Just a heads up for everyone I will be busy most of the day today. May check in at like 1am my time, but will probably be unable to respond in length until tmmrw.
@Fury Panda I've edited my sheet for Jeff and his Time Wizard Persona. Let me know if there's anything left out of place in his bio. He's still rather weird in his head, but at least this version would "be honored" go Shadow-Hunting with everyone. c:
So I managed to finish a sheet, hurray me. Forgive me if there are any mistakes, I made this one very quickly. If the stats are a bit too high then I can understand that and will tweak as necessary. I don't know if my persona's shtick will be alright with you, Fury, so if it seems a bit too gimmicky I'll probably change it to a more classic type of tank.
"How about letting luck decide?"
Name: Lock Scott
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Birthday: February 18th
Appearance
Lock stands at 1m72, being of somewhat average height and weighs about 61kg. While his proportions may be average, two things about him are most certainly not: His stark white hair and naturally red eyes. Both have the same issue: a genetic mutation caused a lack of pigment in the both of them. This isn't healthy as it makes his hair thinner and his eyes incredibly vulnerable to sunlight, which caused some damage in his early years and made him have to wear glasses. Nowadays he puts in amber-coloured contact lenses, which help out with the sunlight issue as they act like sunglasses. He still has to wear a regular pair of spectacles, however, as these contact lenses aren't tuned to his prescription.
Aside from those two things, however, Lock seems to be healthy enough. He's neither thin nor fat, though his arms are a little wimpy. For hotter days he likes to dress casually in t-shirts and cargo pants, held up by a nice leather belt. For the rougher winter periods, Lock likes to put on a nice long-coat. The colour of his attire tends to gravitate towards blues and greens, though he occasionally wears black and white to mix things up. His shoes are always some form of comfy sneakers, usually matching his shirts in colour.
As for accessories, Lock wears a pair of basic black armbands around his wrists. His right hand's ring finger hosts a silver ring with a small sapphire slotted into it, though nothing that stands out too much.
Despite his nonchalant looks, however, Lock is hiding quite a few scars. His back, chest and legs host a myriad of fresh soft-tissue, ranging from small white cuts to red streaks that look like they might have been nasty gashes at some point. Even the armbands around his wrists hide several red-and-white spots, showing that they have been damaged quite badly as well.
Personality: Lock is an unassuming, cheerful guy. He doesn't worry too much about life and tends to breeze through things with a smile on his face, taking situations as they come to him rather than stressing out over unimportant things. He's sociable and approachable, quick and easy to help someone out if they ask for it without asking for much compensation in return. He'll always lend a listening ear to his friends if they need one, acting like a reliable figure to share stories or grievances with.
However, that friendly and honest demeanor is just a front. Behind layers upon layers of fake honesty and selflessness is a bored, manipulative individual who dislikes most people and their daily pretenses. He's not a good person but knows to hide this fact for his benefit, as others finding this out would be quite troublesome for him. This is why he's secretive about himself, shifting the topic towards others or dodging questions directed at him. He'll never tell anyone what exactly he's been up to or why.
Despite his manipulating and general dislike of the human species, Lock is a surprisingly reckless individual. He'll often seek out thrills and dangers without stopping to consider risk or practicality. His incredibly bored demeanor makes him a glutton for anything small that could spice up his days or nights, even if the costs would be his potential life. He's quick to throw himself under the bus because he holds no value towards his own existence, finding pain more pleasurable than annoying as it takes him away from the daily numbness of his body.
History:
Lock wasn't always an asshole. Like any kid, he was impressionable and young at some point in his life. Despite being born as a rather odd child, one with red eyes and white hair, his parents loved him dearly. Even though Lock had clear limitations and was visually handicapped his parents did their best to provide for him, but there's only so much a middle-class family can do. Lock had to wear a pair of sunglasses for most of his life, even during days that weren't all that bright for normal people. Since he wasn't privileged enough to go to special schools for his condition, Lock had to be sent to average public schools for his education.
What followed was bullying, naturally. Due to Lock's oddball appearance and his constant need for sunglasses, bigger kids started picking on him. No matter how much the teachers tried to interfere, time and time again the other boys teased, punched and mocked Lock. This level of mental and physical abuse gradually became the norm for the boy, who couldn't escape it even in his first year of middle school. He grew to resent people and his parents had to helplessly watch him become emotionally secluded.
At one point, Lock was roped into some gambling matches by the other kids in his middle school classes. Thinking he'd be an easy target, they tried to scam him out of money by forcing him to play and cheating their butts off. What the others didn't expect, however, was that Lock seemed to be scarily competent. He seemed hyper-aware of what the other kids were doing at a moments notice, quick to call out bluffs and getting some lucky hands to win every round they played. The sunglasses on his face made it so Lock's eyes were hidden at all times, making the kids have no clue how to read him.
Angered by his wining streak, the kids accused him of cheating and ganged up on Lock. Just as they started beating him, however, a teacher flung open the door and caught everyone there red-handed. Apparently these little gambling matches had been going on for quite a while and this was just the one moment where the staff managed to catch them in the act. Nobody suspected Lock of willingly entering into those games at the time, so they let him go without warning.
This event, however, sparked something within Lock. His depressing and numb life had something dangerous, yet exciting happen for once. He started actively seeking out more ways to gamble, starting with online gambling. He managed to make some decent money off of it, hidden from his parents of course, but it was boring. There were no real stakes to the boy. So instead, he searched out cafés. Getting to know the right people managed to lead him to some underground matches with bad folk. It was fairly innocent at first, just some drunk motor bikers looking for some dumb fun. Slowly but surely, however, Lock's opponents became more dangerous. Criminals, mob leaders and rigged dealers soon found their way to the boy.
No matter how much the odds stacked against Lock, however, he kept winning. Some people managed to see through some of his cheating, obvious from the way they were cheating themselves of course. Oftentimes he'd find his money stolen and be beaten up, even though Lock had technically won his matches. Constant pain turned into a twisted excitement as Lock got hooked on this sense of danger, seeking out more thrills every day.
This all was piled on top of him being an excellent student, all things considered. His grades were always excellent even though Lock didn't look to put much of any effort into anything. He discovered Casper Academy at one point, finding the school appeasing. He decided to apply and the staff there seemed to catch on to his incredible luck and gambling tendencies, deciding to accept him as someone who's masterful at games of chance. However, nobody knows just how extreme these games get for Lock.
Combat
Weapon: A bit of an unusual choice, but Lock uses a pair of scissors which have had their outer edges sharpened to fight. Scissors are easy to acquire and are an effective stabbing tool, even capable of being thrown in desperate situations, but their close-quarters nature make it so that Lock has to get closer than anyone would be comfortable to be effective.
Fight Style: Lock is very calm and collected, but he isn't much of a fighter. If given the opportunity to get close he'll make an attempt to stab into or slash the enemy with his scissors before backing off again, acting more like an annoying wasp rather than someone who will inflict tangible damage.
Strength: Poor
Endurance: Average
Agility: Poor
Luck: Miraculous
Explanations: Lock isn't someone who actively works on his physique, so his body is relatively weak on that front. Frequent beatings and scar-inducing incidents have, however, made his body relatively sturdy and resilient. He has a high tolerance for pain and won't get knocked out easily, though it's easy enough to ragdoll him around given enough force. He has poor reflexes and isn't exactly an athlete, so dodging things can and will prove to be an issue. The one thing he is extremely gifted in, however, is incredible luck. Any gambler needs some of it, but Lock has it in spades. He'll consistently get two soda cans out of vending machines, find random trinkets, win all his bluffs and so and so forth. His luck does, however, come at the price of his reckless and uncaring nature.
Persona
Name: Damocles
Appearance:
Arcana: The Hanged Man.
Resistances: Dia variants (Repel) Wind Water
Weaknesses: Fire Ice
Strength: Great
Magic: Poor
Endurance: Outstanding
Agility: Average
Luck: Poor
Explanations: Damocles is an interesting Persona. He has excellent strength, endurance and not too shabby agility, but it comes at the cost of one crippling downside: A curse which refuses healing of any sort. Damocles' armor may gift him with incredibly defenses, but it also reflects any Dia spells thrown his way. He has only a single life every time he is summoned, making him excellent for short battles but crippled and broken for long, drawn out engagements. He is a double edged sword with a death timer ticking away every second.
Not only that, but this Persona isn't invincible. While Wind and Water magic are mostly harmless to Damocles, Fire and Ice are a huge threat for two opposite reasons. Being stuck in a huge metal suit, fire cooks Damocles alive inside of his armor while Ice makes him freeze to death. Magic in general can be very crippling to them as they can get past most issues his suit presents.
@Ammokkx I’m cool with him being strong sturdy but unhealable. My only real worry is that it kind of sounds like because he has a disabling condition, that is fairly minor, he became a bad jaded person. I wondered why not just have his disability be more affective overall (unable to walk, missing an apendadge, or even a severe limp) this would at least create future problems for him to solve. As is it kind of seems a bit like his disability exists to explain his special appearance and to act as a lightning rod for bullying, although we all know children don’t need a readon to bully.
@Ammokkx I’m cool with him being strong sturdy but unhealable. My only real worry is that it kind of sounds like because he has a disabling condition, that is fairly minor, he became a bad jaded person. I wondered why not just have his disability be more affective overall (unable to walk, missing an apendadge, or even a severe limp) this would at least create future problems for him to solve. As is it kind of seems a bit like his disability exists to explain his special appearance and to act as a lightning rod for bullying, although we all know children don’t need a readon to bully.
Well, yes, it's fairly minor in context. Maybe I should have stressed a more oddball personality, but let me explain my thought process in how I design characters:
I start out with a concept (Gambler) and then think of ways this could work. I brainstorm several ideas and take a rough one (Thrill Seeker) and try to expand on it. From there I got the 'Bored of life' trait alongside the idea of his Persona being something that refuses help. His white hair and red eyes are something I borrowed from Albinos, which are people who lack pigment in hair/skin/eyes and thus become cripplingly vulnerable to sunlight. From there I figured he could get bullied for his appearance and be someone who wouldn't really fight back, thus becoming a recluse.
I certainly didn't intend for it to come across as a special snowflake character, however. I try to show how he copes with the situation by making him change his eye colour to look a little more normal and put up a 'nice-guy' front to avoid the whole 'people pick on me constantly' issue. I kind of disagree with kids not needing a reason to bully too, as those who get bullied are generally 'weird' or 'weak' in some way, or in Lock's case, both.
If my reasoning hasn't convinced you, though, I can think of another disability.
@Ammokkx No he's great, thanks for explaining your thought process to me further, I just wanted to be sure there was more to it than (I wanted a character with white hair and red eyes). He's accepted, welcome on board! Feel free to post in the character tab.
Which I honestly don't understand because luck sounds like it's just an excuse for some real bullshit writing (in my opinion)
well
okay
I feel I gotta explain something here
Luck was not my first choice. My first idea was 'Musician specializing in buffs' until I read Aislyn's sheet, which was already a musician. I then figured 'Musclehead with good offense' until I released both Aislyn and Tenma already provided good offense.
So, I then thought 'Tank'. Then I thought 'Tank with frail user' and then I eventually stumbled into the gambler idea, into the 'Refuse healing' idea.
I didn't really mean to make his luck be an excuse for poor writing as I honestly wasn't really going to utilize it much outside of actual games of chance, alongside the fact I made the persona have poor luck. The entire concept kind of relies on him being lucky to some degree. I also liked the irony of someone who's so lucky having such a shit life, all things considered.
@Raddum@Ammokkx Luck based charachters are great. Most people dont use them to be like "I put myself in the worst situation, but whatever I'm lucky." As the GM I can decide how far being lucky goes Raddum.
I trust you tbh because I've worked with you slightly, also watched you GM for quite awhile.
Though honestly I just don't want to see -everything- be like "Oh wow what a lucky break!" During fights and such. While occasionally getting a stroke of luck is cool and all, but I don't want to constantly read about people dodging spectacularly and landing super-amazing blows that just cause the enemy to fall dead.
Only concerned because it's stuff I've seen before.
@Fury PandaI fixed the weight and her little ability. Hopefully it's better now? I still have to fix some typos but Eden is done for the most part. Let me know if anything else is wrong! ^^
Which I honestly don't understand because luck sounds like it's just an excuse for some real bullshit writing (in my opinion)
Though I'm not going to actually judge anybody on that until I see how things go IC.
I think it can make a character volatile, which can indeed get a bit crazy. But I don't think it's an "excuse" either, especially if Luck is a working force within the world of the roleplay. I personally included it because it is one of the stats in the games. Having a character be lucky doesn't mean they can just go around doing the impossible all the time either. If you're thinking along those lines, having a high strength could be an "excuse" for just punching your way through everything, or being agile could be an "excuse" for dodging every attack. Hell, if you wanted to do some bad writing, you could make Masuo see every move coming because of his analytical mind. Luck might be a little more malleable than the other traits, but "it's just an excuse for BS writing" could be said about any strong point in a character. Bad writers can abuse anything. (End of rant XD)
That being said, since Tendo and Ammokkx did make luck-based personas/characters, I may have to go in and change a few things about Lyrika to make things more balanced.
It's less of a issue with the stats and roleplay itself and more of a trust issue with the people involved, I probably could have explained that a bit better rather than just talking about the luck stat itself. It's that a character will do whatever they want because the person writing them and make them do whatever they want.
The amount of BS I've witnessed over the years just makes me a bit cautious when I see things that can obviously go wrong.