Athletics Capstone 1: Upside Down Man: Devin has a great sense of balance, perhaps because he's had so much practice walking on his two hands, or because of his Mortalborn Domain of Goats. Whatever the case, he finds now that he can move as fast as a run without upsetting his balance, all while maintaining only one point of contact with a stable structure. Mechanically this allows him to move on his feet, his hands, even a combination of one foot and one hand. Should something unbalance him, all he needs is contact with a stable structure in order to right himself. The length of time Devin can do this is dependent on his strength and his endurance skills.
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Approval)
Cosmetology Capstone 1: Wear Anything: Devin has become such an incredibly skilled stylist that he can take virtually anything and create an amazing look for himself or for others with it. He can make someone look stunning in a potato sack. In his hands, a bunch of Moss Bunny fur, twigs or random flowers and grass from a meadow become amazing hair accessories. He can style a trash bag so that it looks like a perfect outfit for a ball.
Even armor can, when combined with accessories or clothing, be transformed into a great look. Things that might normally smell bad can easily be covered with perfume. When it comes to weapons, Devin can incorporate a small weapon, such as a knife or a dagger into an elaborate hairstyle so that it looks like some sort of hair accessory, for example, but bigger weapons are not within the scope of this capstone ability.
Making a halberd or a longsword seem like part of your look requires more than just cosmetology.
While Devin is very good at creating an amazing look with even highly unusual items, this capstone ability does not enable him, or anybody else, to enter a social situation stark naked and pretend that it’s some sort of avantgarde outfit. He could make someone that is wearing next to nothing look great through the clever use of makeup and accessories though, for example.
All in all, Devin is only limited by his imagination. (
Approval)
Deception Capstone 1: The Language of Lies: Devin has become so good at lying that there are no signs that he is lying anymore. He doesn’t fidget and squirm, he doesn’t avoid eye contact, his heart rate doesn’t change, and he appears to be completely comfortable. He knows exactly how to modify his body language and the tone of his voice and how to word things to make people believe that he is telling the truth.
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Approval)
Deception Capstone 2: Living a Lie: Devin has become such an exceptional liar and so good at misleading people that he can lie his way into just about any place. He can walk into a room full of people that don’t know him, he can join a gathering of a group that he isn’t really a part of, and claim that he’s supposed to be there, and they’ll be inclined to believe him.
What does that mean in detail? Devin could walk into the university, approach a group of students and claim that he’s their new professor, for example, and even attempt to teach them. He could walk into a ballroom or a party and tell people that he was invited, too, or attend the private meeting of a faction as if he actually were a member, too – or even pretend that he’s the new recruit of the bandits whose hideout he stumbled upon.
As long as he doesn't say or do anything too weird, they won’t question his presence or think about him too much (unless he wants to attract attention!) – which makes his crimes much easier and even provide an additional tool for survival, among other things.
Of course, Devin might have a problem if the real professor in the example above showed up - and he'd need a good excuse.
Furthermore, he might also have a problem if he has to perform (unless he's familiar with the subject in question), and he cannot portray someone that he doesn't know flawlessly. Furthermore, he can obviously not pretend that he's another person's employee, friend or relative as they would know (unless they have memory problems).
Some skill in Acting as well as background research can make this capstone more effective.
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Approval)
Deception Capstone 3: Fake It Till They Make It: Devin is an accomplished conman and liar, but he's long since left a life of attempted crime behind him to pursue altruism. As such, he believes that making people happy is a far better way of getting on their good side.
He can lie to someone, telling them they are great at something, or have this wonderful quality, to the point where the other person will believe it.
Mechanically, this means that Devin can boost a skill that they not have by one level, meaning that an untrained individual now functions at Competent in the skill in question.
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Approval)
Medicine Capstone 1: Staring at Mutants: Due to his extensive knowledge of both magic and medicine, Devin can tell if a mutation, a deformity or something similar has a natural or unnatural cause. He can tell if someone was cursed, has a magical mutation, a corruption, a disease, a grafted addition or a birth defect, for example.
If he diagnoses something as a magical mutation or a corruption, he can tell which domain it is related to as long as he has studied the domain in question beforehand. He can only diagnose physical traits or traits that have a physical component, such as unusual eating habits.
As far as mental mutations are concerned, Devin can tell that they are mental mutations, but nothing more than that. He cannot tell which domain they are related to. (
Approval)
Medicine Capstone 2: Improvisation: Devin is such a skilled doctor and surgeon now that he doesn’t have to use proper medical equipment or surgical tools in order to do a good job anymore. Household objects, or whatever other objects happen to be in his vicinity, work just as well. He can make do with whatever is available. Examples of this would be treating a ganglion cyst by striking it with a random heavy object, or using construction tools when performing an orthopedic surgery, treating bone problems or even amputating something. The improvised tools are no better than average quality for the purpose of medical procedures.(
Approval)
Socialization Capstone 1: Barely Logical: Devin can be quite a weird and eccentric man sometimes, but if he wants to, he can also be so charismatic and charming that people find it hard to resist him and are inclined to just go along with what he says. When it comes to persuading them or convincing them of his point of view, or of doing certain things for him, his arguments only have to make the tiniest amount of sense. He doesn’t have to carefully craft his arguments or think things through anymore. Barely logical does the job very well nowadays!
Should Devin fail at persuading someone of something, after all, they will be disinclined to be mad at him or feel offended. They are more likely to be amused or entertained instead!(
Approval)
Socialization Capstone 2: A Torrent of Persuasion: Some people can persuade quietly, others firmly. Devin has learned that he can persuade people by sheer enthusiasm and a torrent of talking. He waxes lyrical about how wonderful something is and those around him start to feel the same enthusiasm. Rather than being irritating or too much, Devin has learned the fine balance of being absolutely endearing and entirely contagious in his outlook. While this can, of course, be resisted, it is a very up-beat and positive thing and one has to be trying very hard to be very grumpy in order to not feel better about whatever it is Devin is talking about.(
Approval)
Socialization Capstone 3: Generosity Boomerang: Devin loves giving gifts and has given many gifts to many people over time. He has developed a reputation as a generous man, and this means that people are more likely to think of him when they are performing acts of kindness. Because of his reputation as a gift-giver, Devin receives many small gifts from people, grateful for what he has done for them. Mechanically, this will add +3WP to his wealth threads, each season.
In terms of narrative, I will write in Devin receiving small gifts throughout my threads, from faceless NPCs, but will not claim the gifts as loot. (
Approval)
Socialization Capstone 4: Pathos: From the sermon that he held during the opening of the new Temple of Delroth in Scalvoris Town to his various speeches, Devin knows exactly how he needs to act and how he needs to word things in order to get his point across. He has in fact become so good a rhetoric that he can cause an emotional reaction of his choosing in his audience now. They might feel sad if he talks about all the losses that Scalvoris has suffered recently (and subsequently wants them to try and help people), or they might feel a hint of his admiration for Delroth, for example. He can even get through to someone that isn’t normally likely to go along with him. High levels in relevant skills such as Meditation or Discipline are necessary for a listener to ignore Devin or tune him out. Why would you want to ignore such a brilliant speech though? (
Approval)
