Twokinds ARCHIVE Forums

This is, of course, a silly little idea. Weather or not it is an actually viable idea though, it yet too be seen.

This is going to be a rather team focused activity, and there will be a definite hierarchy of positions. People can take any of these positions, but only if they feel they will be able to participate in the game often. Assuming of course that this idea gets off the ground.

The basic idea of this game is that you are given an objective, several mission parameters, and you go from there. You don’t have too expect anything too complicated. You are given an obstacle, and you work from there. The game comes from how everyone, as a team, works together to overcome these problems.

As far as the setting goes, I want people to give me input. I tried that in the More than Human RP and got some fantastic setting information from the players (Gregarious Oddfellow and Sable Dove stand out in particular) but that was before I realized that the RP would be taking place away from the setting. Obviously, that didn’t work so well. This RP however will allow me to actually use that information. Crazy, I know.

So let’s get this show on the Road.



SETTING: This ain’t your ordinary fantasy

Approximately 75 years ago, the world of Erros was much different: a typical feudal swords and sorcery world. That world, now gone, is much of what you'd expect from Tolkienesque fantasy. There were large human kingdoms ruled by nobles that oversaw peasants who mostly farmed. Small cities with tradesman and artisans, and what little power those commoners had was collected into trade guilds. There was a well-developed religion worshipping seven gods, and the Churches were the major check on Noble power.

Magic existed in that world: Sorcerers were able to do wondrous feats, but they required Aether to power their magic, and aether could be generated only be rigorous monastic training. Sorcerers tended to be either devout holy men, or hermits living in seclusion from society.
Magic other than Sorcery was rare. There were tales of Fairies in the deep earth and forests, but mostly these were unconfirmed rumors dismissed as mad ravings. Dragons roosted in the mountains, rarely interfering with men besides for a few isolated raids over the decades.
This fantasy world had been stable, changing in the specifics but not the broad generalities, for hundreds of years. But it changed practically overnight.

What changed the world was the discovery of mana or Aether in pure, material form. Mana is a crystallized magic, forced into a material form deep beneath the earth. It was a cheap and clean form of energy that with only a small bit of mental effort could be easily transformed into pure Aether, circumventing the rigors of manual Aether Generation.
The discovery of Mana was first made in a small iron mine on the outskirts of a small city in the northern reaches of Erros. It was quickly capitalized upon by the Church who saw mana as a “perfect manifestation of faith” and soon began to horde the new resource. Sorcery was already prevalent in the church, primarily seen as a divine gift with Aether easily generated by prayer.

Commonplace magic didn't stay within the churches for long. Many of the higher-ranking priests were Nobles who had perhaps not taken their vows to set aside the secular world as seriously as they might have. Others were scholars who had close relationships with secular sorcerers, both eager to improve their shared art. And everyone had dealings with the trade guilds who kept the infrastructure of the world going.

The Churches were magic-rich but cash-poor. The process of selling mana came naturally to them, and as cheap, plentiful mana became available to all, the sorcerous arts proliferated. With ten, and then a hundred, times as many sorcerers as there had been, ancient and inefficient traditions of secrecy and ritual fell away, and the state of the art in magic advanced in leaps and bounds.

Many of the new sorcerers were commoners and tradesmen, and magic was turned to producing first the luxury goods that nobles craved, and then the common goods that everyone needed. Assembly-lines of specially-trained sorcerers produced goods of incredible quality in a tenth the time and half the cost that old mechanical methods had, but put a huge drain on the available mana supply. In response, the Churches, getting more secular by the moment, drew on the peasant supply from the farmlands, drawing more and more youths into the mana mines.
The guilds wanted political power, the Nobles wanted more goods faster, and slowly, the distinction between the two faded: Guilds and Nobles Houses were replaced by Syndicates, gigantic organizations that have a stranglehold on the human trade and political power. The manpower needs of the Mana Mines and the Syndicates are enormous, and have fueled an incredible urbanization as they draw more and more peasants to the cities in order to work in terrible conditions to keep the machinery of modern-day life in motion.

The location of this particular RP is the City state of Eibon, a large and powerful political entity founded by a breakaway movement of aligned Syndicates. It is roughly 34 years old and a sprawling. Everything else is up to you.


WHAT IS A S.M.I.T.E TEAM?

SMITE (Special Magic Including Tactical Enchanments) is an elite unit in many city watch departments, which is trained to perform exceptionally dangerous, high-risk, counter-terrorism operations that fall outside of the abilities of patrol officers. These can include serving high-risk arrest warrants, performing hostage rescue and/or armed intervention, preventing terrorist attacks and counter-terrorism, and engaging heavily-armed criminals.

The SMITE team is a new invention, arising around 17 years ago in response to Thaumatic terrorism and unorthodox crime. It has been declared a effective and celebrated part of all modern City watch forces. SMITE teams are trained in many different tactical operations and are outfitted with top of the line gear. They are only answerable to the city watch, rather than any Syndicates. They are often in the possession of magically reinforced armors and weapons, along with capable traditional magic.


THE RP:

Things are going to be pretty simple.

The RP group is going to be set up into a single SMITE team. The exact specifics of a team member is up to the player, but all team members must be in top physical condition, be passable at stealth skills and have passed basic weapon training. Beyond that, skills are up to the player.

Your character Sheet is as follows

Name: (self explanatory)

Age: (again, pretty obvious)

Species: (You have a lot of freedom with this one. Al I ask is that there are no elves or dwarves. Faries, spirits, and new magically altered species are acceptable. All you need to do is think up is how people relate to them.)

Appearance: (How do you look?)

Equipment: (Guess)

Background: (Where do you come from? Be creative, not cliché)

Skills: (Things you can do. Pleas rate skills between 1, or novice, to 6, the best)

Virtues: (Personality or biological advantages go here)

Flaws: (Personality or biological disabilities go here)

Employment History: (who do you work for before you were in the Eibon SMITE team?)



So that’s pretty much it. Hopefully it all works out.

Cool. I always have to think about this stuff. Expect something from me soon.

Although, quick question: We will obviously have magic, but do we have to explain what kind we have? And do we have to define what magic actually is? And what kind of limits are there on our magic? Because obviously the mana has caused magic to become easier.

I guess that was more than one question, eh? :lol:

Magic is essentially up to the player, but there are a few distinctions.

All magic is not created equal and should be treated like sciences. Just like a Biologist does not necessarily know any physics an evoker will not likely know any necromancy. Try and divide magic skills into separate skill groups.

Everyone in the city knows a few simple. Usually something like bringing a stove to a boil or making enough light to walk by. Other spells take some minor training, while military grade spells can take much longer to master.

The only real rules I will enforce on magic are these limits. They could potentially be circumvented, but that is a job for scientists:


The Limit of the Heavens: Magic cannot affect anything outside the earthly sphere

The Limit of the Soul: Magic cannot effect an immortal soul. It is notable however that magic can harness the energy of a soul leaving the body

The Limit of Essential Nature: Magic cannot affect the spiritual nature of a creature. It cannot alter or reverse aging.

The Limit of Creation: Magic cannot make permanent creations without raw mana

The Limit of Time: Magic cannot effect time

The Limit of Energy: Magic cannot create energy, it can only manipulate existing energy.

Are gnomes allowed? Specifically, Tinker Gnomes?

Go for it.

Gnomes are a minor subteranian fae. As a result they tend to be a little... off. Tinker gnomes are normal gnomes who have at least one generation in a city enviornment, and they tend to be even more off

Beyond that, go nuts! :D

Will try and have it posted by tomorrow.

Name: Kanda Imogen

Age: 23

Species: Altered Human(magical)

Appearance: 5'5", 123 lb., black shoulder lenght hair, emerald green eyes.
Silver earring in one ear, Alteration: Black feathered wings(can't fly, but give a boost to his jumping or provide a softer landing), black cat ears and
tail. Wears no shoes, simple clothing.

Equipment: A katana, a bottle of sake, a bottle of his own blood.

Background: When Kanda was born, his father experimented on him, changing physical and mental aspects. He got cat-like atributes and black feathered wings, when authorities found out his father got arrested and he was put in a family who owned a dojo. Practising Kendjutsu with his new family and studying magic to remember the old one. Eventually he descided to join S.M.I.T.E on request of his master/father.

Skills:

-Sword Fighting: 6
He has mastered many sword styles, using his enhanced sense of balance and rexlexes to it's fullest.

-Acrobatic: 4
Comes with the looks, sort of speak.

-Blood Magic: 5
Can manipulate his own blood, can even harden it to a strong metal. He can also close his wounds with one simple hand movement, but cannot regenerate limb.

-Fire Magic: 1
Can make a small flame on his finger tip. That's pretty much it.

Virtues:
*Cat like senses and reflexes.
*A jump boost or softer landing thanks to wings
*A strong and disciplined body


Flaws:
*Weak to catnip.
*Gets drunk really fast.
*If he has to use blood directly from his body it weakens him.
*Get's distracted over fluffy fast moving objects.
*Says -nya~ after sentences.
*Has mild symptons of depression; might have an episode every 2 weeks. Each episode lasting 2-3 days.

Employment History: When his skills were evolved he helped teaching kids in the dojo. Wrote a book on blood magic once, with some interesting theories about it.

Hmm... I'm tempted to make a gnome skilled in potatomancy... But that would be a smige too silly. So we'll go with something different.

Name: Daniel Millard

Age: 10

Species: "Human" In reality, he is a golem, made from pieces of dead bodies. His Necromancer grew tired of him after moving on to bigger and better things.

Appearance: 5'4" and thin. A broad forehead, a thin nose, and large brown eyes, his head managed to be one piece. Where his head meets his neck, there are large scars where his flesh is fused together, the skin tones no longer match, but aren't blaringly obvious in difference. Beyond that, he keeps covered, for his body, arms, and legs all came from different bodies. Each set of limbs match, as that was simpler for an experiment. He usually wears a gray knit sweater, long black pants, and a large brown coat, that extends to about mid shin. He almost always wears a pair of leather gloves, because his hands are a pale gray. Large boots adorn his feet.

Equipment: Standard issue everything. He isn't very skilled in martial arts yet. He's learning to use a short sword, but he still much prefers magic.

Background: A young necromancer digs up graves, retreating to his laboratory. He's trying to take his research in a new direction. After sewing him up, and double checking to make sure he has all he needs, and brings the form to undeath. The golem rises, taking a few wobbly steps. The necromancer is pleased, his creation was a success. Now for the next step. Over the next 2 years, he taught his creation everything it needed to know in order to live. It learned to speak, read, think, move, everything. He soon became a "normal" functional human.

After he was done teaching, the necromancer set his creation onto his vast library. He'd collected many texts concerning magic, even if he'd only perused them once or twice. He'd only ever tried Necromancy, learning the workings of others to better understand his own. The golem started with evoking, being a "simple" enough magic. After mastering a few spells, he moved onto Illusion. He found how much he liked it, and quickly poured through all the books on the subject his creator owned. He set back to evoking, his master not letting him leave the "lair", as the golem called it, to study the world. He grew bored of evoking, and turned to enchantment. The human mind fascinated him. By this time, it had been six years since his creation. He'd spent the whole time learning, mastering illusions, and practicing his other magics. He never touched necromancy, somehow feeling it was wrong for him to practice.

Eventually, he grew bored of the library and its old books. His master never brought any new ones, and he was growing tired of reading. He wanted to see the world, to meet these people he'd read about in some of the story books that occupied a single shelf. He asked his master to let him go, to discover the world. His master finally gave him permission, now having moved on to creating something new. Daniel named himself, taking his creator's last name, and his first from his favorite adventure story. And so he moved onto the world.

He tried to become a functioning member of society, only to find that most people were not as accepting as his creator. He finally found some work on a farm, doing everything the farmer asked in exchange for a place to live, and food to eat. The farmer put up with him and his curiosity of the world. Finally, he moved on, going to the city. He applied for the S.M.I.T.E. team, and they accepted him, due to his abilities.

Skills: Illusion (6) Evoking (4) Enchantment (2) Problem Solving (5)

Virtues: He can be completely "disassembled" and still have everything work, you can chop his head off without killing him. Hurts like hell, but he doesn't die, since he's technically still dead. Limbs, and even his head reatach themselves when connected. He's still somewhat childlike in his views of the world, despite his job. He's an optimist, and somewhat trusting.

Flaws: Very childlike and curious. He's also quite a bit naive. He's still a bit clumsy. His composition isn't the sturdiest, and you could rip him apart with a fair amount of force, it doesn't take a body builder, but a wimp couldn't do it.

Employment History: He worked on a farm for four years, and was simply a scholar for four before that.

Hope that's okay. I didn't feel like being normal, and a gnome would just be a bit too tempting to make overly off for me.

Am I allowed to be a sniper?

Since this seems to be Medieval tech, probably if you used either a crossbow or regular bow.

Name: Turon Blank
Age: 28
Species: human
Physical Description:
Hair Style: straight, usually in a ponytail
Colour: dark brown with blonde bangs
Length: waist length
Eye style/colour: green
Tattoos/distinctive markings: carries a scar from her right shoulder down to the back of her hand
Clothing description:
1. loose fitting t-shirt and black jeans under a full length brown trench coat or a black tank top over a white long sleeve shirt and blue jeans
2. a black tanktop over a white long sleeve shirt under a brown hooded trench coat, blue jeans and black, elbow length, fingerless gloves
Equipment:
1. Oak staff with a small ruby inset to the end
2. 3ft double edged katana
3. pack with food and water for several days plus what ever coinage she has
Background: I know it sounds strange, and most won't understand it, but I'm not from this world. Technically speaking I don't even exist. My childhood home was on Mars, much farther way than is physically possible. I was destined for a career in archeology when on of my professors found a book describing fantactic superhuman abilities- namely the control of the spiritual elements. I focussed on the element of fire but kept in touch with the others. Unfortunately I somehow opened a rift between planes of existance and was sucked in to what I've come to know as the 'Null zone'....and also my home. I can't return to my orignal home, but I have learned to make other dimensions home for the time it takes me to find the rift back to the zone. I only hope I don't find it this time....
Skills: can control pre-existing flames
Flaws: poor swimmer, quite naive and believing in people
Employment History: traveller

teh awsomeness of transdimensional travel, lol

There can be Snipers, but most of those are just magicians.


Good. Remember though, as a golem, and a necromantic golem at that, he is not legaly a person. Your employment, wage, and even your existence hinges on the goodwill of the brass.

Also, to be in SMITE you needed to have passed all the pysical tests. So even if you are fragile that means you can still kick any normal persons [censored] armed and unarmed. Yay for elite para-military groups!

Besides that though:



No Trans dimensional travelers please. After all, why would he be working for SMITE? he probably would have been vivisected by state scientists.

I spent a long time on the background. I demand that it be read.


Name: Reine DeGuerre

Age: 36

Species: Half-Dragon

Appearance: Thusly, [Picture] ;about 6'3" (1.91 m), 205 Lbs (93 kg)

Equipment: Leather armour, Shortsword, Glaive. Oh, and claws and jaws, as is standard. Although this may change if the tech level is different.

Background: She was born in the small mountain town of Südpark, where her mother was seduced by a disguised (and devilishly handsome) dragon. Her mother, no exception to the rule that dragons are untrustworthy and violent, at least showed enough compassion not to killer her then and there, but instead to keep her hidden in the cellar of the small cottage. For almost two decades she lived in seclusion, her mother's secreted shame, until a gentleman suitor got a hair too curious and found himself the key to the cellar.

What followed is unclear for the most part, but she recalls seeing her mother taken by force and beheaded on the spot. Then she ran. Deeper into the mountains, but she was caught in the end and the ones that did got it in their minds that a quick death would be too merciful. Instead, they pinned her down in the mud and took a machete to her wings before leaving her to bleed to death. Fortunately for her, she'd been unconscious throughout most of the decidedly un-surgical amputation, and didn't have to suffer through it.

She awoke days later in a small monastery that was being kept by a pair of monks; one young and one old. They attempted to explain how she'd gotten there, but were stymied by the fact that she neither spoke, nor understood their words. Luckily, the monastery had its fair share of scrolls and tomes - some more simple than others - and after some months of recuperation, they began teaching her how to read, write, and speak. She was a quick learner - perhaps due to her dragon blood - and had read everything to be read at the monastery in a few short years.

When she'd been able to understand, the monks explained how they'd discovered her in the forest while gathering herbs and had used what little magic they were capable of to keep her alive - it was against their doctrine to allow another to come to harm without intervening if at all possible. When they returned, the older of the monks had to remove the stumps of what were previously her wings in order for her back to heal cleanly. As a result, she was left with a pair of mirrored scars running from mid-back to her hips and because of the severity and magic involved in the process, it would be impossible for her to ever regain her wings through magic.

In addition to her literary teaching, the Monks also taught her how to defend herself from attack, as they had learned themselves years before. The old monk instructed her in the basics and orated the demonstrations of the young one, who would spar with her when the time came. Almost at the same time as she finished her reading, she also equaled the younger monk in combat, though the older could still have her surrendering in seconds.

She traveled, inevitably, into a nearby city, Senkestadt, with the young monk to barter the crafts they had made at the monastery for food and Mana. She was intimidated the first time and hid under her hooded cloak the whole time, but with each return, she grew more confident, and eventually she was all but flaunting her heritage and receiving a good many stares. When it was suggested that she find an occupation, the job of a city guard came as a natural conclusion to the monastic order's doctrine, and she applied after giving herself a name, Reine DeGuerre - which must have been important, since it was the first question she was asked.

For seven and a half years, she served the guard loyally and devoutly, more than once going above the call of duty to protect those in danger. She picked up some magic from a couple of the guards and proved most adept at enchanting, which happened to make her rather popular with the other guards; and their weapons. Not all of them were happy to be working with a half-dragon, but the few who weren't had enough respect to keep their mouths shut about it. When offered the position with SMITE, Reine jumped at the opportunity and never once looked back.

Skills: Acrobatics (5), Enchantment (4), Planning (6), Stealth (2), Control (5)

Virtues: Stronger than average; very flexible; sticks to the plan quite well.

Flaws: Poor ability to improvise keeps her out of a command role; inability to be concerned about the past.

Employment History: City guard in the city of Senkestadt for seven and a half years prior to her induction. Unemployed before that.

Heck, I didn't even expect him to be allowed a soul, let alone be legally human. Hell, if you HAD considered him a true human, I'd be slightly disappointed.

And even if his arm is removed, it still technically works. Would YOU want to be holding a severed arm that is hell bent on kicking your arse? I don't think so.

Nice background actually. I would have issues with the isolation as a child if she wasn’t a half dragon, just because of the language issues. But dragons are noted as being terribly quick learners, so that can be relegated to the side.

On a side note though, Xenosociologists would love to get their hands on her.

Also, The Glaive she uses is actually viable in the high magic setting here. So that’s another good thing. Her scales though are probably her best asset. An extra layer of protection in addition to the leather. Good stuff.

So all in all: