Theo Morrison
Contents
Profile
A teenager from an Earth like many others, Theo Morrison is many things: a student, a gamer, and -- most recently -- a Planeswalker. After narrowly avoiding death by meteor, Theo's latent Planeswalker's Spark ignited, the previously-unknown inborn talent suddenly granting him phenomenal cosmic power and little knowledge of how to use it. Curiously, a popular card game on his home Earth functions with this newfound power, allowing him the ability to conjure armies and lay waste to his enemies... but only if he plays by the rules. Clever, curious, outspoken and otherwise friendly, Theo wants nothing more than to explore the Multiverse, see all there is to see, and to hone his newfound strength along the way -- and will accept nothing less, either. Unfortunately, his reliance on a games rules and accoutrements coupled with his own lack of personal combat ability will make seeing it all much that more difficult...
Advantages
Powers
PLANESWALKER'S SPARK: Theo possesses an ignited Planeswalker's Spark, an inborn talent granting him several abilities. First and foremost is the ability to sense and call upon large quantities of mana very quickly, though only from the local environs. Second is the ability to harness said mana in order to fuel spells of a scale beyond the ability of normal mages, and to do so much more swiftly. It also gives him the eponymous ability to travel between planes -- more specifically, to travel between Unified worlds he knows of or has been to (see Planar Travel, below). Theo's ability to draw upon mana can be blocked by the right forces (or, in some instances, resisted). Drawing mana from certain locations might also be considered unwise, carrying with it various repercussions, be it magical (from tainted mana, for instance) or otherwise (like, say, drawing on mana from an intelligent place without permission).
PLANAR TRAVEL: By opening momentary doorways in space, Theo can travel the Multiverse without any external aid. Theo's planeswalking activation method requires directed will, a shock of some kind to reflexively draw upon local mana, and sudden motion. Due to the required ritual, the amount of mana required to open a hole and his total lack of short-range teleportation capability, Theo's planeswalking ability is effectively useless in combat. While he is capable of bringing passengers through the Aether with him, the dangers inherent in his method of transit make it extremely risky for anyone who lacks a method of protection against the Aether's effects to come with him, and generally shouldn't be attempted until he has a firmer grasp on how the ability works. The usual wards against teleportation will suffice to prevent use of this power. (See +info Theo/Planeswalking for more.)
DECKMASTER: Like most Planeswalkers, Theo is a powerful mage, capable of using large amounts of mana to craft spells of immense power. Unlike most Planeswalkers, Theo requires a very specific focus to accomplish feats of magic: a deck of trading cards from a particular game from his homeworld. Theo's arsenal of spells is wide and varied, ranging from flinging fireballs to conjuring creatures and beyond, but they always follow a particular theme or pattern governed by the color of mana used to cast them and the composition of his deck. Creatures and objects summoned with this ability are strictly temporary, though the effects of something like a conjured lightning bolt might not be. Theo is currently only capable of channeling and controlling Blue and White mana, limiting his range of effects. While he can draw on other colors of mana and convert them to generic, colorless mana, he can't use them to cast colored spells outside his specialty. (Some spell effects, such as those that cause physical or mental alteration, require consent. See +info Theo/Decks for a list of cards in play. See +info Theo/Deckmaster1 and 2 for more details.)
MAGICAL POTENTIAL: Theo has surprising innate magical potential. At the moment, this only manifests through his deck-based abilities, though he is capable of learning to emulate card effects outside the bounds of a duel through time and effort, and already has access to several minor tricks in that regard. (See +info Theo/Spells_Known for more.)
Skills
MUNDANE SKILLS: Theo possesses all the skills associated with being a 21st-century urbanite and has a practiced knack for illustration. He's also got an excellent memory; he can generally see or hear something once and reproduce it with exceptional accuracy. (Consent required to perfectly recall information obtained from scenes or other sources outside my direct control.)
MAD SKILLS: Theo is an exceptional player of games of skill, including card games, board games, and war games. While this to some degree translates to other mediums -- like being good at skill-based MMORPGs, for instance -- it primarily means that if you need someone to beat Death at chess to save a soul, he's your guy.
Assets
To be added.
NPCs
To be added.
Disadvantages
COMBAT INEPT: Outside of his deck-based spellcasting, Theo is actually a completely untrained combatant. Barring some afternoons spent hitting people with sticks for fun, any engagement with him outside his element will be laughably one-sided.
RULEBOUND: Theo's ritualized method of casting spells through trading cards requires him to observe all the rules he would normally have to to play the game. In addition to requiring a legal deck, Theo has to go through all the motions of playing a normal game for anything to work, even in the midst of combat. If he wants to cast a spell hes drawn from his deck, he has to cast it during the right part of his turn and have the mana to use it. Similarly, he has to have garnered an appropriate reaction from an opponent to take another turn, effectively making it all but impossible to use his abilities from a position of surprise or to use them unhindered. Should he render a foe unable to act through any means available to him by means of his deck short of actually defeating them, he may continue to act as normal; similarly, if someone deliberately allows him time to build up, a reaction is unnecessary to continue.
SPECIALIZED FOCI: While Theo does possess the capacity to learn magic normally and to become a powerful mage to boot, his total reliance on his deck means that without it, he's effectively helpless. Removing it from him before he can begin using it is a perfectly reasonable method of stopping him before he becomes a problem. Until he learns a more traditional method of casting all the spells theoretically available to him via his decks, his reliance on them as a crutch will surely continue.
MANA DEPENDENCY: Theo's spellcasting ability relies heavily on the use of mana to function. Spells are grouped according to the color of associated mana needed to cast them, with each color having a particular environment it's found in. If Theo finds himself casting spells of the wrong type in the wrong environment -- say, fighting someone in a forest while attempting to draw blue mana, normally found around islands -- he can be at a significant disadvantage. Certain objects (artifacts) can generate a small amount of mana outside the appropriate environments or alter the color to suit his needs, though they're almost never enough to wholly negate a bad choice of battlefield.
CURIOSITY KILLED THE CASTER: Theo likes the idea that there are all sorts of cool things out there among the Multiverse. In fact, he might like it a little too much. If given the opportunity, he'll go out of his way to look for and collect cool things, to ask pointed questions, and to try and learn things people don't want known. This will almost certainly get him into a lot of trouble down the line.
MALDWYN THEODOTUS MORRISON: Yes, that is his full name. No, you may not call him by it.
Miscellaneous
Trivia/Facts
- Theo babbles when he's nervous. This has been observed in action -- repeatedly.
- Theo is followed around by a Myr Servitor he has dubbed Kickotron. The name is both a stupid joke and pretty appropriate.
Soundtrack
- Avantasia -- Forever Is A Long Time
- The Living End -- Universe
- Mumford & Sons -- Dust Bowl Dance
Cutscenes
(for when we have a template) Homeward Path (February 1, 2014): Theo finally gets home. Things are not what they seem.
