Class: Rider
Other Classes: Caster
True Name: Tsar Pyotr Alekseevich Romanov
Nicknames: "Peter the Great", Emperor Peter I of Russia
Alignment: True Neutral
Place of Origin: Russia
Parameters
STR: B
END: C
AGI: B
MGI: C
LCK: B
NP: B+
Info
Height: 203cm
Weight: 90kg
Likes: the water, working with his hands, war
Dislikes: the Swedes, the Church, traditionalists
Talent: Handicrafts
Natural Enemy: Charles XI of Sweden
Attribute: Earth
Traits: Human, Sovereign, Lawful Neutral, vulnerable to Ea
Armament: a knout, a long, heavy whip.
Catalyst: A plank from the St. Nicholas.
Class Skills
Magic Resistance B
Cancels spells of B-Rank or below, no matter its origin. Even if targeted by High-Thaumaturgy or Greater Rituals, Rider boasts admirable defense against magical effects.
As someone who tussled again and again with the Church and who rejected tradition for modernity, this much should be expected.
Riding B+
The ability to ride mounts and vehicles, and the signature Skill of the Rider Class. As with other naval figures, Rider's rank is boosted when on a ship. While also capable on horseback, he is far more at ease on a ship.
Personal Skills
Contradictive Mind A+
Peter's mindset in life was one rife with contradictions. He loved Russia, but tried to destroy traditional Russian culture. He was religious, but tried to destroy the power of the Church in Russia. He was an Emperor but worked among the shipwrights as if he was a common man. Even in his personal life, he was a loving husband to his wife and a good father to his daughters, but also had his only son executed by the knout.
This skill allows Peter's alignment to switch between Lawful and Chaotic at a moment's notice, though without affecting his outward appearance in any way.
Imperial Uplifting A++
A skill for those who have brought their country from the "darkness" into the "light" of modernity by spreading new knowledge. When Peter was born, Russia was a mere backwater. When Peter died, Russia was an European empire, more than capable of standing against its contemporaries in terms of military and political power and finesse.
While this skill is similar to Imperial Privilege, it differs in one crucial way. Whereas Imperial Privilege allows the monarch to assume skills from the nation for the sake of himself, this Skill allows Peter to disseminate skills he has learned to the people of his nation. These skills include everything related to the sea and ships, including building ships and naval strategy, to Dutch and other foreign languages, the sciences, literacy, administration, military matters, and much more. Of course, to disseminate he must first learn, but that is no problem at all.
Reforge the Church Bells into Cannons A
A Skill for those who consider tradition to be nothing but a chain and attempt to uproot it entirely. More than a general uncaring of tradition, it is an active hatred of it. In effect, this Skill allows Peter to constantly slough off traditions before his time. It is not anything as impressive as allowing him to reject all magic before his time, but it does give him an extra leg up.
When Peter had immense need of cannon for his armies, he soon found that there was not enough metal being mined to meet his demands. The solution, then, was to have a quarter of all church bells throughout the Tsardom melted down and have the raw material turned into cannons. Other incidents of breaking with tradition were to introduce a beard tax, to end arranged marriage, and to proclaim himself Emperor of Russia.
Noble Phantasms
Grandfather of the Russian Navy, Sail Once MoreSt. Nicholas
Type: Anti-Group
Rank: A
Targets: 1 - 50
The boat that Peter discovered as a young man, which inspired in him a lifelong passion for the sea. Russia, at the time, was not a naval power by any means, having only a single port in Archangelsk, which closed for the long winter every year. This boat represented the potential for something more, a future for Russia in which it would be a power on the level of countries like France or England.
The actual boat is some 7 metres long by 2 metres broad, but as a Noble Phantasm it has grown to a "proper" size, able to contend with such warships as the Queen Anne's Revenge or the Golden Hind on an equal level. Its four cannons, too, have become fully functional, able to fire blasts of cannonshot. While Peter does need to rebuild the boat himself every time it takes damage, this is only a problem in terms of materials. After all, he is a master shipwright in his own right. Should it be necessary, he could even rebuild it from scratch, although he will need wood with spiritual qualities.
Unlock That Chain Which Binds Russia to IgnoranceVelikoye Posolstvo
Type: Anti-Country (Self)
Rank: C
A Noble Phantasm which represents Peter undertaking the Great Embassy, a massive diplomatic vacation which took him from Moscow to the Netherlands, France, England, the Holy Roman Empire and other countries. Peter attempted to travel incognito but was often unsuccesful.
While the political aims of the Embassy were to gather support against the Ottomans, this was ultimately unsuccesful due to the War of the Spanish Succession usurping most of Europe's attention at the time. Nonetheless, Peter learned an immense deal from the shipwrights and amused himself greatly building ships as if he were nothing more than a common man.
As a Noble Phantasm, its effect is simply to gather knowledge and pass it to Peter, which is then used "for the purposes of improving the country". Simply put, it allows Peter to use the Skills of his allies, as long as they willingly give their consent to let him do so.
Lore
Born on the 9th of June 1672, Peter was from his youth a healthy young man - a noted contrast from his brothers, one of who was sickly and the other was of infirm mind. In the end, Peter was confirmed as Tsar when he was 10 years old. His sister, Sophia, decided that she was not pleased with this arrangement, and took power instead with the support of the Russian elite military corps, ruling in Peter's name.
This, oddly, didn't seem to much concern Peter. He instead was an adventurous child, travelling Russia as he pleased, consorting with foreigners, and sailing and building ships as he pleased. This last was particularly important to him: Legend has it that it was on a walk that he found an old boat once gifted to the Russians and fell in love with it. Moreover, he fell in love with the sea, beginning a lifelong passion for all things naval. In the meantime, also, Peter got married to Eudoxia Lopukhina, a woman he came to despise for representing everything he felt needed to change about Russia, and played with his comrades in a "toy army".
When he was 17, the time came for Peter to grasp power after two failed campaigns on his sister's part. While she learned of his plans and he had to flee in the middle of the night, he managed to gather adherents and finally overthrew his sister, who was forced to enter a convent.
Influenced by his advisors and his own dreams of the future, Peter rebuilt Russia almost from the ground up. He campaigned endlessly for Russia to gain a warm port, sponsored incentive after incentive for Russian industrialists to prosper, and forced his court to Europeanize almost at knifepoint.
Starting in 1697, Peter embarked on his greatest project yet: the Grand Embassy. It was meant as an opportunity to seek the aid of European monarchs in dealing with the Ottomans, while also allowing Peter to learn more about shipbuilding from the Dutch and English masters of the art. Peter attempted to travel incognito, but as he was quite literally heads and shoulders above every other man there this was not particularly successful. This little oddity, however, was tolerated genially by his contemporaries.
However, it was cut short by another rebellion by the troops who conspired to once more put Sophia on the throne. It was crushed with only a single casualty on Peter's side, but Peter nonetheless had more than a thousand men executed, tortured, or exiled.
Later came the Great Northern War. Thinking that Charles XII, the new king of Sweden, would be an easy foe to vanquish, he allied with Augustus II the Strong of Poland and declared war. This proved a disastrous move: having overestimated his troops' ability severely, Peter's forces lost the Battle of Narva horribly. Having easily defeated the Russians, Charles XII turned his attention back to Poland.
However, this provided Peter with an opportunity to rebuild his troops, this time in much better shape. When hostilities flared up again, Peter employed scorched earth tactics and exhausted the Swedes, finally destroying them in the Battle of Poltava and showing the world Russia's military might.
At the same time, Peter ordered the founding of St. Petersburg, which was to become the new capital of Imperial Russia. It was a magnificent city built around the Peter and Paul Fortress, of which Peter laid the first brick. Occasionally it flooded, and it was built on the backs of tens of thousands of conscripted serfs, but Peter had his port city that remained open all year long. Even today, St. Petersburg is still the Culture Capital of Russia, at least partially a result of the many foreign architects Peter hired to work on the greatest buildings in the city. A particular jewel in the crown was Peterhof, the "Russian Versailles".
After finishing the Great Northern War, Peter proclaimed himself Emperor over all Russias. He established colleges to replace the government, forced into law compulsory education (although only for children of nobles and officials), and married his mistress Catherine, who had originally been born a peasant.
At the age of 50, Peter contracted an illness of the bladder. In 1725, at the age of 52, this illness proved to be fatal. He left the Russian Empire to his wife Catherine I, his daughters Anna and Elizabeth. His only son who had survived to adulthood, Alexei, was suspected of being complicit in a plot to overthrow Peter, for which he was tried and tortured. Peter never signed the execution order, but he didn't have to: his son died of injuries caused by torture, in his cell. It is one of the few things Peter feels truly ashamed of.
Personality
Gregarious and possessed of a constant manic energy. He distrusts all power other than his own on principle, seeing his Masters's power over him as being much like the regencies he experienced in his youth. Inevitably he will keep attempting to reassert the relationship to his own advantage, so meek Masters might suffer the consequences.
Dialogue
Francis Drake, Blackbeard, Black Bart:
Gahaha! What an excellent night that was! If I was alive, the hangover might have killed me! What a shame there is no river nearby. It is never the same, to drink on land, is it?
Ivan:
Bozhe moi, what the fuck is that?!
Oh. Ooh. I-I am sorry, sir. If I had known it was you, I assuredly would have not reacted in such a way. My apologies.
... Although, now that we do happen to be talking. Exactly how seaworthy is your steed?
Rasputin:
Now you are a priest I can support, man! God, to think I was stuck with those incredible bores all my life when my descendants should have a holy man like you to safeguard their souls!
Although, hm. You seem rather different than what I thought. Exactly whose body do you happen to be wearing right now?
Anastasia:
Nastya, my girl! Good to see you, good to see you. It's excellent to see a Russian prince of the blood take to the waters. My children were never so enthusiastic. Nice to see I passed along my love for Polish peasants, hahaha!
Bond CE
The St. Nicholas
Also called the Botik of Peter the Great, it is a very scaled-down version of an Elizabethan warship. It had been languishing at a royal estate for over 40 years before Peter as a young man rediscovered it, rebuilt it with the help of his foreign tutors, and learned to sail with it.
On it are inscribed the following words: From the amusement of the child came the triumph of the man.
Look at it! Its elegant design, the ability to steer against the wind, its four cannons! This boat is nothing less than a dream. I hear it is still showcased today, and to be honest my only complaint is that it does not sail the waters of the Neva proudly every day.
Of course, what you have received is a replica on a smaller scale, although one Rider painstakingly built with his own hands. More than the boat it represents his dreams of a resplendent, magnificent, seafaring and modern Russia, and now he wishes to pass that dream on to you. Treasure it with care.
Summer VersionWell, he's a dude. Let's not kid ourselves, there's limits to what imagination will allow. But still, a quick idea:
Caster "Deacon Peter", which is Peter but wearing a priest's outfit in a parody of the Church and being feted by his friends of the All-Joking, All-Drunken Synod of Fools and Jesters. Lots of references to vodka and whatnot, obviously.
F/GO implementation
To be honest, there's a shitload of SSR Riders already. The question then is how to have this Rider set himself apart. It would be easy to give him a Buster AOE NP that resembles Drake's or Ivan's and call it a day, but that wouldn't be very interesting, would it?
Card deck: QAAAB
Passives:
Magic Resistance C: increase debuff resistance by 15%.
Riding B: increase Quick performance by 8%.
Actives:
1) Contradictive Mind: Increase own NP generation for 3 turns and remove debuffs.
2) Imperial Uplifting: ATK up, DEF up for whole team for 3 turns, plus 1-turn Invulnerability Pierce.
3) Reforge the Church Bells into Cannons: Drain 1 chevron of NP from all enemies, give self 20% NP gauge for 2 turns and Guts for 5 turns.
Noble Phantasm: The Great Embassy: Give self Arts Up, attack up, 300% Critical Damage up, 300% Star Gen up and 300% Star Weight up for three turns.
In essence, he's meant to use his NP as often as he can and then slap the enemy with his 3 Arts cards. Theoretically the boosts to his Arts cards it gives should let him very nearly hit full NP gauge again, at which point the arts boosts can start to stack until he either dies or murders everything. That feels about right, IMO, and it's a niche no other Rider yet occupies.
Anecdotes
In 1695, when Peter's favorite jester, Jacob Turgenev, married a sexton's daughter, the feasts and celebrations lasted three days. The wedding took place in a field outside Preobrazhenskoe, and Turgenev and his bride arrived for the ceremony in the Tsar's finest court carriage. Behind them came a procession of leading boyars wearing fantastic costumes--hats of birchbark, boots of straw, gloves made of mouse skins, coats covered with squirrel tails and cats' paws; some were on foot and others rode in carts drawn by oxen, goats or pigs. The celebrations ended with a triumphal entry into Moscow with the newly married couple mounted together on the back of a camel. "The procession," Gordon comments, "was extraordinary fine," but the joke may have been carried too far because a few days later the bridegroom, Turgenev, suddenly died in the night.
Creator Notes
This is a bit of an odd one, because I wrote it months after I actually read the book I got most of the info from (Peter the Great: His Life and World, by Robert K. Massie. Would recommend, even if it's fairly hefty.)
Still, I think he more than ought to qualify, and I liked that book enough to expand on my usual format. Commentary on every part welcome, as always.
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Originally Posted by Tobias
