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OOC Information
Name: Alex
Contact:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
cancerously, Discord cancerously#6043
Age: 28
Current Character(s): N/A
IC Information
Name: Taako Taaco
Canon: The Adventure Zone: Balance
Canon Point: Mid episode 69, the night after the battle but before the epilogue timeskip, +2 years CRAU from![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
hadriel
Age: Appears in his mid to late 20's, is actually roughly ~230 or so.
Background: Here is his wiki page, but since he's a main character and effectively in every episode (and that wiki isn't very descriptive), I'd also think it helpful to include the arc reference guide and transcripts of the episodes since he's from a podcast and an audio medium will take a long-ass time to get through.
Character Summary: First and foremost, Taako is complicated, mostly by his own design. On the outside, Taako keeps himself to a rather scripted and specific part of what's the most fun and what he wants others to know about him. Anything goes as long as it's funny, even if it's a bit at his own expense, and pretty much will never stop if it keeps being that way. He can often be greedy, and has been known to hoard money, treasures, or other items that he simply likes. He also outwardly downplays his own intelligence (claiming to be just a "simple idiot wizard") while talking up his magical skill, primarily to keep people on their toes and to stop them from truly knowing anything about him. While he's not a coward, he frequently prefers to use magic to charm his way out of minor issues, and keeps himself as unassuming as possible to downplay his status as a target. Ultimately, his outward persona is a contradiction if anyone looks too close- he wants to be thought of as strong, but able to be underestimated. Adored, but not touched. Memorable, but not attached. If his plan works, no one can see him close enough to notice those inconsistencies.
That said, internally it becomes a different story. Taako's pushing off of others and aloof nature is due primarily to the fact that he doesn't care too little- he cares too much. Taako's upbringing was rough to say the least; after being passed around a variety of family, he found himself out on the streets with just his sister Lup for almost a hundred years, clawing their way up from nothing through cooking for traveling caravans and running for their lives. This action of only getting affection from others when he has something useful to contribute or do bleeds roughly into his emotional distancing. After cursing a world to war just to escape the fight of the Hunger they've endured for a hundred years, he admits he's seen others outside of those 6 people as "talking dust" and completely expendable. Taako knows, when he truly focuses on his emotional state, that if he allows himself to truly feel he'll be completely overwhelmed. Because of this, Taako ends up unable to process a lot of these emotions not out of an inability to do so, but an internal and unspoken fear that he will lose control over himself if he does.
Outside of just himself as an individual, Taako considers himself more importantly one half of a whole- the other being his twin. While the elves can have different ways of dealing with things, Taako anchors himself to her more than she does to him, and places more value on himself when they're together. However, despite his perceptions of himself, his personality shines distinctly from her in ways best described by their magical proclivities. While Lup's specialization is evocation, Taako's is transmutation. While he does take pride into changing his body into animals and warping himself into different planes, it's ironically not him he's interested in changing. Lup prefers to steamroll through the world and break what doesn't bend- Taako, on the other hand, will move the world until it suits his needs and wear the path until it's exactly the road he wanted to walk in the first place.
While this more private side of Taako doesn't often appear externally, those who work his way into his inner circle are held close to his heart and his willingness to protect them becomes paramount. Despite himself, and often to his own annoyance at his emotions, Taako attaches himself to people quickly and genuinely wants to be loved, despite how horrifying a prospect that is. When he does open up, it is hesitant and sudden, such as his admission to Kravitz during their date about his abandonment issues ("I'm afraid no one else will have me"). While being a private person in thinking that his personal business is his business, it's largely out of a fear of directly confronting emotions as they occur.
Finally, Taako's journey in Hadriel was about processing his past and emotions, realizing he could let a few others in, and grasp that not only does he want this future that he might actually deserve it. He originally entered the city before regaining his memories, so much of his progress was learning to trust and accept people truly for the first time. Because Hadriel forced him to show others his past, he had to confront many of his feelings for the first time in his life and actually accept some parts of who he is. Ultimately, he now has someone he's openly admitted to loving, friendships he believes in, and a security in knowing that sometimes things do get better if he addresses them. That hasn't changed the core tenants of who he is- he's still naturally defensive and untrustworthy of strangers, and prefers keeping people at arm's length. But his experiences in Hadriel have taught him that even if others see and experience the worst of him, there are people who will still care about him. He still figures he might have tricked a few of them into sticking around, but he's going to run with it while he has it.
Powers: Okay, please bear with me here, because Taako has a lot of magic that I promise he uses 99% of the time for horseshit, but it should be documented anyway.
First up, powers and magic. Since The Adventure Zone is a Dungeons and Dragons podcast (specifically the 5e edition), a more comprehensive detail of how magic works in the universe can be found in the player's handbook, specifically under the "wizard" class section (page 106, 113 for his school of magic) and the "spellcasting" chapter for general spell rules (page 183). In the shortest sense, in this universe people who can do magic have a certain level of "spell slots" they can use between long rests (~6/8 hours rest; these can be considered roughly once a day). The higher level you are, the more slots you have. Each spell and slot depending on power is given a number from 0-9, 0 being easy as hell (known as a cantrip) that you can cast as many times as you want with minor effects, and 9 having the power to rewrite the planet every once in a while. Spells at level 5 have to be cast out of a matching slot, and you can upcast a spell (i.e. cast a level 5 with a level 8 slot) but you can't downcast it (so no level 9 spells out of a level 1 slot). Finally, as to how he has his magic, wizards learn spells out of ability and knowledge and are classified as "prepared spellcasters". This means they have a list of spells the entire class can learn and can pick anything from that list as long as it's prepared for the day and you're a high enough level to learn it. Because that is obviously a lot of potential magic, I've compiled a list of spells he has used in the show, which you can find here on this journal, which also goes into detail of how many slots he has a day.
All of that said and while I go into more detail on this magic in the second link, it should be known that while magic can be powerful, most D&D spells are incredibly short lived (most of them last a minute or less) and do not always succeed even in canon- shots can miss, casting can be interrupted, and certain things require materials he may not be able to acquire. For D&D, you can cast out of a "spell focus" to not have to use materials- Taako has one of these- but many spells require additional components, or if his focus were to be damaged he would need to acquire a lot of weird stuff to be able to do this.
Next up, racial traits. Being an elf, Taako has a couple of innate abilities, namely that he can see in the dark up to 60 feet like it was dim light, and in dim light like it was bright. He cannot discern color with this vision, only shades of grey. In addition, he has a resistance to being charmed he cannot be put to sleep through magical means. Finally, elves have the ability to go into a 'trance-like state' for 4 hours instead of sleeping that counts him as rested- however, he tends to prefer sleeping and will generally sleep if given the option. I'm not sure this is an ability that requires a nerf, but considering the setting I assume he'll need to sleep at some point regardless of this.
Finally, miscellaneous talents and important information- Taako has been cooking for roughly 200 years (starting at the age of 12) and has managed to make something to eat out of weird shit across the universe in over 100 different worlds. While he prefers to work with finer ingredients, he has an idea on how to make a meal out of nearly anything, and since his last game was also a non-ideal food situation he's gotten damn good at working with very little. He's also fluent in 6 languages for some reason, of which we can confirm Common, Elvish, and a specific planet's animal language. It will not work on any of the Pokemon but he will 100% try it.
And as an addendum om this, he's also got a couple of magic items on his person: The KrEbStAr (his spell focus; it looks like this), the Wand of Switcheroo, the Pocket Spa, Immovable Rod, the Band of Projected Thought, and the Hole Thrower. Descriptions of these that don't have individual linked pages can be found here. Additionally, in Hadriel he picked up a magic earring that lets him send messages to another linked to it- Lup has the second.
Joining which Corps?: Survey
Starting with which Pokémon?: Hatenna
Name: Alex
Contact:
Age: 28
Current Character(s): N/A
IC Information
Name: Taako Taaco
Canon: The Adventure Zone: Balance
Canon Point: Mid episode 69, the night after the battle but before the epilogue timeskip, +2 years CRAU from
hadrielAge: Appears in his mid to late 20's, is actually roughly ~230 or so.
Background: Here is his wiki page, but since he's a main character and effectively in every episode (and that wiki isn't very descriptive), I'd also think it helpful to include the arc reference guide and transcripts of the episodes since he's from a podcast and an audio medium will take a long-ass time to get through.
Character Summary: First and foremost, Taako is complicated, mostly by his own design. On the outside, Taako keeps himself to a rather scripted and specific part of what's the most fun and what he wants others to know about him. Anything goes as long as it's funny, even if it's a bit at his own expense, and pretty much will never stop if it keeps being that way. He can often be greedy, and has been known to hoard money, treasures, or other items that he simply likes. He also outwardly downplays his own intelligence (claiming to be just a "simple idiot wizard") while talking up his magical skill, primarily to keep people on their toes and to stop them from truly knowing anything about him. While he's not a coward, he frequently prefers to use magic to charm his way out of minor issues, and keeps himself as unassuming as possible to downplay his status as a target. Ultimately, his outward persona is a contradiction if anyone looks too close- he wants to be thought of as strong, but able to be underestimated. Adored, but not touched. Memorable, but not attached. If his plan works, no one can see him close enough to notice those inconsistencies.
That said, internally it becomes a different story. Taako's pushing off of others and aloof nature is due primarily to the fact that he doesn't care too little- he cares too much. Taako's upbringing was rough to say the least; after being passed around a variety of family, he found himself out on the streets with just his sister Lup for almost a hundred years, clawing their way up from nothing through cooking for traveling caravans and running for their lives. This action of only getting affection from others when he has something useful to contribute or do bleeds roughly into his emotional distancing. After cursing a world to war just to escape the fight of the Hunger they've endured for a hundred years, he admits he's seen others outside of those 6 people as "talking dust" and completely expendable. Taako knows, when he truly focuses on his emotional state, that if he allows himself to truly feel he'll be completely overwhelmed. Because of this, Taako ends up unable to process a lot of these emotions not out of an inability to do so, but an internal and unspoken fear that he will lose control over himself if he does.
Outside of just himself as an individual, Taako considers himself more importantly one half of a whole- the other being his twin. While the elves can have different ways of dealing with things, Taako anchors himself to her more than she does to him, and places more value on himself when they're together. However, despite his perceptions of himself, his personality shines distinctly from her in ways best described by their magical proclivities. While Lup's specialization is evocation, Taako's is transmutation. While he does take pride into changing his body into animals and warping himself into different planes, it's ironically not him he's interested in changing. Lup prefers to steamroll through the world and break what doesn't bend- Taako, on the other hand, will move the world until it suits his needs and wear the path until it's exactly the road he wanted to walk in the first place.
While this more private side of Taako doesn't often appear externally, those who work his way into his inner circle are held close to his heart and his willingness to protect them becomes paramount. Despite himself, and often to his own annoyance at his emotions, Taako attaches himself to people quickly and genuinely wants to be loved, despite how horrifying a prospect that is. When he does open up, it is hesitant and sudden, such as his admission to Kravitz during their date about his abandonment issues ("I'm afraid no one else will have me"). While being a private person in thinking that his personal business is his business, it's largely out of a fear of directly confronting emotions as they occur.
Finally, Taako's journey in Hadriel was about processing his past and emotions, realizing he could let a few others in, and grasp that not only does he want this future that he might actually deserve it. He originally entered the city before regaining his memories, so much of his progress was learning to trust and accept people truly for the first time. Because Hadriel forced him to show others his past, he had to confront many of his feelings for the first time in his life and actually accept some parts of who he is. Ultimately, he now has someone he's openly admitted to loving, friendships he believes in, and a security in knowing that sometimes things do get better if he addresses them. That hasn't changed the core tenants of who he is- he's still naturally defensive and untrustworthy of strangers, and prefers keeping people at arm's length. But his experiences in Hadriel have taught him that even if others see and experience the worst of him, there are people who will still care about him. He still figures he might have tricked a few of them into sticking around, but he's going to run with it while he has it.
Powers: Okay, please bear with me here, because Taako has a lot of magic that I promise he uses 99% of the time for horseshit, but it should be documented anyway.
First up, powers and magic. Since The Adventure Zone is a Dungeons and Dragons podcast (specifically the 5e edition), a more comprehensive detail of how magic works in the universe can be found in the player's handbook, specifically under the "wizard" class section (page 106, 113 for his school of magic) and the "spellcasting" chapter for general spell rules (page 183). In the shortest sense, in this universe people who can do magic have a certain level of "spell slots" they can use between long rests (~6/8 hours rest; these can be considered roughly once a day). The higher level you are, the more slots you have. Each spell and slot depending on power is given a number from 0-9, 0 being easy as hell (known as a cantrip) that you can cast as many times as you want with minor effects, and 9 having the power to rewrite the planet every once in a while. Spells at level 5 have to be cast out of a matching slot, and you can upcast a spell (i.e. cast a level 5 with a level 8 slot) but you can't downcast it (so no level 9 spells out of a level 1 slot). Finally, as to how he has his magic, wizards learn spells out of ability and knowledge and are classified as "prepared spellcasters". This means they have a list of spells the entire class can learn and can pick anything from that list as long as it's prepared for the day and you're a high enough level to learn it. Because that is obviously a lot of potential magic, I've compiled a list of spells he has used in the show, which you can find here on this journal, which also goes into detail of how many slots he has a day.
All of that said and while I go into more detail on this magic in the second link, it should be known that while magic can be powerful, most D&D spells are incredibly short lived (most of them last a minute or less) and do not always succeed even in canon- shots can miss, casting can be interrupted, and certain things require materials he may not be able to acquire. For D&D, you can cast out of a "spell focus" to not have to use materials- Taako has one of these- but many spells require additional components, or if his focus were to be damaged he would need to acquire a lot of weird stuff to be able to do this.
Next up, racial traits. Being an elf, Taako has a couple of innate abilities, namely that he can see in the dark up to 60 feet like it was dim light, and in dim light like it was bright. He cannot discern color with this vision, only shades of grey. In addition, he has a resistance to being charmed he cannot be put to sleep through magical means. Finally, elves have the ability to go into a 'trance-like state' for 4 hours instead of sleeping that counts him as rested- however, he tends to prefer sleeping and will generally sleep if given the option. I'm not sure this is an ability that requires a nerf, but considering the setting I assume he'll need to sleep at some point regardless of this.
Finally, miscellaneous talents and important information- Taako has been cooking for roughly 200 years (starting at the age of 12) and has managed to make something to eat out of weird shit across the universe in over 100 different worlds. While he prefers to work with finer ingredients, he has an idea on how to make a meal out of nearly anything, and since his last game was also a non-ideal food situation he's gotten damn good at working with very little. He's also fluent in 6 languages for some reason, of which we can confirm Common, Elvish, and a specific planet's animal language. It will not work on any of the Pokemon but he will 100% try it.
And as an addendum om this, he's also got a couple of magic items on his person: The KrEbStAr (his spell focus; it looks like this), the Wand of Switcheroo, the Pocket Spa, Immovable Rod, the Band of Projected Thought, and the Hole Thrower. Descriptions of these that don't have individual linked pages can be found here. Additionally, in Hadriel he picked up a magic earring that lets him send messages to another linked to it- Lup has the second.
Joining which Corps?: Survey
Starting with which Pokémon?: Hatenna