Such Haukes, Such Hounds

[Maxwell]

Lexicon: Acrolith hit it on the head.

Acrolith: Well, if nobody came asking for anything else, I was gonna have it be pretty open about that sort of stuff. I did invite people to play personal friends of the king, and to play as any race their little hearts desired, and I figured Erasmus was mostly focused on expanding his area of influence as quickly as possible, internal differences be damned. Keeping their peasants straight is what you have vassals for, after all. Of course, since the vassals basically get to do what they want as long as their reputation and taxes are in order, some places may well be a lot worse to be an orc/elf/centaur/frog-beast in than others - and people over the next hill might not have any idea.

Rayn Night: I hate to say this, but I'm getting more convinced that we're just not on the same page. I'm not the kind of guy who quietly says to himself "yep, that guy's not getting in" and then just ignores someone's application - and I wont. I'll consider your sheet as seriously as anyone else's - but it'd feel unfair not to warn you before you go through all that effort. I think you're gonna have a hard time getting in.

[b[Everyone:[/b] I'd like to request at least a solid paragraph for your appearance and personality sections. You probably have a clear picture of what your character looks like, but I want that too. As for personality, well, backgrounds are good to have, but your personality affects how you're gonna deal with everything that happens from now on, which is the the game is about. I think that it's extremely important to know who your character is and where he wants to be from the get-go, and I'm very interested in knowing that stuff myself.

However, I'm not a robot, and I'm not sitting here with a checklist of stuff you need to do to get in the game. If you're confident that you've gotten across enough characterization in the rest of your sheet, then go ahead and stick with a shorter personality. I'm not looking for filler, and indirect characterization is, and will always be, the bom diggity.

Very long pause for dramatic effect

...I actually really wanted to end my post on "bom diggity", and just let the contrast to the way I usually write sink in, but I have more to say. I'm not in a terrible hurry to get this game started, but I am seriously concerned that people will lose interest if we don't get anywhere within the next handful of days. Therefore, as some sort of compromise, I will try keep this thread active, and to have a proper OOC thread up soon, and pick out a couple of people at a time with a "you're totally in, this is what your character's circumstances are like" kind of post. Hate to stress anyone out, but this is play by post. Gotta keep it rolling, You should have most of next week though, and I might allow a straggler or two, if you make clear your intent to join the game.

[Hank]

Sounds like a plan. I'm ready whenever you are.

[Lexicon]

@ Maxwell: Going to make sure everything but my 'Backstory' is set tonight. I'll tackle that beast tomorrow. Then all I'll need is your approval and criticism.

[Nemaisare]

Works for me. Totally trying not to straggle, and still straggling.

[Rayn Night]

xD Don't worry Maxwell, I know I am making this hard. I had to re-read the general theme of the RP to get where I was going wrong.

I will be making a sheet like everyone else and if you don't feel it satisfactory, It is not that big of a deal.

[Bridgeburner]

Welp, I'm waiting for the official role play page to be posted to make my CS there.

[Lexicon]

@ Bridgeburner: You might want to start on a CS anyways since the OOC will be forthcoming.

@ Maxwell: Well, I got two of the three abilities handled. I'll knock out the rest tomorrow or Sunday. Probably tomorrow since I know you'll want to give feedback and whatnot.

[Chromane]

I'd be very interested in submitting a character sheet, is there still room?

[Maxwell]

This isn't first come, first served, so I'll take any number of sheets. So far, only four have been submitted - and I'm not sure if those are all even complete yet.

[Rayn Night]

Rayn Night

Name: Modakra Odus (AKA Servant Soft Waters)
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Age: 31

Position: WIP

Personal servant of the King: This is his whole purpose, or so his adoptive father said, to become Erasmus’ personal servant. He does any mundane task that his King desires, may it be fetching his equipment, getting his food, carrying out messages as desired. Anything his King willed, servant Soft Waters would do. On his off time, he is usually in meditation and training, perfection the flow of Ki within his own body.

Translator / Diplomat: As an addition to being his servant, he is also his translator. Modakra’s adoptive father had made sure he would learn academics that would be useful for the young man in order to serve the King. Having originally been someone of natural smarts and wits, it was easy for him to pick up multiple languages of the isles around. He speaks fluently in most of the tongues commonly known to the Fanged Isle and a few rarer, more ancient languages if any text his Majesty would like translated for him on the go.

Appearance: WIP
Personality : WIP
Bio: WIP
Notable Possessions: WIP

[Hank]

Mine is complete. There's really nothing more I can (or want to) add.

[Maxwell]

http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/63854/posts/ooc?page=1#post-1980225

Actual, bona fide OOC thread is up. I didn't add too much, just rewrote the setting & background blurb and added a hider's worth of stuff about magic detection.

[Acrolith]

@Maxwell = Glad to hear it, I'll be sure to scope it out. I'm pretty much done with my CS unless there's anything more you want me to add. I've also fleshed out her appearance as well.

On an unrelated note I've been ruminating a bit on the no rubber forehead fantasy races policy, and I'm open to any suggestions you or any of the other players might have on the Drungr. So far I'm thinking of them as humanity's less enlightened cousins, more prone to knee-jerk reactions and doing things they instantly regret thanks to a hopped up flight-or-flight response they've inadvertently cultivated over the course of generations. That being said however I'd be more than willing to accommodate any strengths or weaknesses you think would be fun to write around.

[Maxwell]

I have no complaints about the race, though I am a little curious - maybe I'm just misinterpreting the whole thing, but they seem so close to human to me (as in, written to be similar to humans - what I have a problem with are people making sentient four-dimensional gas clouds that feed on peg legs and geometry, then playing them as humans) that they could just be a different culture. Did the rubber forehead rule make you hesitate to differentiate them more from humans?

On a side note, I'm gonna start moving sheets over to the OOC thread. I'll move them all at the same time, so if you see your (completed - not moving WIPs) sheet missing later, make sure to mention it. Or post it again, whatever's most convenient.

[Lexicon]

@ Maxwell: And lo, she is done. I know it's a bit rough but I'll edit whatever I have to. The general idea won't be changing unless you need it to. What else? Oh, the Koralia family does rule over a small town in the south of Altranor called Redstone Village, and they're based in a castle called the Iron Keep. I'm completely fine, however, with the forces attacking the capital sending a second, smaller army to destroy a place they know is teeming with King Erasmus supporters. Heck, maybe they already did it. I know you don't want our characters to necessarily have any vast stores of resources and willing bodies to draw from. Let me know.

[Acrolith]

@Maxwell = I think I just might have been fumbling with the concept, since 'race' tends to be used to describe different species in fantasy worlds and I treated it more like an ethnic group

************************EDIT**************************

I couldn't help feeling like not making a sufficiently non-human character was missing the boat on my part, so I scribbled up an alternate CS. I actually think this one might mesh a little bit better as we are want for a cowardly, combat incapable skullduggerer.

Can't wait to play as Taula

[Maxwell]

Acrolith: Well, changing characters is ultimately your prerogative. Personally, though, I preferred the last one.

Lexicon: I've gone through your sheet now, and while it didn't need to be that long, I can't complain. I like a good read. I do want to pre-emptively address something, though.

I'm counting acrobatics, fencing, poison-making (and miscellaneous chymistry, perhaps), stealth, a network of spies, administrative skills, polyglotism, and a magic item. I just want everyone to know that this is totally fine. Friends, allies, secondary and tertiary skills and whatever, it's basically expected. For those of you who might feel that you didn't give your characters mad enough skillz, there's wiggle room within the game - you don't have to list every detail of your characters' knowledge and experiences to use them in game, as long as it makes some sort of sense and you're not just piling things on. The most important part is that [i]no matter your combination of skills & abilities[/b], you don't get to be more powerful than anyone else (minor differences and poorly matched specialties notwithstanding), and you absolutely do not get to push the rest of the party around with the threat of overpowering them. I mean, it's fine if that's a personality trait and yadda yadda yadda, but you know what I mean.

However, Lexicon, your magic item is not gonna fly. Blanket immunities (especially to such enormous categories as 'offensive spells') and strictly defined numbers are both traits that will interfere terribly with the balance of this game. I also can't help but suspect that you expect to sneak up on most magic users in a way that would not allow them three spells to defend themselves. I hope this wasn't a deliberate attempt at circumventing the power limit of the game, but even if it weren't, that mask has to go.

[Lexicon]

@ Maxwell: Done and done. I'll get rid of the mask. In truth, it did seem a little bit too powerful. Honestly, it was just an attempt to give Riven a chance against enemy spellcasters. Apart from magebane poison, she has no way to defend herself against magic. Her entire family has been forced to deal with this problem since magic doesn't run in the Koralia bloodline. Still, I will edit out all mentions of the Mortuus Mask, and I wasn't trying to make some kind of unbelievably powerful character. Thanks for the feedback.

EDIT: Fixed. There should be no mentions of the mask in the CS. Also, I agree with Maxwell, Acrolith, I liked Taula better.

[Raptorman]

I wish to ask a question, I did a brief read through of all the sheets and I do not believe anywhere it specified a exactly what the marital status of the king at the time of his death was. If it was and I missed it I apologize. This is important to know for my character concept.

[Maxwell]

That was not a rhetorical statement, by the way, I genuinely did hope that it wasn't.

And spells don't automatically win against anyone without specific magic resistance - that would make all mage characters more powerful than the non-mage ones, and that is not the case. If a spellcasting mook tosses lightning at you, you dodge it. If he curses you with fear, you shake it off and break his neck. That is, if they even manage to raise their wands before disable their hands, Starship Troopers style. Just like any major badass on the enemy side is not gonna be paralyzed by your poison.

You may have underestimated the level your characters are at, but I'm sure we'll all get there eventually.