OOC - Character Workshop

For the Rules, Character Workshop, and other general discussion of the game.
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LordofNightmares
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Re: OOC - Character Workshop

Post by LordofNightmares »

Also it may be possible for your toon to combine some magics with the bow for interesting spells. Remember it is not the weapon that makes a man, It is all in how you use it.
Jacobus
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Re: OOC - Character Workshop

Post by Jacobus »

Hmmm I have some other ideas bouncing around in my head. When they make sense and settle on something coherent I will post it :)
Pinaka
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Re: OOC - Character Workshop

Post by Pinaka »

“Cricket”

Appearance: Cricket’s hair is a vibrant red, the hue of pomegranates, and is tied back and arranged in such a way that the dancing of shadows accentuates almost every strand of hair. Her near-unblinking eyes are encircled by painted black bands, the iris a deep green like emeralds. Her skin is pallid and supple, not marred by sun nor labor. Her face is fair, soft to the eyes and certainly not unappealing, though she seems permanently expressionless. Her figure is swathed in a flowing, black gown that touches the ground beneath a red sari. She is neither large or small, nor frail or burly, but medial in both. Wrapped across her chest is a leather baldric that holds fast a simple stringed instrument on her back, exotic in appearance and elongated- though the hands that pluck the strings are hidden in large bell sleeves. She wears few ornaments, but around her waist is a thick, brown sash from which a calabash gourd hangs and on her right ear is a small, golden earring.

Order of Kamadani:
The Order of Kamadani is extremely reclusive: their function, their methods, their ways and existence unknown except to those few in their ranks and those who have seen countless ages pass. Even their recruitment leaves no trace, as they either train their young, or find and replace new wards with doubles that live their previous life outside of the Kamadani monastery. They are graceful casters that draw magic from natural energy (“Kasha”) within and beyond themselves, which they focus and shape using words of power. Their abilities had been taught to them by the Ancient One, Kamadani the Immortal. But as time progressed, they applied what they had learned to develop new sources of power, from cadences to phylacteries and even sheer will and desire (though all arts contain an element of will). Each Disciple is extremely powerful- learned in many arts both martial and divine- but they are more concerned about the arcane than worldy affairs.

Origin:
Cricket’s origin is unknown to herself. She can remember little of her time during the Order, only that she was called “Cricket” and various events of little importance, and nothing of her past beyond that. All she can remember is that she was considered a failure and was to have her mind wiped clean and for her to be left to the outside. But she had managed to fool them and prevented her mind from being completely destroyed. From that day she has wandered the realm seeking to learn more about it.

Personality: Her most noticeable feature is her perfectionism and stubbornness in accomplishing perfection. This is in part why she was removed from the Order, as she did not feel that she had truly “mastered” her Four Arts and worked on them without care nor want for others. She has been sheltered for as long as she can remember, and as such Cricket is an absolute outsider to the world, and almost childlike. Like a child, she is candid, curious, naive and trusting. She knows little of the world but is clever and intuitive and eager to learn. However, her isolation from others has made her extremely quiet, and her voice saved for questions and the effects of the memory spell has cluttered her mind and made her prone to confusion.

Abilities:
While Cricket had protected herself from the memory wipe, she did not completely stop it. Part of her mind was destroyed, and thus she retains only a fraction of her abilities. She has vague recollections of the procedures, but has them mixed up in her mind, making her spells inefficient and at times completely ineffective. She also does not even know what some of her spells can do. Her spells are categorized in the ways she can cast them, she has four Arts of which only three she can remember, those arts are: Words of Power, Seals and Instrument. Words of Power are spoken incantations, Seals are physical motions that allow her to cast without vocalization, and she also has a Gu Qin, which acts as an instrument for her to use. Of the three arts she remember, she remembers how to use the Gu Qin most, and the Words of Power least.

----

Ye? Nay? I forgot to ask, but how strong in magic are we allowed to be?
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Viking-Sensei
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Re: OOC - Character Workshop

Post by Viking-Sensei »

Your description is fantastic and full of detail and depth... but I'm having a little trouble seeing how this fits into the pre-established ES universe. The magics are all basically do-able, since we've seen people use wordless invocations (Time Ninjas, anyone?) and Power Words (sort of, anyway), but the Kasha energy and the Ancient One, Kamadani the Immortal... those don't quite fit the mold. Unless Kamadani is just an elf who wandered away from the flock and decided to declare him/herself a god...

So... maybe retcon those elements a little to make them more ES-ish, and you should be ok. Also, unless it's important for us not to know, where is the Kamadani monastery and where does Cricket hail from? We've already dumped several "D) None of the above" characters on the Colonies, so please... not from there. Northern territories is fine... straight north, or even further west than Tsuiraku is also acceptable...
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Graybeard
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Re: OOC - Character Workshop

Post by Graybeard »

Pinaka wrote:Ye? Nay? I forgot to ask, but how strong in magic are we allowed to be?
This being a relatively "libertarian" RPG, there's not an "official" answer to this question, but the "practical" answer is: Strong enough to be interesting, but not so strong as to be boring.

A character who solves any and all problems by casting some gross, overpowering spell gets boring very fast -- not just boring, but disagreeable to have around, because (s)he suppresses interaction among the other characters and ingenuity. Consider what's getting teed up involving the Lost Veracian Mine. Someone who responds by saying "OK, I'll cast my Instant-Mind-Meld-With-Ghod to figure out where the mine is, follow it three seconds later with Teleportation, incinerate the monsters with a Ten-Megaton Lightning Bolt, and scoop up their treasure" pretty well negates the point of the mine being there to begin with.

This is not to say that the occasional, spectacular spell (or feat of arms or martial arts or whatever) isn't welcome. It is. Just put bounds on your character so that not every problem has a trivial solution, and interaction with other players is necessary to get things done.

All just IMO, of course...
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Re: OOC - Character Workshop

Post by Viking-Sensei »

Graybeard wrote:A character who solves any and all problems by casting some gross, overpowering spell gets boring very fast...
Unless it's Lucas, master of the "Killer Cure" school of magic.
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Re: OOC - Character Workshop

Post by Graybeard »

Viking-Sensei wrote:So... maybe retcon those elements a little to make them more ES-ish, and you should be ok. Also, unless it's important for us not to know, where is the Kamadani monastery and where does Cricket hail from? We've already dumped several "D) None of the above" characters on the Colonies, so please... not from there. Northern territories is fine... straight north, or even further west than Tsuiraku is also acceptable...
I've heard there's a recently discovered, or created, southern continent out there somewhere, with all sorts of weird stuff ...
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Re: OOC - Character Workshop

Post by Viking-Sensei »

Graybeard wrote:
Viking-Sensei wrote:So... maybe retcon those elements a little to make them more ES-ish, and you should be ok. Also, unless it's important for us not to know, where is the Kamadani monastery and where does Cricket hail from? We've already dumped several "D) None of the above" characters on the Colonies, so please... not from there. Northern territories is fine... straight north, or even further west than Tsuiraku is also acceptable...
I've heard there's a recently discovered, or created, southern continent out there somewhere, with all sorts of weird stuff ...
What can I say? We were running out of room to stick it any place else.
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Pinaka
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Re: OOC - Character Workshop

Post by Pinaka »

Well, a lot of it was just exaggerated history bordering on mythology. When I was writing it I did not intend for Kamadani to be taken literally as being immortal - though thinking about it and the universe in question, I probably should have chosen words more carefully or clarified that fact. It really is more mythology than "history" so to speak, Kamadani's equivalent to Hercules or Achilles; blown out of proportion or not real. I saw the background more as a "cherry on top" (to give an idea of the kind of culture Cricket was surrounded by - that is to say, pompous and full of themselves), just flavoring and a non-issue. Similarly, I had intended for "Kasha" to just be another way to call Mana. I just thought it would be a further emphasis on exactly how alien Cricket was. However I would find it equally acceptable to just rename it to Mana if that is desired.

As for the location, it's not so much that it's important for anyone to not know, it's just I didn't see it as important to know - meaning, I didn't even think of where it would be located physically. With such a sheltered and unknown origin, I did not believe it would matter where Cricket came from. But if you would still like for me to come up with a location, I'd be happy to oblige.

Also, thank you for the clarification on magic. I'm extra wary of being contextually too strong since a lot of my RPing background is in (weird as it may sound) duels and "competition" Roleplaying.
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Re: OOC - Character Workshop

Post by Creos »

Hmmm... any chance character creation for the game is still open? This looks like it could be a lot of fun, but if I'm too late I doubt it will be the end of me ^_^
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