[Sunder the Gold]

I now want to share with you a concept for a unique duel avatar.

KALEIDOSCOPE FAKER
Color: White or [Black/Colorless]

This avatar has no ability at all except the power to copy the appearance, abilities (and weaknesses), and items (equipped and stored) of another Duel Avatar.

"Mimic" is a normal ability which costs no Special Meter. The transformation lasts for 30 minutes (the maximum length of a duel) or until the copied target has been KOed, disconnected, or removed from the challenge zone in the real world.

Outside of a duel, if the transformation is canceled, a new target can be copied immediately; however, no transformation can be voluntarily canceled, so Faker has to choose carefully each time.

"Mimic" does not change Faker's own Level, so he becomes a weaker copy when targeting higher Level avatars. That is, if a Level 1 Faker copied the Level 9 Black Lotus, he would become a perfect copy of the Level 1 Black Lotus. But if a Level 7 Faker copied a Level 1 Silver Crow, he would become a Level 7 Silver Crow.

The transformation does not copy any of the bonuses a target chose for leveling up. Even if he achieved Level 9, he would not be able to copy all of a King's abilities. Further, this could mean a Level 7 Faker might be not as fast a flier as the Level 5 Silver Crow, who has put bonuses into improving his flight speed, so they might be more evenly matched than they first seem.

This is especially true when one considers the fact that Silver Crow will be far more accustomed to his avatar's own strengths and how to use them. Copying a King likewise grants none of a king's combat skills or experience. So even a perfect copy would not make Faker the equal of his target.

This becomes triply-true when one factors in Incarnate System skills.


Kaleidoscope Faker has two basic paths for how his level-up bonuses can improve his Mimic power.


1) Improve the quality of the copy; for each bonus he invests here, he can copy one of his target's own level-up bonuses, starting with the first they chose and moving down the line.

He cannot pick and choose the bonuses unless targeting a character who has fewer bonuses than Faker has invested in this ability. For example, if Faker has invested four level bonuses into this upgrade, he could target a Level 1 Silver Crow and then choose four of Silver Crow's potential upgrades.

If Kaleidoscope Faker reached Level 9 and sunk all bonuses into this upgrade, he could copy all of a King's abilities, except their Incarnate System skills.


2) Remove Mimic's restrictions. For example, being able to cancel the transformation early, so that Faker can choose a different target when his current form is no longer advantageous.

If Kaleidoscope Faker reached Level 9 and sunk all bonuses into this upgrade, he could possibly STORE the form of anyone he's ever copied, even if they've been deleted from the Accelerated World.


There's a third possible path for improving Faker's Mimic ability, but first I need to explain the one part of his power that I am having the most trouble with:

At present, I'm not sure how Faker should be able to select his targets. One must not only consider duels, but also the Unlimited Neutral Field.

If his sight is normal, and he can only select targets he can see, that puts him at a miserable disadvantage against duel avatars that can hide while they snipe from cover or ambush him at close range. Since his basic form has no abilities at all, and since copying his opponent almost never makes him their equal, this is a problem.


One solution is to give Kaleidoscope Faker a basic "special ability" to detect when other avatars are within range in the Unlimited Neutral Field -- perhaps his own personal "matching list".

In a duel (or team-battle), this only lets him target and copy an opponent immediately (assuming he doesn't want to copy one of his his own allies).

But in the Unlimited Neutral Field, this becomes a powerful information-gathering ability, since he learns WHO IS IN THE FIELD at that time, and thus also who is not.


A MUCH weaker alternative is to give Kaleidoscope a choice between targeting an avatar he can see or letting Mimic choose a random target.

In a duel, it doesn't matter -- there's only one target.

In a team-battle or the Unlimited Neutral Field, he could randomly end up as anyone. Or he could wait until he can see at least one target.

Investing level up bonuses into himself rather than Mimic could grant him better vision, or the "personal matching list" mentioned above.


I haven't given much thought to Kaleidoscope Faker's possible Incarnate Skills, since I haven't given serious thought to what kind of person could end up with an avatar like this. I leave that as an exercise for other people.

As one suggestion, he might be able to hypnotize himself into thinking he actually IS the person he's copied, gaining access to their memories and skills for as long as he is transformed... To keep this from overwhelming the story, he might become so perfect a copy that his own motivations and goals are temporarily lost, and he probably should forget everything he's "learned" when he returns to normal.

Or perhaps his Incarnate Skill can manifest upgrades that the target never chose, allowing him to overcome his imperfect copies by going BEYOND a mere copy.


I think Faker works best as the central protagonist of a story (starting as a Level 1 character and working through his considerable mental issues) or as a major villain (starting as a high-level character, with all of the powers granted by his possible bonus choices).