App for The Next Night

[bleedingsteel]

PLAYER INFO

Player Name: GG
Player Contact: theggnator
Character(s) In-GPSL: N/A

CHARACTER INFO

Character Name: Danse (aliases: Paladin Danse, M7-97)
Age: Unknown. He appears and believes himself to be in his mid-to-late 30s.
Canon: Fallout 4


World Description: The Fallout universe takes place in an alternate Earth timeline where the world was devastated by nuclear war in the year 2077. Two hundred years later, humanity survives in the lawless, irradiated remains of the Pre-War world.

HMD: Here


History: https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Danse


Death: At the conclusion of the quest "Blind Betrayal," despite her best efforts, the Sole Survivor was unable to convince Elder Maxson to spare his life. Maxson ordered Danse to his knees, called him a disgusting machine, and executed him by cutting his throat.


What are your plans for this character in-GPSL? Danse is an extremely capable soldier and experienced in survival situations, on top of being incredibly selfless. Finding a cause in surviving and protecting others will be an important step for him in beginning to work through the traumatic discoveries he's just made about himself, and help to gently deprogram him from a decade and some of indoctrination that has him currently convinced his "life" is meaningless.


What aspects of this GPSL and/or its setting are you most interested in having this character engage with? I absolutely love exploration and mystery-solving in games. I'm looking forward to having Danse lead and protect others and contribute to solving mysteries with the information he finds.


How does your character generally get along with other people? Admittedly, this is going to be a bit of a struggle for Danse, depending on the people around him. Danse is a serious, stoic, fairly uptight person. He cares about the well-being of others, but he is deeply entrenched in the doctrine of the Brotherhood of Steel. This makes him an excellent leader and fighter, but has lead to him being socially awkward and uncomfortable with casual situations. The real sticking point is his hatred of non-humans. His bigotry has previously led him to being rude or combative, and as a result he receives a lot of deserved ire, attitude, and insults from others in his canon. However, recent events have led him to examine these hateful feelings and reflect on his beliefs. Kneejerk thoughtless responses may still escape him from time to time, but he is genuinely trying to be more open-minded to repay the mercy and acceptance that others showed him when he discovered his true nature.


What is your character's mental state upon entering the GPSL? In the time shortly before his death, Danse discovered that he isn't human, but a synth-- an organic android assembled in an Institute laboratory. This means that swaths of his memory are false and were implanted in his mind, including his entire childhood and extending to an unknown point in his adulthood. He's been stripped of rank in the organization he faithfully served, and was personally executed by the man he pledged his allegiance to. His entire life and identity have been ripped away from him, leaving him lost, frightened, and suicidal. He is at a point where he's doubting and second-guessing absolutely everything, from his senses to his thoughts to the very nature of his body. Thrust abruptly into a survival situation, he will make himself rely on instinct, and do the only thing he knows to do-- protect others, completely without regard for his own well-being. (After all, they're human, and he's a synth. A "disgusting machine." It's only right for him to do so.)


Skills/Abilities:
-Brotherhood of Steel Paladin: For over a decade, Danse has been a diehard Brotherhood soldier. He is well-educated (for a wastelander), highly trained in combat, adept at a wide variety of weapons, and his instincts are finely honed. He was also appointed to lead his own recon squad, giving him experience in giving orders, making quick decisions, and protecting those under his command. His preferred weapon is his laser rifle and he vastly prefers to use power armor, when available, but he's still formidable and an expert fighter without it. His recon field experience and the mere fact he's from a post-apocalyptic world also make him well-versed in survival, able to keep himself and others around him alive in dire conditions.

-Mechanically Inclined: Danse has an affinity for machines. Though his childhood memories are in question, he remembers digging through ruins for scrap and owning a small junk stand. This implies some skill with identifying and stripping apart valuable tech components without damage. He is quite knowledgeable about many types of technology, enjoys tinkering with weapon and armor mods, and it is implied he maintains and repairs his own power armor. He is more familiar with the advanced/nuclear-focused tech of his own world, but with a little fussing should be able to figure out any sort of machinery he comes across.

-Synth: Danse is a Gen 3 synth, a highly-advanced android that is basically a constructed, fully-organic human with a few mechanical components in his brain. Synths have all the same weaknesses as humans, but a few slight advantages. He does not age, cannot gain or lose weight, and is more resistant to disease and radiation than the average human. Synths feel compelled to eat, sleep, and perform all other normal human functions, but are able to push themselves past human limitations (such as forcing themselves to go without sleep or food for an extended length of time.) If pressed, Danse would not hesitate to test these limits in order to take care of someone else.



Flaws/Weaknesses:
-Indoctrination: The Brotherhood of Steel is an organization with good intentions but dubious means. In exchange for a stable and meaningful life, they demand unquestioning obedience to a strict code of conduct. The BoS has enabled Danse to do a lot of good, but also encouraged him to train himself out of independent thinking or putting anything above his loyalty.

He blames himself when he doesn't live up to the Brotherhood's ideals of being a perfect soldier by doing petty things like "being upset when his friends die" or "suffering from PTSD." Though he does privately question his orders from time to time, he feels guilty doing so and is prone to immediately covering up any doubts and fears by swallowing his feelings and doubling down.

Danse's indoctrination runs so deep it disregards his own worth. When his nature as a synth is revealed, the BoS instantly turns on him and Danse is initially in complete agreement with them. Numb and suicidal, he vehemently believes that his death is the only righteous choice, as he must serve as "the example, not the exception." He seems shocked at the idea that his life may be worth more than whatever "use" he is to the BoS, and can barely allow himself to be angry for the way he was treated. Even removed from the organization, it will take some time for him to start to deprogram himself from his indoctrination.

-Bigotry: The Brotherhood considers synths, mutants, and feral ghouls to be disgusting corruptions of humankind, and Danse despises them just as he was taught. Danse makes knee-jerk bigoted remarks to other companions who fall under these categories, and often disapproves of dialogue that supports or speaks well of them. Not all synths or mutants harm people, but Danse's black-and-white beliefs demand that all such monsters be exterminated regardless of their sentience or peacefulness.

Danse particularly hates synths, viewing the idea of technology given human intelligence as an abomination. Finding out that he is himself a synth rocks him to the core and forces him to confront his bigoted views. He mentions being upset that he was programmed to hate (though perhaps not as literally as he believes he was) and seems to be making an effort to be more open-minded. However, he still holds some initial mistrust and distaste for anything he might view as a corruption of a human (such as a vampire, mutant, or other sorts of human-derived creatures.)

(It should be noted that Danse's fantastical bigotry does NOT apply to any real world groups or identities, only non-human/corrupted human species.)

-Having a Total Identity Crisis: To say finding out he's a synth has ruined Danse's life is putting it lightly. He is mired in self-loathing, fear, and doubt, questioning everything from his memories to his thoughts and beliefs to his very body. He has no idea if he's always been a synth or if there was once a human Danse that he was created to kill and replace. He has only just considered that he isn't better off dead, and that his life might have some meaning or value outside of his use to the Brotherhood. Interrogating his entire perspective on himself, existence, the nature of humanity etc has left Danse in an emotionally vulnerable position, and he is desperate to put himself to use somewhere, or to find any kind of stability he can get.

-Other Weaknesses:
Danse is somewhat socially awkward. He tries his best, but he stumbles around relating to others when it doesn't involve machines, the military, or scant few other topics. To his credit, he is well aware that he struggles in this area, fully admits it, and takes most jokes and jabs at his expense with good humor (... without really laughing.)

All synths are programmed to respond to a recall code, a phrase that resets their minds and puts them into a compliant, vegetative state. Danse is clueless of his origins as a synth and there is no earthly way to find out his recall code, but he is aware of what one does. The idea of being robbed of his mind and will and forcibly reset like a faulty machine absolutely terrifies him.

Danse's two closest friends are Scribe Haylen, his subordinate and medic, and Nora, the Sole Survivor of Vault 111 (player character - I am flexible to alter her name/history if someone should ever app her) Both of them are supportive of him even after discovering his true identity, and he cares deeply about their well-being. Given a little more time, he may have been willing to admit his feelings for Nora...


Personality: Though his diehard devotion to the Brotherhood of Steel makes him come off like a brainwashed jackboot, beneath the layers of indoctrination Danse is a fundamentally good man and an excellent soldier. As brave and chivalrous as he is skilled, he believes in honor, duty, and devotion to a greater cause. Uncommonly selfless, he is quick to protect others and would never hesitate to bleed for someone else's sake on principle alone.

A life lived in service leaves him somewhat lacking in the social department. Danse is stoic, serious, and quite uptight. He is painfully forthright and honest, and seems completely incapable of telling a lie. He also has an expansive vocabulary and tends to express himself in complicated and wordy sentences. Though he keeps his emotions close to his chest and hesitates to show vulnerability, he unexpectedly has a mature understanding of others' feelings and is quite gentle about letting them work through them (even if he does not grant this patience and courtesy to himself.)

Learning that he is a synth deals a major blow to Danse's self-image, leaving him angry, frightened, confused, and grasping for answers that no one can give him. He is desperate for stability in whatever form he can find it, searching for any person or cause he can believe in to keep himself from slipping into despair.


Items:
- 1 custom-modded laser rifle ("Righteous Authority II")
- 2 clips of fusion cell ammo (about 64 shots)
- 1 set of clothing (BoS uniform [orange flight suit], undergarments, undershirt, socks, and boots)
- His BoS holotags
- 1 utility multitool
- 1 canteen of purified water
- 3 stimpaks (emergency healing item)

SAMPLES

Log Sample: Link (Using another game TDM for this game: power move)
Network Sample: Link