: I must be fully part of Noble Society.
Bond: I'm invested in the progress of humanity
Bond: I like to snoop on things that are none of my business.
Bond: I hate Excrucians.
Bond: I care for the Sanctity of my Estate.
Bond: I like to show off!
Bond: Lonely.
Bond: Creation NEEDS me, dammit!
My Personal Quirks
Bond: These clothes I'm wearin' now? They ain't never been washed and they ain't gonna be.
Bond: I kill cats when I'm curious.
Bond: Poisons make things taste better!
Bond: I must answer a question with a question.
Bond: Don't EVER mess with my COFFEE SUPPLY!!!
Bond: Anything is better with added Ninja!
Bond: Excrucians… they're just so… so… fascinating!
Bond: I make a point of avoiding celebrations.
Bond: I manage a love triangle with my anchors, Evelyn and Mariah.
Bond: I enjoy turning friend against friend.
Bond: I cherish the deeply unnatural and weird things.
Bond: Litterer.
Bond: I respond harshly to insults, real or perceived.
Bond: I prepare for odd contingencies.
Bond: I never let go of my sword Riposte
Bond: Ah, property damage. I do so adore it.
Bond: Paranoia is the hallmark of survivors!
Bond: Nothing heats your blood like a proper vendetta!
Bond: Plucky mortals get my respect.
Bond: I must present my virtues as vices.
My Roles and Identities
Bond: Mysterious Meddler.
Bond: Secret Agent Man.
Bond: Shameless flirter.
Bond: I protect children from horrors of the night.
Bond: Let's try to work out a compromise!
Bond: I dote on my daughter, Ellen.
Bond: I'm a very good listener.
Bond: I'm a positive force in people's lives
Bond: I enjoy doing ridiculous or over-the-top-impossible things.
Bond: Cheer up, Bucko!
Bond: I'm bloody well keeping my professor job - I only just got tenure, darn it!
Bond: Alchemist
Bond: I am a fictional character.
Things I Treasure
My Personal Abilities
Bond: My wings are soooooo pretty!
Bond: I have antennae.
Bond: Magical tattoos adorn my body.
Bond: My wings are sharper than a razor's edge.
Bond: My voice penetrates the loudest din and the thickest wall.
Bond: The dust from my wings is magical.
My Possessions and Servants
Bond: I live in a glass house.
Bond: My hat is my weapon of choice.
Bond: I'm proud of my extensive collection of antiques.
Bond: My staff is adorned with trophies taken from worthy enemies.
Bond: I love playing on my fiddle.
Bond: I have amulets and charms bound in my hair.
Bond: My gizmos are my children! Children that I occasionally dismantle or scrap.
Bond: I take my adventuring equipment seriously.
Bond: Umbrellas have more uses than you'd think!
Bond: I take a keen interest in SethCorp, my own private megacorporation.
Bond: I have made a manservant out of my former worst critic, Harvey Stubb.
Bond: I care for my sidekick Anchor, Orville.
My Friends and Allies
Bond: I'm the king of the cats.
Bond: Plants are my friends and my allies.
Bond: My drinking buddies are varied and well-informed.
Bond: I have adopted a tribe of Goblins. I'm sure they'll be useful for something. Someday.
Bond: I have disreputable dealings with the Cammora.
Bond: I look after ghosts and spirits.
Bond: Black cats are my spies and agents.
Bond: The Starbeast Qoth heeds my call.
Truths about me
Boasts I need to live up to
My Moods and Actions
Bond: I must be Cheerful and Happy.
Bond: I am a cheap date.
Bond; I can face anything with a smile!
Bond: My anger is slow to rise, but terrible in its calm fury.
Bond: If there is music, I will dance!
Truths I uphold
Bond: People love me!
Bond: Children trust me.
Bond: I am the center of attention.
Bond: I bring peace to the troubled.
Bond: Never bring a Gun to a Swordfight!
Bond: You won't get rid of me that easily!
Bond: I will not be conquered!
Bond: I never lose!
Bond: Attacks miss me by inches!
Bond: King of the Urban jungle.
Bond: I know something you don't know.
Skills and abilities I can use
Bond: I can find the weak spot of anything.
Bond: I am frighteningly persuasive.
Bond: Guards and locks won't stop me from satisfying my curiosity!
Bond: Impossible escapes are my specialty!
Bond: When I say I can steal anything, I do mean ANYTHING.
Bond: My feats of strength are amazing!
Bond: My driving is reckless and awe-inspiring.
Bond: I'm quite skilled at cutting things apart.
Bond: My Illusions are masterful!
Bond: I dress to impress.
Bond: I laugh at limits and borders!
Bond: I can improvise my way out of anything.
Bond: I'm the finest tracker there ever was or will be.
Bond: I'm a damn good shot, too.
Bond: I foil plots and find secrets!
Bond: I can outwit you.
Bond: I'm a whiz with modern technology
Bond: I am the deadliest person in the world…with a spork.
Bond: I am the deadliest person in the world…with a stork.
Bond: If it's a weapon, I can use it!
Bond: I excel at dominating or destroying things.
Flaws I need to act out
Bond: I always look disheveled.
Bond: I always come in second.
Bond: I live in luxury and strangeness.
Bond: A gentle song calms my soul.
Bond: I destroy what I love.
Bond: Fear makes me RAGE!
Bond: What is this "modern technology" you speak of?
Things in My Dominion
Bond: I can draw power from flowing water.
Bond: I have power over anyone that tells me their name.
Bond: Sunlight makes me stronger.
Bond: My mind is a fortress!
Bond: I am the undisputed Master of all things Fire
Bond: My home is my castle!
Weirdness I'll Need to Enforce with Miracles
Note that the responsibility for living up to bonds lies squarely on your shoulders, unlike with an Affliction.
Bonds that are mostly for some minor unnatural effect - "I have a piece of ever-changing music twirling about me." - can be handled by way of a Wondrous Anchor - mostly you won't even need to use Treasure, unless the effect has some impact on the story.
Other times, a Gift or Miracle may be necessary.
Bond: I have a piece of ever-changing music twirling about me.
Bond: There's always a taxi around when I need one.
Bond: When you kill me, there's a "poof" and it turns out it you just hurt a decoy.
Bond: People throw up silk around me, instead of, well, throw up.
Bond: I float like a butterfly
Bond: I bear an uncanny resemblance to The President. Every president.
Afflictions
Things that Happen to me
My Destiny
Affliction: I will always lose to Matilda Serebrakian.
Affliction: If there is a rose, it will prick me with its thorns.
Affliction: My enemies complicate my life
Affliction: People will kill to get their hands on my secret cookie recipe.
Affliction: My entrances are spectacular.
Affliction: I'm never punished for my misdeeds.
Affliction: I get things for free.
Affliction: I must be simultaneously employed by every government organisation on Earth.
Affliction: Attractive and eligible individuals migrate to where I reside, from miles away.
Affliction: I get help whenever I'm in trouble!
How I Affect Others
Affliction: My body parts are wanted for herbal medicines.
Affliction: Good things happen to those that aid me.
Affliction: Those who spend time near me get a nice deep tan.
Affliction: People startle because they don't notice me approaching.
Affliction: My moods are contagious.
Affliction: My laughter is immensely disturbing. Also, it's infectious.
Affliction: People tend to underestimate me.
Affliction: I seem familiar to people, but they can't place me.
Affliction: I must be spoken to in a polite fashion.
How Others Affect Me
Ways to Find Me
Affliction: Anybody who goes looking for it will find my contact information in their cell-phone.
Affliction: I can easily be found with the aid of a police officer.
Affliction: Every compass within a mile points to me.
Ways to Communicate With Me
Affliction: Each night, my shadow collects the prayers of mortals addressing my graven image.
Affliction: If you speak my name, I will hear you.
Affliction: Nothing can stop me from checking my email every five minutes. Nothing.
Ways to Summon Me
Affliction: I can be summoned through the burning of one's most precious object.
Affliction: I can be summoned by a ritual: mixing blood into wine while singing the ending line of the ballad of my death.
Affliction: Summonable by entering the proper cheatcode in any game.
What People Know About Me
Affliction: Children know me for what I am.
Affliction: People seem to know what I am thinking.
Affliction: Stories of my misdeeds and failings are whispered on playgrounds.
Affliction: My moods and experiences carry effects in the Fortress that is my body.
Affliction: Smoke comes out of my ears when I'm excited about something.
Affliction: I'm somehow recognizable despite always looking different.
Affliction: I give away clues to my true identity.
Things I can't do
Things that Limit Me
Affliction: I'm a baby! (Can't walk or talk, but can crawl at a very surprising pace)
Affliction: If I don't get my way I have a tantrum.
Affliction: I can only eat nectar.
Affliction: Clothes never fit me.
Affliction: I cannot destroy a thing of beauty.
Affliction: I cannot hide!
Affliction: I stand out in a crowd.
Affliction: People don't take me seriously.
Affliction: My creations won't show me proper respect, the little ingrates!
Affliction: Somehow I creep people out, without meaning to.
Affliction: I like cooking. I'm also spectacularly bad at it
Affliction: I develop sudden crushes for little reason.
Affliction: I can't hurt the innocent.
Affliction: Radioactive
Weaknesses My Enemies May Exploit
Affliction: I'm allergic to flowers.
Affliction: Asthma.
Affliction: Singing soothes me (even really bad singing).
Affliction: I can't fly in any scene in which someone touches my wings.
Affliction: Bad things happen when I lose my lucky pendant
Affliction: Those darned meddling kids! Disrupting my plans! Understanding my gizmos! Aargh!
Affliction: I mustn't get in the way of True Love!
Affliction: I'm repulsed by Cold Iron and symbols of personal faith.
Affliction: I'm vulnerable to salt, physically as well as mystically (Difficulty crossing lines of salt, can be fended off by salt thrown over one's shoulder, etc…)
Things I can do
My Strengths
Affliction: I am inherently photogenic.
Affliction: My toenails are a 100% efficient fuel source.
Affliction: I am feared by the easily replaceable.
Affliction: To machines, I am a dark and terrible god, and they do their best to appease me.
Affliction: My body is clean, scent-free and clinically sterile.
Affliction: Modern technology malfunctions in my precense.
Affliction: Most beautiful woman in the room.
Affliction: I must be filthy rich.
Affliction: I must have minions and a secret lair.
Affliction: I must have authority over people.
Affliction: I must be a gang leader.
My Pseudo-powers
Affliction: My paintings come to life!
Affliction: I can always just make a new body.
Affliction: Shadows hide me, but not my presence.
Affliction: Earth and stone crumble at my touch.
Affliction: My smile makes glass crack.
Affliction: I can smell unhappiness on people.
Affliction: I can smell a pirate from a mile away!
Affliction: Time stands still for my possessions.
Affliction: I protect innocents around me from harm.
Affliction: Things I kill return to life, fresh and healed.
Affliction: Whenever I perform physical labor (not often) I do the work of ten!
Affliction: Locks and doors spring open as I pass.
Affliction: My pockets must be full of useful things.
Affliction: Whenever I dance, other people are pulled in
Affliction: I am what I eat (My appearance and minor abilities reflect the things I've eaten recently)
Affliction: Seeing my face means your doom.
Affliction: What I envy, I acquire.
Affliction: Protected Skill - Reaching-through-media-technique. (I can walk through TV screens to the studio beyond and vice versa, and can in fact punch someone via the internet)
My Wards and Protections
Immunity to ephemeral threats
This is a decent way to protect oneself from multi-target effects, automatic Gifts or 'friendly fire' from the Afflictions of others. In actual combat, though, people can and will spend Strike to overcome your Affliction when their first attack fails.
Affliction: My mind is warded by astral seals.
Affliction: I am unpredictable.
Affliction: My Nobility is not obvious to the Sight.
Affliction: Truth or falsehood can't be read from my statements.
Affliction: I shed miracles like a goose does water.
Affliction: My clothes remain immaculate, despite everything.
Immunity to damage
There are lots of different ways to protect yourself with an Affliction - and each has ways they can backfire on you. Often it's better to be specific, than to end up hearing "Oh, so you want to strategically wound yourself to get a situationally relevant Bond? Well, you'll have to break through your own '[5] Affliction: I can't be hurt' to do it."
Affliction: My beauty makes attackers hesitate.
Affliction: Metal will not harm me, nor I it; we have a truce.
Affliction: I am immune to technology.
Affliction: Mundane weaponry is ineffective against me.
Affliction: I sold my sense of shame for immunity to guns.
Affliction: My body absorbs any energy that would hurt me, even kinetic.
Affliction: I cannot be hurt!
Deathlessness
These afflictions protect against 'Death', but then, not all wounds are 'Death'. If a wound would be described as "decapitated", "chunky salsa", "Aged into dust" etc, it's reasonable that the effect be prevented. Not so with "Catgirl", "Hypnotized" or "Missing a leg".
Affliction: My soul is hidden inside a needle, which is in an egg, which is in a duck, which is in a hare, which is in an iron chest, which is buried under a green oak tree, which is on the island of Buyan, in the ocean. As long as my soul is safe, I cannot die.
Affliction: My fate is to be killed by one of my own descendants, wielding the sword Apocryphica. (Obviously I cannot die by any other cause until then.)
Affliction: My soul is bound in a government form (form 1478B - wish fulfilment, available in random tax office waiting rooms), and I must grant one wish to any mortal who correctly fills it out (requires level 6 intention).
Affliction: As an emergent property of the Universe, I regenerate, even from total obliteration.
Proactive Defenses
Note that these have the possibility of making flu-shots really awkward.
Affliction: That which would harm me is destroyed.
Affliction: Weapons levelled against me will turn on their wielders.
Affliction: My blood wreaks horrible vengeance on those who spill it.
Things I am
My Circumstances
This is a good way to note an unusual origin or condition. Not every non-human needs an Affliction - you can use a Bond or a Inherent Superiority, or simply note it in the flavor text.
If, however, you want hilarity to ensue when some poor antagonist eats your last name, feel free to spend the points.
Affliction: All my imperfections are bound up in my last name, leaving the rest of me flawless.
Affliction: I am a phantom brought forth by my own need to exist.
Affliction: I am a hat.
Affliction: I have no mouth, and I must scream.
Affliction: My memory and past are fluid, some what separately.
Affliction: I am becoming a dragon.
Affliction: I am a living koan.
Affliction: I am dead, bereft of body and physical presence.
Affliction: I am Nobody. Formally speaking, I don't even exist.
Affliction: I am a massive inhabited battle fortress, granted life and mobility.
Affliction: Fey (immortal, vulnerable to cold iron and various superstitions).
Affliction: I am a border to infinity - and sometimes, things cross that border without my consent…
(This guy is a living cornucopia, but sometimes he inadvertently creates bad stuff)
Affliction: I'm a Dragon made of elemental Fire.
Affliction: My shadow is a gateway to the nether-realms.
My Look and Image
Affliction: Colors of any sort just sort of melt off my clothes and disappear.
Affliction: I must constantly be eating something.
Affliction: I must always be reading a book.
Affliction: I look thin and malnourished, even when i just finished eating a continent.
Affliction: My hair must be unrealistic and brightly colored .
Affliction: I must seem foreign everywhere I go.
The Compulsions that Drive me
Note that the responsibility for Afflictions lies with the Hollyhock God - and with ones like these, the HG is more or less justified to describe actions the Avatar performs:
"As we open up, you are on a beach. Ramona is in the sea, surfing a huge wave while also wrestling a shark, fulfilling the conditions of her 'I. Am. Awesome.'-Affliction."
or
"There is a limited-edition Nanoha figurine baiting the beartrap. Even though you are maintaining two intentions, your 'Affliction:Nerd'-granted reflexes allow you to grab the figurine as you pass with an automatic action, incidentally triggering the trap."
Though of course you can go "Oh no you don't" and break through the Affliction as per usual.
Affliction: I. am. AWESOME. (It's a burden I must bear)
Affliction: I must be an effective Mediator and Negotiator
(If I need to be able to breathe underwater or stare down avalanches for this, it will happen.)
Affliction: Nerd.
Affliction: I seek dominion over the Lands Beyond Creation.
Affliction: I must be cool and dignified.
Affliction: I am smug.
Affliction: True Artists demand my respect and attention.
Telltale Signs that I'm Unnatural
Obvious
Affliction: I'm on fire.
Affliction: I'm two-dimensional.
Affliction: My hair is made of living flames.
Affliction: I have thought bubbles.
Affliction: I have a soundtrack.
Non-obvious (until pointed out)
Affliction: My feet never quite touch the ground.
Affliction: Light passes through me; I have neither shadow nor reflection.
Affliction: My Guise changes appearance every time I'm unobserved.
Affliction: X-Rays think my insides look like a Mondrian.
Affliction: My presence is an allergen.
Affliction: I taste of crucifixion.
Affliction: My blood is a vile black toxic sludge.
Affliction: Looking into my eyes, people see the silvery dance of the Wild.
Affliction: I never blink.
Suspicious but circumstantial
Affliction: Even when Guised, my sheer mass and weight manifests itself in small ways.
Affliction: Wind and rain seek me out to play.
Affliction: Ghosts and spiders seek me out for company.
Affliction: Around me people get upset stomachs.
Affliction: Improbable things happen around me.
Quirky things and Running Gags in my Story
Events and Effects
Affliction: Even my reflection rolls its eyes at me. *sigh*
Affliction: I'm plagued by bad omens of all sorts.
Affliction: Sometimes, small precious objects spontaneously teleport into my pockets. Honest!
Affliction: Dramatically appropriate thunder & lightning.
Followers and Hangers-on
Affliction: Paparazzi follow me around. (Admittedly, some of them work for me.)
Affliction: Spontaneous musical numbers start around me when I'm excited.
Affliction: I have a really overbearing mother.
Affliction: I am being stalked by an unusually persistent forest.
Conditions
Affliction: I am always It.