Originally posted on the official website on April 1st, 2019
Inkling Core v2.01
Table of contents
Hip, curious, and fashion-conscious,
inheritors of a flooded future.
Overview
Average Height: 4′ 6″ – 5′ 6″
Average Weight: 80 – 125 lbs.
Life Span: 120 – 140 years
(Mature in 14-16 years)
Skin Colors: Alabaster to Umber
Eye Colors: Any
Tentacle Colors: Any (varying at whim)
Vulnerability: Water
Bonuses:
- Inklings create their own Ink, and can use it for a variety of purposes. You can change the color of your Ink (and your squidly appendages, to match) during a Short or Extended Rest for free. You may use your Ink like a single use of Chalk by Burning 1 Stamina.
- When you use a Basic Attack, Spell, or Technique, you may Spend 2 Stamina. If you do so, after resolving the attack’s other effects, all affected squares become Ink-Daubed, as does the square you currently occupy. Roll To-Hit all targets’ Concentration; on success, targets become Stained.
- When you start your turn on Ink-Daubed Terrain created by you or your allies, you gain 2 Ranks of Hasty until the end of your turn. When you end your turn on Ink-Daubed Terrain created by you or your allies, you gain 2 Ranks of Sneaky until the beginning of your next turn.
- You take 2 damage when stepping into or starting your turn in water, ignoring Defense. If the water is Foaming, you instead take 4 damage. Further, while Soaked, you are also Sick; this Sickness can only be ended by ending your Soaked condition. (The Waterborne Enchantment grants protection against this damage, reducing damage from being in water or Soaked by (Rank).)
- Inklings are mildly bioluminescent. You may control the brightness and size of this light, from a Burst (Fortitude / 2) down to a Burst 0 (illuminating only yourself and nothing around you), or even turn it off entirely.
Description
Inklings are short humanoids, whose most notable feature is the tentacles atop their scalp. The length of these tentacles can vary, reaching as far down as an Inkling’s knee. Though these tentacles do not actually serve as useful limbs, and an Inkling can only barely feel anything through them. However, they’re still quite dear to an Inkling as an expression of their personality and style: Inklings will sometimes wrap, curl, bind, or even cut their tentacles in much the same way that other races would style their hair. (Cut Inkling tentacles will regrow, albeit more slowly than hair.) These tentacles can even change color at the Inkling’s whim, influencing the color of Ink they produce.
Beyond their tentacles, Inklings have a few other features that immediately distinguish them from Hylians. For one, an Inkling’s eyes are surrounded by black markings, much like a raccoon’s. The teeth in their mouth are pointed and sharp, with two large canines on top and one on the bottom, giving many Inklings a mischievous, toothy grin. Their ears are flat and pointed, like a wider, shorter version of a Hylian’s ears.
Inklings are capable of producing copious amounts of Ink, much like a common squid. An Inkling’s Ink is a colorful, sticky goop, matching the hue of their tentacles in that moment. Inklings use their Ink to sign their names, paint graffiti on buildings, mark their territory, or most famously, to cause damage and chaos in combat.
Inklings hail from dense, urban cities, founded on small islands or atolls. There, land is scarce, valuable, and often fought over. Inklings have had a number of ‘Turf Wars’ over their history, defending their homes from species that would rise from the sea to claim it as their own.
Playing an Inkling
Moreso than most, Inklings like to showcase their own personal stylings: an Inkling’s fashion choices speak to their mood, goals, and identity. In Inkling society, being ‘fresh’ (that is, being both unique and true to oneself) is the highest compliment.
Inklings are quick to defend territory that they see as ‘theirs’, whether this is actual land, personal property, a philosophical stance, or their fashion choices. Woe betide the fool who decides to encroach on an Inkling’s domain, for they’ll quickly find themselves coated in ink, or worse.
In combat, Inklings often prefer to use attacks that hit as much area as they can, to both claim the territory as their own and to inflict pain on their enemies. To that end, two-handed melee weapons, as well as ranged weapons, are often their most preferred kit. To take advantage of their natural evasiveness while in Ink-Daubed territory, many Inkling Heroes prefer to wear Light Armor, or even Civilian gear, prioritizing fresh fashion and speed over defense.
Characteristics: Active, Competitive, Fun-Loving, Hip, Playful, Stylish, Territorial
Inkling Names tend to be taken from the names of sea-faring animals, clothing or fashion terms, or words related to water. They might use puns and homophone words based on these terms, as well.
Female Names: Bobble, Callie, Flow, Headphones, Inky, Kou, Marina, Paruko, Pearl, Straw
Male Names: Aloha, Argyle, Davy, Goggles, Marley, Noiji, Pugette, Slippy, Splashley
New Rules
New Status Effect: Stained
Stained: While Stained, you are covered in sticky, colorful ink. You leave inky prints wherever you walk, and on whatever you touch, reducing all Agility Checks for stealth purposes by 2. When you take damage from an attack while Stained, after the attack resolves, your attacker may choose to consume your Stained status. If they do, you take (Rank of the Weapon you’re being struck by / 2) additional damage, unmodified by Defense, and your Stained status ends. If an attack consumes your Stained status, it cannot also Stain you.
You can end your Stained status with a Standard Action. Becoming Soaked cancels out both the Soaked and Stained status, and becoming Stained cancels out both the Soaked and Stained status as well. Stained also ends when you use Soap, or take an Extended Rest.
New Terrain: Ink-Daubed
Ink-Daubed: Ink-Daubed Terrain is Difficult Terrain for its creator’s enemies, but not for its creator or any allies of its creator. (Ink-Daubed Terrain created by a neutral party is Difficult Terrain for everyone.) When you fall Prone in Ink-Daubed Terrain, you become Stained. If an Ink-Daubed square is intentionally struck with a Water attack, exposed to water, cleaned with Soap, or left untouched for an Extended Rest, it ceases to be Ink-Daubed.
New Feat: Crafting Style: Inkling
3 Tokens
Trait Requirement: Smithing 3
Effect: You may choose to use this whenever crafting a weapon. The weapon has 1 less Attack Power. This weapon is now considered Messy.
New Weapon Property: Messy
Once per turn, you may select one foe you have just successfully struck with this weapon, and inflict the Stained status upon them, in addition to the attack’s damage and other effects.
New Feat: Thermal Ink
6 Tokens
Trait Requirement: Perception 6, Inkling
Effect: You can see objects and foes who are Stained with your Ink, even through solid objects, in darkness, or while they are invisible, up to your normal vision range. This does not allow you to see terrain or creatures around them, nor does it allow you to shoot through walls or otherwise physically bypass obstacles.
New Spell: Blooper’s Blast
6 Tokens
Cost: 8 Magic
Learn Requirement: Inkling
Range: Burst 1 or Blast 3
Damage: Weapon + Willpower
Effect: The target squares become Ink-Daubed. Roll To-Hit Target’s Concentration; on success, they become Stained.
New Technique: Splattershot
6 Tokens
Cost: 5 Stamina
Learn Requirement: Inkling
Range: Weapon
Damage: Weapon + Combat
Effect: Roll To-Hit Target’s Vitality; on success, the target, and all targets within 1 square of the original target, become Stained.
(In the statblocks below, the effects of Enchantments on the weapons’ Accuracy, Attack, and Durability are already taken into account.)
New Item: Splat Bomb
Splat Bomb: All squares affected become Ink-Daubed terrain. Roll To-Hit target’s Vitality; on success, target is Stained.
To craft Splat Bombs, you must consume two Monster Parts. You transform a number of Bombs into Splat Bombs, based on the Ranks of the Monster Parts used, as per the table in the Core Rulebook (“Crafting Bombs”).
Additional Resources
Here’s a cool browser-based tool to make your own Inkling character portrait.
Changelog
27 July 2019:
- Inklings’ benefits in Ink-Daubed Terrain now apply to any Ink-Daubed Terrain made by themselves, or by their allies, rather than just their own. This should better reflect the team-based nature of Splatoon!
24 May 2020:
- Created the “Messy” weapon property, for Inkling-style weapons.
- Clarified that no attack that consumes Stained is able to Stain a foe in turn.
- Made the bonus damage from consuming the Stained status scale with the Rank of the Weapon inflicting the attack.
- Now, when an Inkling makes their attack create Ink-Daubed terrain through their racial effect, they make their own square Ink-Daubed in addition to any squares affected by the attack.
- Making an attack create Ink-Daubed terrain now only costs 2 Stamina, regardless of how many squares are affected.