Soulgemmed Permissions Post

[joylesslove]

Alright, so the thing about the Doll is that she's... a doll. Shocking, I know!

In her home canon of Bloodborne, she appears as an inanimate (but human-sized) doll to the player character until they gain an insight into the more supernatural underbelly of Yharnam. Thanks to her new passive ability, this is now the case in Nyoi-Cho as well.

The way this works is relatively simple: To characters who do have some level of experience with the supernatural, the Doll appears as her normal self - a walking, talking person made of wood and porcelain. Her lips still won't move, and she'll still be very obviously a doll, but they'll be able to speak and interact with the Doll in person.

To characters who do not have any experience with, or understanding of, the supernatural, the Doll will appear completely lifeless, and her voice will not be able to be heard.



What qualifies as significant experience with the supernatural is entirely up to you, the players!

For example, if a character comes from a non-magical canon, but enjoy reading up on occult things as a hobby, it would be perfectly acceptable to have them see the doll. Likewise, if a character has some experience with the supernatural, but they're a little bit thick when it comes to the subject, it would be completely fine to have that character not see the Doll.

Lastly, because Soulgemmed is an inherently magical game, it's quite possible for a character to gain the required insight to see the Doll through in-game events (ie hunting nightmares, witnessing someone change into a nightmare, or dealing with the ramifications of a mod-run plot).


Basically what I'm getting at here is that there aren't a lot of hard-and-fast rules to this. The primary purpose of this passive ability is to put an extra layer of weirdness around the Doll, and to allow for confusion and misunderstandings to happen.


Please respond to this post and let me know if you would like your character to be able to see the Doll or not, so that I can keep track of this.

Comments

[lapidarius]

Kakyoin can definitely see the Doll as animate and speaking. Kid's seen some crazy stuff.

[temptestament]

Allen is literally an undead ghost working for a deity and the closest thing to real magic that exists in his canon, and Jade lived and breathed supernatural shenanigans even back home, so it's a safe bet that both can see the Doll as she is.

[onceandfuturemascot]

Saber has been up to her elbows in the supernatural since she was born, if that wasn't clear from her general nonchalance of showing up in a weird world with a contract to fight monsters. She has Seen Some Shit, too, so she can definitely interact with the Doll.

[makeadragonwannaretire]

I think Azula will see the doll as a living thing...or at least an animated object. It will unsettle her enough like that mirror broadcast she had before.

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy on the other hand has the spiritual awareness of a rock. So Inanimate away!

[joylesslove]

lmao poor sandy.

We should definitely do a thing with these two now. Maybe Sandy can meet the Doll's Little Ones?

[justoutrunyou]

Ooo that would be great! She's so paranoid she'll be on edge till she finds out they aren't trying to kill her.

[scythersergeant]

There're a lot of weird things in Shinoa's world, like vampires and huge monsters, but they're 'normal' to her and she still takes a while to get used to weird things she's not familiar with.

So I think she'll see the Doll as inanimate until it's pointed out to her that the Doll is in fact animated, from which point she'll start to see.

[rakuyo]

Maria definitely has the insight on this one. So many things she wish she couldn't see...

Not that an UNAnimated Doll with her appearance isn't totally freaky, but she's been through a lot what's one more thing.

[wounds]

Genos won't be able to hear her. It'll take a few more Nightmare hunts for him.

[cyclicalconcept]

Madoka can see the Doll! Given she shot her during the Nightmare its only fair I suppose

[joylesslove]

I'm 100% okay with that being the case if you want Madoka to see the Doll, but hear me out on this one idea:

What if she suddenly couldn't see her and thought that the inanimate Doll was dead or sick or something.

[cyclicalconcept]

grigthufie OH NO

MADOKA WOULD DO HER BEST TO HELP HER AAAH

POOR DOLL DDDD:

And then the Doll gets an unlimited supply of soup for a month

[joylesslove]

Madoka you KNOW she can't move her mouth, what's she supposed to do with all this soup?

Okay but imagine this: Madoka trying to get help and the people she contacts either A) Can see the Doll just fine and don't understand what the problem is, or B) have never seen the Doll and think Madoka's freaking out over an actual mannequin

[cyclicalconcept]

BUT BUT BUT SOUP

Oh god, this would be amazing. This does need to happen, now.

[joylesslove]

She'll end up giving it to the homeless or something, don't worry

The entire game is going to think Madoka is crazy, I'm so excited for this to happen

Also, of course, after we have our fun with this you are more than welcome to have Madoka start seeing the Doll again if that's what you want to do.

[cyclicalconcept]

Yes, yes, this is an excellent idea.

The next time Madoka posts, she will be panicking about this |D

[storyofarebel]

Magic is 100% a thing for Raven, so she can see and talk to the doll!

[screwballkoopa]

There is nothing remotely normal about the Mushroom Kingdom so I'm gonna say that Lemmy can see the doll!

[oathshackledbird]

I knew I was forgetting something. Thank you for that last replurk you did!

Considering he was a being made of magic before he came here, I think it is safe to say that he can see her for what she is. And that doesn't even get into the whole he was raised by a god and lived in Ancient Ireland when it was swimming with magical goings on thing.

[dokkans]

Bonnie does nothing but deal with the supernatural, so she can definitely see the Doll.

Ryoko Asakura on the other hand, does not, and therefore she can't see it.

[mightmakesright]

Vergil's life is supernatural stuff all the time, so he can see the Doll no problem!

[greyerrant]

Garviel has seen some shit. Very supernatural shit. he will definitely see the doll as animated. He got insight about the same time as he went completely insane from the revelation.

How Bloodborne, really.

[ceasetoexist]

Pokey has seen so much shit it isn't funny, so he can def see the Doll.

[joylesslove]

Posting here for my own reference:

Chitoge cannot currently see the Doll.

[offshoreigner]

OH MAN ALMOST FORGOT TO COMMENT SAYING yah kongou won't be able to see her move but... she's so used to weird shit and turned into a Nightmare once so she'll just shrug it off. like how she shrugs off everything. maybe look into the magic stuff instead of shrugging it off, kongou...

[yolouat]

Briar comes from a world of magic so she'll be able to see and talk to the Doll.

[soulflash]

A giant, animate doll is one of the least weird things that Lilith has dealt with, so she can definitely see her!