Joker Quest: Oblivion's Husk II (Updated)

OBLIVION'S HUSK:

The Limiters of a Player's armor safeguard the user from the risk of corruption and insanity that comes with the assimilation of Essence. This function is inherent to all Frames, regulating the Player's development through the reinforcement of the personality matrix; This is most keenly felt in the Red Joker's armor, which has seen a multitude of hosts over an unknowable span of time.

By overriding the armor's limiters, you can now - briefly - draw upon the powers and abilities of previous Red Jokers, albeit in diminished form: the last, lethal fragment that remains after their annihilation. Oblivion's Husk does not encapsulate all of the armor's previous hosts, only those who - for one reason or another - left their imprint upon the Frame.

(tl;dr - By investing Meter and receiving temporary Encroachment, you can recreate the iconic ability or weapon of a previous Red Joker. An ability/weapon unlocked through Oblivion's Husk lasts for a single combat or scene.)

III - GOLGOTHA

Dry skulls in a dusty valley. The headsman's work is never done.

(COST: 20% METER/25% ENCROACHMENT)

A great executioner's axe of red iron, nicked and pitted by a thousand butcherings, GOLGOTHA is an exceptionally vicious weapon - A weapon that can be further evolved for a truly lethal blade. The Red Joker who gave the axe it's name wielded it often and with relish.

SPECIAL:

GOLGOTHA crumbles as soon as it leaves the wielder's hand.

IV - INVICTUS

I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.

(COST: 13% ENCROACHMENT)

The inherent inviolability of the Red Joker's armor is a subject of much debate - like much else, the reason for the Red Joker's seeming immunity to certain effects, let alone the nature of that immunity, is something that has never been fully determined. Regardless, the armor seems to actively resist attempts to alter it, no matter how insidious; With this power, you can extend the armor's imperviousness to a significantly wider range of effects.

Each round - with an effort of will - you can shrug off one status effect that currently affects you. Attempts to disorient you, blind you, poison you, weaken you, set you on fire, disrupt your systems can all be automatically resisted and dispelled. Note that you can dispel one such effect each round. Note that this only applies to effects that are personal to you, and it doesn't stop the effect from being reapplied later.

(tl;dr - Each round, you automatically 'shake off' a single harmful status effect. Note that this does not apply to *everything*; being paralyzed by a Codeburst constitutes a status effect, while being constricted and crushed by an opponent does not. While you can shrug off lingering radiation, remaining in an irradiated area continues to damage you.)

V - CACKLE

He ran from the terror of his own laughter.

(COST: 25% METER/35% ENCROACHMENT)

The mutter of fluting voices. The whispers of beyond. The voices of the dead city. With this power, you draw them to you. This effect is immensely disorientating - not to mention, disturbing - for any Player in the vicinity, especially for those engaged in tasks that require precision. Worse, this ability seems to corrupt data and communication, somehow - Codebursts seem to be particularly prone to disruption.

While you are - thankfully - unable to distinguish the voices beyond a nearly-audible surrusation, the Red Joker who relied upon this power was by no means immune.

(tl;dr - This power inflicts penalties on all opponents in the vicinity, and increases the chances of a critical failure.)

VI - TERRIBLE SWIFT SWORD

(COST: VARIABLE)

Every previous Red Joker has left his or her mark on the armor - Not merely their memories or the echoes of their power, but their means of dealing death. The sixth inheritor of the title was one of the greatest - If not *the* greatest - swordsman the Red World has ever known, and may have dueled Phantom Edge to the death. Or he may have *been* the wielder of the Fatal Abyss.

The armor's recollection of his skills are incomplete, but even his imperfect skills are exceedingly deadly. He may have been the first to find a way to channel his inherent Essence to further augment his skills, beyond what would be humanly possible. Paradoxically, this catalog of feints, parries and killing blows are impossible for a non-Player to execute - Without myomer musculature and endosteel bones, you could kill or cripple yourself trying.

(tl;dr - You gain access to Protocols, the weapon skills used by weapon-focused players like Bishamon, Phantom Edge and Abyss Caracharis. The previous Red Joker invented a personal style entirely for his own use, to be used in conjunction with the armor's abilities - You can now wield these abilities with a Lachryma surcharge.

Notably, these Protocols are flawed - Until an individual skill is mastered through use, they're not quite as potent as the original.)

VII - FOREBODE (ACTIVE)

The clamor of broken glass. The taste of bitter copper on the tongue.

(COST: 10% METER/15% ENCROACHMENT)

You can no longer be surprised. You act first at the start of every combat, and your Initiative is greatly increased at the beginning of each combat round.

SPECIAL: This ability activates reflexively.

VIII - PLASMA CLUSTER CANNONS

Scorch the earth.

(COST: 30% METER/25% ENCROACHMENT)

The original design for your Plasma Vulcans, the Plasma Cluster Cannons - Also known as the VOLCANO CANNONS - are beam weapons markedly different from their derivatives, relying on immense heat - and superheated matter, rather than pulses of searing energy - for their damage. When fired, each blast resembles boiling, seething flame, or churning magma; If the blast does not outright annihilate a target upon impact, the resulting beam actually *fractures* to inflict massive collateral damage. It is not uncommon for the surrounding area to be superheated, or for systems and equipment to be destroyed by each torrential blast.

SPECIAL: Due to the odd properties of the blasts, the Plasma Cluster Cannons count as both kinetic and energy weapons. Your Plasma Vulcans can't be used while this ability is active.

IX - THE STORMSHROUD

There is a howl in the voice of the wind.

(COST: 25% METER/20% ENCROACHMENT)

When activated, your Assault Shroud harnesses and commands a wrathful force - cloaking you in a howling black storm, whirling with lacerating wind shear and flaying obsidian sand. The effect resembles a swirling maelstrom, scouring and shredding apart anything in the vicnity. While this churning miasma can absorb almost any attack directed at you, a force sufficient to penetrate the Stormshroud overloads the effect with a final thunderclap.

(tl;dr - Your Assault Shroud absorbs ALL damage when the Stormshroud is active, and damages any target at melee range. However, the effect detonates - violently - if you take massive damage from a single attack.)

X - FATALISM (ACTIVE)

The dead man's hand.

(COST: 20% METER/15% ENCROACHMENT)

Each round, the first critical inflicted against you is negated.

XI - THE CHIMERIC TALONS

To never feel the cut.

(COST: 40% METER/20% ENCROACHMENT)

Snickering from their sockets like lightning, the sabre blades of the Chimeric Talons are not, in fact, material - Slightly out of synch with reality, they constantly murmur and spit sparks, sharp enough to make the air bleed. When used, they are blindingly, blurringly fast, striking with impossible precision and speed - Incorporated a unique phase disruption envelope, the Chimeric Talons are especially effective at ripping through energy barriers.

SPECIAL: Manual dexterity - of any kind - is impossible when wielding the Chimeric Talons. The claws extend in a way to prevent you from using your hands for any other purpose other than ripping and tearing while this ability is in effect.

LOST NUMBER - ???

The way is closed.