Essence of theOne who looks OFF

Flicking this large, unassuming switch to its activation and accidentally breaking its lever loose, you felt something was OFF about your very being… Also, yes, take 1d4 Pun damage.

• You have obtained a single-use Appearance Change Ticket. Be the most horrifying being you want… or a tiny ass cat, it’s your choice. The changes are retroactive and mostly cosmetic.

• You have been Chosen, whether by Fate itself or a Puppeteer from Beyond; it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you have been chosen for a role. You have four roles to choose from: The Batter, The Judge, The Ruler, or the Puppeteer.

• Do note that you can only have one role active.

• Beating and gaining the World Machine below will grant you another role slot.

• You can only choose a role once unless you have completed a “Run” in the Role you have chosen.

• You naturally unlock all Competences related to the role you have chosen.

• As the Batter, you have a Baseball Uniform that seems to be cosmetic. Whatever you wear will transform into that Baseball Uniform. Normally, that will be something to stick with, but since you have been Chosen, the effect is a sliding toggle that allows you to have a full-blown Baseball Uniform to only have Baseball Paraphernalia.

• You have an indestructible baseball bat that can perfectly channel your power. It can also destroy those that don’t exist in the physical world, like ghosts.

• This baseball bat isn’t really a baseball bat; it’s that lever from the switch you deactivated. Look below for further details.

• You are also a master at Baseball and Baseball-related skills.

• You are a “Pure” Being. Any detrimental status affliction you have will “drift off” or be nullified after a short while.

• Be warned… Emotions are considered a detrimental status affliction, making you blank or cold to others.

• As the Batter, you gave off an aura so “Pure” that it nullifies immortality and gives death to those who don’t have it. Not only that, but this aura is even more potent the more powerful the enemy is, to the point of driving them to insanity with just your mere presence.

• Once in a while, you can transform into a monstrous state that amplifies everything you have, making you stronger. However, be warned that this also amplifies the negatives.

• There can only be one Active Batter in a Setting.

• As the Judge, you are given an impartial role. You have to acknowledge that everyone has their own roles to play, and as such, you must remain neutral.

• You are now a cat or a cat-like entity, or you just have cat-like features. You aren’t really a cat but something more. You may or may not look quite OFF as a cat.

• As the Judge, you can see the Karmic Potential and Status of an individual. The worse they are, the more powerful you become against them.

• Not only that, but as a bonus, you can disable the Competence of an individual if their Karma is incredibly low. Beings that are considered “Pure” are immune to this aspect.

• You have an indestructible stick that you can use telepathically. This isn’t really a stick but a lever from the switch you’ve just deactivated.

• As the Ruler, you are a natural leader. You are fit to rule and, as such, you have the means to do so. You can see the areas that need work, the people’s Competences, and the places that need personal touches.

• You are unnaturally charismatic to the point that you look OFF to others.

• You have a pocket dimension that exists outside of everything. This pocket dimension, often called a Zone, can be entered through teleportation pads that you can place anywhere you wish and can link to other Zones or Zone-like places. You have absolute control over this Zone. The Zone has five resources it constantly produces: Smoke, Metal, Plastic, Meat, and Sugar.

• Smoke isn’t really actual smoke, but the concept of breathable air.

• Normally, Metal rusts over time. Metals from the Zone don’t, as they are more attuned to the concept of foundation stability.

• Despite being named Plastic, it is actually very durable, but not as durable as Metal. Plastic is more malleable than Metal. It has been said that Plastic is everywhere.

• Meat is just flesh… and carries on the concept of satiation.

• Sugar isn’t really sugar, but the conceptual soul itself in the form of a liquid.

• You own an indestructible baton or scepter that can perfectly conduct your powers. It is actually a form of the lever that came from the switch you have deactivated.

• As the Puppeteer, you are a non-existent entity that chooses one of the three roles before you for your proxy, a puppet, into the world. Being the Puppeteer, your role is to ensure that the goal of your proxy is achieved.

• Puppeteering someone would amplify and unlock new powers for them to use.

• Your puppets can channel your powers and Essences, but won’t have your skills.

• A lever will spawn near your proxy; the lever will then transform into their weapon. A bat for the Batter, a stick for the Judge, a Baton or a Scepter for the Ruler.

• Not only that, but your puppet actually wants you to puppet them.

• You may choose or possess another puppet should you wish to help your proxy with their goals.

• All of your puppets are given the uncanny valley treatment to the point of looking OFF whenever people are focusing on them too much.

• Normally, you will be given some sort of Game System to help you, but that is too rigid, and there are innumerable numbers of “Game” systems that help people already. Thus, you are given the exact opposite. You have an Anti-“Game” System.

• Whenever you face individuals who have a “Game” System, you are slowly leeching the energy that makes the Game System run and, in turn, empowers you. Once the Game System’s energy is fully leeched, you will gain an Add-On related to the Game System you have just deactivated.

• What is an Add-On? Look below for further details.

• The Anti-Game System can show you your current Status, but can’t alter it unless you have your own “Game” System.

• You have access to Competences. Otherwise known as abilities or skills, these will help you realize your journey.

• The Competences will vary, ranging from healing a little bit of health to randomly placing a buff to reviving a target to outright insta-kill. You have access to them all. But unfortunately, you have to start at the beginning, much like a Fool who doesn’t know everything. Over time, or through training, new Competences will be unlocked.

• Optionally, your Competences will start at their weakest version in order for you to acclimate to Competences faster.

• You have access to objects of functionality and immense power known as Add-Ons. You currently have a single Add-On, but you can gain over time. Not only that, but currently, you can only have three Add-Ons helping you. This changes depending on whether or not in a conflict. The more you experience battle or conflict, the more you gain an energy that slowly reaches a threshold. Once it does so, it will form a new Add-On slot for you to have. Over time, you gain that energy, albeit slower than when you are in a battle or conflict.

• The Add-Ons tend to have a theme to their overall capabilities. You gain an Add-On over time with a different theme. You can also gain an Add-On for every major battle you are in, with the Add-On referencing the battle in its theme or Competence. However, your next two Add-Ons are fixed due to their Universal nature.

• The first Add-On you have is known as Alpha, and it has the theme of “Programming”. Through its “Code”, one can invoke “String” Competences that target a single foe to deal high damage and “Bracket” Competences to deal low damage but have a chance to inflict status ailments.

• The second Add-On you will gain is known as Omega, and it has the theme of “Photography”. Through its “Camera”, one can invoke “Perspective” Competences to target a single ally and cure various ailments and “Blur” Competences to target a single enemy, dealing low damage and having various secondary effects.

• You can use a Combo Competence known as “Wide Angle”, turning Omega into a blank, translucent photography frame, to look through an entity or object to learn what they are and some tidbits of their history. Outside of combat, you can view the entire history of the entity or object through Omega.

• The third Add-On you will gain is known as Epsilon, and it has the theme of “Art”. Through its “Theater”, one can invoke “Drama” Competences to target a single ally and increase various stats, and “Tragedy” Competences, which can target all enemies and deal decent damage.

• The Add-Ons fight alongside you, and they might be sentient.

• The Add-Ons have varying shapes except your first three Add-Ons, which are considered the Universal Add-Ons and have only a circular shape.

• You may give away your excess Add-Ons to others, but they are limited to one to three Add-On slots, unlike you. A 1d3 dice will reveal how many Add-On slots they will have. Important characters, such as protagonists or antagonists, will always have three Add-On slots.

• The Add-Ons scale with your power. Be warned of destroying everything in your path with a single multi-hit Competence.

• You have been granted the technology to the Setting of OFF, allowing you to have the means to create anything that the setting has to offer. The material requirements tend to be one of the five resources as stated in the Ruler’s Zone.

• Now, for the creme de la creme. Depending on your role, you must know that whatever happens next, it is by your own hand that you do so and not the others. Think of this as your tutorial to acclimate to your role and this Essence.

• Be warned, the trials will scale to you. The stronger you are, the stronger the challenges will become.

• For the one who took the role of the Batter, that Lever you have seeks its other half, the World Machine. When you flicked the switch to ON, it transported itself somewhere. You know where it is because the Lever always guides you when you focus on it. You must turn it OFF, and only then can you get a new role to use. But be warned, the World Machine knows and has created a few Zones to stop you with their Guardians. There are also a couple of Judges who will roam all over the Zones. If they have learned of your mission, they will interfere until you… “Purified” them one way or the other. Should you take too long, a new Zone will appear, forcing you to travel to the new Zone to purify it.

• For the one who took the role of the Judge, you must be impartial to all. Upon the activation of the switch, you’ll be dragged to one of the Zones where the World Machine is. Your goal is to judge at least ten individuals who took either one of the roles listed in this Essence. The only one that never repeats is the role of the Batter, for there can only be one.

• For the one who took the role of the Ruler, you will also be dragged when the switch is flicked ON. The World Machine has been designated as the Ruler of its domain and must defend itself from its enemies and expand its influence. There are a few Zones that have appeared, and their inhabitants are unruly. Your goal is to conquer the Zones. Should you do so, there is a potent enemy that will appear. One that will always appear each time it is defeated. That enemy is the Batter. Whenever the Batter is defeated, it will respawn at the beginning after a long while. This will go on until the World Machine has created five more Zones. After you’ve battled the Batter for the last time, the World Machine flicks itself off, and the Lever detaches, with the Zones being converted into new Add-Ons for you to use.

• For the one who took the role of the Puppeteer, you have one goal. That goal is to ensure the success of your Puppet.

• After each role you can enable the World Machine again so that you can have another role to get, a new “run”, so to speak. Should you succeed in gaining all roles, the World Machine is now yours. It will be integrated into one of your Pocket Dimensions, or it will exist as a separate Pocket Dimension.

• Any being created by the World Machine can be taken out of its demesne as your Companion.

• The so-called Superbosses can’t become a Companion as they are part of the World Machine’s Zodiac Beasts. They can also conduct some of your powers and Essences so long as those are related to what Zodiac Beast they are.

• Optionally, once in a while, whenever you traverse to another Setting, some beings of importance are given the role of Guardian and their domain is converted into a Zone. Beating them will revert them back to normal and purify the Zone before restoring it to its original state.

• If you have the World Machine, the Zone will be dragged and become a part of it while leaving behind the area in its reverted state.

• As an option, you may choose that the area will not be reverted back to normal and instead stay in its new purified state. This will unleash chaos as the so-called Secretaries can go out of the Purified Zone and cause wanton chaos.

• You have been given a Companion Ticket. Using it will allow you to get a companion from Mortis Ghost’s OFF. Whether or not they are their fanon interpretation is up to you.

• Having the role of the Batter and taking the Canon or Fanon Batter wouldn’t make them an active Batter for the Cycle, as you are considered the current Batter.

• You have a single-use Setting Ticket to traverse to Mortis Ghost’s Off. Whether that is the canon version or not is up to you. However, do note that having the role of the Batter will make you the Batter appearing in the Setting, whereas the canon or fanon Batter will be known as the Pale Batter from now on.

• This Essence can’t be erased, forcibly changed, removed, or stolen. Doing so will cause something to happen depending on your role.

• If you choose the role of the Batter, you will instantly counter the attempt with your highest damaging Competence before stunning them with another Competence.

• If you choose the role of the Judge, you will counter the attempt and forcibly remove their ability to do so.

• If you choose the role of the Ruler, the attempt will be stopped immediately as your Rulemaxxing is that high… Jokes aside, the attempt will be nullified, and they will be turned into one of the five resource generators for your Zone to extract. And yes, they will feel quite a lot of pain.

• If you choose the role of the Puppeteer, the attempt will be stopped as you will directly move to remove the means to do so… before turning the attemptee into a puppet of your own, with them trapped inside their minds. The attemptee is now your altbody that you can use.

• Notice: Also, yes. I made the OFF pun a few times. I gave up after a while because I’ve grown lazy.