Duncan Ritter

Overview

Son of two Black Mages, Duncan Ritter chose instead to enlist in the Dark Knight Corps., his talents aimed more at the martial than magical. He served Baron with distinction as a Dark Knight, though never sought promotion. Duncan was taught the Dark Sword, a magical fighting style that lets him wield the power of darkness against his enemies, but at the cost of life force. Walking the "low road" is dangerous, so he does not trust easily, and does not share his feelings. Though he walks the path of darkness, he is in fact a virtuous man, not to mention a lover of music. But he has no problem letting people think of him as a monster, so he can slay the -true- monsters in the darkness. For where the light shines, Duncan believes, darkness hides from the light. Only darkness may ferret out the shadowy beasts where they hide, even if it cannot truly vanquish them.

Perks

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Dark Sword: Dark sword style effective against light/holy enemies

Duncan is able to use the Dark Sword, a type of swordskill practiced by the Dark Knights of Baron. This isn't merely swinging a sword around, either; this technique allows Duncan to tap into his dark emotions to increase fighting capabilities. It is effective against light and holy beings, and its power is such that weaker enemies (NPCs) can sometimes be felled with but a single blow.

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Darkness: Increase toughness/use dark blasts in exchange for lifeforce

Drawing on the powers of the Dark Sword, Duncan can increase his speed in combat (increasing the amount of damage he does per strike). However, this brings a "crash" afterwards, leaving him much weaker for some time. Additionally he's able to used directional or radial ranged attacks of darkness-elemental energy -- blasts, beams, and bolts -- but using his dark powers in this way saps his life force each time he does so.

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Tank It: Very good at taking damage

Because Duncan is roughly the size of a house (no, not really, but he is a very big dude), he's pretty good at planting himself in place and taking hits. This is not exactly "Cover", which indicates some attempt to mitigate the damage when standing in front of an ally. Given Duncan grows stronger as he gets injured more, this is generally just a vehicle for him to make certain that he takes more damage.

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Lower Health, Greater Strength: His power grows the more damage he takes

The reason that the Dark Sword tends to be thoughtof as "evil" is because it can be fuelled from the user's pain. In Duncan's case, as he loses stamina in a battle, as his injuries increase, as his feelings of upset during the battle increase, he taps into that power, using it to fuel greater physical strength and increasing the damage he can cause with his Darkness powers. It's a bit of a self-fulfilling cycle, since his Darkness uses his life force, and he grows more powerful as his strength increases. However, this is another reason for his "crash" after battle, because of this cycle of power and decreasing life force feeding on each other.

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Magic: Affinity for fire-based attack spells.

While he's not a Black Mage (a mage focused on offensive elemental magic), Duncan has a fair-to-middling aptitude with magic (as both his parents were mages). Duncan's affinity is with fire, thus these are the only types of spells he can cast. He can also charge his sword with fire for a short period of time, allowing his physical attacks to be backed by a fiery punch.

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Musical: He can play guitar and sing quite well.

Duncan's not all about darkness and killing. He actually can play the guitar and sing quite well, having practiced this for a number of years. He's no Bard, and can't do magical effects with this, but he can entertain a crowd.

NPCs

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Nemesis< D-Tier Named >: Mean albino chocobo

While there are actual WHITE Chocobos in his world, Nemesis is not one of them. She is a female albino chocobo -- a large bird that resembles an ostrich but with a larger head and a raptor's beak -- with a small triangular chip knocked out of the edge of her beak. She is mean and ornery, and Duncan is one of the only people able to approach her. Her sight suffers as well, and she becomes blinded in bright light. However, she trusts Duncan enough to allow him to ride normally while her eyes are covered. On her own, she can bodyslam, trample, peck an opponent with a raptor-like beak, or scratch a target with her large clawed feet. She is able to carry Duncan and one more passenger as a rider, or pull a cart when hooked up to an appropriate harness.

Complications

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Dark Powers: He can't fight at full strength against dark/unholy-elemental enemies

While the powers of the Dark Sword are incredibly powerful, they are completely useless against beings/creatures powered by similar such powers (dark/unholy beasts, mindless undead hordes, darkness-elemental creatures, etc.). In situations like this, Duncan has to rely more on his other training, or on his fire magic, and as such is not able to fight with his full power in these situations.

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Lifeforce is Power: Duncan uses his own lifeforce to power his Dark Sword

The Dark Sword, the style used by the Baronian Dark Knight Corps, is deadly in the right hands. Unfortunately, it can also be equally deadly to its wielder, siphoning away their life-force in exchange for the power it confers upon the user. There are multiple ways this can get him killed -- the "crash" that comes after using these abilities leaves him unable to defend himself with even half his strength, and using these abilities when already injured could easily drain away the last of his lifeforce. And neither his recklessness in battle, nor his more lightly-armored state, makes either possibility any less remote.

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He Might Be A Giant: With great power comes great... slowness

Duncan is a Pretty Big Dude. And this comes with all the pros and cons thereof. Amongst the cons are that he's not as fast or nimble as a smaller guy, particularly when he's wearing the heavy Dark Knight armor typical of Baron's Dark Knights. A speedy character could really make his life difficult, very easily.

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Reckless: Fools rush in, so does Duncan

Duncan is pretty sure the powers of the Dark Knight are going to kill him some day. So he tends to be rather reckless about his own defense when he's trying to accomplish a goal. He will step in front of allies to take attacks in their place, or neglect his own defense when attacking strong foes -- particularly when running interference. In all likelihood, when he does this -- for it's not an IF, but a WHEN -- his allies are either going to end up needing to pull him out of danger... or leave him to his fate. Assuming he HAS any allies.

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Greater Power, Less Time: Taking more damage means he may be taken out sooner

With the cyclical way Duncan's powers feed on his own pain, it leaves him more vulnerable to more severe damage. While this means he can generally stay in a fight longer, it also means that he's likely going to be injured far more before being taken out of the fight, and thus requiring more recovery before he can safely fight again. Or if he does get in a fight before he's ready, he's in more danger of getting seriously hurt. Not only that, after any use of his powers, there is a "crash", where his body complains about him casting off his life force. How much complaining it does depends on how deeply he's dipped into that well. A few minor uses could just see him winded, while sustained use could see him falling unconscious for days.

ID	Title	Date
1216	Crew Expendable	May 05 2024
1189	Ghosts of Shosone Part 2	Nov 13 2023
1188	Ghosts of Shoshone	Nov 11 2023
960	Shelter	Jan 11 2022
902	Sirens and Skulls	Oct 24 2021
899	A Moonlit Serenade	Oct 23 2021
890	All That Glitters	Oct 14 2021
842	I Don't Have The Spoons For This	Jun 29 2021
841	To Damcyan	Jun 22 2021
795	Shadow of the Empire	Feb 16 2021

Duncan Ritter

Duncan Ritter

Overview

Perks

NPCs

Complications

Recent Scenes

Cutscenes