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View Full Version : I Make The Fluff, You Make The Stats: Yamiko



Leliel
2008-05-02, 01:02 PM
OK, I got into this really good web novel called Sailor Nothing (basically what would happen if you gave Sailor Moon a mood and setting straight out of Neon Genesis Evangelion), and instantly, I thought that the main antagonists, the Yamiko demons, would be excellent antagonists for D&D. In pre-fluff summary, they're basically a race born from the darkest part of people's dark sides. Needless to say, they're not very nice, at all.

And now, for the fluff. I would like to say this is all of my own creation, and most of it is, but much of the fluff on basic Yamiko was the author's own in-story definition of them. He's nice like that.

Yamiko

The living dark side. The soul without a conscience. The murderer in all of us, but not inside us anymore.

All these words describe the monstrous beings known as the Yamiko, darkly twisted mirror images of people spawned by the vilest of powers.


Yamiko are creatures from another world, but they did not originate there. Genetically identical to humans in all respects, they are actually dopplegangers of preexisting humans; the Yamiko reproduce first by drawing an essence -- a sample of a human spirit. Next, the essence is transformed by the Yamiko's powers to spawn a new Yamiko, identical in almost all respects to its original human host. The host, in turn, is drained of all stamina in the process and typically falls unconscious, with no short term memory of this event, mainly because the process is so traumatic, most minds don't want to remember the event.

The fully matured Yamiko differs from its original host in that it is a drawing of the darker side of the spirit. Much as all living things have a Yin and Yang, the Yamiko only posses a Yang. They are 100% id, with little to no ego or super ego, and feel no inhibitions or moral restrictions the host possessed. In more general terms, they represent an 'evil twin' of sorts, the worst within. Yamiko intelligence representation and memory-copying precision from the host tends to vary randomly.

Strangely enough, because this darker side is amplified by the transformation, human hosts with exceptionally pure spirits and good hearts produce the most wicked Yamiko. Humans who are already fairly unpleasant individuals tend to make weak Yamiko. The process is not a true mirroring, but a sort of unbalancing that has a bias inverting the power of the negativity inside a host.

Typically, newly spawned Yamiko will eliminate their human hosts so as to replace them in society. Yamiko feel an instinctive pull to return to the darkness of their own world, but more often than not, prefer to stay around Earth a little longer to 'have some fun' with their newfound freedom from restriction and inhibition.

...............

Dark Generals

Despite often retaining their human side's intelligence, Yamiko are not at all good planners. Indeed, the very fact that they can be described as "evil incarnate" can probably explain that: Since Yamiko often form around their host's darkest desire, wether that host wants that desire or not, tends to interfere with their ability to think properly and sanely beyond the very short term.

Occasionally, however, a Yamiko will be created that has enough long-term planning skills to survive long enough to evolve into a more powerful form. Inevitably, although that Yamiko's original, humanoid form becomes corrupted, their planning becomes more and more complex, eventually becoming an extremely intelligent being with the ability to make the most complex of plans. When that happens, the Dark Queen, the enigmatic ruler of the Yamiko's blasted world, approches it, and gives it a mesurment of her power.

The result...A Dark General. The brains-and power-behind the Yamiko.

Dark Generals are, as their name suggests, the leaders, and frequently creators, of lesser Yamiko. They regain their humanoid forms, but with a shock of silver-white hair and somtimes downright horrifigly powerful abilities. Although they are actually supposed to assist the Dark Queen in her rebuilding of the Yama-gaia-her world-they are far more inclined to play out their own petty agendas. They are often found in the process of creating more Yamiko to assist them, though they are inclined only to stick around long enough to give their creation orders, set a time for the return of them to the Yami-gaia, and disappear.

Ironically, it is this type of Yamiko that has the capacity to redeem itself-Since a Yamiko in this state has a nearly complete soul, it isn't long for her to develop human drives and desires, and as such, possibly grow a conscience. Ironically, it is this kind of General-the one going through the "growing pains" of his conscience-that is one of the Dark Queen's most deadly strategists, since they have a tendancy to forsake their lesser desires for her glory, and are single-minded in the extreme in this want. One must never make the mistake of assuming that a General like this will come over to the light without looking back-Far more likely she will unleash a well-thought out plan to eliminate her enemies once and for all-and not caring who gets in the way.

.........................

Yep. I was thinking more along the lines of the Outsider template (given that Yamiko are described as "bleeding darkness" and dissolving when being attacked and destroyed respectively, and when we actually see Cobalt (a Dark General) creating a Yamiko, he's described as "drawing the spiritual essence of the forming Yamiko from his victim"), but that works too.

Oh, and I just discovered a new type: Super Yamiko!

Super Yamiko

Normally, the Dark Generals value secrecy. The Yamiko already have a short attention span, and it is even more difficult to make them work together if some meandering adventurers are attempting to destroy them. They do not need to add entire nations on their list of enemies.

Occasionally though, the aforementioned meandering adventurers are too much of a threat to be left alone. Although the Dark Generals will at first attempt to deal with the problem quietly, using normal Yamiko of people who won't be missed, the adventurers often become so adept at fighting them that using this option becomes a non-viable solution. As the Dark Generals become desperate, they resort to more risky tactics, creating more powerful Yamiko from the more famous and kindhearted while giving their troops more free reign. When that option doesn't work, the Generals pull out all the metaphorical stops, turning to a ancient and vile ritual that drives a Yamiko violently insane, but also transforms it into a powerful monstrosity capable of leveling entire cities in the pursuit of one goal: The utter annihilation of all those who pose a threat to the Yami-gaia.

They are...the Super Yamiko.

Only a Dark General is entrusted with the knowlege of how to turn a forming Yamiko into a Super Yamiko, and for good reason. The combination of extreme pain from phisycal warping and confusion from expanding psychic abilities causes the Super Yamiko to lose any pretense of sanity, and it's rage does not know friend from foe. Indeed, the Dark Generals do not so much as send out the Super Yamiko on missons to destroy threats, so much as create them nearby said threats and hope they get swept up in the ensuing carnage. The Super Yamiko's insanity does not detract from it's evil nature, however, and it often cruelly taunts it's victims before it destroys them. A Super Yamiko is, of course, not very secretive at all, and it's presence is a good sign that the Generals have lost paitience, and they do not care who gets hurt by their creation.

Ok, begin the statting!

Leliel
2008-05-03, 04:17 PM
Um, guys? I did say "begin", didn't I?

Nerd-o-rama
2008-05-04, 10:26 AM
Hold on, I'm getting around to actually reading Sailor Nothing.

Actually, I'm not much of a homebrewer. This thread just reminded me I needed to.

EvilElitest
2008-05-04, 11:30 AM
can't say for crunch, but i love the fluff. This is a monster right, not a player race?


Anyways questions

1) do they imitate class abilities, feats, racial abilities totally? What about alignment requirements
2) can they take their own classes?
3) any other magical abilities that don't copy the host?
4) before their gain a host, do they simply have some sort of form, or does something else create them
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EE