Sheet:Souta Camero

Souta Camero's Sheet

Powers

Paradise Spectrum's Forms

Souta Camero's Intelligent Device, has three main combat forms and a fourth standby mode: Dual Tonfa mode provide a mix of up-close offense and defensive options, and is often what he sticks to if he doesn't know what to expect from an opponent. Halberd mode is even more defensive, allowing him to keep his foe at a distance while he focuses on casting spells. Sabre mode is all offense, and is generally used for finishers or for clearing out weaker enemies that can be one shot. (Sabre mode is really more like a greatsword but the thing I'm making a reference to calls it a Sabre, and I can't break the habit no matter how many times I look over this app.) In all combat forms, his weapons are all energy based, as is common for Midchildian Devices. Standby mode is a pair of glasses that Souta can wear, keep in his pocket, or on a chain around his neck.

Mana Filter System

Paradise Spectrum also has something called the Mana Filter system, which can change the mana type of the spells that Souta uses. Unfiltered is just standard generic energy, but there are also Ice, Fire and Lightning filters that can have effects like turning his Barrets into fireballs or his tonfas into flaming tonfas. Since Souta is very melee focused and does not have any big beam attacks, this mostly affects the element of his finisher (Spectrum Overdrive), the energy 'blades' of his Device, the barrets that fire from his sparks, and the 'beam slash' spell he sometimes uses. The Mana Filter system has limitations and cannot handle powerful ranged or wide area spells without being overloaded, but Souta doesn't mind that because he doesn't use those. (More details in Powers Field 6)

Spark System

In his drive to prove that he can do everything himself, Souta produced a suite of spells he calls the Spark System. A Spark is a very short lived mana construct that is preloaded with a given spell that Souta knows, and will cast or maintain that spell until it runs out of mana and then dissipates. Generally this is used as either Spark Barret, which produces cover fire for Souta, or Spark Shield, which allows Souta to protect someone from a distance for a limited amount of time. Sparks can be loaded with nearly any spell that Souta knows, assuming that the combination makes some kind of sense. Sparks come in three different grades: default, Plus and MAX. This designation is only a measure of how much Mana has been invested into the Spark, meaning that it will last longer or have a greater effect.

Combat Spells

Due to his constant fighting with his brother who only used Storage Devices, Souta has formed the opinion that Intelligent Devices are too slow for big spell casts. He's wrong about this, but it's hard to overcome biases that have been worked into your bones from childhood. Therefore, a lot of his spells are focused on self-buffing, and he generally approaches combat from a unique point of view.

Two of the most common custom spells he uses are Slider Fin, an alternative to Flier Fin that focuses more on hovering slightly off the ground rather than flying, and Return Shield, which is a shield that absorbs incoming attacks and then throws them back at the attacker. Other spells can do things give his melee weapons a medium-ranged (~15 meters, give or take) option in the form of sword beams or slash waves, or root him firmly on the ground so that he can take large hits without getting knocked back. In general the idea is that Souta usually buffs himself instead of shooting big friendship beams at the enemy.

As for direct damage spells that are unique to him, his main finisher is Spectrum Overdrive, which greatly increases the energy output of his weapons. For example this can result in his Sabre briefly becoming huge, or his Tonfas having a lot of repulsive force in them. Paradise Chain is his sealing spell which also counts as a snare, binding a target so that it can't easily flee.

He also knows the standard suite of TSAB spells. Flier Fin, Telepathy, and Barrier. Pyer made sure that he was not going to leave basic training without knowing these things, regardless of how Souta felt regarding their usefulness relative to his own custom options.

Investigative Spells

As an officer in the Inspector Department, Souta has an impressive suite of scanning and tracking spells. With these he can do things like track a fleeing suspect, reconstruct a 3D model of a crime scene, perform detailed nondestructive scans on a piece of evidence, check a target for contraband, and so on. The general theme is that he's a sci-fi mahou detective and has sci-fi mahou detective tools.

These spells also have some combat use, in terms of scanning a target for weak points or rapidly mapping out a battlefield. This too is part of his job, as you never really know when a corrupt official with considerable magical power will decide to resist arrest.

Holographic Projection

As part of his job, Souta also relies upon Paradise Spectrum's ability to produce holograms. While these holograms have some combat use, they aren't going to fool anyone who has at least 0.5 seconds to actually think about what they're seeing. They are translucent and that's a pretty big tell, and it's really hard to hide anything behind them either. What they can do is produce false Sparks and other feint spells to make his movements a little more confusing.

However, their true use is for Souta to produce images and display gathered data to others in cases where Telepathy isn't desired or is otherwise insufficient. Not everyone has a Device or other means to rapidly visualize data on their own, so Souta uses holograms when making a case or sharing data to make sure that everyone he's talking to is on the same page.

Heart Locker

Do you like bad ideas? Because BOY do we have a bad idea for you!

This Lost Logia isn't so much a power that Souta has as much as it is a burden he has to deal with, but it should be listed and described somewhere and this seems like the best place. The Heart Locker was once part of a larger system that basically no longer exists, causing it to malfunction in ways that are now chaotic and destructive. Using it is a Bad Idea, as it has a tendency to mind control and then kill its user, because the system meant to protect the user during the process are both long gone and forgotten.

Its original intent was to absorb latent energy and scattered mana, especially during a magic fight, and then force a pacifying effect on nearby combatants to force fights to de-escalate. Now it does the opposite, feeding off of nearby combat and pouring its energy into the user, turning them into a berserk fighting machine until they wear themselves out. During these berserk episodes, the 'ghosts' of previous users often appear, but these ghosts are just holographic illusions and imperfect recreations. These previous users are dead and can't actually be brought back, no matter what people believe the Heart Locker can do.

The energy absorption capabilities of the Heart Locker can lead to really bad things in a setting where Dark Energy exists.

The first time Souta sealed this Lost Logia, the seal was imperfect and incomplete due to his weakened state. A proper seal will keep it fully contained, preventing it from gaining energy every time its guardian gets into a fight. Damaging it to a point where it can no longer absorb energy will also stop it from being a problem, at least until it gets repaired by someone.

(Note on references: The fighting style is based at least somewhat on Megaman Zero's gameplay. The Saber and Tonfas are both weapons that Zero uses. Halberd is what I'm using instead of the Triple Rod or Chain Rod. Return Shield is a Nanoha version of Shield Boomerang. The Spark System is a thin reference to Cyber Elves but with a lot less of the inherent angst. Spectrum Overcharge is just like... a fully charged Sabre slash and the like. Mana Filters are the Ice/Lightning/Fire chips. Slider Fin is basically Souta dashing around or climbing walls.)

(Also you might notice a distinct lack of weapon copying here. That's intentional. Weapon copying isn't as much of a thing in the MMZ series and it would potentially be a pain in the butt to implement meaningfully so I just didn't do it. Yeah technically in some of the games, Zero learns new weapon techniques by beating bosses, but like... I don't need to tie that to weapon copying. I can just have Souta use his weapons in a cool way.)

Mana Filter System (Details and Limits)

I'm adding a bit of explanation regarding my intent here so that it will be explicitly a part of my sheet.

What Mana Filter will likely be doing the majority of the time: Changing the element of Souta's melee weapons. So for example, his tonfas get a flame element and can set things on fire, or his saber gets a lightning effect and can shock things, or his halberd gets an ice element and can freeze what it touches. Also it can change the element of the barrets he fires with his Spark system.

Spectrum Overdrive, his finisher, makes his weapon bigger and more powerful for a brief moment in time. So for example his Sabre goes from 'as big as he is' to 'twice as big as he is' for the span of a single attack. This should probably represent the meaningful limit of what the Mana Filter system can handle, because it's a Finisher and by nature it should kinda push his system to the limit.

The app does mention a 'blade beam' as a ranged option and I'm not really sure how to describe that in words other than that. It's based upon the video game trope where someone slashes their sword and creates an energy crescent that flies at a target. Or like what Link does in older Zelda games when he has full hearts. It's not a big beam attack like Starlight Breaker. It's maybe 3x the strength of your standard barret in practice, and not nearly as spammable.

Since Souta's focus is very much on melee combat, he doesn't really get to use big beam weapons that you often see in MGLN. He has barrets, and they can be elementally charged, but those are generally cast through the Spark system. He also does not get to create thunderstorms like Fate, create his own winter wonderland, or bathe the battlefield in fire. Such wide area spells are against the spirit of how I imagine the character at the time of apping, but I know that a variety of different situations and power combinations can happen in game, so I've specifically clarified that the mana filter system as-is simply cannot handle spells that are above a certain power level.

Meaning that if someone wanted to dump a bunch of power into Souta and try to force it through the Mana Filter... it would actually just not work. Safeties would activate to shut down the filter system before it damaged itself. Something like a buff might work if its affects apply 'after' the filter, but if someone wants to buff Souta's power output past a certain point then he probably just cannot use that and the Mana Filter at the same time.

To give a very specific example: If Souta was somehow being buffed with something like Hope Concept's Hope Aura, he'd still be able to use his weapons but they would be generic energy weapons. If Souta ever gets Cartridges, they'd probably require a rework of the Mana Filter system too.