epistemological | The Pines - Permission Post (Reply)

The spoilery bits...

Woof. SO! Jon is an avatar of a fear entity/god, namely the entity known as the Eye or Beholding or Ceaseless Watcher. Its domain is fears related to knowledge and observation: having it, not having it, other people having it, other people knowing your secrets, you finding out things that you Didn't Want To Know, the idea that someone's letting you suffer just to watch. Jon is what's known as the Archivist, a very specific avatar, whose powers relate to learning knowledge via experience, either his own or through the eyes of others.

This boils down to some weird effects like:

-tape recorders kind of subtly appear around him and turn on any time something juicy is happening
-they will turn themselves back on even if you turn them off
-his presence helps people recall details and record their experiences in a coherent narrative

The side effects of recording their experiences...

This ties into a need for what's called 'statements', namely testimonies of extranormal situations which he is at this point in time actually required to read or collect in order to survive. I would guess for the gamespace that most stories (given the situation) that he would get from others would fall under this category. Generally, he would encourage these to be in writing, as there are certain 'consequences' to recording them directly onto a tape recorder. Namely that any time they have a nightmare about the events and he's asleep, their dreams are linked and he experiences it with them.

He can also sense statements when he's within a few feet of them, and reading one can sort of recharge him if his energy is low. That said, he's hardier than he used to be; he heals from nastier injuries in a few days time, and anything self-inflicted heals instantly, though he VERY much feels it and has a low pain tolerance.

For major abilities, he has three:

-The Compel -

If Jon wishes to, he can make any question he asks irresistible to answer. It has to be out loud, in person (it doesn't work over a recording or through electronics), and the question has to be completed, but if it is, the person will end up answering truthfully and completely. Interrupt him, cover your ears, strangle him before he finishes and you're golden. The nice thing about it, however, is that he can help you realize truths you couldn't or didn't realize before. It can't be anything you CAN'T know (like if you have no way of knowing something) though. And it does feel good; it feels freeing and pleasant, something enjoyable instead of the burn like Wonder Woman's lasso.

-Knowledge Drops-

If Jon is working on something important, he can and usually does get the information that he needs literally just dropshipped into his head but he only gets the information he actually needs and nothing more. For example: they needed to remove a bullet from someone's leg. He wanted to use a general anesthetic but what was provided to him was a local. The local is significantly harder to use, require precision targeting and was a lot more dangerous but he pulled it off flawlessly. He doesn't understand the logistics, the mechanics and has no medical degree; he just knew exactly how to do that thing at that time. This can happen with situations where he knowingly wants guidance or, more often, where it just slips through the cracks as inspired by places, ideas, or people. In cases where the information isn't quite so... extreme, he usually doesn't even know that he shouldn't know it from traditional means: it's just in his head like it was supposed to be there, like he heard that question like he read that somewhere. Now, the drops do seem to be careful not to tell him certain things at certain times and never direct outright information (like 'why is this happening?'... nope) and obviously, his answers/information in the game will be controlled similarly. There are a few things he can kind of... direct, but usually it's more pointing him towards the next piece of information. Also, in playing with the themes of the game... it has him unsure of what he knows and what he doesn't know and he finds it REALLY HONKING UNNERVING.

-Seeing-

He generally can see straight through illusions/perception filters/etc. Anything that's hiding what it is visually, he can usually see straight through it or, if something is 'hiding'/missing/etc. find it with enough focus as long as he knows what he's looking for. If he really looks, he can see the 'truth' of a thing. Think Wizard Sight from the Dresden Files

For the purposes of RP, I'm more than happy to have any or all of these not work with your character.

If nothing ever works at all, the 'catch all' reason is that the influence of his patron for some reason does not jive with your character or their universe.
If you would like it to work just not all the time, I'm more than happy to have it crap out during plot-convenient moments. That's pretty much exactly how it works in canon; the only reliable one is the compel. And, of course, there are as mentioned plenty of ways around that one, including just asking me to figure out a way for him Not To Ask That Question. It's my job to figure out how to handle that and I'm totally cool with it.
If you would like it to work only in certain ways, please feel free to specify that in the form below.

For reference, Jon himself is VERY VERY hesitant to use his abilities on people who are not outright threatening him or endangering others. And I do not really enjoy godmodding or just 'knowing' things because what is the point of RPing if someone's just going to know everything. I see his abillities as ways to complicate his life and his relationships and to play with certain concepts. I also see them as ways to act as plot devices for other players because helping people with plot stuff is fun.

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