@Skyrte I ALMOST FORGOT! I would think that Elian and Ebon at least know each other. Elian would respect Ebon, and her dedication to training, as well as her skill and real-world knowledge of healing. I could see them being at least friendly, maybe even friendly rivals. Possibly teaming up for things where one healer is not really enough? whatcha think?
Friends came over yesterday and took my time away from RPG, so this looks like my window to do EVERYTHING. Nngh. I'll be in my PM box doing reviews. Ping me if needed.
“Time is the greatest teacher, but it winds up killing all its student's. How about I teach you instead?”
O V E R V I E W
N A M E
Richter Grant
A V A T A R
Hawkwood
A G E
34
G E N D E R
Male
V I S A G E
Beneath his armor of chain, leather, breastplate and gambeson lies a man of relatively average attractiveness, possibly more than average if he were the one writing this. Eyes of green, and skin a tone of slightly tanned salmon along with a round jawline are the most easily noticed thing about him beyond other incredibly obvious features. Usually keeping his dirty-blonde hair in a fairly normal crew cut, and his facial hair neatly shaved down to nonexistence, Richter is best described as looking "clean" at most any time you see him. In fact, that partially transitions to his appearance in Pariah with his armor and weapons, keeping them spick and span, lest they rust. He didn't know just HOW realistic Pariah was, but best not to let perfectly good armor rust away from blood and dirt. Given that he has no real qualms about his image mentally, his face, hair, and the like are all the same in Pariah, save for him perhaps being an inch taller, going from an infuriating 5"11' to a clean, even 6".
P E R S O N A L I T Y
A man who prides himself on educating others, Grant is extremely caring to those under his wing, quick to treat a stranger as a friend and even quicker to try and befriend them. He'd best be described as that one cool teacher you remember long after graduating, the kind that'd remember you if he heard your name. He's extremely loyal to people who reciprocate his feelings of friendship, and is often eager to learn something new, especially in the virtual landscape he's found himself in. Even when he should probably be doing something to make coin or improve his skill set, he can't help but immerse himself in learning about this strange fantastical land.
On the downside however, he can be a might bit annoying if you really don't want him as a friend, seeming to not be able to take a hint until being verbally accosted. He's also a bit of a dork when it comes to his field of work, and will not hesitate to exposit on his favorite historical figures, events, and a whole bunch of other things most people don't come to Pariah to hear about. He's a bit of a neat-freak, and will often stop to clean off his weapons after combat as long as there is time for it.
In regards to his aspirations, one could say that like any teacher, Grant really just wants to have his education matter to his students. Of course, beyond that, a raise and a vacation are always nice to the working man. He has doubts about whether or not he can actually make a significant impact in his student's lives in regards to what he teaches them, and also doubts his own ability as a teacher from time to time. If something he told you didn't work out in Pariah, he'd probably be heartbroken that his advice/teachings didn't help, and would take it as a sign that he needs to better himself before giving advice about something like that. After all, the path of learning is ever-winding, and teachers never stop learning.
B A C K G R O U N D
Born to a relatively well-off-enough household of a couple of newlyweds, Grant had felt blessed for the entirety of his childhood. Going to Normal schools, growing up to a normal, somewhat rambunctious teen, getting a normal crappy first job flipping burgers for an ungrateful slob, the works. What started to make Grant start looking above the haze of normalcy and into his future career as an educator was one Mr. Hawkwood, his High School Social Studies teacher. As dull as a Social Studies teacher may sound, Hawkwood was the kind of teacher that understood how little of a shit that high school kids gave in normal classroom scenarios, and as such would stage historical events out with the help of students, albeit with far less blood and violence involved. In addition, his class had less to do with doing homework and more about the actual studying of history. Richter fell in love with his methods of teaching, as well as just how genuinely enjoyable he made his high school experience, taking him for both his Junior and Senior years.
Life went on as it does, the boy grew into a slightly larger man-child that was in college. Time passed on back home as well, leading to the eventual death of his favorite elderly teacher at the age of 89. While he wasn't personally close to the man, it still felt only right for him to attend his funeral. After all, invitations were open to any who had his classes. Something sort of...sparked in Richter. Of course, it was just a small notion at the time, but some bit of him was telling him: "Y'know, teaching would work out good." And it did! Getting his doctorate, he managed to net a career at a 4-Year University after spending a few years as a Social Studies teacher at a local middle school in the city he'd moved to.
Time went on and as technology progressed, so too did its role in the classroom. Something as simple as projectors even started to become obsolete in this new virtual age, to the extent that the school even purchased some slightly outdated VR equipment for various class' uses. One rather popular feature among the University's faculty was the "Virtual Classroom" program, wherin students who weren't even at the University could experience a recording of the lecture in first person. Of course, this required a VR setup at home, but given the use of it by many students as an outlet for gaming, communication, or whatever other things kids (and adults) in a high-level education program did. Professor Grant was, quite frankly, smitten with the idea of experiencing history first-hand, and as such bought into the craze of virtual reality. Just about every kind of VR experience relating to some sort of documentary or first person recollection event was bound to be purchased by him at some point, and it was only a matter of time before the idea of a world with an entirely new history intrigued him. Pariah, a reality within a game that has infinite possibilities to learn, or even MAKE history. Given that the price wasn't the largest dent in his wallet he ever made, he invested into the new system as well as Pariah. Pressed by the system to know his character's name, Grant would naturally think back to the man who inspired him to become a teacher.
That and Hawkwood sounded pretty damn cool.
A T T R I B U T E S
R O L E
Tank/Support
A F F I L A T I O N
Tyhrien
P R O F E S S I O N
Knight
W E A P O N O F C H O I C E
At any given time, he will have: A Rondel Dagger An Arming Sword A Heater Shield A Short Spear
B E N C H M A R K S
Armored Accomidation: Hawkwood has spent an extremely long time in his armor most times of the day, having grown quite used to it. As a result, he doesn't get fatigued as easily when he wears it for extensive periods of time, and doesn't quite "bake" in the armor under the sun.
Fight the Good Fight With All Of Your Might: Crusader, Lord of the Realm! Hawkwood is quite easily inspired and performs far better with someone to fight for. He's had to face many a monster stronger than what his newbie teammates could handle, and he knew for a fact he couldn't let them down. A true knight fights to the last!
Equipment Caretaker - Advanced: His obsessiveness with maintenance of his equipment as well as his devotion to cleanliness have given Hawkwood the knowledge needed to ensure that his gear won't fail him when he needs it most. Even if it isn't the strongest of swords, you can leave it to him to make sure it won't break unless you smack it against a rock a few thousand times.
Cry of Heroism: Hawkwood has a damn loud public speaking voice, and can use his booming voice to inspire allies around him to fight their hardest, generally giving them a surge of endurance and vitality. So long as they don't find it just annoying. This also however tends to paint a huge target on his back, in regards to fighting beasts.
Encyclopedia Pariah: Because he gets around quite a lot and invests himself in learning about the world, he is generally always aware of where he is as long as he hasn't been knocked out and carried somewhere, or if the terrain isn't generic, even without a map to guide him. This also means it is incredibly easy for him to find his way around cities.
Teach And They Shall Learn: A teacher first and a knight second, Hawkwood may not be the best of trainers in this medieval land, but he sure can put a fire in your gut to get you learning. Someone who spars or trains in a skill that Hawkwood has basic familiarity with can often learn it a lot faster due to his instruction, although if they're of a higher caliber than him in the skill, then there's not much he can do to help there.
Plant Identification Minor: One can't exactly survive in the woods off of herbs and mushrooms if you don't know which ones are poisonous. As such, Hawkwood has familiarized himself with knowledge of the most basic plants so that he doesn't accidentally make a mushroom stew that kills a man in one sip.
Monster Identification Advanced: Many a novice under his watch has charged beasts, so of course he'd familiarize himself with knowledge of all but the most recluse and rare of beasts. Hawkwood can generally tell you what sort of feats a creature is capable of, and sometimes, even their weaknesses.
R O U G H V I R T U A L H I S T O R Y
Immersing himself into this strange virtual world, Hawkwood began his career as a knight of Tyhrian...who completely disregarded actually learning any of the valuable skills that a knight would need beyond fighting. In fact, he's more of some sort of Scholar class by this point than any sort of knight. However, that hasn't stopped him from donning his armor and choosing to help out the newbie players to Pariah, whether they be from Tyhrien, or any of the other Fraternities. So helpful and informative is he that he has quite numerously been mistaken for an NPC. Mostly because he...tends to stand in one spot most of the time.
Regardless of his nature of NOT being an NPC, Hawkwood has helped many a new player get into the groove of playing the game, as well as often helping out lost or injured adventurers in his own expeditions into the wilderness.
I would love to give a detailed review, but for the content you’ve given me I cannot for the life of me come up with well-rounded critique by any means. Your character sheet is very well described, detailed, and seems to utilize benchmarks rather well. Shylarah has already spoken about these things in her way, and I agree with the core of said analysis. The only comments I can tell you that need adjustment or explanation is things like spelling Tyhrien incorrectly (listed as Tyhrian in Rough Virtual History), and that Pariah had a “price that wasn’t the largest dent in his wallet” – what did you mean by this comment? I know I didn’t outright tell anybody what Pariah costed but I estimated it costing at the very minimum of one thousand dollars for its module. Now for a professor this might not seem like an expensive foray, but it is hardly a coffee at the local bagel shoppe either. I also made the section “weapon of choice” to signify their preferred primary weapon and that of which they have the most skill with— but I believe I’ve accepted extensive inventory prior so it is a nitpick that is as superfluous as it is irrelevant.
There is also the fact I have no idea what the profession of Knight is— can you elaborate or use something more tangible?
“Time is the greatest teacher, but it winds up killing all its student's. How about I teach you instead?”
O V E R V I E W
N A M E
Richter Grant
A V A T A R
Hawkwood
A G E
34
G E N D E R
Male
V I S A G E
Beneath his armor of chain, leather, breastplate and gambeson lies a man of relatively average attractiveness, possibly more than average if he were the one writing this. Eyes of green, and skin a tone of slightly tanned salmon along with a round jawline are the most easily noticed thing about him beyond other incredibly obvious features. Usually keeping his dirty-blonde hair in a fairly normal crew cut, and his facial hair neatly shaved down to nonexistence, Richter is best described as looking "clean" at most any time you see him. In fact, that partially transitions to his appearance in Pariah with his armor and weapons, keeping them spick and span, lest they rust. He didn't know just HOW realistic Pariah was, but best not to let perfectly good armor rust away from blood and dirt. Given that he has no real qualms about his image mentally, his face, hair, and the like are all the same in Pariah, save for him perhaps being an inch taller, going from an infuriating 5"11' to a clean, even 6".
P E R S O N A L I T Y
A man who prides himself on educating others, Grant is extremely caring to those under his wing, quick to treat a stranger as a friend and even quicker to try and befriend them. He'd best be described as that one cool teacher you remember long after graduating, the kind that'd remember you if he heard your name. He's extremely loyal to people who reciprocate his feelings of friendship, and is often eager to learn something new, especially in the virtual landscape he's found himself in. Even when he should probably be doing something to make coin or improve his skill set, he can't help but immerse himself in learning about this strange fantastical land.
On the downside however, he can be a might bit annoying if you really don't want him as a friend, seeming to not be able to take a hint until being verbally accosted. He's also a bit of a dork when it comes to his field of work, and will not hesitate to exposit on his favorite historical figures, events, and a whole bunch of other things most people don't come to Pariah to hear about. He's a bit of a neat-freak, and will often stop to clean off his weapons after combat as long as there is time for it.
In regards to his aspirations, one could say that like any teacher, Grant really just wants to have his education matter to his students. Of course, beyond that, a raise and a vacation are always nice to the working man. He has doubts about whether or not he can actually make a significant impact in his student's lives in regards to what he teaches them, and also doubts his own ability as a teacher from time to time. If something he told you didn't work out in Pariah, he'd probably be heartbroken that his advice/teachings didn't help, and would take it as a sign that he needs to better himself before giving advice about something like that. After all, the path of learning is ever-winding, and teachers never stop learning.
B A C K G R O U N D
Born to a relatively well-off-enough household of a couple of newlyweds, Grant had felt blessed for the entirety of his childhood. Going to Normal schools, growing up to a normal, somewhat rambunctious teen, getting a normal crappy first job flipping burgers for an ungrateful slob, the works. What started to make Grant start looking above the haze of normalcy and into his future career as an educator was one Mr. Hawkwood, his High School Social Studies teacher. As dull as a Social Studies teacher may sound, Hawkwood was the kind of teacher that understood how little of a shit that high school kids gave in normal classroom scenarios, and as such would stage historical events out with the help of students, albeit with far less blood and violence involved. In addition, his class had less to do with doing homework and more about the actual studying of history. Richter fell in love with his methods of teaching, as well as just how genuinely enjoyable he made his high school experience, taking him for both his Junior and Senior years.
Life went on as it does, the boy grew into a slightly larger man-child that was in college. Time passed on back home as well, leading to the eventual death of his favorite elderly teacher at the age of 89. While he wasn't personally close to the man, it still felt only right for him to attend his funeral. After all, invitations were open to any who had his classes. Something sort of...sparked in Richter. Of course, it was just a small notion at the time, but some bit of him was telling him: "Y'know, teaching would work out good." And it did! Getting his doctorate, he managed to net a career at a 4-Year University after spending a few years as a Social Studies teacher at a local middle school in the city he'd moved to.
Time went on and as technology progressed, so too did its role in the classroom. Something as simple as projectors even started to become obsolete in this new virtual age, to the extent that the school even purchased some slightly outdated VR equipment for various class' uses. One rather popular feature among the University's faculty was the "Virtual Classroom" program, wherin students who weren't even at the University could experience a recording of the lecture in first person. Of course, this required a VR setup at home, but given the use of it by many students as an outlet for gaming, communication, or whatever other things kids (and adults) in a high-level education program did. Professor Grant was, quite frankly, smitten with the idea of experiencing history first-hand, and as such bought into the craze of virtual reality. Just about every kind of VR experience relating to some sort of documentary or first person recollection event was bound to be purchased by him at some point, and it was only a matter of time before the idea of a world with an entirely new history intrigued him. Pariah, a reality within a game that has infinite possibilities to learn, or even MAKE history. Given that the price wasn't the largest dent in his wallet he ever made, he invested into the new system as well as Pariah. Pressed by the system to know his character's name, Grant would naturally think back to the man who inspired him to become a teacher.
That and Hawkwood sounded pretty damn cool.
A T T R I B U T E S
R O L E
Tank/Support
A F F I L A T I O N
Tyhrien
P R O F E S S I O N
Knight
W E A P O N O F C H O I C E
At any given time, he will have: A Rondel Dagger An Arming Sword A Heater Shield A Short Spear
B E N C H M A R K S
Armored Accomidation: Hawkwood has spent an extremely long time in his armor most times of the day, having grown quite used to it. As a result, he doesn't get fatigued as easily when he wears it for extensive periods of time, and doesn't quite "bake" in the armor under the sun.
Fight the Good Fight With All Of Your Might: Crusader, Lord of the Realm! Hawkwood is quite easily inspired and performs far better with someone to fight for. He's had to face many a monster stronger than what his newbie teammates could handle, and he knew for a fact he couldn't let them down. A true knight fights to the last!
Equipment Caretaker - Advanced: His obsessiveness with maintenance of his equipment as well as his devotion to cleanliness have given Hawkwood the knowledge needed to ensure that his gear won't fail him when he needs it most. Even if it isn't the strongest of swords, you can leave it to him to make sure it won't break unless you smack it against a rock a few thousand times.
Cry of Heroism: Hawkwood has a damn loud public speaking voice, and can use his booming voice to inspire allies around him to fight their hardest, generally giving them a surge of endurance and vitality. So long as they don't find it just annoying. This also however tends to paint a huge target on his back, in regards to fighting beasts.
Encyclopedia Pariah: Because he gets around quite a lot and invests himself in learning about the world, he is generally always aware of where he is as long as he hasn't been knocked out and carried somewhere, or if the terrain isn't generic, even without a map to guide him. This also means it is incredibly easy for him to find his way around cities.
Teach And They Shall Learn: A teacher first and a knight second, Hawkwood may not be the best of trainers in this medieval land, but he sure can put a fire in your gut to get you learning. Someone who spars or trains in a skill that Hawkwood has basic familiarity with can often learn it a lot faster due to his instruction, although if they're of a higher caliber than him in the skill, then there's not much he can do to help there.
Plant Identification Minor: One can't exactly survive in the woods off of herbs and mushrooms if you don't know which ones are poisonous. As such, Hawkwood has familiarized himself with knowledge of the most basic plants so that he doesn't accidentally make a mushroom stew that kills a man in one sip.
Monster Identification Advanced: Many a novice under his watch has charged beasts, so of course he'd familiarize himself with knowledge of all but the most recluse and rare of beasts. Hawkwood can generally tell you what sort of feats a creature is capable of, and sometimes, even their weaknesses.
R O U G H V I R T U A L H I S T O R Y
Immersing himself into this strange virtual world, Hawkwood began his career as a knight of Tyhrian...who completely disregarded actually learning any of the valuable skills that a knight would need beyond fighting. In fact, he's more of some sort of Scholar class by this point than any sort of knight. However, that hasn't stopped him from donning his armor and choosing to help out the newbie players to Pariah, whether they be from Tyhrien, or any of the other Fraternities. So helpful and informative is he that he has quite numerously been mistaken for an NPC. Mostly because he...tends to stand in one spot most of the time.
Regardless of his nature of NOT being an NPC, Hawkwood has helped many a new player get into the groove of playing the game, as well as often helping out lost or injured adventurers in his own expeditions into the wilderness.
I would love to give a detailed review, but for the content you’ve given me I cannot for the life of me come up with well-rounded critique by any means. Your character sheet is very well described, detailed, and seems to utilize benchmarks rather well. Shylarah has already spoken about these things in her way, and I agree with the core of said analysis. The only comments I can tell you that need adjustment or explanation is things like spelling Tyhrien incorrectly (listed as Tyhrian in Rough Virtual History), and that Pariah had a “price that wasn’t the largest dent in his wallet” – what did you mean by this comment? I know I didn’t outright tell anybody what Pariah costed but I estimated it costing at the very minimum of one thousand dollars for its module. Now for a professor this might not seem like an expensive foray, but it is hardly a coffee at the local bagel shoppe either. I also made the section “weapon of choice” to signify their preferred primary weapon and that of which they have the most skill with— but I believe I’ve accepted extensive inventory prior so it is a nitpick that is as superfluous as it is irrelevant.
There is also the fact I have no idea what the profession of Knight is— can you elaborate or use something more tangible?
With that said, it is really easy to approve it.
So easy I already have done it.
The only comments I can tell you that need adjustment or explanation is things like spelling Tyhrien incorrectly (listed as Tyhrian in Rough Virtual History)
Fuck my ass and call me Sally, I swear I looked at the name like 4 times, and Thyrian doesn't even make much sense. Sorry about that. In regards to the Knight Profession, I genuinely didn't know what else to call him. Any suggestions for a different kind of starting profession that fits?
VISAGE Ebon is a carbon copy of Olivia, save for the hair which has been shortened to shoulder length, and perfect vision. Olivia is a short person, standing only at 5'2/157cm. Thanks to years of fencing and training in HEMA, she is fit and athletic. She normally wears glasses over her dark brown eyes to correct her poor vision, something she doesn't need to do in Pariah. She has black shoulder blade length hair often tied up in a ponytail or wrapped up in a bun, styles that she keeps while in the game. The outfit she wears in Pariah is only cloth, but it's comfortable, light, and lets her keep her range of movement. Although it was designed for practicality and comfort in mind, some parts are there for fashion. The shoulders have been padded, her shirt extends downward to her shins much like a dress, and her coat stops at the middle of her midriff. Her boots are thigh high, but still made of a durable, rugged material. She wears a metal mask which acts as her 'fencing mask'. She usually has a dark grey cloak wrapped around her shoulders for warmth.
PERSONALITY Olivia is an introverted, practical person, nervous and uncomfortable when outside of her comfort zone. She compensates for this by imitating confidence, following the saying 'fake it until you make it'. She would very much rather not be bothered, but the false confidence she displays when in social situations can cause others to approach her. While it is something she dislikes, she knows that she has to work on her social skills in order to avoid becoming a crazy cat lady when she grows older.
When it comes to other people, she is friendly and helpful. She's quick to make friends see the good in them, just as quick to become close to them and trust them. There's always a lingering fear that she'll be betrayed in some grand and cinematic way, but so far, none have done so. When she's in a familiar setting she relaxes and becomes more honest, quieter, turning back to her normal introverted ways.
BACKGROUND Olivia was born into a wealthy family on the east coast of the United States in the 2092. With one other sister and three brothers, she's the youngest in the family. As a child she was enrolled into public schools, raised as a normal child, with loving, caring parents with four attentive siblings. Remarkably she turned out to be very... normal. She connected the most with her eldest brother, Alfons, a man who wanted to live without any financial help from his family, he wanted to stand with his own achievements. On his own he had joined the military making a career out of being an Air Force Pararescueman. As a child Olivia always saw him as a real life superhero, after all he did jump out of planes and ride helicopters to save people for a living. Whenever he came home she was always around him and he always taught her a few things, how to dress a wound, how to fight, how to hide and evade from people chasing you. Skills typically utilized by an Air Force Pararescueman. Alfons the practical, special operations brother, made a huge impact on Olivia. She grew up to be like him.
When she was seven, her parents let her choose a hobby, ranging from sports to music to woodworking. When presented with so many objects, tools, musical instruments, she picked up one of her fathers sabers that was mounted on the wall. She wanted to be a warrior, like Alfons, someone who could fight and protect others. A week later Olivia had a fencing tutor. Throughout the years she kept at her swordsmanship, expanding her interest into Historical European Martial Arts as well, specifically Victorian sabre. As she went through middle school and high school, she had joined a club to further expand her knowledge, she had participated in a number of tournaments, winning more than a few of these competitions. In her club she was exposed to a number of other techniques, Fiore’s longsword and rondel dagger, Polish and French sabre, but she only dabbled in these, learning from other students when everyone was leaving for the day. She floated through life committed only to martial arts, not really knowing what she wanted to do in the future.
Two years after graduating high school, Alfons was wounded during an operation, an earthquake struck Italy. Ten hours later, Alfons and a handful of other pararescuemen were at the city that was hit the hardest, searching for survivors. Twenty eight hours after their arrival, a group of extremists attacked. As people ran from the fighting, Alfons and his fellow PJs prepared to fight back, armed with nothing but kitchen knives salvaged from the rubble and rocks. They fought for hours in the darkness of night before the area was mostly clear of civilians and the Italian armed forces had arrived. During the battle Alfons shielded a young Italian soldier from a grenade, taking shrapnel to his back and two bullets to his left leg. The battle lasted for ten hours more, Alfons laying in a field hospital with the people he had rescued just earlier, hating that he was taken out of the fight so early. He would be sent back to the states to recover from his wounds with two shiny medals pinned to his jacket, one from the Air Force, another from the Italians.
This story haunt haunt Olivia for a week after Alfons had told her. Soon after, Olivia decided to study to become a paramedic, understanding how fragile people are. It was nothing like the movies or books, where heroes would take sword blows to the chest and keep on fighting, where warriors would lose limbs and fight on. Her superhero was taken out of the fight by two bullets and a handful of shrapnel. She got her own apartment close to the campus. She stopped practicing martial arts to focus on her study. She kept in contact with the friends she made during those years fencing but she had very little luck making new friends. A year later one of her old friends had mentioned a new virtual reality game, Pariah Online. Olivia had no history of playing video games, but it didn't take much to convince her to join.
A T T R I B U T E S
ROLE Combat Medic - Healer/DPS
AFFILIATION TYHRIEN
PROFESSION Healer
WEAPONS OF CHOICE Sunset's Edge - A military sabre based off of the appearance of the English Pattern 1853 Cavalry Sword, complete with three bar hilt. Crafted with blackening on the ricasso in the shape of a right triangle, the back of the triangle on the false edge of the blade. Further blackening follows the fuller and spine, halting where the fuller stops. Two angled stripes cross the weak of the sword. The black oxide coating represents the night, while the steel is day.
BENCHMARKS
Enhanced Speed - Years of HEMA and fencing practice has made Ebon remarkably quick on her feet. Her ability to dodge, dash, lunge and move in short distances is only rivaled by other competition fencers and martial artists. This benchmark only further enhances her speed and reaction time. Saber Expert - Her history with the saber has gotten her this benchmark rather quickly. However this only extends to Saber weapons, although she has experience with other swords, she cannot use them as effectively as the saber. Lightning Step - A Storm magic ability that Ebon has unlocked very recently, which also has the potential to deplete her stamina almost immediately depending on how far she wishes to step. Lightning Step was allows her to advance, retreat, or lunge a distance of at most 10 meters with the speed of a lightning bolt. Observers have told her that she practically becomes an orange lightning bolt when casting this. When Lightning Stepping only one meter, the stamina usage isn't so much, but ten meters will make her fatigued. She can only lightning step when in en garde, meaning she cannot use this outside of being ready and in stance to fight.
Experienced Warrior - Years of sparring and competing has given her a good sense of battle. When fighting she can tell when the opponent will attack, advance, retreat, guard or parry based on the movements of her opponent's body. This benchmark gives her the ability to feel if her opponent will be attacking physically or magically. Healers Incantations- Not the best healer in the game thanks to her obsession with becoming proficient with the blade again, but she has a wide variety of healing chants. The spells are more effective when specific, a chant to heal a broken bone will heal much quicker than a general 'heal this warrior's wounds' spell. This requires her to identify the wound and then say the correct chant to heal the wound, her ability to see, properly diagnose, and heal has given her this benchmark. Shorthanded Cant - Ebon has developed her healing in the form of chants and prayers. Then she developed it further into a shorthanded cant that sounds like a foreign language, it's been compared to the more rapid sections of a Tibetan monks morning chant. She can only shorthand her lower level healing spells, which is unable to heal heavier wounds. She is able to shorthand heal and fight at the same time, although she'll grow tired quickly and may mess up the heals, making it less effective. She is unable to shorthand anything stronger than her most basic healing spells
ROUGH VIRTUAL HISTORY When Ebon first joined, she explored the starter areas, amazed by the landscape. Then she quickly became tired. This was a problem to her, a big one, in real life the amount of travelling she had done wouldn’t even have winded her. But there she was, panting. So the second thing she did was get a sabre, she tried it out and found that it felt heavy and sluggish in her hand. This coupled with her lack of stamina upset her. The third thing she did was train. She ran laps, practiced her advances, retreats, lunges, ripostes, parrys, attacks, she wanted that sword to feel familiar in her hand. She felt incomplete without it. For weeks she would stay in the same park, exercising, running through flow drills, practicing her techniques. So much so that others had gathered around her, mostly warriors, doing the same. With her as the center they exchanged their knowledge of weapons, armor and shields. They taught new players, and sparred with experienced ones.
It was here that the sword became familiar to her again, and it was here that she met a man named Elias. He was a blacksmith, wanting to adventure and travel, but he had no experience in combat. He wore a suit of armor that he made, wielding weapons that he forged. Ebon taught Elias what she knew and he invited her to party up with her. She agreed. The two travelled the forests and mountains, fighting wild creatures, discovering beautiful waterfalls and rivers, talking well into the night, seeing the sun rise and set. Then Elias told her that they should return to the city. When they did, he disappeared for a few days. Olivia had volunteered at the local hospital, where hunters would be healed. When Elias reappeared, he held a sword, a very specific sabre. He said that he was going to move, and he had to sell his module to make the trip. He wasn’t certain that he would come back. The two logged off for the night. When Olivia logged back in she was greeted by a message, Elias saying that he had walked to a cliff where they had camped and seen the sun rise and fall for the first time. If this was his last moments in the game, he wanted it to be in a beautiful place. She unsheathed the sword that he had given her as a parting gift, it was the Sunset's Edge.
In a shocking turn of events I’m not going to fuss about color formatting even though I did originally.
Despite having a very descriptive and well-crafted concept I do think you need to proofread it a little bit— there are some phrases that although exceptionally minor do read poorly as well as grammatical mistakes such as “haunt haunt” and “in the 2092”. These will take little time in adjusting, I imagine. With that said I do really enjoy your characterization and concept; I would have little issue accepting it… however, I believe Shy is right about the benchmarks situation.
Shy has pretty much stated all of my relative issues with the benchmarks (though I think increased proficiency/expertise with sabers are fine enough, though what does this earn her beyond not stumbling with the weapon?). I’d love to give this an immediate stamp of “go ahead, you good fam” but I feel like understanding the benchmarks has been a consistent issue in this RP that is largely my fault in not explaining it cohesively. Is there any specific help I could give in this fashion to make these physical benchmarks work? Here are my reiterations of my benchmarks for my character so we can analyze how I did it and make sense of what is different to how you did it:
Acrobatic Reflexes – In addition to her abilities as an evasive combatant, Rael is uncanny with her movement around an enemy thus making it exponentially more difficult to strike her or maintain a full threat assessment of her party given her tendency to jump, weave, and duck in the midst of battle. This benchmark has given her increased polish to her dodging abilities.
Dirty Fighter – Rael has always incorporated cunning into her attacks and using the environment against monsters and even resident opponents in duels. After doing this consistently for an amount of time she has found herself good at analyzing the environment for utility in battle whether it is a section of dirt, loose rocks, or weakened building supports. This has earned her a passive increase to temporarily immobilize her enemies.
Duelist’s Ethos – Rael is not a tank who blocks but there comes a time where she needs to meet an opponent’s weapon over simply dodging. However, instead of blocking Rael chooses to misdirect and counter instead; using her spear to shift an enemy’s weapon to the left or right instead of taking the brunt force of its blow. As such precision-based techniques in clutch situations come easier to her.
Evasive Combatant – As a tank who doesn’t bear heavy armor or extensive enchantments, Rael has had to take a different approach to combat; after conditioning herself to be faster than most of her peers she has achieved an agile and dynamic skillset that allows her to perceive things quicker and react in kind.
Provocative Presence – Intending to keep the attention of their enemies away from their allies, the rogue-like user has proven to constantly shift the attention of their enemy to focus on them by being agile and persistent. Due to this Rael has found herself emitting an inherent aura when in the heat of battle that attracts the attention of dangerous foes even when in the company of more dangerous allies that should be prioritized.
I’ve bolded key points in Hanako’s skillset for emphasis on how benchmarks are and should be.
Fuck my ass and call me Sally, I swear I looked at the name like 4 times, and Thyrian doesn't even make much sense. Sorry about that. In regards to the Knight Profession, I genuinely didn't know what else to call him. Any suggestions for a different kind of starting profession that fits?
What do you want your profession to do? Remember this is the utility of your finance and craft.
<Snipped quote by Sally> What do you want your profession to do? Remember this is the utility of your finance and craft.
I guess what he mainly wanted to do going into Pariah was to learn medieval combat and do adventurer stuff beyond the historian stuff...maybe Mercenary or Landsknecht would fit better?
I guess what he mainly wanted to do going into Pariah was to learn medieval combat and do adventurer stuff beyond the historian stuff...maybe Mercenary or Landsknecht would fit better?
Suggestions:
- Archaeologist - Collector (like Hanako, but perhaps not for the black market?) - Keeper (aka Lorekeeper— vague, I know, but it fits the route you want)
@Gowi I think you looked over the older character sheet. I went over the sheet anyways because I didn't really proofread it in the first place and fixed a few errors. As for the benchmarks issue perhaps making a list of the existing and accepted benchmarks will benefit people? Additional examples wouldn't hurt either. They can look over this list and take skills from that list, instead of making a third ability about combat awareness, or they can look to the list and get a better idea of what benchmarks are all about.
CS 1.2 >General proofreading, grammar fixes and changes. >Added Notes section. >Added color formatting. >Adjusted Physical Benchmark: Revised 'Enhanced Speed'. >Adjusted Physical Benchmark: Minor grammatical change to 'Lightning Step'.
VISAGE Ebon is a carbon copy of Olivia, save for the hair which has been shortened to shoulder length, and perfect vision. Olivia is a short person, standing only at 5'2/157cm. Thanks to years of fencing and training in HEMA, she is fit and athletic. She normally wears glasses over her dark brown eyes to correct her poor vision, something she doesn't need to do in Pariah. She has black shoulder blade length hair often tied up in a ponytail or wrapped up in a bun, styles that she keeps while in the game. The outfit she wears in Pariah is only cloth, but it's comfortable, light, and lets her keep her range of movement. Although it was designed for practicality and comfort in mind, some parts are there for fashion. The shoulders have been padded, her shirt extends downward to her shins much like a dress, and her coat stops at the middle of her midriff. Her boots are thigh high, but still made of a durable, rugged material. She wears a metal mask which acts as her 'fencing mask', and she usually has a dark grey cloak wrapped around her shoulders for warmth.
PERSONALITY Olivia is an introverted, practical person, nervous and uncomfortable when outside of her comfort zone. She compensates for this by imitating confidence, following the saying 'fake it until you make it'. She would very much rather not be bothered, but the false confidence she displays when in social situations can cause others to approach her. While it is something she dislikes, she knows that she has to work on her social skills in order to avoid becoming a crazy cat lady when she grows older.
When it comes to other people, she is friendly and helpful. She's quick to make friends, seeing the good in people. And just as quick to trust and become close to them. There's always a lingering fear that she'll be betrayed in some grand and cinematic way, but so far, none have done so. When she's in a familiar setting she relaxes and becomes more honest, quieter, turning back to her normal introverted ways.
BACKGROUND Olivia was born into a wealthy family on the east coast of the United States in 2092. With one other sister and three brothers, she's the youngest in the family. As a child she was enrolled into public schools, raised as a normal kid, with loving, caring parents with four attentive siblings. Remarkably she turned out to be very... normal. She connected the most with her eldest brother, Alfons, a man who wanted to live without any financial help from his family, he wanted to stand with his own achievements. On his own he had joined the military making a career out of being an Air Force Pararescueman. When she was young, Olivia saw him as a real life superhero, after all he did jump out of planes and ride helicopters to save people for a living. Whenever he came home she was always around him and he always taught her a few things, how to dress a wound, how to fight, how to hide and evade from people chasing you. Skills typically utilized by an Air Force Pararescueman. Alfons the practical, special operations brother, made a huge impact on Olivia. She grew up to be like him.
When she was seven, her parents let her choose a hobby, ranging from sports to music to woodworking. When presented with so many objects, tools, musical instruments, she picked up one of her father’s sabers that were mounted on the wall. She wanted to be a warrior, like Alfons, someone who could fight and protect others. A week later Olivia had a fencing tutor. Throughout the years she kept at her swordsmanship, expanding her interest into Historical European Martial Arts as well, specifically Victorian sabre. As she went through middle and high school, she joined a club to further expand her knowledge. She participated in a number of tournaments, winning more than a few of these competitions. In her club she was exposed to a number of other techniques, Fiore’s longsword and rondel dagger, Polish and French sabre, but she only dabbled in these, learning from other students when everyone was leaving for the day. She floated through life committed only to martial arts, not really knowing what she wanted to do in the future.
Two years after graduating high school, Alfons was deployed to a city in Italy that was struck by an earthquake. Alfons and his team prepared, flew, arrived and began operations for search and rescue in just a little over ten hours. Twenty eight hours after their arrival, a group of extremists attacked. As people ran from the fighting, Alfons and his fellow PJs prepared to fight back, armed with nothing but kitchen knives salvaged from the rubble and rocks. They fought for hours in the darkness of night before the area was mostly clear of civilians and the Italian armed forces had arrived. During the battle Alfons shielded a young Italian soldier from a grenade, taking shrapnel to his back and two bullets to his left leg. The battle lasted for ten hours more, Alfons laying in a field hospital with the people he had rescued just earlier, hating that he was taken out of the fight so early. He would be sent back to the states to recover from his wounds with two shiny medals pinned to his jacket, one from the Air Force, another from the Italians.
This story would haunt Olivia for a week after Alfons had told her. Soon after, Olivia decided to study to become a paramedic, understanding how fragile people are. It was nothing like the movies or books, where heroes would take sword blows to the chest and keep on fighting, where warriors would lose limbs and fight on. Her superhero was taken out of the fight by two bullets and a handful of shrapnel. She got her own apartment close to the campus. She stopped practicing martial arts to focus on her studies. She kept in contact with the friends she made during those years fencing but she had very little luck making new friends. A year later one of her old friends had mentioned a new virtual reality game, Pariah Online. Olivia had no history of playing video games, but she found herself with more free time than before, since she had stopped fencing. It didn't take much to convince her to join.
A T T R I B U T E S
ROLE Combat Medic - Healer/DPS
AFFILIATION TYHRIEN
PROFESSION Healer
WEAPONS OF CHOICE Sunset's Edge - A military sabre based off of the appearance of the English Pattern 1853 Cavalry Sword, complete with three bar hilt. Crafted with blackening on the ricasso in the shape of a right triangle, the back of the triangle on the false edge of the blade. Further blackening follows the fuller and spine, halting where the fuller stops. Two angled stripes cross the weak of the sword. The black oxide coating represents the night, while the steel is day.
BENCHMARKS
Enhanced Speed - Thanks to her intense training in the park, Ebon is remarkably quick on her feet. Her speed has been enhanced by this benchmark, letting her dart from place to place with a quickness not many can match, her reflexes has also been enhanced to allow her to process and react with her new speed. Lightning Step [Storm Magic] - Ebons need for speed and training to be the fastest she can be has granted her the ability to go above and beyond normal ‘fast’. With Lightning Step she accelerates with the speed of a lightning bolt. Appropriately observers have told her that she practically becomes a cluster of orange lightning bolts when using this magic. So far she is only familiar enough with this to use it while en garde, in a stance ready to fight, at a distance of at most 10 meters, and only with advances, retreats and lunges. If Enhanced Speed is one rating above normal human quickness, Lightning Step is two ratings. Saber Expert - Her history with the saber has gotten her this benchmark rather quickly. However this only extends to Saber weapons, although she has experience with other swords, she cannot use them as effectively as the saber. This benchmark naturally increases the penetrating and cutting power of whatever saber she is currently using.
Experienced Warrior - Years of sparring and competing has given her a good sense of battle. When fighting she can tell when the opponent will attack, advance, retreat, guard or parry based on the movements of her opponent's body. This benchmark gives her the ability to feel if her opponent will be attacking physically or magically. Healers Incantations [Holy Magic] - Not the best healer in the game thanks to her obsession with becoming proficient with the blade again, but she has a wide variety of healing chants. The spells are more effective when specific, a chant to heal a broken bone will heal much quicker than a general 'heal this warrior's wounds' spell. This requires her to identify the wound and then say the correct chant to heal the wound, her ability to see, properly diagnose, and heal has given her this benchmark. The benchmark acts much like a mental library, with this she will never forget the words to heal. It also allows her to invent new chants, for example in a situation where she has never seen a specific kind of wound before, and she has no existing incantation for it, she will be able to develop a new incantation just for it and deposit it into her mental library. Shorthanded Cantation - Shorthanded Cant is a much quicker, shortened incantation which lets her heal while doing another action, such as moving or fighting. When most other healers need to concentrate fully on healing then halting to fight, Ebon is capable of both at the same time thanks to this benchmark. So far she is only able to shorthand her lower level, generic healing spells.
ROUGH VIRTUAL HISTORY When Ebon first joined, she explored the starter areas, amazed by the landscape. Then she quickly became tired. This was a problem to her, a big one, in real life the amount of travelling she had done wouldn’t even have winded her. But there she was, panting. So the second thing she did was get a sabre, she tried it out and found that it felt heavy and sluggish in her hand. This coupled with her lack of stamina upset her. The third thing she did was train. She ran laps, practiced her advances, retreats, lunges, ripostes, parrys, attacks, she wanted that sword to feel familiar in her hand. She felt incomplete without it. For weeks she would stay in the same park, exercising, running through flow drills, practicing her techniques. So much so that others had gathered around her, mostly warriors, doing the same. With her as the center they exchanged their knowledge of weapons, armor and shields. They taught new players, and sparred with experienced ones.
It was here that the sword became familiar to her again, and it was here that she met a man named Elias. He was a blacksmith, wanting to adventure and travel, but he had no experience in combat. He wore a suit of armor that he made, wielding weapons that he forged. Ebon taught Elias what she knew and he invited her to party up with her. She agreed. The two travelled the forests and mountains, fighting wild creatures, discovering beautiful waterfalls and rivers, talking well into the night, seeing the sun rise and set. Then Elias told her that they should return to the city. When they did, he disappeared for a few days. Olivia had volunteered at the local hospital, where hunters would be healed. When Elias reappeared, he held a sword, a very specific sabre. He said that he was going to move, and he had to sell his module to make the trip. He wasn’t certain that he would come back. The two logged off for the night. When Olivia logged back in she was greeted by a message, Elias saying that he had walked to a cliff where they had camped and seen the sun rise and fall for the first time. If this was his last moments in the game, he wanted it to be in a beautiful place. She unsheathed the sword that he had given her as a parting gift, it was the Sunset's Edge.
As for the benchmarks issue perhaps making a list of the existing and accepted benchmarks will benefit people? Additional examples wouldn't hurt either. They can look over this list and take skills from that list, instead of making a third ability about combat awareness, or they can look to the list and get a better idea of what benchmarks are all about.
This probably would've been a thing I should've done a month ago, but after like twelve characters at this point it might be a bit... superfluous. But yeah, I more or less agree. For now all we have as examples are accepted CS's and their benchmarks section.
@Gowi for the most part, people do okay with 'em. Outside of...y'know, general flailing. And I'm sure us DMs are happy to help if they need a lot of reworking in a partiocular case. ^.^
