[OOC] Raiders and Ruins

[Rydude17]

@seriousarmour. Yeah, I reckon so.

[Sythe2107]

I am massively interested in this and would love to join after a friend pointed me to this game. The setting sounds amazing and I'd love to get in on it. If you're willing to have another I'd love to join!

[Rydude17]

I’m more than happy to take on more people! We’ve started very slowly (ie: not at all) because of the time I put this up, but I’m hopeful we get characters made and can actually begin soonish.

[Lurking Shadow]

I'm interested in this, though the character I have in mind is not from D&D. I have a serpent folk (adapted from Cthulhu mythos, not those from Conan the Barbarian) char from another rp that kind of fizzled out that I can convert for this pretty easily.

Serpent folk are kind of like lizard folk except they can feel emotions though differently than others might. They are adept in alchemy and magic (knowing spells from a variety of schools but especially illusion), and naturally produce a potent venom for their fangs.

[Sythe2107]

Awesome!

I was thinking of trying with a Gunslinger/Healer (Think watered down 'Holy gun' Paragon made to fit as per the rules here).

As far as races go, are Aasimar permitted? (Think reverse Tieflings).

[Sythe2107]

Going to put it up as is, please let me know if anything needs to be changed. I'm eager for feedback.

Mercy LaCroix

Name: Mercy LaCroix

Race: Aasimar

Age: 26

Appearance: Mercy is an Asimar, with appearance that might belie natural beauty in better circumstance, but is often caked in the dust and grime of the roads traveled. Ivory skin, blonde hair tied back, and with deep blue eyes, the young woman exudes an air of confidence beyond her years.

Often those very same features are concealed beneath the shade of a well-worn 'cowboy' hat and the simple draw of a bandana over her lower face. Perhaps the truest evidence of her femininity is her slim perfectly shaped figure, A toned and flat belly blends into a slim waist and then gives way to the curvy flare of her hips and long, powerful legs. Even so, her form is often hidden beneath the padded duster she wears.

Around her throat rests a cold pendant in the shape of the sun, a symbol of her driving faith. The 'instruments' of that faith are far more striking; a pair of well-maintained revolvers rest in a classic 'gunslinger' belt.

Skills and abilities:
Marksmanship/Gunslinging
Short to medium firefights.
Magic: Smiting shot, 'Lay on hands', can channel some positive energy.
Healing: Mundane wound tending.
Decent musician

Weapons:
Gunslinger revolvers
Pump-Action shotgun
Survival knife
Sun pendant focusing necklace.
Stock-whip

Other Equipment:
Traveling Bag (Rations, Water skin, bedroll and fire-starting equipment.)
Leather Long coat
Weather Poncho
Notebook
The Hat.

Background:
There was a time when the birth of an Aasimar was a good omen and cause for celebration, these days it can be a burden. There was plenty in this world people were willing to blame the gods for, and plenty of people who decided that someone who had the slightest hint of their blood was good enough. Even so, early life was as happy and safe as it could be for a time.

Mercy grew up in a small settlement to parents who ran a small tavern within called 'The Oasis' for its location near a well of fresh and clean water. Serving what drinks they could and patching up travelers, their family enjoyed earning a living and the protection of the settlement. She'd sing in the tavern, learned to stitch wounds with her father and went to bed with a full belly surrounded by warmth.

Monsters come in all shapes and size, but it wasn't mutants or infected that brought the destruction of her home, but men. For as long as there have been people alive, someone has wanted what another has. The men that came to town played the part of travelers, enjoying their stay until late in the night.

Mercy awoke to the sounds of screams, gunfire and death. They'd opened the gates and let the wolves in. The raiders took what they could, burned what they couldn't and the noise drew in the infected. The settlement became a ghost town above her while she hid in the cellar below. It took her days to dig her way out and even then she collapsed amidst the smoldering wreckage certain as her eyes closed that something would come for her life in the night.

But the sun rose again for Mercy LaCroix, as dawn broke her eyes opened and her hands closed upon a new weight resting in her palms. A pair of revolvers, old-fashioned and yet in perfect condition. As she stood with the weapons, there was purpose like never before. Such wickedness would be punished; justice would be delivered for the Oasis.

Three years had passed, hands that had one held their weapons with shaky determination were now firm, eyes wide with fear now carried clarity. Tragedy had brought her path to her, but the wastelands had no shortage of people in need and monsters that needed to be put down.

Other stuff:

[Hour Error]

I think I might change things up a bit and go for the ultimate of stigmatized characters, a tiefling that casts magic and wants to conjure things.

WIP Just A Skeleton for Now, will wrap it up tomorrowish

Lorn the Tiefling Spellcaster

Name: Lorn
Race: Tiefling
Age: 23
Appearance:
Skills and abilities:

• Sneaking/Hiding/Moving Silently
• Literate
• Magical Lore
• Magic: will elaborate, probably a focus on elemental magic, with a less experience but an interest in conjuration

Weapons:

• Staff of the Wanderer: an enchanted staff carved out of a strange, grizzled wood that seems as hard and durable as metal
• Dagger

Attire/Armor:

• Well-Worn Leather Boots
• Wool Skirt (Red)
• Sturdy Belt
• Wool Shirt (Red)
• Wool Vest (Black)
• Ample Cloak with a Hood (Black)

Other Equipment:

• The Grimoire of Saint Valus: a unique spell tome, reputed to contain forbidden knowledge regarding the much-feared spell school of conjuration
• Leather Traveling Pack (Backpack): containing a bedroll, a mess kit, a tinderbox, rations for a week, a waterskin, and a length of hempen rope

Background:
Other stuff:

[Rydude17]

Sorry for my absenteeism lately, guys. Been kept busy with real-life stuff. I’m posting this on my lunch break at work, but will try to read everyone’s sheets and give approval tonight after I get home

[Rydude17]

@Sythe2107 Approved!!
@Hour Error looks good so far, once you’ve got a backstory planned out lemme know

[Lurking Shadow]

@Rydude17 Would it be alright to have enchanted gear that could perform a specific spell? Specifically I'm thinking of a ring or necklace that would alter the appearance (but not the physical form) of my character to look like another specific character (an alter ego used as a disguise).

[Rydude17]

@Lurking Shadow Sure, enchanted equipment is certainly not beyond the realm of possibility. My character has an enchanted coat with extradimensional pockets, so a hat or ring of disguise would be reasonable.

[Lurking Shadow]

@Rydude17 Here's my Serpent Folk/People CS. Sorry it took a while but I tend to over think things, rewrite paragraphs a few times and do a lot of research on various topics to maintain some degree of plausibility (I spent the better part of an hour considering the practicality of coating bullets in venom before deciding it is not). Let me know any questions and/or concerns.

S’Hraa

Name: S’Hraa
Race: Serpent Folk (also referred to as Serpent People)

race description

Serpent Folk are a humanoid race that appear like large serpents but with arms and digitigrade legs. Compared to the average Human, they stand a head taller (though their long tails lead to a longer overall body length head to tail). Serpent Folk have poor vision in normal lighting conditions but have great vision in low light conditions and a specialized heat detecting organ that gives them a sort of ‘heat-vision’. Serpent Folk produce a paralyzing venom in their fangs to weaken and kill prey that they swallow whole due to their carnivorous diet. Serpent Folk can swallow something up to slightly smaller than them and can go weeks without having to feed again.

Serpent Folk are relatively low in number and prefer the company of their own kind and thus are rarely seen by other races, their existence largely being little more than a rumor. As a race they tend to be adept at alchemy and are inclined to magic, most knowing a spell or two at the least.

Age: 37

Appearance: S’Hraa stands 6’8” tall and is 11’ head to tail. His scales are a pale green on color with a finlike dorsal appendage consisting of spikes connected with a thin membrane running along most of the back. He wears a small enchanted silver necklace depicting a human-like face and carries several pouches filled with various alchemical ingredients poisons and potions.

pic for reference

He also has an alternate appearance with the aid of his enchanted necklace. With a little bit of focus, he can almost instantaneously take the appearance of (though not the form. He still has the same physical ophidian form but visually appears differently) a 6’4” tall Human with a lean build and pale white skin. This illusion appears like a human in every way except for the eyes, the only thing the necklace does not alter, which still betray its beastly origins. In addition, other clues may betray the illusion such as the footsteps not matching (for a particularly observant individual) or the odd mannerisms of S’Hraa (as sometimes he may forget or be unaware of how a typical human would react to a particular situation such as his preference to consume live prey, though this might be attributed to eccentricity) This is the default appearance S’Hraa takes with those unfamiliar with him and often uses this disguise to blend in unnoticed with society. This Human form often wears a hooded robe concealing most of his features, especially the face.

Skills and abilities:

Alchemical expert. He is fully capable of crafting beneficial potions and crippling poisons.

Stealth.

Due to a slow metabolism, he eats much less often compared to others. Fully fed (with large enough prey like the occasional bandit), he can be sustained for weeks at a time.

His potent venom can incapacitate a fully grown human in minutes, and often death in about an hour provided no treatment is given.

Adept at illusion spells.

His scales provide some resistance to weapons like sword or daggers and small arms outside of close range.

S’Hraa is surprisingly agile for his size. While by no means untouchable he does a good job of slithering out of the way of some attacks and hazards.

Weapons:

An ornate dagger with grooves for storing and injecting poison in any wounds inflicted.

A drilling with side by side shotgun barrels over a rifle barrel.

A pair of Fangs that can inject venom from his glands.

Other Equipment:

A wooden staff with a pair of snakes intertwining near the top which is used as a magical focus.

Various ingredients and containers of potions and poisons. Some empty, some filled and all contained within three pouches S’Hraa carries with him.

A metal tool resembling a fang meant to inject potions/poisons while minimizing tissue damage (like a syringe). Primarily used for medicinal purposes like injecting a healing potion directly into the blood stream rather than having to wait for it to normally be absorbed through ingestion for example.

Enchanted necklace that disguises S’Hraa as a Human (The disguise is ‘bound’ to S’Hraa and will not work with any other wearer unless they have the know-how to enchant it to them specifiacally).

Background:

S’Hraa was a little different than the rest of his kin. While most were content to live away from the other races, S’Hraa had a curious nature and sought to learn a little about these other beings he shares the world with. The only problem being he resembles a very large snake. Something often tied together with venom and a quick grave. Not ever hearing of Serpent Folk before, most people reacted negatively at a snake the size of a man.

S'Hraa quickly realized the solution and enchanted a necklace to cast a spell he would use often. With the convenience of appearing as a Human at a moment’s notice he began to mingle with society. After a few awkward encounters (Learning a language is tricky, learning the slang is trickier) he quickly acclimated and only occasionally slips up.

Of course, with the whole battle for survival thing going on now most anything resembling society would tell strangers to get lost unless they were trading or were adept at something, which fortunately for S’Hraa was alchemy. With the usual potion to cure a sickness, heal some dismembered fingers, and the occasional poison, S’Hraa became a highly regarded figure. Or, at least the Human form did. With the occasional bandit corpse (following a raid) going missing, like anyone cared, S’Hraa was content for the time being.

Eventually S’Hraa had an urge to move on. Satisfied with the stories he gained from socializing he decided to look for a new group with new stories. He never did feel close with any of them, feeling trapped in a form unlike his own, having to monitor his words and actions. Perhaps with others he might reveal a little about himself, might act like himself, or perhaps it will be more of the same. Regardless he decided to leave, to see where the road leads him to next.


Other stuff:

As one might expect, S’Hraa has a fondness of snakes and takes great care to not harm one. He thinks less of those who harm snakes intentionally or not and may even outright attack anyone who does so.

[Rydude17]

@Lurking Shadow Okay, most of this looks great, there’s only a couple alterations I’d like to put forward:

Firstly, and the only real “problem” I have with your character concept, is that I can’t really buy that nobody would be aware of the existence of Serpentfolk. I get that they’re a very uncommon race and typically stick to their own society, but unless that society is deep in the heart of an uncharted jungle I cannot imagine a scenario in which nobody had ever encountered one and written a prolonged dissertation on their culture and physiology. (And if they do love in some uncharted jungle, how would they know about the rest of the world?) This world is fantasy, so there are magical forces and bizarre peoples all around the globe, but it’s also modern. This is a world in which the atomic bomb was invented, which means that computers exist, cars, aeroplanes, cameras, etc. The majority of the world has been explored, and those parts that haven’t are completely wild. If serpentfolk live in the same geographic region as the rest of our races, they will be discovered at some point. I have a few counter suggestions, though. One option is that serpentfolk are less like a separate nation that keeps to themselves, and instead infiltrate human society en masse. Basically the serpentfolk all equip themselves with necklaces like yours and live as a secret minority amongst regular humans. I could see a vast conspiracy of shapechangers keeping their existence unknown in the modern world much easier than I can imagine a group of giant snake-people just living in a regular town and nobody noticing.

Alternatively, they are a known group, but were typically not allowed into human society (because they eat people, y’know?) and so humans knew of their existence but had no or little interaction with them.

The only other thing I had to say about your character is that I’m having some trouble picturing his scale. Like, he’s 11 foot long from head to tail, but only 6 foot tall as a human, does he just have 5 feet of invisible tail following behind him?

Also, and this isn’t a complaint, we have quite a few illusionists, huh? Gonna be all sorts of mind tricks being played.

[seriousarmour]

Your first suggestion sounds a lot like V and I love it.

I have another suggestion. It could be that they lived in deep jungle etc and kept to themselves. But that jungle could have been largely destroyed in the magical nuclear heat. And since the bombs fell the Lizard folk have had to come out of their seclusion and rapidly adapt to the more modern world. Could make for interesting character dynamic and confusion. But I don't know if @Rydude17 would approve of this BG either. Just a thought.

[Lurking Shadow]

@Rydude17 I probably worded something incorrectly but I was trying to imply that they are not well known by the general public outside of areas where they may be geographically present. Almost certainly some people would know of them. Alternatively, maybe they could be mistaken as a sub-species of the lizard folk if they are around as well?

Although, similar to your first suggestion I could borrow more from the source material in the Cthulhu Mythos where they are basically plotting the same thing. In a nutshell they were the dominant species on Earth prior to Humans millions of years ago but eventually suffered a decline following wars with several other species including Humans. Eventually the remnants retreated underground, the majority of which are hibernating in pods filled with life extending chemicals. They generally hate or resent Humanity feeling that they are blocking their rightful re-ascendance to power. There are a few agents disguised within society, probably to learn about the culture and seek weaknesses to exploit, and some may even hold positions of power. Something like this might make an interesting plot point somewhere.

As for the second point, yeah. The tail probably wouldn't follow him in a straight line in the back but somewhat coiled around him. As a result, he would often have a generous amount of space between him and anyone around him lest they trip over 'nothing'.

[Rydude17]

@Lurking Shadow That clears things up, then. I actually think that D&D has a similar creature, the Yuan-Ti. They’re basically what you just described, snake-human hybrids who used to rule the world and are plotting to take it back, and some of those also can take on a near-human appearance to infiltrate society. The main difference I see is that Yuan-Ti are very much Aztec in their aesthetics and come in a variety of hybrid forms, I dunno if Lovecraftian Serpentfolk are the same.

[Lurking Shadow]

@Rydude17 They might be, though it is not clear. I do know that in their peak they have made temples to Yig, the Father of Serpents who is also identified with/as(?) Quetzalcoatl who was worshiped by the Aztecs. They would also regularly perform sacrifices to Yig like Aztecs would, but then again basically every cult in the Mythos practices Human (or other, though usually it is just Humans because we must be delicious or something) sacrifices.

So, we going to go with the whole infiltrating society thing? If we do, I think I'll change my Char's backstory accordingly a bit though he would not hate Humans and other races but be indifferent.

[Rydude17]

@Lurking Shadow Only if you like the idea, now that you’ve clarified your original backstory I don’t have any real problems with it.

[Lurking Shadow]

@Rydude17 I'll leave it as it is then, anything else to change or is it alright to go in the CS tab?

[Rydude17]

@Lurking Shadow Approved