Modern/sci-fi adventure in post-war depression
Characters are young war veterans and childhood friends
Special powers and abilities inspired by Animism
Story and setting inspired by Half-Life, Tomb Raider, and Final Fantasy

The Spirits Within
Everything began ten years ago. I still remember the chaos and confusion, as if it happened yesterday. It was the experiments of a covert government research facility that inadvertently caused the end of the world. That’s what most people called it, the end of the world. The scientists at the research facility attempted to peer into another dimension using a displacement device, but something went terribly wrong. An anti-mass spectrometer malfunctioned and caused a dimensional fracture to appear, through which myriads of monstrous creatures poured. The government tried to contain the situation by launching a nuclear warhead at the facility, but all it did was to cause further damage by initiating a quantum aftershock, which caused displacement storms to flare all around the world, allowing more of the alien creatures to invade. It was a disaster that plunged humanity into a war with a non-human force.

Before I continue, there are a few things one must know about Pandora. Everything in our world has a spirit and each spirit is connected through the Earth. Life on this planet depends on this symbiosis. There is no separation between the spiritual and material world. Souls and spirits exist in humans and animals, botany and rocks, thunder and wind, everything. The non-human invaders thrived on consuming these spirits, as it made them grow stronger. This caused the symbiosis to shatter and millions of spirits to flee their material embodiments. The spirits sought refuge in material entities whose spirits were already strong to begin with, and most of these entities were humans. Those who were chosen by the spirits to protect them became their guardians. The spirits stimulated the guardians’ bodies and minds and allowed them to exert the spirits’ inherit power, a defense mechanism imposed by the spirits within.

The war lasted for three years and took the lives of many, but humanity ultimately won. However, with the disruption of the symbiosis, the world began to wither. The weather and seasons became incoherent and chaotic, shorelines along the coasts receded, natural resources gradually vanished, and wildlife turned into lifeless husks. Today, the world is akin to something out of post-apocalyptic fiction: alien diseases wreak havoc, food and water are in short supplies, electricity is not a granted certainty, savages and cults rule the outlands with primitive weapons, and the remnants of different governments have turned into a paranoid world state. We do what we can to survive, but the chance of a full recovery is doubtful.

Characters
You portray a Guardian. All the characters are childhood friends and they are bound together by a member of their group who died many years ago, Max. He was a charismatic and energetic young man, who always led the group to adventure and mischief common to children. The unfortunate event of his death—a car accident—occurred four years prior to the incident at the research facility, when all the characters were around ten years old. When the war began, all the characters were drafted and separated, which means that they have not seen each other for at least three years at the beginning of this roleplay.

Story


Max
This young man was the epitome of the alpha male and the guy all other guys wanted to be and all the girls wanted to be around. But, what made him the greatest friend one could ever have was that he never lost track of who his true friends were, who had grown up with him in the same neighborhood and shared blood, sweat, and tears with him—our player characters. Elstow was the name of the place that they grew up in, which was just a tiny collection of houses a few minutes north of a town named Helston. The children went to school in Helston, as Elstow only had a general store and a pub to offer its inhabitants.

One time, the children made a field-trip to Lichfield Falls without their parents’ consent or knowledge. The beautiful waterfall near a lush forest and open plains was a paradise on Pandora for the children, where they spent the entire day swimming and playing. Max kept them safe and made sure that everyone got home without a scratch. All of the children were in big trouble when they arrived back in Elstow late at night, of course, but it did not matter, as they had been blessed with a wonderful memory for life.

I want everyone to write a short memory like this, which is going to be shared by all our characters. I will add your contribution to this section once you post it with your character sheet. Keep it short and simple, but you can elaborate the memory from your character’s point of view in your character sheet if you so desire.

Codex
The name of the world is Pandora and it consists of five continents, which after the war have been designated Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Omega. Major cities have also been stripped of their proper names. They are designated by numbers instead, as in City 17. These are the workings of the World State.

The remnants of Pandora’s former governments formed a united World State succeeding the war with the non-human invaders. It was the result of a temporary alliance during the war and the realization of their heavy losses after it. It is a highly paranoid and unsympathetic government. All of their efforts and resources are spent on civil protection, mass-surveillance, and hazard control. Civil Protection officers patrol the streets of major cities and towns, monitor public transportation, and conduct random raids. Overwatch is a hardened version of the Civil Protection. They enforce laws and regulations outside city boundaries.

Displacement is the means by which one can transfer matter from one location or dimension to another regardless of their proximity, i.e., teleportation. The technology is still primitive and expensive. However, displacement storms are a natural phenomenon that opens up wormholes to other locations or dimensions, which is similar to the artificial method, but at a much greater and potent scale. Displacement technology remains a pivotal theme in Pandora and its most advanced technology, though extremely rare succeeding the war.

The primary forms of transportation post-war are either by automobile, boat, or train. The World State has suspended all air travel due to unknown reasons. In the outlands, people travel either by foot, horse, or bicycle. The war initiated a culture of melee weapons such as swords and axes, however in a modern format. The bow and arrow is the most common projectile weapon in the outlands, as they can be crafted locally and next to no expense. The World State Armed Forces—Civil Protection and Overwatch—are the predominant post-war users of firearms.

Due to the heavily reduced population in the world, succeeding the war, people have developed a deep sense of decorum. People care for connectivity, though in a different sense. The only feasible forms of contact are through letters and physical presence. Further, people are less egocentric when clean water, electricity, and non-toxic food are considered commodities. Moreover, the people entertain themselves with various forms of art and sports. These practices have become increasingly old-fashioned succeeding the invasion. People enjoy literature, paintings, and local theatre; they enjoy various football games, card games, and acrobatics. Hunting mutated beasts in the outlands is also popular.

Timeline Reference
1976-7: Player characters are born.
1989: Max dies in the car accident.
1995: Incident at covert research facility.
1998: End of war.
1999: Present time.

Combat
There are two sides to combat: narrative and numeric. The narrative function of combat entails the delight of creativity. You use your better judgment and describe battle scenes to the best of your ability, while not having to worry about limitations or questionable actions. The numeric function of combat focuses on eliminating the ambiguities of the narrative function. They are still similar, but the numeric function has concrete outlines and helps your judgment when you write battle scenes. The Game Master will clearly state which function that is in effect prior to any form of combat in the story. Most of the information in the hider concerns the numeric function of combat.



Character Sheet
We are aiming at 5 roles including myself. This is not a first come first served. I'll look at many indefinable qualities when choosing roles, if we were to get more than required applications.



Tips/Rules
If you need help with maintaining grammar, look into downloading or purchasing William Strunk's The Elements of Style.

Guild rules apply.

Made updates to the combat section. Finally found something that I'm happy with, though still working on the spirits.

I'm curious as to how many from the interest check that have found their way here and are working on characters. If you are here, please say something!

Oooh! Oooh! Here, I'm here! Don't worry! I'm working on my character even as we speak... though it's taking longer than I expected...

Great! No rush, take your time.

*Looks around* I really hope it's not one of those times where the interest thread gets a lot more interest than the OOC.

Anyways, I'm still working on the character sheet, but I have a test coming up soon, so I'll post what I have so you can at least see what kind of character I'm making. Constructive criticism is welcomed. J-just try not to make me cry *Sniff*.

Also tell me if any of the spirit ideas work. I know the spirit section is still under construction, but I listed some ideas for abilities my character can use during numeric combat. I am thinking my character won't have any conjuring abilities so a majority of his spirit skills are passive or supportive. Any actual damaging attacks, my character has to do it on his own… So I guess that would kind of make him the monk of the group.

I am planning on either: picking 6 different spirits or actually have my character be more proficient in one particular spirit (planning it to be "sound" if that is possible) which will be the equivalent of 3 spirit slots and have the remaining 3 spirits be different spirits.

Name: Kimberly Rene “Wookiee” Faye
Birthday: July 19th, 1977
Height: 199cm
Appearance: Kimberly's appearance had always daunted those around him. Maybe it was his hollow dark eyes that observed the world with an intense glare so powerful that it might as well have the ability to disintegrate people with a simple glance. It might have been because his facial muscle was as flexible as granite, usually showing no other expression other than grouchy and a homicidal smile. Or maybe it was just because he was a giant. Something about him made little children cry, women take out their pepper spray, and keep the emergency line busy with calls pertaining to a suspicious individual. Kimberly has been questioned by the authorities, numerous times, on the basis that he looked like a(n): gang member, escaped criminal, terrorist, serial killer, wookiee, and werewolf. Not many believed he was innocent on all counts.

His unkempt long wavy hair, initially grown in attempt to make himself invisible and less threatening, has been Kimberly's trademark; the reason why he would come to be known as “Wookiee”. Now that he is capable of growing facial hair, Kimberly has a beard that his equally as long and untamed as his scalp hair, further cementing the name “Wookie”. Fortunately or unfortunately for him, Kimberly's family tend to play with his hair so often that it is not rare to find Kimberly walking around with braided hair and beard ornamented with hair clips and ribbons.

Ever since the war, Kimberly has maintained a muscular body so that he would be better equipped to protect and support his remaining family members, two seniors and a small child, from the brutal world.

As for attire, Kimberly has never been picky. He would wear just about anything as long as he was comfortable in them: even if the clothing do not actually match or look good on him.

Biography: Kimberly was born as the only child between Lee Faye, an ex-convict, and Joyce Evette Appleberry, a photographer. Though they were not financially wealthy, the Faye family lived peacefully for the first three years of Kimberly's life. That was, until Kimberly's father was arrested for murders that he did not commit. For two years, Lee and Joyce tried to prove Lee's innocence. For two years Joyce and Kimberly were harassed by the media and those who were convinced Lee was the culprit. For two years they fought and failed. When Kimberly was five, Lee Faye was executed. A few days later, out of a moment's disappear, Joyce committed suicide. She had attempted to take her son with her, but Kimberly survived the whole ordeal.

Kimberly was sent to live with his heterodox grandparents, “Mrs.” Clair Appleberry and Mrs. Michaela Appleberry, in Elstow. “Mrs.” Clair Appleberry, Kimberly's biological grandfather, actively worked as a botanist while her wife Michaela ran a coffeehouse in Helston. Moving to Elstow was supposed to be the new beginning that Kimberly desperately needed, but unfortunately for him, everyone in Elstow and Helston, knew Kimberly as the son of a murder. Where ever he went, Kimberly was greeted with cold stares and whispers that he pretended not to hear. Rumors were what people knew of Kimberly. No one got close to him more than necessary and Kimberly kept his distance away from others. It would have stayed like this for the rest of Kimberly's life if he had not met Max. Max opened the world for Kimberly: he would go places he would never go to, do things he would have never done alone, and become friends with those who would have been simply acquaintances. Max's death devastated Kimberly, but like the others, he managed to move on.

In middle school Kimberly met his future wife, Nancy April Rose. The two teenagers married before Kimberly was sent off to the front lines where he would fight the abominations for the entirety of the war. Nancy was not immediately drafted due to her pregnancy. After giving birth to a baby girl, Maxine Jolee “Max” Faye, Nancy worked as a mechanic at the rear. Kimberly would end up missing the first few years of his daughter's life and the last moments of Nancy's. Six months before the war would officially end, Nancy was brutally raped and murdered during a raid. After returning from the war, Kimberly has been living with his daughter and his grandparents in a community dedicated to restoring Pandora's former natural beauty. Kimberly primarily works as a farmer and protects the community from thugs.

Personality: Despite the stoic-henchman looking appearance, Kimberly himself is a kindhearted innocuous gentleman who has trouble expressing himself. For those who have no idea what kind of person Kimberly is, he may appear phlegmatic or even impassive, but he is far from both. He is more loquacious in his mind than he is in reality and he is much more emotional than his face allows him to be. Mild emotions only appear like Kimberly feels nothing. Extreme emotions makes Kimberly look like he is about to cast a curse on someone or has severe constipation. Any positive emotions makes Kimberly present that infamous homicidal smile of his. Kimberly rarely gets angry, but once he is enraged, it is difficult to calm him down. If he ever hurts someone, Kimberly always ends up regretting what he had done, regardless of how justified it may have been.

Kimberly is honest, loyal, and values his friends and family more than anything in the world. He is usually cautious, but can be credulous when it comes to his friends and family: a trait he attained ever since Max believed Kimberly when no one else believed Kimberly's father was innocent of the murders.

While having a talent for sports, Kimberly is the most skilled as an artist. Influenced by his mother's side of the family, Kimberly loves nature and various realms of art. When there was still plenty of uncontaminated nature to spare, Kimberly would take walks or simply stare at the scenery as a pass time. Kimberly's current dream is to resurrect green parks so that his daughter and her children would be able to play in it like he did when he was younger.

Though Kimberly would claim that he is over the traumatic events of his childhood, ever since the suicide of his mother, Kimberly has been suffering from chronic hallucinatory psychosis. Symptoms include various sensory hallucinations, the most prominent symptom being auditory hallucinations, that can be either a harmless or terrifying experience for Kimberly. Kimberly is usually aware if what he experiences is a hallucination or not, but occasionally he cannot tell the difference between reality and imagination. Kimberly often hallucinates about a man named "Ghost", a cynical and sarcastic man who does not always share the same opinion as Kimberly.

Prelude to The Spirits Within: When Kimberly stared into the sky, it felt like nothing had changed. It was blue and it would change colors as time and seasons passed by. Sometimes it had clouds in it that would change not only in its color, but in its shape too. The sun, moon, and distant stars obliviously shined as beautifully as they always had. As long as Kimberly did not look away from the sky, Pandora was the same planet it was ten years ago. If only it were true.

Kimberly slowly inhaled the air, before closing his eyes, as if to prepare himself to come back to earth. Propelled by his exhaled breath, Kimberly's face faced forward. Wearily, his eyes opened to see the gray and barren planet Pandora had become. Although Kimberly had seen this scenery for at least three years, he still could not believe the world had changed so much. Where had all the green grass and trees gone to? Where were the colorful flowers that attracted the equally as colorful birds and insects? The crystal clear water had dried up and was replaced with some toxic concoction that poisoned all those that merely touched it; even Pandora. The only wild animal Kimberly had seen since the war were humans. The once vibrant world of color and life was now gray and lifeless.

Kimberly's gaze moved to the ground he stood on, where the dead plants he had just planted recently were just as gray and lifeless as the rest of the world. The giant man must have stared at the plant for a considerable amount of time, before a small little girl stood between Kimberly and the plants. With her arms spread out defensively and a particular shine in her eyes, Maxine glared at her father, "Cookie, stop doing that!"

Kimberly's eyebrow slightly lifted from its usual position. In a voice too quiet to barely hear, he asked "Do what?"

"That!" His daughter screamed as she pointed accusingly at his face. "Your face! Stop it! You're hurting the plants!"

My face is hurting the dead plants? Really? How is that even---…"Blame genetics, Max. I can't change my face." Not with the technology we have anyways.

"Yeah you can! It's called a makeover!"

"You… want me to put on make up?"

With a sudden burst of laughter, Kimberly's grandfa---mother, Clair, placed her hand on the giant's arm. "THAT, Nana would love to see."

Kimberly covered his eyes with his hand. Then you better kiss your hard work good bye, because there is no way any living thing would survive that. "Plants would go extinct."

"Oh," Clair said before quickly glancing at the lifeless land around them. "So that's why this happened. It explains everything." Clair chuckled in response to Kimberly's sigh, before scrutinizing the dead plants. She tried to pick up the dried plant up in one piece, but ended up watching it turn into dust. "I suppose this means we'll have to try again."

Silently, Kimberly began to collect several samples of the dead plants and dirt. "It'll go better next time, Nana."

"I know, Wookiee." Clair smiled at her grandson as she took the samples he collected and placed it in another secure container. "It always has." She gave a friendly wink as a bonus. "Though you may need to seriously work on your facial expressions. You won't make any life form go extinct, but your daughter will nag you for the rest of your life if you don't work on it."

"Cookie! You're doing that thing again!" Maxine yelled in disbelief. Maxine turned to Clair as if requesting for some kind of assistance, "Nana! Cookie's doing that thing again! We need to give him a makeover. He needs one. Pleeeeaaaassse?"

"Nana, your great-granddaughter is doing that thing again. Make her stop. Please."

Shared Memory of Max: “The Adventures of Max and Friends: The Wookiee”
For about three months Helston had been experiencing multiple break-ins, vandalism, and theft. What little witness the town had to offer, claimed to have seen a hairy giant in lurking in the shadows. While the local police tried to find the culprit, the rumor that a wookiee, an endangered species, entered civilization attracted the attention of various people. After making a bold bet, that they would be the first to capture the wookiee (or the culprit), with another group of kids, Max and his friends began to make preparations. They researched about the creature and made elaborate traps to capture it. They had even made a wookie costume for Kimberly and [another one of Max's friends] to wear. The night they executed their plan, however, everything went wrong. None of the traps were really effective and, at one point, Kimberly and [Max's friend #2] were kidnapped by the hairy thing. Although the group managed to get their two friends back, they failed to capture the mysterious being. From that night on, however, Helston was free from the vandalism and theft. In the end, all Max and friends gained was a blurry picture of something hairy.

Spirits: (Ideas)
Sound -Passive: Makes all sounds Kimberly produce undetectable
Sound -Magic: Allows Kimberly to mimic other sounds
Sound -Passive: Enhanced hearing
Plant -Magic: Minor healing
Sun -Passive: Presence of sunlight enhances healing
Earth -Enhancement: Increases defense for a few minutes
Electricity -Enhancement: Increases agility for a few minutes
Moon -Passive: Night Vision
*Kimberly has no conjuring abilities for narrative or numeric combat
*Will either: pick 6 different spirits or pick one spirit that takes up 3/6 of the spirit list and the remaining 3 different spirits

Here as well! Terribly busy as of late but I'll have an open schedule over the next few days to draft up a character and iron out his specifics.

JJ Doe said
*Looks around* I really hope it's not one of those times where the interest thread gets a lot more interest than the OOC. Anyways, I'm still working on the character sheet, but I have a test coming up soon, so I'll post what I have so you can at least see what kind of character I'm making. Constructive criticism is welcomed. J-just try not to make me cry *Sniff*.Also tell me if any of the spirit ideas work. I know the spirit section is still under construction, but I listed some ideas for abilities my character can use during numeric combat. I am thinking my character won't have any conjuring abilities so a majority of his spirit skills are passive or supportive. Any actual damaging attacks, my character has to do it on his own… So I guess that would kind of make him the monk of the group.I am planning on either: picking 6 different spirits or actually have my character be more proficient in one particular spirit (planning it to be "sound" if that is possible) which will be the equivalent of 3 spirit slots and have the remaining 3 spirits be different spirits.

The less we are, the better. I'd rather have just two devoted players than an army of drop-outs and half-assess. I'll bump the interest check in due time to see if we can recruit a fourth player.

Your ideas look solid so far, a lot of deaths though. The name of Kim's kid was a nice touch. I'm going to let you finish your character sheet before I make any definitive statements or comments about it, but you're on the right track. (your character reminds me of this: Gentle Giant). My advice would be to go through what you have already written, when you return to finish things up, and make sure that everything is the way you want it to be.

Regarding the spirits, we can certainly work together on this. Keep your ideas in mind, but wait until I've posted the details about the spirits, this way you'll be able to adjust your ideas to fit the format that I've created. It's quite a simple format, so I'm sure you'll be able to adapt your ideas to it.

One thing that you will have to do is to define Wookiee. While Pandora certainly is much like Earth, it is still a very fictional world, in which Star Wars does not exist. However, since a Wookiee is... well, something... in Star Wars, it could be an actual animal on Pandora. I'd like you to write a description of it for the Codex.

Thrydwulf said
Here as well! Terribly busy as of late but I'll have an open schedule over the next few days to draft up a character and iron out his specifics.

Wonderful! No problem. Take your time.

AH~~~! I see… Okay okay, I was thinking Pandora was an alternate Earth that had the exact same history (with some name differences) up until 1995. I falsely assumed the timeline was our Western timeline. Silly me. You see? This is why I can be dense sometimes.

Just to be absolutely sure this time, can you describe how the world was like before the war? Was it like our Earth in 1990's (minus the Star Wars) or was it more like one of the Final Fantasy series? Sorry for all the trouble. I should have asked these questions earlier.

We don't need to have wookiees since I obviously made a mistake… Though…
…
…….
…………
… What would they be like in the world of Pandora? Giant primates that are the primary demographic of Pandora's equivalent of Herbal Essences? … Huh, maybe this can be a "Shared Memory of Max": Max and his friends trying to capture a wookiee… Hmm…

Oh and Gentle Giant? Yeah. That's basically Kimberly. Spot on. At least I got the “oh, he is the this-and-that guy” part right.

Also, did you want me to cut down the number of deaths? The high death count was: 1.) To make sure no one will ever question whether Kimberly's father was innocent since he's dead and the case is officially closed (maybe I can connect this case to the main plot, but I'll keep it vague until then); 2.) So that people can give Kimberly a hard time about his mother committing suicide and attempting to kill him in the processes (or maybe it wasn't a suicide and it is linked to the case Lee was accused of); 3.) Have the "Sound" ability connected to witnessing/hearing life leave his mother's body; 4.) Make Kimberly protective of his friends and family because he knows how it feels to loose someone and how easy a life can be taken away; and 5.) One of the reasons why he'll do everything in his power not to take another person's life... drama will ensue if he does kill someone.

JJ Doe said
AH~~~! I see… Okay okay, I was thinking Pandora was an alternate Earth that had the exact same history (with some name differences) up until 1995. I falsely assumed the timeline was our Western timeline. Silly me. You see? This is why I can be dense sometimes.Just to be absolutely sure this time, can you describe how the world was like before the war? Was it like our Earth in 1990's (minus the Star Wars) or was it more like one of the Final Fantasy series? Sorry for all the trouble. I should have asked these questions earlier.We don't need to have wookiees since I obviously made a mistake… Though………….…………… What would they be like in the world of Pandora? Giant primates that are the primary demographic of Pandora's equivalent of Herbal Essences? … Huh, maybe this can be a "Shared Memory of Max": Max and his friends trying to capture a wookiee… Hmm…Oh and Gentle Giant? Yeah. That's basically Kimberly. Spot on. At least I got the “oh, he is the this-and-that guy” part right.Also, did you want me to cut down the number of deaths? The high death count was: 1.) To make sure no one will ever question whether Kimberly's father was innocent since he's dead and the case is officially closed (maybe I can connect this case to the main plot, but I'll keep it vague until then); 2.) So that people can give Kimberly a hard time about his mother committing suicide and attempting to kill him in the processes; 3.) Have the "Sound" ability connected to witnessing/hearing life leave his mother's body; 4.) Make Kimberly protective of his friends and family because he knows how it feels to loose someone and how easy a life can be taken away; and 5.) One of the reasons why he'll do everything in his power not to take another person's life... drama will ensue if he does kill someone.

The world is the same as Earth in terms of geological and cosmological attributes: there are two poles, five continents, (there were seasonal cycles), there is a sun and a moon, etc., but history and culture are not the same, which is why something like Star Wars would not exist, or any other popular culture references. You are not dense. How are you supposed to know this stuff if I don't say it? The years in the Timeline References is just a coincidence. I might just as well have written years between 2345 and 2368. The world before the war was the direct opposite of what it is now. It was lush and green, peaceful and tranquil. Whatever memory people might have of it is good, and after the war, extremely idealized.

A Wookiee on Pandora could be a hairy, giant primate. Sounds about right and 'realistic.' I should not be the only one contributing to this world, so this is great. Yes, trying to capture or do something with a wookiee could be a shared memory of Max, I like it.

Nope, my remark on the death count was just that, a remark. The reasons you listed seem to work well with each other and the overall concept of your character. However, don't let that drama if your character kills someone cripple him or your roleplaying.

Mmmm hmm…*Takes notes* Wonderful! Thank you for clearing that up for me. Is there a specific format you'd like the wookiee codex to be in?

Prisk said
However, don't let that drama if your character kills someone cripple him or your roleplaying.

Overcoming hard times is all part of character development. Kimberly will manage...with the power of friendship!



...That or a nice cup of hot cocoa and a bubble bath. Either would work.

Just a question before I proceed. How strong of an influence is this numeric-based style of combat; I had the assumption with me that this would be strictly narrative and the realization that we'll have to be calculating life-points and damage points based on enemy level into our decisions and storytelling seems a bit tedious if I'm being honest. Additionally, for some reason, I also assumed that we would have one spirit associated with our characters; this is incorrect as well, right?

I'm afraid he seems a bit to all-over-the-place but I'm working on it. I'm not stellar at character sheets btw so meh xD

I was intending to have Thallas use spirits that effect his body or materialize to protect him, sorta like a summoner, would that be possible?

I also intend to play him as sort of an eccentric thief-like person with childish tendencies...

*Looks around* ... *A single tear falls down cheek*

JJ Doe said
*Looks around* ... *A single tear falls down cheek*

-reiterate-