[OOC] Cradle of Divinity (signups always open)

[Laue]

Soo yeah, what about John? As unlikely as it is, it would be quite awesome for him to catch up to the group somehow.

[akje]

@JohnSolaris
Great description. Don't know if there are any geographical inaccuracies. I wouldn't even know if there are supposed to be errors anyway. Is there any one of us up there who would be able to recognise those? Interesting! I was worried I was asking a lot so soon. Like your DMing so far. Love the setting.

@helltank
Yo, I didn't include Allison in the list of people Libé took up because her character was not standing directly next to him. If you want her up there with the others you can have her grapple hook to the top as it's going up or something. Or she can just stand there and watch. Either way, everyone at the top is in a serious predicament now. So I guess you alone have a choice to subjugate your character to that hehe.

As to the others. @Eklispe and @Grimoire. I do have a way down. But it's utterly insane, so I'm gonna give you guys a shot at reacting to all this first.

[JohnSolaris]

Soo yeah, what about John? As unlikely as it is, it would be quite awesome for him to catch up to the group somehow.

@Laue

I do in fact have a way of getting @whist and @ravenDivinity's characters back into the shrine, so John can catch up to them. However, neither of them have posted for 7 days, and whist hadn't even logged in either in the past 7 days. I did send both of them a PM 5 days ago, to which ravenDivinity responded, so at least he probably isn't becoming inactive. However, if whist continues to be inactive... I'll probably need to make some kind of contrived plot event happen so that John and Darius are teleported across the map to somewhere close to one of the other groups, while Grant gets teleported to somewhere unknown. If whist then becomes active again, it'll turn out that Grant got teleported to somewhere close to John and Darius.

This is a bit convoluted, though. I'm going to PM the two of them again, and see if they'll post. If they don't post in two days, I'll do the aforementioned contrived plot event.

@JohnSolaris
Is there any one of us up there who would be able to recognise those?

@akje

What do you mean? The geographical inaccuracies? Nobody would recognize any inaccuracies, because if there were any inaccuracies, I would edit my post so that the inaccuracies are no longer there. Internal consistency is important to me, after all.

@JohnSolaris
Like your DMing so far. Love the setting.

@akje

Thanks. I was worried if my hosting is up to standard in this forum, and this is reassuring.

[Dephaistos]

Greetings everyone!

Sorry to drop in like this. I just want to say that I'm really interested in joining this roleplay. Although I am working on a character sheet at the moment I do not have the time to finish it at the moment. So I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself so I won't be dropping a character sheet out of nowhere, as well as ask a few questions. After all I can see I'm a little late to the party, and I don't want to be a nuisance to you guys.

So first of all, even though I'll be skimming through what happened IC, I'd really appreciate it if someone, any one of you, could send me a small summary, even a small paragraph, of the significant things that have happened. That way I'll be sure to not more anything as I'm skimming through the IC posts and I'll have a reference to hold on to. I hope this isn't asking to much already :s

Secondly, and this is a question specifically directed to the GMs: you described that the bodies of the captured and ascended mortals would not age beyond the prime of their life. But what would happen if said mortal was well beyond the prime of his life at the time of capture? Would his age reduce to accommodate his new form granting him a note youthful and comfortable body? Or would the trade of more knowledge and life experience be the burden of being stuck in the same old craggy body for eternity. Is this entirely up to me to decide or do you have a suggestion?

And finally, I was wondering if you guys didn't mind me participating in this RP even though in rather inexperienced on this forum. Don't get me wrong, I've Roleplays plenty of times in plenty of forums. I just don't know the standard etiquette of this place yet. Saying that, I hope that this entire post is appropriate and realise that maybe I should've just waited until I had finished my sheet...

Anyway, all other things aside I'm really excited about this RP and as far as I've seen you guys could still use another roleplayer. I think I could bring some interesting ideas and scenarios to the table. I'll be posting my sheet later today depending on how my question about age is answered.

[akje]

<Snipped quote by akje>

What do you mean? The geographical inaccuracies? Nobody would recognize any inaccuracies, because if there were any inaccuracies, I would edit my post so that the inaccuracies are no longer there. Internal consistency is important to me, after all.

@JohnSolaris

I mean indications that physics are slightly different from earth. Not sure if, but maybe that would show in the way landscapes take shape? Aside from magic everywhere of course.

[akje]

So.. I'm going on vacation next month. I'll be gone from monday till 24th august.
I can keep posting till this scene comes to a resolution, then we'll think of some reason for Libé to pop out for a month.

[helltank]

Dephaistos: the group you will most likely be placed in, my group, has just emerged from their medical pods and ventured out into the grasslands, where they have successfully killed a magical spider.

[Dephaistos]

Here is the character I came up with. I hope it is sufficient. I have a different character in mind which is much more simple if this character is too complex or too far-fetched.

I'm looking forward to playing with you guys.

My Character

Name: Sir Richard Brightly, though what he tells you may vary.

Sex: Male

Age: 93

Appearance:
It is always a heavy burden to see the elders slowly turn from wise and old to a lifeless husk of what they used to be, but time has taken a heavy toll on Richard. If he were to stand, which he can’t, one would see that his back is bent into an awful hernia induced hump, his thin neck barely capable of keeping his head above his shoulders. He probably stood as tall as 6 feet in the past, but now his head is barely at the height of 5. His arms and legs are very thin, and the old skin is almost draped around the bones, with very little muscle or fat in between. Though it can be assumed that this man was once rather strong and well built, there is not much left of his glory days. His once broad shoulders hang low, and his once pristine chest is now barely capable of sustaining breath. It is clear, this man is at the end of his days, and used to belong in a bed with lots of life-sustaining technology.

With a receding hairline, the side and back of his head are adorned with the last few hundred hairs he has left. Thin, white and scruffy, no one seems to pay attention to them anymore. Combing the hair would mean damaging the poor old man’s head skin. His face is, which might have once been charming, is hollow, with many wrinkles etching his face, scarring it far more than actual scars would have. His eyes are the only thing lively in his entire appearance. They are still brightly blue, though they don’t seem to focus on anything. They rather seem like they are permanently daydreaming, staring into nothingness. His cheeks are covered in patches of badly shaved facial hair, seemingly the efforts of a nurse who had given up after being unable to keep the man’s head still enough.

On his body are two remarkable features. Firstly, he has the markings of the prolonged wear of a ring on his right ring finger. Secondly, his teeth seem to be in a very good condition, as if they were patiently brushed several times every day, throughout a long lifetime. Only two teeth are replaced with prosthetic ones, which is quite impressive for a man of his age.

Personality:
Because his mind is heavily subdued by a case of Alzheimer’s that has progressed to the point of amnesia and full detachment of reality, it is hard to tell what kind of personality the old man has, or used to have, so it might be a better idea to describe who he was before the mental illness got a hold of him.

Richard is a very ambitious, intelligent and wise man, with a strong faith in the future and the world. He chased his dreams as much as he could, and he was very helpful to those around him. At times people called him naïve and too trusting, and often he is referred to as too much of an optimist, but when it comes to his own goals he knows exactly how to reach them, and how to minimize the risks involved. Sometimes he lacks empathy, and can act a little blasé about other people's problems. It’s also difficult for him to put things into a different perspective, but once people confront him with this, it becomes clear that he means well and only wants to help.

Nicknamed Cassanova, Richard is very romantic, with wild stories of many old flames in his past. But when it comes to friends and love, there are a select few who he’d trust forever, and for those he’d do anything and everything. Richard is usually very self-centered, but for those people he will sacrifice almost anything.

As much as Richard likes to make himself believe that his attitude is ‘survival of the fittest’, he is often far too compassionate with the unfortunate to truly adhere to that mentality. However, he has no sympathy for those who don’t do effort to improve their situation. Being lazy is impossible in his eyes.

A man as old as Richard has, and used to have, many habits. Good ones that he retained, and bad ones he has failed to remove. Some of these include brushing his teeth very carefully, exercising (for as long as he could) a lot to keep healthy, singing casually for many years adding up to a rather high skill and reading lots of literature. However, he also smokes heavily and likes to challenge people a bit too much, or more specifically likes to try and make them challenge themselves more.

Biography:
Describing the entirety of Richard’s life would take quite long, and since he doesn’t remember most of it anyway, I will highlight the most important moments.

Richard grew up in a small and happy suburban town in England. His youth was difficult, though not as bad as it could’ve been. He enjoyed a good education and got into college at the age of 20 studying something along the lines of management and economy. During this time he courted and conquered many ladies, or so he likes to remember. He led a wild and happy life, building his own fortune.

However, it was abruptly interrupted by the second world war. He was called to arms, and sent to Europe to fight the nazi armies. He was rather quickly promoted to corporal due to his ability to stay strong in the battle, and causing others to follow his lead fearlessly. Eventually he was promoted to sergeant, probably because of his strategic insights, and he was able to return home not long afterwards, being knighted for his important contributions to the war.

Trying to pick up the pace of his old life, he continued and finished his studies. The war had scarred him somewhat, but it had also taught him a few lessons. He managed to build a small fortune with his talents and persistence, and eventually a small and happy family of four. His two daughters and his wife became the most important aspects of his life. His love for the both of them was immense.

In her adolescence, his youngest daughter died. She was struck by lightning while hiding under a large tree in a field. It tore his family apart. It resulted in his older daughter leaving the nest rather early, though it wasn’t on very bad terms. It did left the married couple in loneliness, and it became a depressing time for the two of them.

A party was thrown when Richard finally retired, the company that he had built from the ground now large, prosperous and respected across the globe. In the years of his retirement his relationship with his wife was strengthened again, and he came more in contact with his daughter again, who had become a successful musician.

Between his eighties and nineties, Alzheimer’s started to take hold of Richard’s mind. Soon, he was placed in a retirement home, and afterwards in an intensive care facility. It was quite tragic for his family, but of course he doesn’t remember the complications of his disease. He was at the end of his lifetime, his family having accepted that he would soon pass away, when he was transported to the Cradle of Divinity.

Being granted immortality, Richard’s body is now slowly returning to the years of his youth, gradually going from old to young. It is expected that he’ll be around his twenties/thirties again in about two weeks. His mind has taken a great leap for the better, his awareness and personality having completely returned. His memory, however, is still vague. Most of his past is completely obscured. A few select, important moments of his life are vaguely familiar to him, but they are still so unclear that he will not pay them much mind. Many of his old habits will still influence him. He’ll have the desire to smoke but can’t quite remember how and why. Or he’ll feel the need to fiddle with his ring on his right hand, which isn’t there anymore, and won’t remember why it was there in the first place.

Skills:
Strategical knowledge: Richard has in depth knowledge and experience with planning and executing strategic combat moves.

Familiarity with combat: He knows how to fight with his hands, with many mundane fire weapons and has some experience with melee weapons. First and foremost, he knows when to attack and when to retreat, and how to utilize his own powers and his opponent’s weaknesses.

Sing a tale: Richard is an exceptionally good amateur singer and a fairly good storyteller.

Courteous and charismatic: the human mind is an instrument that Richard has mastered. He knows how to manipulate and coerce people.

Good leader: Richard knows how to keep morals high and how to make people work together. He can motivate others to perform at the top of their abilities.

Life experience: Richard has lived a long life. He has gone through a lot. Although he doesn’t remember the moments themselves, he has learned to recognize and solve many problems.

Elemental Cores: Aether x2

Abilities:
Nullify - (All elements, Aether)
Using his affinity to all elements, and his psionic and kinetic powers, Richard can attempt to nullify any magical effect. This usually involves dissipating specialized mana into raw mana again, or cutting the flow of mana from a spell caster. In the first case, he uses his affinity to raw mana to dispel a constant magical factor. In the second case, he tries to attack the mind and the mana veins of another in such a way that they are unable to continue performing the spell. If he’s using the precognition spell, he can stop the flow of raw mana before it’s converted to a different element, making it far easier for him to prevent enemies from casting spells, especially since he sees them coming. It is dependent on the amount of mana invested on both sides if this abilities works or not. If both parties realize what is happening, a battle of constantly fluctuating streams of mana may occur.

Precognition - (Aether)
After meditating for a while, Richard enters a mentally enhanced state, where he sees both the current world and it 5 seconds into the future. It costs a lot of concentration to keep this ability active, and it is sometimes difficult to perceive everything correctly, since he’s getting signals from all his senses in two different instances of time. Forcing him to pay more attention to the current timeline in any physical or mental way will end the trance as well. His eyes become wide and bright, and he’s clearly distracted by something, so it’s heavily noticeable when he’s in this trance. He can cast other spells during this trance, but doing so will cause his mana to drain rapidly. The allies that allow this spell to have an effect on them can also tap in to its powers.

Kinetic field – (Aether)
A rather simple spell. Richard uses his raw mana to create barely visible physical barriers. They can be summoned in a variety of shapes and sizes, and they can block as many attacks as Richard can provide mana to it. Usually, instead of using it as a fully blocking shield, he tries to use it along with his nullifying ability to reduce the power of incoming attacks before they hit their target. This spell can drain his mana and energy reserves very rapidly if he does try to stop too powerful forces (both physical and magical) instantly. If he misinterprets the force of a spell, he could drain his own mana almost instantly. (depends on his maximum amount of mana and power level. Is his power level is greater than his maximum amount of mana, all his mana will be fully depleted. The other way around only the mana appropriate to his power level will be drained)

Psionic blast - (Aether)
Richard can use his raw mana and mental prowess to directly attack another person’s mind and mana reserves. Doing this without repercussion will cause the victim’s mana to be drained, and his mental fortitude to be reduced. Naturally this will cause confusion and immense headaches. During an extended psionic blast at short range, this will result in immense pain and eventually loss of consciousness. However, an adept user of magic can notice the effects of this spell, and exert countermeasures. This is dangerous to Richard, because casting a Psionic blast means opening up his mental barriers, which allows other people to intrude his mind far more easily.

Synergy – (Aether, All elements)
With his power over all different elements and over raw mana, Richard can use a willing partner to cast a grand spell with much more power and effect than would be possible when alone. He merges the mana from several targets and helps them combine their power levels. This spell is only as effective as the teamwork and cooperation between its casters. It will lose most of its potency if not every caster is doing more than just granting their mana.

Familiars: None

Possessions: Clothing

[Eklispe]

sucky short post

[JohnSolaris]

@Dephaistos: Sorry for not responding earlier. I was distracted by a bunch of things, the details of which I won't bore you with.

To answer your question, yes, it's feasible for an older person to age in reverse until he reaches his physical prime, upon becoming a transhuman. However, this is mostly up to the person's subconsciousness, which decides what he wants his physical form to really look like. If the person wants to be young again, he will be young again. But if he wants to stay an old man, then he won't become any younger, though he'll still be as physically capable as any young person, due to the magic in his body. Of course, the situation could be more complicated, such as the person wanting to be young but having a trauma-induced mental block that prevents him from becoming young again until he works out his mental baggage.

The RP has still only just begun, so nothing really significant had happened yet. It's feasible to just jump in completely blind.

And don't worry about being new to the forum. I'm new myself, so I'm no more experienced than you are.

Now, as for your character...

Richard's whole situation with Alzheimer's is completely feasible. I think it's an interesting idea, and not too complex for this game, to answer your question in your PM. However, some of your abilities need to be changed.

Overall, you should change all instances of "attacking an enemy's soul" to attacking the enemy's mana vessels instead. The soul is extremely resistant to harm until the body is dead, and it's the mana vessels that are more susceptible to damage. You must be overwhelmingly stronger than the target if you want to be able to reliably bypass the body and damage the soul directly.

Advanced Soul Regeneration shouldn't be one of your abilities. Soul damage and recovery is a very rarely occurring thing, so it's unlikely for your character to manifest an ability that specifically deals with that kind of situation.

Nullify doesn't need to be changed, but you should be aware that the extent to which you can weaken or cancel out magic of a certain element depends on your own mastery level of that element. The more skilled you are at an element, the more easily you can nullify magic of that element. Also, the ability itself takes the form of a stream of magic emanating from your character's body.

Precognition also doesn't really need to be changed, but you should know that the future is in a constant state of flux. The further you see, the more blurry the vision will be, and what you see won't always be what actually ends up happening. More specifically, chances are the things you see are the things that would happen if you hadn't been using precognition, so the ability can be used to dodge attacks that could've otherwise hit you. Also, the things you can see with precognition are limited to the things you're "touching" with your aura and magic, so usually it's limited to a small area around yourself. The area can be expanded if you sit down and meditate, but still not by much. It doesn't work on anything containing magic that isn't significantly weaker than your own, either.

[Laue]

@JohnSolarisI would really like to have an opportunity to post now.

[JohnSolaris]

@JohnSolarisI would really like to have an opportunity to post now.

@Laue

Sorry, I'll get on it right now. Darius will be sent back to the shrine where John is, and @Dephaistos's character will be sent to the same shrine too after he's accepted, so you three can be in a group.

[Dephaistos]

@JohnSolaris

I edited my character. I removed the advanced soul regeneration and added in a new ability called synergy. It's not supposed to really do much, it just gives the oppertunity to do something grand depending on the situation. It's rather dangerous to use though because it'll basically mean channeling a whole lot more energy through one spell. Not sure what you think of it but I thought the teamwork aspect was pretty cool.

I changed the nullify spell so that it affects mana vessels instead. I specifically stated that (in conjunction with the synergy ability) if Richard knows someone or something is going to cast a certain spell from a certain point on beforehand, he'll be able to cancel it out before the opponent can convert his raw mana, timing the projection of his own mana accordingly (he casts the spell right before his enemy would cast his). What this means that if he is using the precognition ability at the same time he's casting nullify, the effect of the spell will be greatly increased.

It doesn't work on anything containing magic that isn't significantly weaker than your own, either.

@JohnSolaris

Does this mean that I won't be able to predict attacks from other player characters or more powerful NPC's? Or does this apply to the 'ascended mind ability'. I'd be kind of dissapointed with the precognitive ability if it doesn't work on most opponents we'll be facing, so in that case I'd rather come up with something else.

The scenario that played out in my head was that generally Richard won't be too useful in combat, but if he's in his precognitive trance, and his opponent is distracted sufficiently, he can barrage it with a psionic blast, dispelling the countermeasures his enemy would exert in it's panic. A mentally powerful enemy would understand what was going on, but during a psionic blast while all spells are failing most would not be able to concentrate sufficiently. However this was just a little fantasy I had. I'd understand if it would be regarded as too powerful, but it's rather situational. Not sure what you think of it, but this is how I'd see Richard fight and defend himself.

[JohnSolaris]

<Snipped quote by JohnSolaris>

Does this mean that I won't be able to predict attacks from other player characters or more powerful NPC's? Or does this apply to the 'ascended mind ability'. I'd be kind of dissapointed with the precognitive ability if it doesn't work on most opponents we'll be facing, so in that case I'd rather come up with something else.

The scenario that played out in my head was that generally Richard won't be too useful in combat, but if he's in his precognitive trance, and his opponent is distracted sufficiently, he can barrage it with a psionic blast, dispelling the countermeasures his enemy would exert in it's panic. A mentally powerful enemy would understand what was going on, but during a psionic blast while all spells are failing most would not be able to concentrate sufficiently. However this was just a little fantasy I had. I'd understand if it would be regarded as too powerful, but it's rather situational. Not sure what you think of it, but this is how I'd see Richard fight and defend himself.

@Dephaistos

Precognition is typically used on yourself, to allow you to react to surprise attacks. If you can see a potential future in which you're injured by an attack, you can then react to prevent that future from happening. This, of course, only works if you have sufficiently good reflexes, but it's definitely better than reflexes along.

It's indeed my intention that you shouldn't be able to predict an opponent's actions too easily, so no, you won't be able to consistently predict the attacks of people on similar power levels as you. As I said in the previous paragraph, you can predict the effects of your opponents' attacks on you instead, which restricts the ability to being more defensive. Also, your allies can allow your precognition to work on them, by deliberately not putting up any resistance. In your precognitive trance, you could thus establish mental links with your allies and "share" your precognition with them, allowing them to react to surprise attacks. If you want your character to be mostly support, you could change the precognitive trance to what I just described.

Your other changes are accepted, but note that the synergy with Nullify may not work like how you think it would, due to you not being able to explicitly predict an opponent's actions. Also, remember that in many cases, Nullify won't be able to completely cancel out an opponent's magic, if the opponent is on similar power levels as you; the magic will just be weakened instead. Some magic may be easier or harder to nullify, depending on the target's skill.

[Dephaistos]

@JohnSolaris
Edited it one more time. Your suggestion about the precognitive ability has been added, and I removed the ascended mind spell, instead adding a differentone to synergise with the nullify spell. Like you say, as a support character he will use these two spells to buffer incoming attacks to either reduce their power or completely discharge and nullify them. He now has both a physical and magical means to fulfill his role as a protecting support.

The kinetic field and nullify spell could also function with the syngery spell to create a very powerful nullifying field. Yet another scenario that popped in my head, but it's not as important :P

I hope I'm not bothering you with all my silly ideas. It's just a means to show you how I visualise it so you can assess if it's too powerful or not.

I also had one last question. In your document you mention electrokinesis as a part of the psionic tree. How do his aether (mind, and thus electrokinesis) cores affect his ability to control elecricity (air and life, which he has only 1/6th of a core in)?

[akje]

And that's my goodbye for now.
I'll see you guys in 3 weeks.

[JohnSolaris]

I also had one last question. In your document you mention electrokinesis as a part of the psionic tree. How do his aether (mind, and thus electrokinesis) cores affect his ability to control elecricity (air and life, which he has only 1/6th of a core in)?

@Dephaistos

Aside from how magic works in general, the document describes another setting in my fictional universe entirely. Magic is the same, but the Worldsphere uses a different system to classify it, compared to the Cradle of Divinity. Long story short, you still need masteries in Air and Life to be good at any magic that is related to electricity. Due to your two Aether cores, you have a mastery of 1/3 in both Life and Air, so you can still use minor lightning abilities with a decent amount of skill. Don't worry about how the other setting classifies such abilities.

Your character is now accepted, but there are still two things I think you should know. First, some attacks may be able to pierce through your kinetic barrier, meaning that you might take damage, but won't have all your mana drained. Second, two Aether cores give no masteries in Light or Dark, so your Nullify and Synergy abilities will be much less effective when used on Light or Dark magic.

[ravenDivinity]

Will hopefully post on Friday evening. Expect more activity from me after that since I'll be back in the States.

[Eklispe]

My bad here, I totally missed that I had to make a post here. Working on it now

[JohnSolaris]

My laptop fan is breaking down, and it takes three weeks for the new fan to get shipped (it's only available from Hong Kong, apparently). I'll need to rely on an iPad and/or my old laptop in the meantime, so I apologize in advance if my activity suffers as a result.