[OOC] I, the Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!

[Guy0fV4lor]

Holy shit this RP is exploding, you're gonna be one busy GM @Zeroth!

[Zeroth]

@floodtalon
Just out of my own personal taste I'm not a fan of genderswaps, but it's not my character. I would suggest really weighing how much it ties in to their desire to become "a different person," though--what was "gender" to them? Did they suffer for not meeting some standard of manliness or not being feminine enough? Did they have real and legitimate issues tied to their biological sex, medical or otherwise? And if their actions and personality don't change, would changing their gender really achieve anything? Although you could, if so inclined, try to answer these questions in the future rather than the present--maybe their story is about finding out what these answers are to them.

Again this may just be personal taste, but I'm not fond of characters who place too much weight on their gender as part of their "identity." A character who says "I am a civil engineer who listens to smooth jazz and rides a Harley" has an identity formed from active, observable skills, tastes, and preferences. Someone who says "I'm (insert random letter of sexuality/gender/political spectrum or an abstract adjective like intelligent, creative, etc)," isn't telling me something I can see about them in most cases, therefore I have only their own perceptions of themselves to go on--and if someone has to tell you how much of something they are, instead of just showing you, then it's just an informed trait they may or may not actually demonstrate.

@Gardevoiran
Whatever the Monster is, that's pretty much set in stone. You could change certain features if you wanted--colors, styles of fur, distinctive shape of the eyes, etc.--but they are specific creatures rather than categories. You will, however, be able to change into many different species of monsters over the course of the RP--transforming and evolving is one of the primary goals.

[CriticalHit]

@Zeroth

...And here he is. Took a smidge longer than anticipated to get together though lol.

Ryuu Takahashi

Name: Ryuu Takahashi

Theme: None for the moment

Gender: Male

Species: Fanged Lizard

Appearance:

The General Idea

Physically Ryuu's body is much like that of other Fanged Lizards, small, lithe and coated in scales. One notable deviation is that Ryuu possesses a slightly longer tail than other fanged lizards. Aesthetically speaking, Ryuu's coat is made up of dull jade coloured scales on all sides, save for his underbelly which is a charcoal grey. A pair of circular yellow markings around his crimson snake-like eyes trail down towards the lizard's neck where they fade into thin streaks. The yellowed scales re-emerge periodically down his body as small thin markings, with the ones near his tail resembling slash marks. His build is average if compared to others of the species.

Goals:
- Survival is obviously priority number one.
- Gain more experience and carve out a reputation for himself in this new world. Perhaps the Demon King would know how best to start...

Past Life: Born as the only child of a middle class family living in Kyoto, Ryuu had by all standards, an average childhood. So long as he kept his grades up, he was allowed to do whatever he so pleased. Most of his free time was spent in the realms of swords and sorcery, through books and video games. What was originally a way for him to escape the monotony of his daily life swiftly turned into what some would call a passion. The boy managed to attract a small, yet-tightly knit group of friends throughout his early school years, due to his outgoing personality.

His parents split right as Ryuu was set to enter High School, though he did manage to keep up a good standing with both of them. In his first year Ryuu discovered that his true talent for writing. As such he devoted himself to becoming an author of fantasy novels, the very same stories that he had loved since childhood inspiring him to write of demons and legendary heroes. Much to the chagrin of his parents Ryuu was dead-set on his aspirations.

It was in his third year of high school that Ryuu met a girl named Saiki, who turned out to be his first and last love. The two shared many interests and things went well up until they were roughly a month from graduation. Walking home from school one night Ryuu found himself attacked by members of the local Yakuza clan. He tried his hardest to run, but within seconds the men had him on the ground and drugged Ryuu into unconsciousness.

When he awoke, the first thing Ryuu noticed was that his arms were now bound by ropes that were tied off onto pillars on opposite sides of him. Secondly, he was now shirtless and he was not alone in the room. The two men who had attacked him both now wielding knives, a man he did not recognize, and Saiki were all present. He heard the unknown man ask his daughter if she knew the boy in front of him, to which Saiki denied having knowledge of him. In the next instant Ryuu felt a searing pain tear through his exposed left arm, one of the kidnappers had cut him. This process repeated itself for nearly an hour, every refusal being met with yet another slash until finally Saiki caved. She told the man whom she addressed as father everything about the pair's recent relationship. The look of raw fury on the mans face at this revelation was enough to send chills of fear throughout Ryuu's whole body. He was terrified of what could come next.

And that's when he felt the knife tear open his throat. In that instant Ryuu knew that it was all over, he was as good as dead. These men were truly monsters, and yet there was no hero. All he could do was weakly look upon the faces of his mortified love and furious father as he swiftly succumbed to death.

What felt like years to Ryuu passed before a figure who called himself the Demon King appeared to him promising rebirth. With no other option, Ryuu made his choice of creature and was reborn...

Abilities:

Stun Fang I - Injects a target with a paralytic agent delivered via a bite attack. The afflicted is unable to move until either the
duration expires or they are cured. - (Starter Skill for Fanged Lizard)

Poison Spit I - Launch a small, caustic blob of venom at a target. - (Starter Skill for Fanged Lizard)

Transformations: Fanged Lizard

Inventory: Nothing yet... Probably unlikely that this will be filled, y'know he's kind of a lizard... nowhere to put things...

[Flood]

@Zeroth

After thinking about it for a while, I've come to the conclusion that perhaps I shouldn't go for a genderswap character. While I had a lot of ideas on how her past life and gender could work for character growth, including topics like society's view on masculinity and being uncomfortable in one's own body, I've realised that I'm probably not a strong enough writer to adequately tackle those kinds of issues yet. Thus I will be changing up her past life backstory so she was always a female.

Now moving onto other topics, what types of things can a Wisp evolve into out of curiousity? Or better yet, what's some of the end game evolutions for Wisps?

[Gobby]

@floodtalon If we go with Pokemon logic, a probable form would be something similar to a Protoss Archon.

[Old Amsterdam]

Honestly, I find that most non-trans writers struggle to properly, adequately, and accurately represent the internal, and external, issues factors affecting those of us who are are trans.

Ended up opting for a few hours of on and off sleep, so I'll finish getting caught up here on my breaks and such and see about uploading a CS on my lunch.

[UltraCraftGames]

@floodtalon Theres tons of branching paths so yeah there will be common stuff but they can diverge into weird stuff i think

[Gobby]

Who knows, you might just transform into a kawaii waifu or manly husbando.

[UltraCraftGames]

Or maybe a fifty billion headed dragon

[Guy0fV4lor]

Can we please not get into a conversation about transexuality?

[Old Amsterdam]

Can I get a link to the discord, per chance? The link in the OP just takes me to Discord itself for some reason.

[UltraCraftGames]

here discord.gg/7UERrZ

[Old Amsterdam]

A bit small, but I was worried about going too overboard with things until the concept was cleared.
@Zeroth

<Snipped into the CS tab>

[Gardevoiran]

@Zeroth
Ah balls. There went my idea of being a meek bird and evolving into the mightiest avian around.

I'm still not out yet though! It just means I might make a Goblin instead! Or maybe a Dire Rat! I'll figure it out soon!

[Gardevoiran]

@Zeroth
<CHAR Tab>

Huzzah! I made a goblin!

Fair warning, this gets dark. Blame @Old Amsterdam for giving me the idea to make it so dark.

[Legion02]

Israï

Name: Tom Hedgeworth, though he refers to himself now as Israï

Gender: Male

Species: Wisp

Appearance: Many wisps often chose vibrant colors. Sometimes aligning with the color of an element. This is not the case with Israï. He is a wisp of dark red and black. An obscuring creature mostly home in shade and midnight darkness. For the rest he is nothing more than a homogeonous, rippling blob of a certain, seemingly liquid as his core. With a more gasious 'shell' around it.

Goals: To gather power and gain superiority, maybe even apotheosis. Israï is happy he is given the chance to be more than used to be and will follow the Demon King's command. But he can chose, he will always take the path that gives him the most magical power or dominion.

Past Life: There is nothing, absolutely nothing that would set Tom apart from any western kid. Born from two, upper-middle-class parents, he lived his early life in books and on the internet gaming. He was a full-blown nerd with glasses and a lack of social skills. Tom studied computer science and went to work with an average IT company. Though Tom's life was incredibly boring, his interests were not. At night he read in books about occult rituals. During his holidays he traveled to see musea of obscure myths or odd locations. He never really got a hold of anything truly magical. But it never stopped him. He wanted something that would pull his life from the dull routine. Something that would make him feel like the mightest person on earth and give him command over others. The result: an accident at 32 years old. A truck couldn't break in time and passed a red light. Tom died on the spot.

Abilities:
- Mana Orb I - Send forth a magical orb to damage enemies
- Lesser Force I - Use minor telekinesis to project force upon a certain object
- Levitation - Float a few inches off the ground.

Transformations:
Wisp

Inventory: Empty

[Zeroth]

@CriticalHit
Accepted!

Aha! I KNEW one of these souls had to be from this..."glorious nippon!" They're the ones who created most of these stories I had to use to explain this whole reincarnation thing to begin with! I hope you're one of the ones who manages to make it to my palace without getting terribly traumatized, because I have so many things to ask you! Like this enslavement device called a "gacha!"

Skill Gain: Scribe I - Your past life as a writer has given you the gift of transforming emotion, sight, sound, and so many others into words. And words have power all their own. This skill's current rank allows the user to take any spell that they know, and inscribe it upon an object. That item can be used to release the spell at any time and by anyone. The same MP cost of the spell, plus the MP cost of this skill, is used up when enchanting the item.

The Demon King

@floodtalon
Wisps are "magically" focused, so their evolutions include things like elemental spirits, ghostly or otherwise spectral creatures, and other various creatures whose primary skillsets revolve around spellcasting. At end game a Wisp that stayed entirely focused on magic would probably be some kind of non-physical or otherwise amorphous being akin to some Lovecraftian being. A Wisp that might eventually try to gain some physical skills might end up as some kind of magical focused being with a physical body, like an archangel or archdevil. If they stuck to one element they might end up as a titan, archon, or some other metaphysical representation of that particular element.

@Old Amsterdam
Accepted!

Ah, a street rat. Couldn't keep one step ahead of the bread line, eh? And yet you lived in a world where the government would step in and play nanny--how did you manage to stay on the streets? Even if it was fake, or run by bureaucrats instead of loving parents, shouldn't you have had a household somewhere? Doesn't that world force its children to sit in a desk for eight hours a day? How did you manage to get in such trouble, then?

It couldn't be because you wanted to hang out with thugs and addicts, with the rest of the refuse, could it? Or did they drag you down, like a bucket of crabs? Was it always someone else's fault? Were you just a good little girl who didn't do nothin'?

Skill Gain: Muffle I - Your past as a street urchin grants you experience with keeping your head down. This skill grants you the ability to be just a little bit better at being stealthy.

The Demon King

[Zeroth]

@Gardevoiran
Accepted!

Pft! You call that dark? Sure, it's "eeeveeel," but come on! Skulls in the bedroom, dead bodies in the back room, shallow graves in the yard? There's no class, no finesse. I could make a little boy watch as I put his beloved father on a meathook, cut open his guts, and let his intestines dangle until he bleeds out. It's plenty fucked up, but does it have depth? Will it strike a chord somewhere in you, will it make you question everything you've ever known? Anyone can be a psychopath--now a sociopath, there's a bit of an art to that. Did you know sociopaths aren't automatically evil serial killers? They could have a good job, a happy life, a loving family, they could even live next door to you! No, the thing is, they don't feel they way you do and they recognize that...so they just perfectly imitate everyone else around them, so that you will never know. And sometimes people like that are the good guys! Like that priest over there, the one with no light in his eyes, eating the spicy Chinese food! I bet he wouldn't hurt a fly! Or maybe he has an entire basement full of starved children! Either way, you will never be sure!

Skill Gain: Tremor Sense I - Your past life as one in tune with your Dwarven side makes you very good at diggy diggy. One part of that, though, is knowing how to avoid cave-ins. You can feel vibrations through the earth within a 30 foot radius or so around you, whether they be footsteps, tunneling creatures, etc.

The Demon King

@Legion02
Accepted!

A follower of the occult? But you still have your soul. Can't do magic in your world with that still hanging around. And having it is the whole reason I could bring you here. In my world magic doesn't require making a deal, but in both our worlds it requires this: Sacrifice. What are you willing to give up, boy? You want control over others? You want the power to change things? You can't have your cake and eat it too. Expect to bleed, and cry, and howl, child.

Skill Gain: Extra MP - Your past as an attempted practitioner of magic still serves some purpose here, even if you never gained any real power. You have extra magical energy buzzing in your body, though at this level it's only enough to cast a single extra level one spell.

The Demon King

[Guy0fV4lor]

@Knox YOU, SIR, HAVE DECLARED WAR ON SLIME-KIND

[Flood]

@Zeroth

Alright. Well I redid my backstory, so please look over my CS again. I'll post it again here for convenience. Probably going to try and spec for Archdevil, Mourningstar wants a physical body and awesome magical power.

Mourningstar

"Let the light that all dying men see shine upon you! The Mourningstar!"

Name: Mourningstar

Theme:

Decisive Battle

Gender: Female

Species: Wisp

Goals: To conquer this pathetic realm! (And get a bit more confident as well)

Past Life: Mourningstar doesn't want to remember her past life for a variety of reasons. That fact that she was a pathetic loser with no friends outside the internet is one. The fact that she had been 25 and struggling to move out of her parent's place was another. Her crippling lack of self confidence was a very good one.

In her past life she had been a prodigy in programming, graduating with a Bachelor's degree in only two years of college and being the top of her class. The problem was that she could barely interact with people, a lifetime of shutting herself in her room to focus on her personal projects and gaming. She didn't even bother showing up to the graduation ceremony, there were way too many people there for her to even breathe much less give a big speech. She did a private celebration with her parents instead. This is how things went for 5 years, moving from job to job as a freelance programmer all from the comfort of her nice dark room.

Then of course the one time she decides to come out of the house to go get something to eat (a little self congratulatory snack after a particularly long coding session) she ends up the victim of a mugging gone wrong. She did everything right too, handed over her wallet, jacket, phone, so why did the mugger shoot? She would never know, nor did she really care. She was dead now, nothing left but to go to purgatory or whatever. So when she was given the opportunity to reincarnate in a cool fantasy world like her favorite games and anime, you can be damn sure she would take it. Nothing else better to do right?

This was her chance to reinvent herself, be more confident, attractive, powerful. So with that, the lost soul discarded the name of the old pathetic loser she used to be and adopted the name of a new, beautiful soul. She would be named Mourningstar! A bit edgy, but she liked the name, it was fun. Maybe this was a common name for monsters in the new world? Only one way to find out!

Abilities:
Mana Orb I: A shot of pure mana, shaped into an orb to be fired at an enemy. Hits with non elemental magic damage, nothing too special.
Lesser Force I: Used to manipulate objects due to the fact that wisps don't have hands. Not too strong, can lift anything a normal human could.
Levitation: Not even true flight, just enough height off the ground to be eye level with the average human.
Skill Gain: Magic Analysis I - Computer programming is a language of logic and mathematics. Mathematics and logic are objective truths of the universe. How does this relate to analyzing magical energies that manipulate the fabric of reality? You tell me, smart gal. At this level, after seeing a spell used you can only gain generalized information about it.

Transformations: Wisp

Inventory:Nothing really, don't exactly have any pockets to hold stuff.