[GRIM RENAISSANCE] JEAN-PHILIPPE BOUCHER

Titles and Alternate Names:
- ‘The Awakened’.
- Friends call him JP, for short.


Age:
- 21.


Nationality:
- Québécois, also known as a French Canadian, hailing from a Grim Renaissance with such a country. His bloodline also has a mix of French, Native American, German, and Viking ancestries.


Appearance:
- JP has a tall frame that is both broad and lithe, sporting slender limbs. Possesses brown hair arranged into a messy ponytail. His appearance otherwise fluctuates between two extremes, one being that of an unkempt nerd, and the other being a handsome nobleman, all depending on mood and occasions.
- Has a thing for coats of all kind, as they naturally hang very well from his frame, improving his aristocratic charisma. When not wearing a greatcoat (perhaps when it’s burning hot outside) he tends to wear form-fitting jackets and combat boots, or a stereotypical ‘professor’s outfit’ with a customary bowtie. Most of his attire is black and white, and though he cares little for high fashion, when he in a mood to groom himself, he is well-groomed indeed.
- Possesses pair of circular, tinted glasses – 'Lennon-style', as JP calls them, based off those worn by a celebrity from the Earth he hails from – and a pair of what he describes as ‘mad scientist’ goggles.


Background:
- He talks about himself a lot, and it doesn’t take long to understand that his life was easy, with no calamities or tragedies having befallen him. Granted, he’s had his fair share of sadness and heartache, but nothing to cause extreme or lasting trauma. That being said, he has asked Vidan to respect his privacy and withhold many personal details.
- One of JP’s fondest childhood memories were his after-school antics. JP’s has always had dreams of conquest, and there were a couple of times he made good on those dreams, amassing an army of classmates and rallying them to control of the schoolyard. Fortunately, he left his dictatorial lifestyle behind upon graduating from primary school.
-  Back then, instead of playing with kids or going to the local pool, he would read encyclopaedias, think, and daydream. He still managed to make a lot of friends, mostly others with similar interests, and he’s never had problem with bullies despite being an oddball intellectual.


Personality:
- Like his appearance, JP manages a balancing act between two extremes. On one end of the spectrum, JP is social, friendly, full of humor, plus a bunch of other amicable qualities. On the other end, he is reserved and solitary. It’s best to leave JP alone to manage that balancing act on his own terms; coercing or pressuring him to tilt that balance towards either side when he’s not ready is a great way to ruin his mood, resulting in a negative impact on both his motivation and his energy levels.
- He used to have a prideful streak, not caring much about others’ perception of him. Back in those days, some would call him mad for his way of thinking, but he would retort that if his madness gave him wakefulness in a world of sleepers, then madness was the only reasonable behavior.
- Of course, JP has had time to mature and temper his beliefs. Though he remains true to himself, he is now far more considerate about the opinions of others, even if he isn’t necessarily in agreement. He currently has no issues with humoring others' expectations and desires – within reason – because despite being a refined gentleman, JP has learned to retrain his ego and arrogance.
- Of course, this wasn't always the case. During his teenage years, he was certain that his pragmatic and nihilistic outlook on life was better and more honest than all his peers’ own philosophies. He believed that people who didn't accept the darker and crueler aspects of life as the true face of existence were nothing more than sleeping ignoramuses, and until they like him ‘awakened’ themselves to the fact that 'happiness' and 'causality' were fleeting foolishness at best, they would forever comprise the mindless, sheep-like masses.
- JP is a bit older now, and he has understood that he broke no veil of reality at all. He still is a strong advocate of scientific, practical, and philosophical aptitudes, and such things do come naturally to him, but he no longer thinks of himself as inherently superior to anyone. Some people are simply ignorant, but JP believes that no one is ignorant by choice; that would require them voluntarily refusing to learn, in which case they wouldn't be ignorant but idiotic. As a whole, someone’s lack of knowledge is simply just a lack of knowledge.
- In other words, JP no longer sees himself as the only thinker amidst a sea of failures, only seeding himself as a wise guy who luckily got interested in good things early in his life. JP does try to spread some of his wisdom around when possible, but he does so without shoving it down people’s throats or stomping on others to prove his philosophical grandeur like his 19-year-old self would have done.
- JP is still a bit of a megalomaniac, and still loves being acknowledged for his awesomeness, but he no longer feels the need to burn the retinas of others to prove a point.
- Even if he sees the nature of life as harsh, he now believes there’s plenty of good things to look for. He has learned to appreciate ‘the big picture’, and he now feels that deconstructing everything down to their individual parts for the sole purpose of nitpicking is a lame way to look at the world.
- JP also still thinks of life as a one big game, but now he thinks it’s best played as a multiplayer, enjoyed with friends, not trudged through by one’s lonesome. ‘Justice’, the ‘Greater Good’, ‘Society’: all those things are parts of that game's objectives. ‘Happiness’ is one of its end goals, but such a happiness should be more about productive satisfaction and deep fulfilment beyond mere hedonistic pleasure.
- JP used to despise those he considered ‘Non-Playable Characters’, or NPC’s, which is how he used to designated anyone who dismiss philosophy as trivial, the reason being that they ‘can’t even grasp the basics of how to play the game of life’. Today, that attitude has simmered down to a feeling of tender disappointment. He feels that people who aren’t interested in philosophy are missing out on the benefits of introspection, extrospection, and retrospection. For him, living without trying to acknowledge the deeper aspects of the universe is like being colorblind; one loses out on a greater experience of existence, and might even be at risk of making a tragic mistake. However, he knows that ignorance is bliss for some people, and that not everyone can cope with harsh truths, and he does not hesitate to extend an attitude that’s both forgiving and understanding to such.
- Even if JP is certain that existence is ultimately purposeless, he believes that inexistence is purposeless too. Therefore, he enjoys the ride while it lasts. One might almost call him an optimistic nihilist, were it not for the fact that JP no longer identities as nihilistic. He no longer cares if the world works in a mundane way; it has more than its fair share of positives, and he firmly believes that people should put more effort into cultivating said positives while at the same time reducing the negatives.


Grim Artist Class:
- Savant; much more powerful than a Dilettante. Can exhibit highly advanced Grim Techniques and has refined the basic and intermediate ones to the point where they can be used for more complex and potent moves, some of them experimental. Is outclassed by a Virtuoso Class Grim Artist and definitely no match for a Connoisseur Class Grim Artist.


Grim Art Type:
- Fate Art. His Expenses affect his Cosmic or Metaphysical Self.


Grim Aesthetics:
- Drawing, Gaming, and Combat are his primary fields of expertise.
- However, JP has dabbled in a lot of others, and he is knowledgeable in the Aesthetics he doesn’t regularly practice. In a serious situation, he probably won’t rely on Aesthetics that he isn’t completely familiar with, like Cooking, and will probably concentrate on the stronger sections of his overall repertoire.


Grim Devices:
- The Gamemaster: JP's personal Desktop Computer, paid for partially by his family. It has a tower-style configuration, complete with multiple screens, tablet, and various auxiliary hardware, one of those being a table computer extension. Big and clumsy, the Gamemaster is his strongest Grim Device, and it is what he uses to write all his Gaming Rules, and to draw all his Digital Artwork. The raw power of this Grim Device his impressive, and any of JP’s Rules that stem from it are considered his most ‘official’ ones, which incidentally means they’re more powerful and more dangerous. However, the Gamemaster is mainly stationary, and it doesn’t adapt well to being transported. It will rarely manifest itself onto the battlefield directly. However, versions of JP’s Game Rules are stored online, and he can both access and tweak them from any computer or smart phone. However, doing so is a lot more taxing than if he were to do his work directly from the Gamemaster, which means he will only call upon Rules that require minimal changes prior to being applied. He can call upon his Drawings too, infusing them with added Prerogatives and protections by signing them prior to deployment. If those Drawings can be made to work in tandem with his Game Rules, then their existence become much more rigid, becoming the incarnations of ‘premade statistics’, while also costing much less. However, in the end, both JP’s Game Rules and Drawings fall under the dominion of the following Grim Device, which is his most enigmatic one yet.
- The Judging Ones: Just as myriads of Tabletops Games hinge on the roll of a dice, and JP's set of seemingly ordinary dice have the final say on the results of most of his Techniques, and even most of his actions. No matter where or how he throws the Judging Ones, they will give an output. That output is interpreted and then enforced by JP’s Gaming Rules, after which the Judging Ones will instantly reappear within his pouch or pockets.


As an Artist:
- Deep within, Jean-Philippe feels that he is nothing but a megalomaniac trying to play 'God' by compelling the world around him to fall in line with his principles, tastes, and guidelines. He seems himself more as a demiurge than an Artist.


As a Grim Artist:
- When facing JP in fight, a straightforward approach is not recommended. In the presence of the ‘Awakened’, the battlefield becomes his chess board, suffused by his Gaming Rules to provide him with every possible tactic and advantage he might need to defeat an opponent. The more randomized the Game Rule, or the fairer it is, the less Art Costs it will need to implement and maintain. Game Rules that are outright unbalanced incur a heftier price, so JP will be more restrained in their employment. Regardless, one can expect Game Rules from the more tactical Game Genres, like Turn-Based Strategies, as well as all the Mechanics and Gaming Terms associated with them.
- But, while a straightforward approach is not recommended, trying to beat JP at his own Game by matching subtlety for subtlety is suicide. He might stamp Game Rules upon the battlefield that make gameplay ‘fair’ for all sides, but rest assured, he himself isn’t obligated to play fair. As such, if opponents are swept into JP’s Game, they often figure out too late that he has tweaked the system to make his situation more advantageous than theirs. It’s not quite the same as rigging the Game, though. Using the terms of a Role-Playing Game, JP’s ‘Character Level’ within the bound of his Game Rules would simply be higher than his opponents’ own, and his kit would be of the same caliber, complete with caveats that range from ‘Additional Armor’ to ‘Life-Steal’. If one doesn’t have the Prerogative to minimize the effects of JP’s Gaming Rules, or mitigate the penalty for not abiding by them, then within JP’s Game one can expect him to hit way above his Artist Class, as if he were a Virtuoso and not a Savant.
- In terms of what JP cooks up with Games, he has some skill with creating basic Video Games, but his true forte is designing for the Tabletop and Strategy Genres, like Role-Playing Games and War Games. His keen, logic-savvy mind is his primary strength here, and it can funnel its considerable knowledge through Drawing to consolidate and illustrate his Games, illuminating their Mechanics and Rules with visual cues in order to make them clearer, stronger, and deadlier.
- Outside of his Games, JP is no slouch either. Opponents who manage to bowl over his attempts to apply his Game Rules to them with sheer Prerogative often assume he’s an easy target outside his Gaming World, only to find that JP is rather adept at the Combat Aesthetics. Two-handed swords are his preferred weapon of choice in this scenario. Furthermore, the event of foes proving resistant to his Gaming Rules usually has no bearing on his ability to apply said Rules to himself, and JP can invoke all sorts of ‘Self-Targeting Bonuses’ that range from ‘Speed Boosts’ to ‘Damage Backtracking’.
- Outside the Grim Renaissance, even the most diluted Manifestations of JP have been known to twist the logic of entire omniverses, overruling their presiding Cosmic Beings at the same time. Fitting an infinite amount of actions into a single Cosmic Plank Time (that is, a Plank Time to the perception of a Higher Entity, and not a regular Plank Time) is child’s play to JP when there are no Prerogative limits in the equation.


Art Costs:
- Jean-Philippe doesn’t believe in destiny, and he most certainly doesn’t care about fate. For him, there is only causality at work. However, anomalies he calls 'deterministic ironies' do happen at times. Those are situations when events seem to conspire against him, often in ways that can be described as cruel, mischievous, and sardonic.
- The Expenses of JP’s Grim Art make ‘deterministic ironies’ a consistency. Essentially, his Art Costs are Murphy’s Law on demand, and they can get quite annoying. In battle, there’s only so much he can do when it feels like the fundamental laws of ‘Cause and Effect’ seem hellbent on bring about his downfall. The more he uses his Techniques, the more the odds swing in favor of his enemies. If he’s not careful, JP will be confronted by a nigh-insurmountable wall of impossibility.
- Examples of these ‘glitches' in his fortune have ranged from his Prerogative inexplicably failing him at a critical moment, to him getting a random Art Block, to his Game Worlds breaking unexpectedly. The fact that JP’s Judging Ones depend upon chance only makes his Art Costs all the more perilous for him.
- Of course, it only becomes an uphill battle when JP has put forth numerous or high-tier Techniques. With proper Art Cost budgeting, JP doesn’t experience too great of a misfortune – minor Prerogative decay, or his opponents gaining limited precognition on his actions, but nothing too severe.
- To the mundane or inexperienced, this may appear as simple bad luck.


Favored Moves:
- There exists a lot of documentation on JP’s repertoire, as well as the mechanics behind his Game Rules; he treats the latter like open-source code, which mostly ends up with him and collaborating Artists benefiting off one other symbiotically. However, he most probably keeps secret versions of his Game Rules and Game Modes stored away, and it wouldn’t be wrong to assume that his exclusive cache must contain his most abusive Techniques.

The Dungeon of The Awakened
- [Gaming-Drawing Multi-Aesthetic Collaboration, plus unknown Technique-Items Concurrence, plus one or more prepared Dungeon Blueprint Item Conjunction or Multi-Item Conjunction]
- JP banishes an opponent into a digital sheet with a map of a Game Level printed onto it. How JP might go about sealing an Artist into said map can vary, but once trapped, his prisoner or prisoners will be forced to contend with a harsh and treacherous miniature dimension. Safely outside of the Dungeon of the Awakened, Jean-Philippe is free to unleash wave after wave of Dungeon Monsters. He can also force his prisoners to encounter traps and/or puzzles that must be surmounted before being admitted to the next floor or room. However, the Dungeon of the Awakened must always include a victory condition, usually a Mission Objective that Artists can achieve to free themselves.
- The more difficult the Dungeon JP has chosen for an opponent to navigate, the costlier this Technique will be. If an enemy manages to beat one of JP’s Dungeons, a second batch of Art Costs that scale to the difficulty of the Dungeon will then be exacted on JP.
- Being painstakingly created with the Gamemaster, the Prerogative infusing the Dungeons of the Awakened is much higher than what one might expect for JP's standing power level. However, JP’s Dungeons are not made on the fly; they are put together over a lengthy period of time wherein he will have had many opportunities to layer and reinforce his Prerogative. Though they might not be able to hold a Virtuoso for more than an hour or so before being undone from the inside, it is almost unheard of for other Savants to defy JP’s Dungeons through sheer Prerogative alone.
- While JP can’t build Dungeons in the middle of a fight, he can perform minor modifications. Altering the ‘Spawning Point’ of monsters, scrambling the password on a lock: smaller changes don’t incur any additional Art Costs. However, drastic changes border on cheating, and those are something JP would prefer to avoid, relying instead on how well he prepared a Dungeon before it was employed.
- Many Artists use similar Techniques to ‘print’ a Game Setting over the Fabric of Reality. However, Artists who design Dungeon-Crawlers find that collaborating with a Construction Artist makes their Techniques and Products far more impossible to break out of, sparing them time and energy to concentrate on making sure their Game Objectives are harder.
- For revenge against a brat who thought himself mighty, JP once designed a labyrinth so deep, complex, and deadly that he had to personally rescind his own Game Rules to prevent the poor lad from turning into a stain on the catacomb floors. After all, JP only wanted to teach a lesson at the time, not commit murder. The price for breaking his own Game Rules was high, but JP says the look on his opponent’s face was all worth it.

Le Gros Bill
- [Gaming-Combat-Prerogative Multi-Aesthetics Collaboration, plus possible one or more Gaming Rules Item Conjunction or Multi-Item Conjunction]
- The English name of this Technique is Powergaming. JP prefers its French name, for obvious reasons.
- Classified as a Rare Technique due to how dangerous and taboo it is. JP amplifies his overall prowess and his overall power at an alarming rate. In the context of Gaming, this is JP boosting up his ‘Stats’ through an Art Cost ‘loan’; he doesn’t feel the toll before or during the Technique, but what occurs after the Technique’s end is a heavy price.
- Unlike many Gaming Boosts, like ‘Level Ups’, Powergaming is frowned upon due to its propensity towards ruthlessness and cozenage. Even in the context of regular games, Powergaming showcases a blatant disregard for sportsmanship, and when it comes to roleplaying games, the elements of storytelling and fun are sacrificed for the sake of increasing one’s greatness. It’s one thing to want to be the best, and in Gaming terms that is called Optimization. It’s another thing entirely when one is willing to bend and/or exploit the Gaming Rules to accumulate strength and assets, especially at the detriment of others.
- This is perhaps where Powergaming as a Grim Art Technique gets flagged as a Taboo Technique, that is, using it is generally seen as unsavory, but not criminal. The Art Costs of Powergaming, or Le Gros Bill in JP’s case, is applied after the Technique has run its course and accomplished its goal. This allows the Technique user time to set up an opponent to be as scapegoat to either receive the Art Costs instead, or at least share in them. Where most Gaming Boosts are ‘earned’ in accordance to Gaming Rules and Gaming Mechanics, Powergaming pretty much ‘steals’ from the Game to give to its Grim Artist user.
- JP's Varant is rarer than usual, since it hinges upon more rules than the usual Powergaming Technique. Those rules are JP’s own, however, and the pretense of him showing some decorum actually convinces his Grim Art to ease up on how strictly it oversees this Technque. So, while more limited during the initial moments of a Le Gros Bill, JP can slowly but surely work at loosening its restrictions by messing with his Gaming Rules to give himself a steadily-escalating power boost.
- For all its predisposition towards unfairness, Powergaming is not as despised a Technique as Metagaming, which has Grim Artist operating completely beyond the boundaries of a Game. That which hails from outside a Game is something that only Game Moderators and sometimes Dungeon Masters have the right to utilize, and so Players who use Metagaming are seen as both horribly-entitled and horribly-dishonorable.

Fumble and Critical, Dice Variant
- [Gaming Aesthetics, plus ‘Fumble’ and ‘Critical’ Multi-Technique Concurrence, plus the Judging Ones Item Conjunction]
- An Uncommon Technique. JP throws his most authoritative Grim Devices and interprets the result. That result is attuned to the fortunes of him and a chosen opponent, and it creates the probability of either one of them performing a Critical Hit or a Critical Failure, the latter also being known as a Fumble.
- In Gaming terms, a Critical Hit is a normal attack that deals much more damage than usual; unlike Boosted Attacks, Critical Hits are focused on the immediate results of an attempt.
- On the opposite end of the spectrum, a Fumble is an error of such magnitude that it’s almost akin to a ‘Critical Hit’ equivalent of a failure.
- Normally, Gamers resolve Critical or Fumble instances separately, but JP is comfortable with pulling both off at the same time, and that is what classifies his Technique Variant as Uncommon. Furthermore, it is to be expected that JP tweaks the odds of proccing a Critical Hit to be higher for himself.
- The nudging of probabilities to favor him can quickly turn a fair fight into something one-sided, but again it’s not for free. JP also can’t fully-nullify the chance of an opponent Fumbling, nor can he fully-assure that he will get a Critical Hit when he wants one.

Personnage Joueur
- [Gaming, plus possible Theater and/or Drawing, plus Grim Artist user’s ‘Identity’ Aesthetic-Item Collaboration or Aesthetics-Item Collaboration]
- Allows a Grim Artist to integrate oneself into the form of a Gaming Character. If the Summoned Character wasn’t specifically created for Games, it must at least be ‘retrofitted’ and bound to the Game that the performing Grim Artist is involved in (or is intending to be involved in). This Technique doesn’t completely turn a Grim Artist into a Character, unlike most Theater Acting Techniques. Gaming Variants usually allow ‘Players’ to still ‘be themselves’, whereas Theater Variants require Artists to ‘immerse’ themselves into their roles.
- An Uncommon Technique. JP prefers its French nomenclature, which roughly translates to ‘Playing Character’. This Technique also goes by many other names like Character Mode and Gaming Avatar.
- JP relies mostly on Gaming to pull this Technique off, with supplementation from the Drawing Aesthetics. When JP plays as one his pre-made Characters, he gains that Character's own set of abilities and Gameplay Mechanics, with Prerogative limits being a given. While ‘In-Character’, JP loses the ability to alter his Game Rules on the fly, but he himself is safe within the ‘suit of armor’ that his Character functions as. He can go 'Out-of-Character' at will, and his Character will remain ‘paused’ until he resumes control over it.
- While In-Character, references to JP have no effect, since he technically isn’t present for as long as his Character ‘persona’ has replaced him. A Writing Technique specifying his death will misfire; it needs to target his Avatar instead. Now, if his Character dies, JP will be ejected from it instantly, but he himself will suffer no direct harm, well, other than his Art Costs. If he so chooses, he can resurrect any dead Characters via additional Art Costs, that is if there isn’t already a Respawn Timer making up part of Gameplay.
- Other variants of this Technique can have the Artist view their Character through a Second Person or a Third Person Perspective.
- Many other Technique Variants, usually of the Theater Aesthetics, will cause the Gamer to fuse to a Character instead of merely ‘wearing’ it like a second skin. They will take damage if their Character does, but they will be able to more effectively infuse their new forms with their Prerogative, and they will maintain access to their Grim Artist repertoires, the likes of which usually aren’t usable by Characters.


Trivia:
- Listening to music alleviates his frustrations. JP sometimes conducts imaginary orchestras while listening to his favorite songs.
- JP has also found that working out at the gym helps to get his power and inspiration flowing. This explains his surprising fitness level, and why many enemies who pass him off as fragile are often caught off guard by his physical Combat prowess outside his Game Worlds.
- No longer uptight about having his every creation teaching a philosophical lesson, JP will incorporate elements into his Games (ranging from style to settings) that exist simply to make the player’s experience more pleasant.
- The above is most evident when JP is playing with a group for fun. He loves using Gaming Rules that are extremely well-balanced, require little expenses, and aren’t dangerous for the participants. Any loss of a Player’s ‘Health Points’ is purely cosmetic and strictly limited to the confines of the Game being enjoyed; outside of it, there is no lasting harm or debilitation.
- When in need of some inspiration, JP will sometime venture out of the Renaissance using a Ternate Manifestation to fix a universe or two, or to experiment on Game ideas, or test Dungeon Monster concepts. Being a much nicer guy than his younger self, he will sometime undo any damage done if his tinkering brings about doomsday.
- JP doesn’t trust his dice, which are always plagued by bad luck, and he curses a lot while rolling them if the result is unpleasant. Of course, he knows that he has no luck once his Art Costs get rolling, so he never curses without a playful tone to it: that could change in a life or death scenario, however.





GRIM RENAISSANCE ARCHIVE:

(List of links to be rebuilt)

THE DEVIANT FEATURED IN THIS ROSTER IS:
- Edits have been made to the original draft in order to fit into the setting, and/or for reading purposes.