Thus Spake Zaranephilpal/AbyssalAppearance
Nephilpal - 12/22/2003 11:24:59
Until they hit Essence 4, Abyssals can have a normal appearance.
After that, they need some way to explain/disguise their condition. There is an entire Larceny tree that fits the bill, plus a number of artifacts and Hearthstones (not to mention mundane disguise attempts).
--Neph
Nephilpal - 12/27/2003 00:13:48
I can't speak for the developer or other writers.
I can only give you my own non-canonical interpretations. I think pretty Abyssals are supposed to look eerie and gothic and unnatural... not supermodel (or maybe supermodel, because some waifs look suspiciously undead, but I digress).
Also, I think stored Resonance has a major role. If you have no Resonance, people see you and think "Dangerous and sexy! Give me some of that!" As Resonance builds, the predatory aspect of your predatory charm builds until you cease to be charming. Everyone who sees you understands on a basic animal level that you are a walking incarnation of doom, and it no longer matters how pretty you are. You are wrong. It's all wrong. Bad. Seriously and profoundly ... and get me out of here right now!
Resonance is the obsidian glass lens for your Appearance rating, just like it affects your other Social Attributes.
--Neph
Nephilpal - 12/28/2003 20:22:57
You weren't satisfied with Breath-Draining as a Charm? How would you have liked it to go?
Also, whatever their origins, the deaththknights are growing into their own thing.
Look at the Charm sets. In many cases, the entry level powers mirror or follow the Solar trees. The further you go, the steeper the divergence toward death and abomination. Magnify that degradation even further for the elder-level Charms that only currently exist as a faint gnawing in my brain and the fact that Abyssals are deathless beings physiologically and psychologically warped into terrible glory or incomprehensible horror by their growing malignant power, and there won't be very much Solar left when and if the deathknights come of age.
--Neph
