► EXPLANATION: Papyrus is part of the heart and soul of his home universe - when he is killed, an entire town feels colder and sadder, and a happy ending isn't possible; people may rise up in revolt against the surviving monarch, yield to the celebrityrant's designs, or even slowly give up on hope altogether. That said, he's not a 9 or 10, he's not influential enough to prevent all of these things if enough others die. The rest of the high rating is in things like, he's an artsy person who redesigns the road through town, painting a rock formation to resemble a bridge, and experimenting with his magic to make Cool Designs. And while he's not the protagonist of his game, he's an important side character who bridges the gap to bring the protagonist into the clutches of friendship with some of the other major characters. He loves the power of friendship.
► FAMILIAR: None; Papyrus is working with what he already has, twisted and enhanced by the void. Summoned bones grind down to a dusty powder that enhances his new powers.
► POWER: The Spark of Dreams is a force of optimism, recuperation, and renewal. In a Guardian's hands it could be a subtle supportive power; a slight sprinkling of dust would help people see the silver lining, to approach challenges with hope and confidence, more bringing on hallucinatory impressions that distract people from fighting, and the heaviest doses forcing lethargy and restfulness, to push them to sleeping with happy, healing dreams.
In Harbinger Papyrus' hands, it can be used in those ways, but the force of the Void encourages him to push it and twist it. The confidence boost of a mild sprinkling also brings arrogance, an unwillingness to think things through - living buoyed by hopes and dreams alone. And as Papyrus is living with the dreadful certainty that everything must end and die, and he personally has to help make that happen... Pleasant dreams might become comas, so those afflicted by the dust never have to wake before the end of things. And dreams and waking hallucinations alike can be twisted from happy healing things to reflections of fears, nightmares.
Mechanically, Harbinger Papyrus' new powers depend on flinging dust at people, on the proximity necessary to get at them.
(edit to add:) All of that's the default, basic use he starts the event with. But since he's forming the dust in the shape of bones, he can manipulate them around in much the same fashion he does his own monster magic bones - and since these bones are more fragile, being crushed dust in the shape of a bone, he can collide them to shatter and spread dust over a large area. He figures this out partway through the event, in lethally frightening circumstances. It's great for influencing large numbers of mundane NPCs with low willpower, or seriously harming a monster vulnerable to intent. Star Guardians, familiars, and anybody who's very aware of themselves and able to work through panic and hallucinations (Batman, looking at you, even though you're not in the game) would be resistant to it all. And the kind of effect in the dust is dependent on what he charges it with when he makes it. A bone full of happy dreams of food can't change to one full of nightmares unless it's in his hands.
PAPYRUS
► SPARK: Dreams
► INTENSITY: 8
► EXPLANATION: Papyrus is part of the heart and soul of his home universe - when he is killed, an entire town feels colder and sadder, and a happy ending isn't possible; people may rise up in revolt against the surviving monarch, yield to the celebrityrant's designs, or even slowly give up on hope altogether. That said, he's not a 9 or 10, he's not influential enough to prevent all of these things if enough others die. The rest of the high rating is in things like, he's an artsy person who redesigns the road through town, painting a rock formation to resemble a bridge, and experimenting with his magic to make Cool Designs. And while he's not the protagonist of his game, he's an important side character who bridges the gap to bring the protagonist into the clutches of friendship with some of the other major characters. He loves the power of friendship.
► FAMILIAR: None; Papyrus is working with what he already has, twisted and enhanced by the void. Summoned bones grind down to a dusty powder that enhances his new powers.
► POWER: The Spark of Dreams is a force of optimism, recuperation, and renewal. In a Guardian's hands it could be a subtle supportive power; a slight sprinkling of dust would help people see the silver lining, to approach challenges with hope and confidence, more bringing on hallucinatory impressions that distract people from fighting, and the heaviest doses forcing lethargy and restfulness, to push them to sleeping with happy, healing dreams.
In Harbinger Papyrus' hands, it can be used in those ways, but the force of the Void encourages him to push it and twist it. The confidence boost of a mild sprinkling also brings arrogance, an unwillingness to think things through - living buoyed by hopes and dreams alone. And as Papyrus is living with the dreadful certainty that everything must end and die, and he personally has to help make that happen... Pleasant dreams might become comas, so those afflicted by the dust never have to wake before the end of things. And dreams and waking hallucinations alike can be twisted from happy healing things to reflections of fears, nightmares.
Mechanically, Harbinger Papyrus' new powers depend on flinging dust at people, on the proximity necessary to get at them.
(edit to add:) All of that's the default, basic use he starts the event with. But since he's forming the dust in the shape of bones, he can manipulate them around in much the same fashion he does his own monster magic bones - and since these bones are more fragile, being crushed dust in the shape of a bone, he can collide them to shatter and spread dust over a large area. He figures this out partway through the event, in lethally frightening circumstances. It's great for influencing large numbers of mundane NPCs with low willpower, or seriously harming a monster vulnerable to intent. Star Guardians, familiars, and anybody who's very aware of themselves and able to work through panic and hallucinations (Batman, looking at you, even though you're not in the game) would be resistant to it all. And the kind of effect in the dust is dependent on what he charges it with when he makes it. A bone full of happy dreams of food can't change to one full of nightmares unless it's in his hands.
TL;DR, Evil Sandman.