Chomsky Honk
New member
The Pool Shark isn't just gambling with his soul, he's added all of the souls in his collection, in addition to yours, to his ante.
The Pool Shark's hunting grounds are the bars across the city. A miasma of smoke from the finest Cuban cigars follow him. His prey are the downtrodden, the desperate, and the overconfident. He challenges them to a game of billiards. A spotlight illuminates a table. He'll lose the first match. Not by much, but just enough to fill his prey with a false sense of pride and accomplishment. He'll then offer another game. He'll offer to play for keeps. There are some who have won this second game. These players could have walked away a few souls richer, but they never do. All the while, the grin across The Pool Shark's too-round face widens and widens in anticipation. Somehow, the light does not reach above his stained grin.
Everyone accepts the third game. The Pool Shark offers something invaluable, something lost, something irreplaceable, something that the prey never knew they were missing. The Pool Shark slowly chews his cigar, unflinching as the lit end of the cigar passes his waxy lips. The light is unbearable, hot and sticky. The prey looks at the too-bright light bulb and sees an Eight slowly blinking at them. The game proceeds. Even to the layman, it is cruel and one-sided.
The game ends, and the spotlight retracts beneath The Pool Shark's hat. He gives his prey a reassuring pat on the shoulder, and without another word, he leaves the bar, lighting another cigar to celebrate a game well played. The prey looks to the billiards table. The immaculate, unstained, emerald cloth is gone. It's just another bar table, branded with countless rings from drinks not placed on coasters and carvings from pocket knives, proclaiming love, loss, loyalty, and hate.
Sometimes, the ante is left on the table, as if it were a consolation prize, not something that the prey wagered everything on. They're free to take it. It's no trick, it's no ploy, it's not a test, it's real, whatever it is, and they can keep it. But the prey knows they've lost something, and for the rest of however long their lives last, they will feel that loss, never being able to determine what The Pool Shark's Ante was.
Where other heroes see a soul as an opportunity to make a quick buck, the Pool Shark sees every soul as an investment, a gamble to make even more, or lose everything trying.
PASSIVE: Ante. The Pool Shark's melee is a long-ranged thrust with his pool cue. When Pool Shark uses his melee to finish a minion or confirm a soul, their souls are launched out of their bodies as projectiles, damaging and possessing nearby enemy heroes and minions, amping the damage they take from The Pool Shark, and more importantly, increasing their soul yield when slain and confirmed. This unique ailment is called Ante. The projectiles created by ante have tracking properties, focused towards targets in the center of The Pool Shark's vision. If no one is in The Pool Shark's sight, they will seek out minions, and if that fails, they will wither away, offering no souls. The Pool Shark cannot receive souls from melee, and must use his gun to confirm/deny souls, allow them to dissipate, or use his second ability, Trick shot. Enemies and teammates can benefit from ante. If The Pool Shark dies while enemies have ante, the enemies gain whatever ante has been placed on them.\
The Pool Shark's melee has an added effect, if it strikes a Viscous that is using their ult, they will be sent flying at Mach speeds. This happens to both friendly and enemy Viscouses. Viscousi?
1ST ABILITY: Bet. The Pool Shark spends his souls to create stationary soul spheres that only he can send into motion. This allows The Pool Shark access to ante, even if there are no minions or stray souls in his immediate vicinity. If The Pool Shark can't afford the soul cost, he cannot cast Bet.
2ND ABILITY: Trick Shot. Multiple charges. The Pool Shark conjures a large, spectral billiard. This billiard is stationary, and will only move once heavy melee'd. If only one billiard is placed, striking the billiard will launch it forward, rolling through enemies and bouncing off the geometry. Trick Shot's unique properties come into effect once another billiard is placed in its radius. Meleeing the Billiard will now make the projectile home in on a nearby billiard, which will cause it to fly towards a nearby target that is affected by Ante. The more billiards you manage to line up, the more damage it will do, and the further it will knock back an enemy. Killing an enemy with Trick shot further multiplies the amount of souls they reward, and instantly claims them. The enemy team is able to sabotage Trick Shot by heavy meleeing the billiards, causing it to rocket forward as a projectile. The billiard can be parried.
3RD ABILITY: Pocket. The Pool Shark creates a large hole in the ground. If someone tries to pass over the hole, they will be pushed back. If someone with ante makes contact with the hole, they'll be rooted, scaling with the amount of ante they have. If a target with ante is knocked into the hole with trick shot, the root becomes a lengthier stun, and The Pool Shark gains souls equal to the target's ante, without removing their ante. If another hero, I.E Bebop, knocks an ante'd target into the pocket, they will split the souls with The Pool Shark.
I was thinking about having The Pool Shark create portals with the billiards pockets that would allow for his team to travel between them, and would allow him to further daisy chain his billiards, but that didn't feel thematically appropriate. Maybe the pocket should only allow for travel to and from the base, like those billiards tables that have the pockets that are all connected and lead the balls to a single repository at an end of the table.
4TH ABILITY: Binding Rack. The Pool Shark invokes a large billiards rack. The rack surrounds a significant area, and has no effect on enemies without ante. Enemies with ante are stunned as their Ante is burned away. The stun is only cast when the rack descends, the enemy team may enter and exit the rack after its descent without consequence, even if they have ante. If the enemy survives their stun, they gain souls equal to double the ante's initial value. The Pool Shark and his teammates must capitalize on this massive advantage, because if they fail to kill this easy, weakened target, the enemy will gain a sizeable amount of souls.
If two stuns is too many for a hero to have, I'm working on something else.
4TH ABILITY: Summoning Rack. The Pool Shark summons a large billiards rack. All souls created in that area become intangible, coalescing at a point above the rack. The Pool Shark can also use bet to add his own souls to the ritual. after an amount of time, the singularity of souls descends, and the Debtor is summoned. The Debtor can be as weak as a minion or as strong as the mid boss, depending on the amount of souls it has received. If slain, the souls are distributed among the enemy team. If the Debtor survives the duration of its summon, the souls are distributed among The Pool Shark's team, with him receiving the lion's share.
Aesthetics- The Pool Shark wears warm pinstripe pants with suspenders. He wears a vest and a button-up long-sleeved shirt. In his left hand he holds his pool cue, and in his right a 9mm Mauser. On his right shoulder, he keeps the rack. The Pool Shark's head is a billiard ball. It should be big and round, creepy lookin'. The top half of his head is obscured by a hat, and only his big grin is exposed. His lure, an incandescent eight ball can lift his hat off his head, creating a lampshade effect and revealing the roundness of The Pool Shark's head. He has no eyes, aside from the lure. If the big ball head is too goofy, then his head could be normal from the cheekbones down, but everything above that is obscured by the hat, and it's a much more subtle dome. He still has a lure, though. I am not an artist. You, dear reader, can make him look however you want. The Pool Shark's teeth are normal, just enlarged. Maybe he can have rows and rows of teeth, like that one panel from Junji Ito's Layers of Fear. He does not have sharp teeth, he is not a literal shark.
When The Pool Shark levels up, he eats a cigar.
I don't write pitches like this. I think that the creators and artists behind a game have a vision that's better than whatever I can conjure up. But I do think that a "Pool Shark" type character would be very appropriate for this game's setting and vibe. I also don't suggest any numbers or values because I am not a numerologist and will not pretend to know how to balance or create a character. Thank you for reading as much as you have. I doubt any of our characters will make it into the game.
OR- just add Venom from Guilty Gear.
The Pool Shark's hunting grounds are the bars across the city. A miasma of smoke from the finest Cuban cigars follow him. His prey are the downtrodden, the desperate, and the overconfident. He challenges them to a game of billiards. A spotlight illuminates a table. He'll lose the first match. Not by much, but just enough to fill his prey with a false sense of pride and accomplishment. He'll then offer another game. He'll offer to play for keeps. There are some who have won this second game. These players could have walked away a few souls richer, but they never do. All the while, the grin across The Pool Shark's too-round face widens and widens in anticipation. Somehow, the light does not reach above his stained grin.
Everyone accepts the third game. The Pool Shark offers something invaluable, something lost, something irreplaceable, something that the prey never knew they were missing. The Pool Shark slowly chews his cigar, unflinching as the lit end of the cigar passes his waxy lips. The light is unbearable, hot and sticky. The prey looks at the too-bright light bulb and sees an Eight slowly blinking at them. The game proceeds. Even to the layman, it is cruel and one-sided.
The game ends, and the spotlight retracts beneath The Pool Shark's hat. He gives his prey a reassuring pat on the shoulder, and without another word, he leaves the bar, lighting another cigar to celebrate a game well played. The prey looks to the billiards table. The immaculate, unstained, emerald cloth is gone. It's just another bar table, branded with countless rings from drinks not placed on coasters and carvings from pocket knives, proclaiming love, loss, loyalty, and hate.
Sometimes, the ante is left on the table, as if it were a consolation prize, not something that the prey wagered everything on. They're free to take it. It's no trick, it's no ploy, it's not a test, it's real, whatever it is, and they can keep it. But the prey knows they've lost something, and for the rest of however long their lives last, they will feel that loss, never being able to determine what The Pool Shark's Ante was.
Where other heroes see a soul as an opportunity to make a quick buck, the Pool Shark sees every soul as an investment, a gamble to make even more, or lose everything trying.
PASSIVE: Ante. The Pool Shark's melee is a long-ranged thrust with his pool cue. When Pool Shark uses his melee to finish a minion or confirm a soul, their souls are launched out of their bodies as projectiles, damaging and possessing nearby enemy heroes and minions, amping the damage they take from The Pool Shark, and more importantly, increasing their soul yield when slain and confirmed. This unique ailment is called Ante. The projectiles created by ante have tracking properties, focused towards targets in the center of The Pool Shark's vision. If no one is in The Pool Shark's sight, they will seek out minions, and if that fails, they will wither away, offering no souls. The Pool Shark cannot receive souls from melee, and must use his gun to confirm/deny souls, allow them to dissipate, or use his second ability, Trick shot. Enemies and teammates can benefit from ante. If The Pool Shark dies while enemies have ante, the enemies gain whatever ante has been placed on them.\
The Pool Shark's melee has an added effect, if it strikes a Viscous that is using their ult, they will be sent flying at Mach speeds. This happens to both friendly and enemy Viscouses. Viscousi?
1ST ABILITY: Bet. The Pool Shark spends his souls to create stationary soul spheres that only he can send into motion. This allows The Pool Shark access to ante, even if there are no minions or stray souls in his immediate vicinity. If The Pool Shark can't afford the soul cost, he cannot cast Bet.
2ND ABILITY: Trick Shot. Multiple charges. The Pool Shark conjures a large, spectral billiard. This billiard is stationary, and will only move once heavy melee'd. If only one billiard is placed, striking the billiard will launch it forward, rolling through enemies and bouncing off the geometry. Trick Shot's unique properties come into effect once another billiard is placed in its radius. Meleeing the Billiard will now make the projectile home in on a nearby billiard, which will cause it to fly towards a nearby target that is affected by Ante. The more billiards you manage to line up, the more damage it will do, and the further it will knock back an enemy. Killing an enemy with Trick shot further multiplies the amount of souls they reward, and instantly claims them. The enemy team is able to sabotage Trick Shot by heavy meleeing the billiards, causing it to rocket forward as a projectile. The billiard can be parried.
3RD ABILITY: Pocket. The Pool Shark creates a large hole in the ground. If someone tries to pass over the hole, they will be pushed back. If someone with ante makes contact with the hole, they'll be rooted, scaling with the amount of ante they have. If a target with ante is knocked into the hole with trick shot, the root becomes a lengthier stun, and The Pool Shark gains souls equal to the target's ante, without removing their ante. If another hero, I.E Bebop, knocks an ante'd target into the pocket, they will split the souls with The Pool Shark.
I was thinking about having The Pool Shark create portals with the billiards pockets that would allow for his team to travel between them, and would allow him to further daisy chain his billiards, but that didn't feel thematically appropriate. Maybe the pocket should only allow for travel to and from the base, like those billiards tables that have the pockets that are all connected and lead the balls to a single repository at an end of the table.
4TH ABILITY: Binding Rack. The Pool Shark invokes a large billiards rack. The rack surrounds a significant area, and has no effect on enemies without ante. Enemies with ante are stunned as their Ante is burned away. The stun is only cast when the rack descends, the enemy team may enter and exit the rack after its descent without consequence, even if they have ante. If the enemy survives their stun, they gain souls equal to double the ante's initial value. The Pool Shark and his teammates must capitalize on this massive advantage, because if they fail to kill this easy, weakened target, the enemy will gain a sizeable amount of souls.
If two stuns is too many for a hero to have, I'm working on something else.
4TH ABILITY: Summoning Rack. The Pool Shark summons a large billiards rack. All souls created in that area become intangible, coalescing at a point above the rack. The Pool Shark can also use bet to add his own souls to the ritual. after an amount of time, the singularity of souls descends, and the Debtor is summoned. The Debtor can be as weak as a minion or as strong as the mid boss, depending on the amount of souls it has received. If slain, the souls are distributed among the enemy team. If the Debtor survives the duration of its summon, the souls are distributed among The Pool Shark's team, with him receiving the lion's share.
Aesthetics- The Pool Shark wears warm pinstripe pants with suspenders. He wears a vest and a button-up long-sleeved shirt. In his left hand he holds his pool cue, and in his right a 9mm Mauser. On his right shoulder, he keeps the rack. The Pool Shark's head is a billiard ball. It should be big and round, creepy lookin'. The top half of his head is obscured by a hat, and only his big grin is exposed. His lure, an incandescent eight ball can lift his hat off his head, creating a lampshade effect and revealing the roundness of The Pool Shark's head. He has no eyes, aside from the lure. If the big ball head is too goofy, then his head could be normal from the cheekbones down, but everything above that is obscured by the hat, and it's a much more subtle dome. He still has a lure, though. I am not an artist. You, dear reader, can make him look however you want. The Pool Shark's teeth are normal, just enlarged. Maybe he can have rows and rows of teeth, like that one panel from Junji Ito's Layers of Fear. He does not have sharp teeth, he is not a literal shark.
When The Pool Shark levels up, he eats a cigar.
I don't write pitches like this. I think that the creators and artists behind a game have a vision that's better than whatever I can conjure up. But I do think that a "Pool Shark" type character would be very appropriate for this game's setting and vibe. I also don't suggest any numbers or values because I am not a numerologist and will not pretend to know how to balance or create a character. Thank you for reading as much as you have. I doubt any of our characters will make it into the game.
OR- just add Venom from Guilty Gear.
