OOC - Character Workshop

For the Rules, Character Workshop, and other general discussion of the game.
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Viking-Sensei
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OOC - Character Workshop

Post by Viking-Sensei »

Post your character ideas here. Since we're probably going to be playing these characters for a while, I figure a bit of fine tuning wouldn't hurt... and we don't want to wind up with everybody being Wraith operatives who are travelling with the group undercover, because an entire group of Wraith wandering around the countryside trying not to look conspicious seems to me to be the definition of "conspicious". Getting together beforehand and sort of working out who is what will hopefully help smooth over some of the rough edges before we get the story going officially.

So... age, origins, physical characteristics, likes, dislikes...
How could a plan this awesome possibly fail?
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zanntos
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Re: OOC - Character Workshop

Post by zanntos »

Zanntos "Crazy Gears"
Age: 23
Origins: A Tsuirakuan mage by training he spends most of his time wandering the world looking for ways to advance his research, namely his latest ideas in Golem creation. Ancient ruins, excavation sites, "questionable" examination of restricted documents and technologies, "Crazy Gears" is known to do almost anything to come up with new ideas and designs for his projects.
Zanntos almost failed his senior year due to a fairly poor review of his senior project, his "jibberish golem", which was designed to be a semi-autonomous golem designed to recognize, learn, and translate various languages. A fairly brilliant idea, however, due to his insistence upon to semi-autonomy of his golems, this ment that his golem had the self-awareness to have it's own preferences about what to learn. Unfortunately for Zanntos his golem "Chirp" had a taste for the loud and at least mildly profane, so for the final presentation it decided to sing and then translate one of the most explicit renditions of "Jimmy at the whorehouse" originally a Veracian song warning of the dangers of prostitution, through a series of rather extreme happenings to both Jimmy and the whores. While horrified at the Golems choice of what to translate Chirp managed to display a brilliant proficiency at translating the song as it managed to set the translation to song as well instead of just translating the lyrics of the song, thus the grading panel reluctantly gave a passing grade to Zanntos's project.
Chirp still accompanies Zanntos on his travels and while it does provided translation service when needed, it's prone to blurt out the most wildly explicit things it can when the chance arises, particularly if Zanntos attempts to flirt with the locals. Many of the other Tsuirakuan mages Zanntos comes across wonder why he hasn't just reprogrammed Chirp but his response is that "the autonomy keeps it interesting."
Zanntos's familiar is small ratlike creature "Zig" that he often uses to assist with fine detail mechanical work. Zig doesn't care much for Chirp and will sometimes get into "heated" arguements with Chirp, which of course delights Chirp immensely as it gives it opportunity to employ its vast database of profanity.

Physical characteristics: Zanntos is a fairly nondescript person on his own, standing 5'11 and being of a fairly average build. He often lets his curly brown hair run wild as fussing with it takes to much effort in his opinion, though creating a hair-keeping golem has been considered from time to time. Often the most notable part of his appearance is the somewhat bulky looking backpack he carries with a a cable running to the clearly mechanical Parrot-like golem on his shoulder Chirp. Zig is often much less visable as he's often going through Zanntos's pockets trying to keep the vast array of tools and gizmos in some appearance of organization.

Likes: "finding" things for his latest Golem experiments, investigating various cultures and ruins looking for inspiration, Tinkering on his latest ideas when he returns to his lab. The willfully somewhat unpredictable nature of his creations due to his insistence upon their semi-autonomy, normally only restricting them to not be able to "harm" him, though particularly with Chirp the creations opinion of what is "harmful" can vary.

Dislikes: "Mindless" Golems which are often produced for the general public usage, disruption of his work, some of Chirps more "extreme" antics (sometimes resulting in a shutdown "time out" for Chirp), needless damage to things he's studying for "ideas"


Heh, probably way overdetailed for an initial idea :p
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Tiamat
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Re: OOC - Character Workshop

Post by Tiamat »

After a lot of careful consideration going with the first thing to pop into my head, I bring you...

GENOCIDE!

Just kidding. (I think I'm getting too much enjoyment from that filter...)

Name: Jonathan Zeve
Age: 27
Occupation: (ex) Tsuiraku familiar manufacturer

Physical Build: Standing a mere 5'3", Jonathan is far from physically imposing, but knows enough magic to be dangerous in a fight. Assuming he sees it coming, anyway. Black hair, green eyes.

History: Graduated with honors from Sashi Mu at the age of 17, and worked for 5 years assisting in the creation of familiars. Considered a prodigy in the field, his entire career fell flat on its face when his first project as project head ended with the creation of the flying cat familiar line. They sold quickly, because they were cute, and things were looking up until the damned things started talking.

Zeve was fired within two weeks of the first complaint, mostly because it was followed by about a hundred others.

Out of a job, unable to get re-hired, and finally running out of money, Zeve sold as much of his stuff as he had left, walked out on his apartment lease, and took with him only a change of clothes, a standard battle staff (definitely not Yuuki), and his parting gift from the company: Winston, the flying cat that wasn't sold because the other ones started talking first. Tends to avoid other Tsuirakuan residents, since nearly all of them have a horror story relating to one of his creations.

Likes: Animating lifeless objects as a sort of non-personality familiar, drinking (the money had to go somewhere), and when nobody else is looking, squishing things with large, magical rocks.

Dislikes: Tsuiraku, cats (especially Winston), being squished by a large magical rock, being squished in general, guns.



I'll flesh out Winston a little later.
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Viking-Sensei
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Re: OOC - Character Workshop

Post by Viking-Sensei »

I hope nobody minds... I'm weaving in a few elements from the FwF universe...

Name: Lucas Ravanel
Age: A ragged looking 20ish
Occupation: (ex)Mage, Tsuirakushita townie, inadvertant explorer

Physical Build: Average build, 6'2", though with more upper body strength than normal. Gray hair, blue eyes, darker skin.

History: The child of a man from Farel and a woman from Tsuiraku, Lucas grew up in Kiyoka about two blocks down the street from Bani, who he occasionally played with. After his father passed away in a bizarre magical accident when he was 10, he and his mother moved to Tsuirakushita (the slang name used by the locals to define the "City-surronding-the-city" area under Tsuirakushiti proper). He attended Sashi Mu until a year before Bani arrived, until an accident during a simple lab experiment (most likely caused by the carelessness of his lab partner Kureji Mesuinu) caused him to be suddenly and violently teleported to somewhere in the Northern Territories.

Because Lucas spent the next year or so attempting to return home, walking and doing odd jobs to pay his way, he never technically finished magic school. While Lucas can cast spells, he tends not to... in part due to the fact that he never got his official mage license, and in part due to a growing paranoia that magic is somehow "out ot get him". He does however own an array of magical devices, several of which he picked up while lost in the Northern Territories, which he uses from time to time.

Lucas owns a familiar, a next-generation "EverKitten" named Bob. As the name indicates, Bob is perpetually kitten-sized. Bob's line was produced by a rival company to the main familiar manufacturer, and therefore posesses a number of features not found on standard models. Bob can cast magic, albeit not very powerful magic, and can fly (well, hover) without wings. Bob can also talk, can be used as a rolodex, has a built-in comprehensive index of commonly used spells and any material components they require, and can be used as an emergency communication device. Unfortunately, due to the relatively high power consumption for this model, Bob spends most of his time asleep, out of harm's way, on Lucas' head.
How could a plan this awesome possibly fail?
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Sareth
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Re: OOC - Character Workshop

Post by Sareth »

Okay, firstly, GENOCY... What? What do you mean it's been done to death? Oh fine...

Name: Jamie Porter
Age: early 20s?
Occupation: Independant (read "half assed") assassin
Appearance: Blonde haired greened eyed, 5'6". Face is either masculine for a girl or feminine for a guy. The clothing Jamie wears is so heavily layered and unrevealing, it's impossible to say which is correct. Having a voice that is either a quite low Alto or Rather high tenor doesn't help either. And the last guy to ask Jamie's gender face to face expired. Messily.

History: Somewhat of a mystery. Jamie showed up in Saus about half a year ago wielding a Veracian name and a pair of Farrelan pistols. Not prone to talk much, and a bit of a loner, the one thing that became clear was that Jamie was pretty good at not sharing secrets the owner of said secrets didn't want shared, and was pretty good with those pistols (see the previous comment about the messily expired questioner). This led to a few jobs disposing of people. Unfortunately, while Jamie is a good shot, planning is less impressive with this would be assassin. Pretty much every job went down the same way. In publice, before witnesses. Lot's of witnesses. As such, Jamie's jobs did two things. Proved to be excellent for making examples of people, and attracted the notice of both the Gewehr Wraiths and the Ensigerum. Considering that both organizations took a dim view of competition, Jamie has decided it may be time to get out of town for a bit, and is just looking for a group of stooges that can be used to help provide cover for an escape from the city.

Notable possessions: Matching pistols manufactured in Farrel, five or six layers of hooded clothing, and a bit of a chip (worn in a shoulder mount.)

Key Skills: marksmanship. Just... marksmanship.
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Re: OOC - Character Workshop

Post by BloodHenge »

Vernon Atwater (human male)
Age: 31
Occupation: Itenerant healer; former Veracian priest

Appearance: Vernon is tall and lean, a little over six feet tall, with dirty blonde hair and gray-green eyes. On the road, he wears a wide-brimmed hat to keep his fair skin from burning. The rest of his travelling clothes tend to be equally practical, suited for the season and climate of the area. He also posesses a few fashionable outfits for socializing, and some robes to wear while plying his trade, reminiscent of priestly vestments but different enough that he can legally wear them in Veracia. In town, he typically weaves a minor illusion about himself to disguise wrinkles and minor blemishes. In more far-flung regions, he also subtly alters his features to appear more like the natives.

History: Like most magically talented Veracian youngsters, Vernon was encouraged to go into the clergy. Strongly encouraged. Although he took to magical instruction rather readily and soaked up scripture and dogma with ease, it became clear to him during his teenage years that the ascetic life was not for him. It only took a few incidents during seminary for him to get the knack of hiding his illicit excursions, and as a junior priest he only got better at it. However, over time he grew more confident and less meticulous, until his indiscretions were too obvious for his magical talent or his ecclesiastical station to justify further cover-ups-- basically about two years ago when he got a 19-year-old nun pregnant. He was offered the chance to retire quietly and given to understand it was preferable to any alternatives. Since then, he's travelled from one village to the next, charging reasonable prices for his healing magic (according to the income of his customers) and using his less reputable magical skills to skip town if he accidentally overstays his welcome. What income isn't budgeted for necessities he generally spends on things that would've been frowned upon in the priesthood.

Skills: His notable magical abilities include healing, illusions, mild compulsions (about as strong as the reduced inhibitions due to a nice alcohol buzz), and (more recently) contraception. He has extensive knowledge of Veracian theology, for all the good it does him.
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Re: OOC - Character Workshop

Post by DarkIntruder »

Name: Roger Monteith

Age: Late 20's

Occupation: Ex- Salvus Militia turned (reluctant) mercenary gunslinger for hire.

Appearance: Haggard and drawn, he stands 5'11", or at least he would if he stood up straight. Hazel eyes, short cropped brown hair, hidden under a brimmed steel helmet. His face is pleasant enough, though travel weary, and he carries a wry smile, though acquaintances would warn you that it could change in an instant, if the need arises. Considered exceptionally lean by some, the hard life that has led him to this point has given him both scars and hard muscles. The other distinguishing characteristic is his particular affectation for an enormous waxed handlebar mustache.

He wears a heavy padded hood, usually thrown back during warmer weather, and a lightly padded arming coat, usually covered by close-fitting body armour, made of several layered plates riveted to a cloth covering which still bears the faded symbol of the Salvus militia.

He carries a haversack slung over his shoulder, which contains his clothes and a few possessions. He also carries a very large and imposing automatic rifle, stolen from a fellow soldier of his former hometown. It's mostly for show, since his ammunition for it is almost entirely depleted. But he doesn't let anyone know that. Would ruin the illusion. ;) However, it's backed up by an enormous revolver and a small shotgun.

History: Not much is known about Roger, since he doesn't volunteer much information, and most of his acquaintances don't ask. However, if one were to go poking around Salvus and the Northern Confederacy, one would hear the following:

His childhood was not particularly happy what with the dysfunction and all, but he was always described as the nicest boy in the neighborhood. He joined the city militia, and all was well, until he discovered his fiancé in bed with his immediate superior. While it was later (quietly) said that the man may have deserved the subsequent relocation of his genitalia to his lower digestive tract, the man's father, who happened to be the minister of commerce in Salvus, did not entirely agree.

Roger was forced to flee the city, and has been selling his guns ever since. His nagging moral code and sense of decency has gotten him in more then one desperate situation,but he's often able to ignore it for cash. He sometimes becomes cynical and depressed at the lack of purpose in his life, but a jolly knee-capping will often be enough to lift his spirits. Is quite open minded towards new ideas, and as such doesn't posses the (perhaps reasonable) mistrust of magic that non-Tsuirakuans do.

Likes: Occasional violence towards idiocy, the open road, and his mustache.

Dislikes: Stupid people, and that's really about it.

Skills: Operation of heavy weapons, survival skills, the mysterious ability to simultaneously both piss off and amuse everyone around him.


(If we learn anything more about the Northern Confederacy, I'll update Roger a little.)
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Re: OOC - Character Workshop

Post by Imp-Chan »

I don't have time to participate in the game, but I'm tempted to create a character for folks to encounter later. So far everyone is human and (probably) male... I'd love to see that shaken up.

Should I wait and create a character later when I want to join in, or should I go ahead and toss in a genuine NPC for everyone to play with?

^-^'
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Tiamat
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Re: OOC - Character Workshop

Post by Tiamat »

Imp-Chan wrote:I don't have time to participate in the game, but I'm tempted to create a character for folks to encounter later. So far everyone is human and (probably) male... I'd love to see that shaken up.

Should I wait and create a character later when I want to join in, or should I go ahead and toss in a genuine NPC for everyone to play with?

^-^'
Why not do both, Impy?
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Re: OOC - Character Workshop

Post by BloodHenge »

Imp-Chan wrote:So far everyone is human and (probably) male... I'd love to see that shaken up.
I didn't think my character concept would really work with a female... Or a nonhuman...
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