Jester is no Joke (skill concept discussion)

edited October 2014 in North of Thera
The Jester skill of Puppertry I feel does not incorporate the true theme of the class itself and anyone can see it is just Vodun with a splash of new paint.  I developed this suggestion for a Jester remake from some musings I have had (additionally, I was bored and had little to do).

The inspiration for this concept came to me from the new Jester artwork (which by the way did you notice there were no puppets hanging from them?). The bombs and tarot in the image itself were quite amazing, but what I loved was the Mask the jester was wearing. I then decided to try and develop a whole concept around masks and the performing arts.

I have divided the skill into 2 parts: Masks & Performances


Masks:

The art of creating masks and instilling them with mystical powers has been a trade developed by Jesters in all their theatrical debutes. From Masks of despair, to masks of laughter, these creations truly bring out the essence of a performer's character. Note that Mask types can be painted both on the face and saved upon a Mask. Painting your face will allow you to have 1 effect permanently in play, while Masks will have to be switched around in order to get desired effects. Switching a Mask and invoking a new persona costs balance.

Facepaint: Create an assortment of facepaints from inks in order to bedazzle your audience.

Mask: From some wood, carve and sculpt out a blank Mask to use for quick performances.

Mask of the Beast: The mask of the beast has the power to instill fear and savagery. By wearing this mask, you will be able to terrify an opponent into fleeing, as well as causing extra damage

Mask of the Devil: The Mask of the Devil is a reflection of our darkest desires and needs. By wearing this mask, your Devil tarot will become empowered and shall not leave your side after being summoned.

Mask of Lunacy: Laughter opens up the heart and soul to a myriad of possibilities and can be quite contagious. When wearing this mask, by simply laughing towards an opponent, you can make them explode into a fit of giggles. The longer they stay in your presence, the more they will be subjected to your Mask's lunacy and will begin to gain afflictions of the mind

Mask of the Hero: A Hero inspires others and is looked upon with benevolence and trust. By wearing this mask, you will find that enemies cannot but see you as an ally and upon striking you, may redeem themselves by removing you from their list of enemies and consider you an ally.

Mask of Death: Death comes to all in time, and is the last judge to our lives and all our sins. By wearing this Mask, you will be empowered by the forces of Death as such will be able to call upon Him much sooner and easier. You'll find only 3 rubs of your tarot are required to summon Him.

Stolen Identity: If you find before you the corpse...or head..of an individual, you may carefully sculpt their appearance onto a Mask of identity. When worn, the Mask will take on the full appearance of the individual, and all will believe you to be him. Note that any damage will cause the facade to fail, as well as any aggressive action. Your voice will also not be changed, as this is but an outside appearance. The Mask will fade after use. Guards will also not be able to tell you apart from your new identity

Camouflage: With a lot of paint, you can cover and conceal yourself into the environment around you. Should anyone pass by, they wont be able to tell you from the environment. Note that any targetted attack will reveal you, additionally location detections will still be able to sense you.



Performances:

A Jester is the pride of the performance and whenever appears on a stage or court, is sure to get the crowd roaring with applause. Use these abilities to your advantage.

Innocence: Showcase your innocence to the masses, revealing a heart as pure as gold and a sheet as blank as a babe's mind. Performing this to a denizen of a faction will make them forgive you of your past transgressions.

Feint: Upon the next strike to hit you, topple over in a dead feint, tricking your enemies into believing you are dead and done. Note, they'll still be able to strike at you.

Wounded: Perform as if you far more wounded than you actually are, showing to your enemies severe bleeding, broken limbs and several random diseases you are afflicted with. If done right, you may trick your opponent into progressing further in their assault before you were prepped.

Voice: Imitate the voice of another in the room or one room away, making people believe it was actually he that spoke. You may throw your voice into an adjacent room.

Double: Create a replica double of yourself with some cloth, illusions and facepaint. When your enemies look or walk into the room, they will believe it to be you. Any strike upon the replica will make it instantly collapse, showing the illusion. You may also stuff the replica with up to 3 items in slots: bombs, daggers, or mice (or 1 of each) that will explode out should any damage occur to the replica. Your enemies will not fall for a fake replica if you are obviously in the room with it, and will only strike you. If you are appearing as another while the replica is in the room, any targetted attack against you will strike the replica before you.

Beggar: Take on the persona of a measly beggar, scrabbling along in life for his/her next meal. Should you go around begging the denizens of a location, they may become overwhelmed with charity and hand you some gold.




The general idea behind all this is to give Jesters more utility and a trickery/annoying/deceptive feel to their shenanigans. It incorporates the love of performing with some dangerous skills. I have always felt Jesters have a sort of mystical quality incorporated in them (not spiritual...), along the lines of taboo, and I felt the Masks could represent this more. For those that read, thanks and enjoy.

I hope something like this will inspire a change to the class.

NOTE: This is not an official skill suggestion, just my thoughts and musings.
«1

Comments

  • Talysin said:
    This looks really cool, I'm not going to flame you because it seems you put a lot of thought into this.

    Jester is getting a remake soon and it's rumored we are losing tarot.
    Thanks  ^^.

    Im sad to hear that Tarot would be removed. I always enjoyed the history Tarot had with Jesters and that, historically, they created Tarot (though I know many occies hate to hear that mentioned >>).

    I would have loved to see elements in Tarot that arent seen or used commonly to be innovated in their kit. For example, Chariot. They summon a chariot pulled by 4 demonic goats, and no one really uses it. It'd have been fun to see that turned around somehow for them.
  • The Devil mask would be ridiculously overpowered.  Consider that Occultists get Devilmark, which has the same effect but only works three(?) times before it has to be recast.

    I still think this is better than Puppetry, don't get me wrong, just needs some tweaks, especially if Taly is right and Tarot goes bye-bye.
  • Wouldn't really be overpowered. Jesters don't use tarot offensively much, and devil'd cards defensively wouldn't be that great (e.g., hangedman/justice/moon/lovers, oh no!). Devil balancing is much more of a concern for occultists than it is for Jesters.
  • edited October 2014
    If I had infinite Devilmark, all I'd need to do is throw Aeon until I landed double Aeon, then I'd have like ten viable options to make the hindrance more permanent.  Kind of random setup time, but almost certainly less than limb prep or fashioning.

    E: Again, this is a rather moot point if Tarot is being removed from Jesters.
  • I haven't heard of any huge jester changes, let alone losing an entire skill.
  • edited October 2014
    Eld said:
    2) There have been rumours surrounding that rework of shaman losing vodun (no basis for them, as far as I know, but the rumours exist).
    The basis for those rumours is Achimrst's wishful thinking. If he repeats it enough, maybe Tecton/Sarapis/Makarios will get confused and think they were going to do it.

    Tecton explicitly said they have no plans to remove vodun/puppetry though.
  • Shhhhh Sena you're exposing our clever ruse
  • Asmodron said:
    Talysin said:
    This looks really cool, I'm not going to flame you because it seems you put a lot of thought into this.

    Jester is getting a remake soon and it's rumored we are losing tarot.
    Thanks  ^^.

    Im sad to hear that Tarot would be removed. I always enjoyed the history Tarot had with Jesters and that, historically, they created Tarot (though I know many occies hate to hear that mentioned >>).
    What? We dislike that? News to me, IC we give credit where credit is due and are quite appreciative of that so far as I know, and I certainly don't mind that tidbit ooc.

    the fact that they sell them in shops 'like cheap party tricks' on the other hand...
  • Talysin said:

    Jester is getting a remake soon and it's rumored we are losing tarot.
    Oh yeah?
    image
  • Malorn said:
    Asmodron said:
    Talysin said:
    This looks really cool, I'm not going to flame you because it seems you put a lot of thought into this.

    Jester is getting a remake soon and it's rumored we are losing tarot.
    Thanks  ^^.

    Im sad to hear that Tarot would be removed. I always enjoyed the history Tarot had with Jesters and that, historically, they created Tarot (though I know many occies hate to hear that mentioned >>).
    What? We dislike that? News to me, IC we give credit where credit is due and are quite appreciative of that so far as I know, and I certainly don't mind that tidbit ooc.

    the fact that they sell them in shops 'like cheap party tricks' on the other hand...
    Looking back in History, when it was first discovered that Tarot had actually came from Jesters (during their release), let's just say that the Occultist guild made their disapproval quite known afaik :P
  • edited October 2014
    Oh wow. Keep eyes open IG, and watch the forums.

    And buk, all people should be curing double aeon well before you get balance back. God you people are so full of shit sometimes.
  • Can I get any of you a pumpkin spice latte, an infinity scarf, or some Ugg boots?
  • New Masks ability: CONSTRUCT TROLLFACE

    While worn, functions as a persistent 'badjoke' aura, forcing everyone in the room to drop shield as the feeling of U MAD periodically overcomes them. Also, additional health regeneration because all hail Troll racial regen.

    That being said, I do like the effort taken in making this idea. Perhaps have Someone at least put it in their 'possible new skill/idea/class' folder?

  • I like my steak like I like my Magic cards: mythic rare.
  • Synbios said:
    New Masks ability: CONSTRUCT TROLLFACE

    While worn, functions as a persistent 'badjoke' aura, forcing everyone in the room to drop shield as the feeling of U MAD periodically overcomes them. Also, additional health regeneration because all hail Troll racial regen.

    That being said, I do like the effort taken in making this idea. Perhaps have Someone at least put it in their 'possible new skill/idea/class' folder?

    Change the name to CONSTRUCT GREYFACE and I'm in.
  • edited October 2014
    Xith said:
    though similar, I believe Sylvance was going towards a more "shadows and secrets" theme. The kit suggested seems to inspire almost malicious force. It actually looks like quite a nice kit for Hashan Darkness theme. My idea was going towards the role of performers and utilizing concepts of 'the stage' into their abilities. That way, Jester will seem less like an alignment class (as the mentioned kit you suggested seems 'darkness' aligned) and would be flexible for any player.

    As to the mime suggestion, while it is humorous in its way, I dont believe miming defines the jester attributes of the class :P.
  • Fake log is fake. No timestamps.
    I like my steak like I like my Magic cards: mythic rare.
  • MelodieMelodie Port Saint Lucie, Florida
    Man if that's a faked log, that's one of the best faked logs I've ever seen.

    Either way, GG Bluj.
    And I love too                                                                          Be still, my indelible friend
    That love soon might end                                                         You are unbreaking
    And be known in its aching                                                      Though quaking
    Shown in this shaking                                                             Though crazy
    Lately of my wasteland, baby                                                 That's just wasteland, baby
  • That (probably fake) log made my nipples hard
  • Just as probably fake nipples can make my (forum censor).
    I like my steak like I like my Magic cards: mythic rare.
  • Is the going to come any time soon?
  • No.

    I wish they'd implement this in one way or another though. ;_; Also, I applaud your reviving this old thread.

  • ^ This, please. 

  • Dochitha said:
    Is the going to come any time soon?
    Not until after pirates. But I'm supposed to "not discuss anything" from ACC, so if anyone asks just say Cooper or Aerek leaked pirates, not me. What does NDA stand for anyway? It can't seriously mean Not Discuss Anything.
    image
  • I want it so badly :(

    Jesters would actually have to be jesters and you'd be able to separate the clever from the "lolducks" dolts.

    And it'd get rid of one of their two duplicate skills.

Sign In or Register to comment.