So worried right now. My brother just got admitted to the hospital after swallowing six toy horses. Doctors say he's in stable condtion.
8
likes
3 yrs ago
Nice to meet you, Bored. I'm interested!
7
likes
3 yrs ago
Ugh. Someone literally stole the wheels off of my car. Gonna have to work tirelessly for justice.
4
likes
Bio
Oh gee! An age and a gender and interests and things. Yeah, I have those. Ain't no way I'm about to trigger an existential crisis by typing them all out, though. You can find out what a nerd I am on discord, okay?
"Sienna, what is the current date and time?" "Hello, Cam! The date is July 19, 2412. It is 3:26 PM in our current location."
"Sienna, what is my current location?" "That's a good question. You are currently on the McAdam Campus of Invercargill University, in New London, Belgravia. If you'd like to know more about attractions, shopping, and places to eat, don't be afraid -"
"Sienna, where is the planet Humber located?" "...I'm not sure that I heard you correctly. Did you say 'planet Humber'?"
"Yes, planet Humber." "I'm sorry, Cam. I can't seem to find a planet with that name. Is it a location from an intellectual property that I don't have access to?"
"...Nevermind, Sienna. Thank you." "I'm sorry I couldn't be of more assistance, Cam. If there's anything else I can help you with, just let me know!"
Three hundred years ago, our species nearly went extinct. The collapse of Earth's biosphere, brought on by human action including climate change, resulted in mass extinctions and cataclysmic natural disasters that drove us from our mother world. Yet, it is when our collective back is against the wall that humanity is often at its best. Necessity is the mother of invention, after all. With the eleventh hour development of cryosleep technology and the ICE (Ionic Corkscrew Electromagnetic) drive, near-lightspeed travel became possible and billions of people were able to leave their dying planet in a Great Escape. Entering cryosleep for the journey, they bypassed the bleak, marginal colony on Mars in colossal interstellar arks and woke up on brave new worlds.
Since then, the human race has blossomed, living among the stars. Dozens of new solar systems have been colonized and thriving civilizations built. With further innovation, we have shattered the cosmic 'speed limit' of lightspeed and, from the precipice of extinction, our population has recently broken the trillion mark.
And yet... this bold interstellar adventure that had once seemed like a science fiction dream is perhaps not so incredible as we'd imagined. Extraterrestrial life turned out to be rarer than expected, and of sentient life we haven't caught so much as a whiff. There are no Jedi, no space pirates, no phasers to be set to stun, and certainly no aliens. People go to work and school. They purchase property. They start families. They do it all under the watchful eye of governments and corporations. If the future is now, it is disappointingly mundane. Perhaps it is little surprise, then, that escapism flourishes in this context.
Enter the Golden World. Utilizing the hypernet and cognitive immersion techniques pioneered for the entertainment of ark crew members during the Great Escape, this vast near-utopian metaverse is indistinguishable from reality in its physics and sensory realism. Yet here, people can live and work free of disease, disability, hunger, and peril. Here, for a nominal price, people can be whatever they want to be and go wherever they want to go. A fireball-flinging wizard, cyberpunk vigilante, or mermaid songstress? A vacation in the world of Star Wars or Harry Potter? A trip through time and space? There is always a company that can make your dreams a reality. Indeed, the early twenty-fifth century is a period of thriving competition. With humanity's expansion into the stars, new corporations have formed and been given space to grow, while old ones have become titans, purchasing entire worlds (both real and simulated) free from the tyranny of government.
Yet, for reasons of fairness, the great simulation of the Golden World falls under the jurisdiction of an independent UN-sanctioned organization known as ICON (Interstellar Council of Neutrals). Not only does this body of programmers, engineers, psychologists, artists, and other experts administer the physical servers on the bleak backwater of Mars, they maintain and manage all in-simulation operations as well. With them in charge, life is pretty good.
That is, except in the case of one young man. Hours ago, graduate student Cam Vickers, hoping to save some money by traveling unlisted (under the table) on a chartered freighter, was on his way to the world of Humber for an in-person symposium. He had friends there who he was looking forward to seeing. That was... until the world disappeared as if it had never even existed. Indeed, when he asked some of the crew members, all that they could do was look at him strangely. "Humber?" they asked. "Never heard of it, but you'd better strap in, kid. We're about to leave hyperspace at Belgravia. That's you. That's where your big university thing is, right?"
T H E R O L E P L A Y____ __ _ _ _ _ _ _
"Sienna, where and when is this set?" Good question, player! This RPG is a twin of Father Sky and will take place simultaneously and in direct continuity. Characters may not initially move between the two RPGs. However, this will change and be allowed as the RPG progresses.
"Sienna, what will we be doing, exactly?" I'm glad you asked! The Golden World is a semi-hard sci-fi roleplay with two settings: a sandbox metaverse and a vaguely cyberpunk-esque real world with a slightly less dystopian flavour. Think a bit of Ready Player One with shades of The Matrix. Players will have the ability to opt into a driving central mystery that will unfold and be revealed through the actions of player characters in both RPGs. In general, I am looking for a group of four in each of the two games. Depending on interest, you may or may not be able to run characters in both.
"Sienna, what is expected of me?" Yes, that's an important one. In terms of commitment, consider this high casual. A minimum of three paragraphs will be expected along with at least one post per week. I understand that English is not everybody's first language, but please try to use proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Should you be inactive without notice in the game thread and on discord for more than two weeks, your participation will be considered to have ended. I know that life happens. No worries and no guilt. I understand completely. Please communicate, though.
"Sienna, since this is a metaverse, can I do pretty much whatever I want?" Well, yes, more or less, but please remember to observe all of the usual rules about metagaming, powerplaying, and conducting yourself with decency. Of course, I wouldn't expect any problems from you, but I have to offer that disclaimer. The main rule here is just to be a good faith actor. If you're not, you will be warned. If it persists, you will be kicked. Inactive player characters may be taken over by myself, by other players, or may be killed off.
"Sienna, how do I actually join?" Righto, player! That's the most important question of all and it might be a little different than you're used to. For this game, it is important that you submit your Character Sheets through DM only, to myself and my Co-GMs @Medili and @pantothenic. Do not post them in this thread or in the OOC (if/when it opens) until you are approved. I will announce approved CSes one week after the submission deadline, which is currently TBA. At that point, the discord will open as well. For your convenience, a raw code character sheet template can be found below.
[right][color=FFFACD][h1]_ _ _ _ __[u][color=gold]C[/color]haracter [color=gold]N[/color]ame[/u][/h1] [img]Character Image[/img] [sub][h3]_ _ _ _ __[u]A G E[/u] | [u]G E N D E R[/u] | [u]L O C A T I O N[/u] | [u]J O B[/u][/h3][/sub]
[sub][h3]_ _ _ _ __[u]C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S[/u][/h3][/sub] [i]A description of your character's appearance, motivation, and personality.[/i]
[sub][h3]_ _ _ _ __[u]B A C K G R O U N D[/u][/h3][/sub] [i]A description of your character's life, experiences, and circumstances up to this point.[/i]
[sub][h3]_ _ _ _ __[u]I N V E N T O R Y[/u][/h3][/sub] [i]A description of items regularly in your character's possession or owned by them.[/i]
[sub][h3]_ _ _ _ __[u]S I M I D E N T I T Y[/u][/h3][/sub] [i]A description of your character's identity within the simulation of the Golden World, including any special abilities or powers.[/i]
[sub][h3]_ _ _ _ __[u]S T R E N G T H S & S K I L L S[/u][/h3][/sub] [i]Three[/i] ❖ [i]to four[/i] ❖ [i]of these[/i] ❖ [i]go here[/i] ❖
[sub][h3]_ _ _ _ __[u]W E A K N E S S E S & F L A W S[/u][/h3][/sub] [i]Three[/i] ❖ [i]to four[/i] ❖ [i]of these[/i] ❖ [i]go here[/i] ❖
[sub][h3]_ _ _ _ __[u]C O L O U R C O D E & O T H E R[/u][/h3][/sub] [i]Your character's hex code and any other miscellaneous information. Feel free to use bullet points.[/i] [i][color=gold]hex code[/color][/i] ❖[/color][/right]
The year is 2412 and, after the near complete ecological collapse of Earth, humanity has taken its place among the stars. Left behind when the interstellar arks departed two hundred years ago, our species' colony on Mars - the very first of its kind - has soldiered grimly on, finding new purpose as home to the server complexes that house a vast metaverse known as the Golden World. So important has this great simulation been deemed to the social, cultural, and economic well-being of the human species that Mars has been designated a sanctuary. One would think that would be a good thing...
In practice, it means that Mars is and shall remain nothing more than a colony: its entire purpose to serve the needs of the Golden World. Administered from a massive gated compound by a UN-sanctioned organization known as ICON (Interstellar Council Of Neutrals), the red planet is an island unto itself, with access severely restricted and the populace closely monitored. All high-level server operations are treated with extreme secrecy and the reasons for this are a cause of much speculation.
Daily life for Mars' four million inhabitants is often a mixture of hovering peril and crushing boredom. The atmosphere of this semi-terraformed world is tenuous and only thick enough to be breathable within the Mariner Valley and a handful of other lowlands. Crop growth is difficult in the thin, nutrient-poor soil and, during harsh Martian winters, night temperatures can plummet past one hundred degrees below zero.
The single most important piece of infrastructure for these people, however, is the series of one hundred eighty liquid metal convection engines that provide the world with its artificial magnetic field. These are nearly three centuries old and, through a mixture of neglect, cost-cutting measures, and corporate greed, they have begun to fail. Inhabitants are almost certain that the continued operation of the mostly-robotically run servers will be prioritized over their well-being, and they have tried to make their voices heard. The Green Hand, a citizens' alliance and protest movement, was formed to bring attention to their concerns, only for it to be labeled a terrorist organization by the ICON-appointed government. From within their walled compound, they warned that any harm done to the servers would be considered legal murder and made punishable by death.
Terrorists, Martians were called, for valuing human life over what is ultimately an entertainment platform. Terrorists they became. All across Mars, from the cities of the Mariner Valley to the rice paddies of New Arabia, the Arcadian Highlands, and the remote, windswept shores of the Hellenic Sea, clandestine cells have sprung up. On July 18, 2412, despite suffering heavy casualties at the hands of its automated defenses, members of the Green Hand succeeded in breaching the power supply of one of the server complexes. In an instant, one tenth of the simulated world winked out of existence and the galaxy was given no choice but to listen to them.
T H E R O L E P L A Y____ __ _ _ _ _ _ _
...1=This RPG is a twin of The Golden World and will take place simultaneously and in direct continuity. Characters may not initially move between the two RPGs. However, this will change as the story progresses.
...2= Father Sky is a semi-hard sci-fi roleplay with a driving central conflict and a mystery that will unfold and be revealed through the actions of player characters in both RPGs. Think of The Expanse with some elements of Total Recall. In general, I am looking for a group of four in each of the two games. Depending on interest, you may or may not be able to run characters in both.
...3= In terms of commitment, consider this high casual. A minimum of three paragraphs will be expected along with at least one post per week. I understand that English is not everybody's first language, but please try to use proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Should you be inactive without notice in the game thread and on discord for more than two weeks, your participation will be considered to have ended. I understand that life happens. No worries and no guilt. I get it. Please communicate, though.
...4= Please observe all of the usual rules about metagaming, powerplaying, and conducting yourself with decency. You people are pretty chill, but a GM has to cover their ass, right? The main rule here is just to be a good faith actor. If you're not, you will be warned. If it persists, you will be kicked. Inactive player characters may be taken over by myself, by other players, or may be killed off.
...5= It is important that you submit your Character Sheets through DM only, to myself and my Co-GMs @Medili and @pantothenic. Do not post them in this thread or in the OOC, when it opens, until you are approved. I will announce approved CSes one week after the submission deadline, which is currently TBA. At that point, the discord will open as well. For your convenience, a raw code character sheet template can be found below.
[color=B0E0E6][h1][u][color=4682B4]C[/color]haracter [color=4682B4]N[/color]ame[/u]__ _ _ _ _[/h1] [img]Character Image[/img] [sub][h3][u]A G E[/u] | [u]G E N D E R[/u] | [u]L O C A T I O N[/u] | [u]J O B[/u]__ _ _ _ _[/h3][/sub]
[sub][h3][u]C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S[/u]__ _ _ _ _[/h3][/sub] [i]A description of your character's appearance, motivation, and personality.[/i]
[sub][h3][u]B A C K G R O U N D[/u]__ _ _ _ _[/h3][/sub] [i]A description of your character's life, experiences, and circumstances up to this point.[/i]
[sub][h3][u]I N V E N T O R Y[/u]__ _ _ _ _[/h3][/sub] [i]A description of items regularly in your character's possession or owned by them.[/i]
[sub][h3][u]G R E E N H A N D S T A T U S[/u]__ _ _ _ _[/h3][/sub] [i]A description of your character's opinion of and/or position within the Green Hand.[/i]
[sub][h3][u]S T R E N G T H S & S K I L L S[/u]__ _ _ _ _[/h3][/sub] ❖ [i]Three[/i] ❖ [i]to four[/i] ❖ [i]of these[/i] ❖ [i]go here[/i]
[sub][h3][u]W E A K N E S S E S & F L A W S[/u]__ _ _ _ _[/h3][/sub] ❖ [i]Three[/i] ❖ [i]to four[/i] ❖ [i]of these[/i] ❖ [i]go here[/i]
[sub][h3][u]C O L O U R C O D E & O T H E R[/u]__ _ _ _ _[/h3][/sub] [i]Your character's hex code and any other miscellaneous information. Feel free to use bullet points.[/i] ❖ [i][color=4682B4]hex code[/color][/i][/color]
The Golden World and Father Sky are a combined realistic sci-fi/metaverse mystery-thriller, blending reality-bending elements evocative of Total Recall and The Matrix with corporate/political intrigue closer to Elysium and Ready Player One. Set a few hundred years in the future, they follow two separate but ultimately interlinked storylines.
In the story of The Golden World, humanity has survived the near-complete collapse of Earth's biosphere by expanding into space following the timely development of the ICE (Ionic Corkscrew Electromagnetic) drive. A couple of centuries on from those primitive interstellar arks and the rushed and fragmented records surrounding the exodus, subsequent innovation has allowed us to break the universal 'speed limit' of lightspeed and push well beyond. Humans now live in dozens of star systems, on dozens of planets, maintaining lines of communication through the spacetime-warping hypernet, which allows near-instantaneous communication over staggering distances. However, the fantastical surroundings of interstellar space have not quite lived up to their billing. There was barely any life to be found among the stars, and certainly none of it was sentient. There are no Jedi, no space pirates, and no aliens. People go to work and school. They purchase property. They start families. They do it all under the watchful eye of governments and corporations. The bold science-fiction future that we had once dared to imagine is surprisingly mundane and, as in the present, escapism flourishes. In particular, many people spend their free time in the 'Golden World': a vast simulation materially indistinguishable from reality in its physics and realism. Some even live and work there near-permanently, hooked up to 'immersion beds' that maintain their bodies in health where their minds roam elsewhere.
For some, the Golden World serves a role in facilitating telepresence and exchange over long distances without time-consuming space travel. It enjoys an integrated economy where corporate interests flourish, and environs where people can live free of disease, disability, hunger, and peril. For others, however, it is a place of wonder. For the right price or commitment, you can be who and what you want in the Golden World: a fireball-flinging wizard, cyberpunk vigilante, or mermaid songstress? Some company active on its servers is sure to have you covered. Indeed, the late twenty-third century is a period of thriving competition. With the expansion into the stars, new companies have formed and been given space to grow, while old ones have become titans, purchasing entire worlds (both real and simulated) as private property.
Against this backdrop, it was agreed, when the Golden World was first established, that it would indefinitely remain an officially neutral ground. Though private companies operate within its servers and individual services are often subcontracted out, overall operations are overseen by a body known as ICON (Interstellar Council Of Neutrals). This is an impartial UN-style non-profit organization of programmers, experts, and advisors carefully chosen to manage the Golden World's in-sim operations as well as its massive server complexes, located on the desolate backwater of Mars.
This great system has worked like clockwork, more or less, for centuries before something changes. One day, while trying to save some money by traveling to an in-person symposium as a non-chartered (under the table) passenger on a small freighter, graduate student Cam Vickers witnesses the unthinkable: the planet Humber (where it was supposed to have taken place) simply disappears as if it were not even there. When he asks the crew if they'd noticed as well, they look at him strangely. There is no planet named Humber. They're headed to Belgravia, of course, where his meeting thing is. Right?
- - - - - Break - - - - -
The storyline of Father Sky is set on a semi-terraformed Mars, which seems to exist as an island unto itself, entirely irrelevant to the rest of the universe but for the massive server complexes that dominate its surface. After the twenty-second century ecological collapse that nearly wiped out humanity, Earth is gradually being terraformed back into working order, but that is a centuries-long project, carried out almost exclusively by robots. The rest of the Sol System hasn't fared much better. Venus is home to a failed cloud colony that was thought to be abandoned until recently, when the descendants of humans who had not evacuated two hundred years earlier were discovered living in primitive conditions. Ceres, a frigid dwarf planet in the asteroid belt, is a place declared strictly off-limits for reasons unknown. Titan is little more than a supply depot and signal waypoint.
Mars itself was humanity's very first colony and was once key to the species' survival. The great server complexes that stretch across its arid plains and the hundreds of liquid metal convection engines buried its crust to generate an artificial magnetic field are testament tot hat. It was once our species' plan for survival, and then the backup plan. However, it is now very much a forgotten place, left behind by the great arks as interstellar expansion proceeded. With a population of only some four million, it remains substantially colonized mainly due to the stubbornness of its residents, who have lived there for centuries, and because moving the servers established there centuries ago would be massively costly and require agreement between hundreds of often-feuding government and corporate entities.
To the 'Redlanders' who stick it out on Mars, it often feels very much like they are a 'colony' in a different sense. ICON 'administers' the entire planet from an imposing gated complex and opportunities on-world are few. There is little hope of escape either for this captive population. Due to the importance of maintaining the Golden World's servers, arrivals to and departures from outside of the Sol System are strictly regulated and only allowed within the complex. Applications for travel are a long and arduous process and very few are the people who bother with them. Besides, few Martians have much interest in physically visiting the worlds beyond their world. There is ample work to be done just maintaining the servers, which employ over fifty percent of them, not to mention the planet's vital infrastructure and rather lean food supply. If they really get curious, Mars is home to the Golden World's servers, after all, so citizens can always just visit virtually. It is something of an irony and a mark of how much of an afterthought its people are, however, that Mars is only linked to the Golden World via land lines and ironically has among the slowest connections in settled space.
The truth is that Mars is dying from greed and neglect. The atmosphere is still too thin to breathe at higher altitudes, despite repeated promises to speed up the centuries-old terraforming process. The northern seas remain shallow and briny. Most alarmingly, the vast machines that generate its tenuous and artificial magnetic field are in danger of failing, and a handful already have. The hardy people living there know that priority will be given to rescuing the servers before them, and they resent it. When offworlders arrive, it is never for long and they always seem strangely out of sorts. They poke around, heavily escorted, give some orders, and ensure that the robots that oversee and directly maintain the server facilities are in working order. Then, they disappear through guarded spaceport doors and are gone.
Martians have been told that the servers offer such a great service to humanity that any damage to them would be tantamount to murder and punishable by death. Indeed, the facility's guardian droids are given special dispensation to break Asimov's three laws and use deadly force, as a handful of drunks, foolhardy teenagers, and would-be rebels have found out. While that combination of moral impetus and threat that has been enough to hold the proud Redlanders back in the past, discontent has now reached a fever pitch. A Mars-First organization known as the Green Hand has exploded in popularity across the local Marsnet, despite the government's attempts to stamp it out. Clandestine cells have sprung up everywhere, from the cities of the Mariner Valley to the farms of New Arabia, the Arcadian Highlands, and the remote, windswept shores of the Hellenic Sea. Declared a terrorist organization by ICON and with no legal means of instigating change, the Green Hand has struck at the servers themselves in a daring attack, detonating a bomb which temporarily cut power to nearly ten percent of the vast complex. The ICON-appointed government has vowed swift retribution upon these criminals and murderers.
Character Sheets
[right][color=FFFACD][h1]_ _ _ _ __[u][color=gold]C[/color]haracter [color=gold]N[/color]ame[/u][/h1] [img]Character Image[/img] [sub][h3]_ _ _ _ __[u]A G E[/u] | [u]G E N D E R[/u] | [u]L O C A T I O N[/u] | [u]J O B[/u][/h3][/sub]
[sub][h3]_ _ _ _ __[u]C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S[/u][/h3][/sub] [i]A description of your character's appearance, motivation, and personality.[/i]
[sub][h3]_ _ _ _ __[u]B A C K G R O U N D[/u][/h3][/sub] [i]A description of your character's life, experiences, and circumstances up to this point.[/i]
[sub][h3]_ _ _ _ __[u]I N V E N T O R Y[/u][/h3][/sub] [i]A description of items regularly in your character's possession or owned by them.[/i]
[sub][h3][u]S I M I D E N T I T Y[/u]__ _ _ _ _[/h3][/sub] [i]A description of your character's identity within the simulation of the Golden World, including any special abilities or powers.[/i]
[sub][h3]_ _ _ _ __[u]S T R E N G T H S & S K I L L S[/u][/h3][/sub] [i]Three[/i] ❖ [i]to four[/i] ❖ [i]of these[/i] ❖ [i]go here[/i] ❖
[sub][h3]_ _ _ _ __[u]W E A K N E S S E S & F L A W S[/u][/h3][/sub] [i]Three[/i] ❖ [i]to four[/i] ❖ [i]of these[/i] ❖ [i]go here[/i] ❖
[sub][h3]_ _ _ _ __[u]C O L O U R C O D E & O T H E R[/u][/h3][/sub] [i]Your character's hex code and any other miscellaneous information. Feel free to use bullet points.[/i] [i][color=gold]hex code[/color][/i] ❖[/color][/right]
[color=B0E0E6][h1][u][color=4682B4]C[/color]haracter [color=4682B4]N[/color]ame[/u]__ _ _ _ _[/h1] [img]Character Image[/img] [sub][h3][u]A G E[/u] | [u]G E N D E R[/u] | [u]L O C A T I O N[/u] | [u]J O B[/u]__ _ _ _ _[/h3][/sub]
[sub][h3][u]C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S[/u]__ _ _ _ _[/h3][/sub] [i]A description of your character's appearance, motivation, and personality.[/i]
[sub][h3][u]B A C K G R O U N D[/u]__ _ _ _ _[/h3][/sub] [i]A description of your character's life, experiences, and circumstances up to this point.[/i]
[sub][h3][u]I N V E N T O R Y[/u]__ _ _ _ _[/h3][/sub] [i]A description of items regularly in your character's possession or owned by them.[/i]
[sub][h3][u]G R E E N H A N D S T A T U S[/u]__ _ _ _ _[/h3][/sub] [i]A description of your character's opinion of and/or position within the Green Hand.[/i]
[sub][h3][u]S T R E N G T H S & S K I L L S[/u]__ _ _ _ _[/h3][/sub] ❖ [i]Three[/i] ❖ [i]to four[/i] ❖ [i]of these[/i] ❖ [i]go here[/i]
[sub][h3][u]W E A K N E S S E S & F L A W S[/u]__ _ _ _ _[/h3][/sub] ❖ [i]Three[/i] ❖ [i]to four[/i] ❖ [i]of these[/i] ❖ [i]go here[/i]
[sub][h3][u]C O L O U R C O D E & O T H E R[/u]__ _ _ _ _[/h3][/sub] [i]Your character's hex code and any other miscellaneous information. Feel free to use bullet points.[/i] ❖ [i][color=4682B4]hex code[/color][/i][/color]
As a general rule, I have too many world and story ideas and not nearly enough time to do all of them justice. While some may very well be turned into novels, novellas, and short stories, there are many that I think would work better as RPGs or at least work in that format. Regardless of their status, they'll be listed here in rough form, without all of the fancy formatting that I usually like to include. I'll save that for my Interest Checks. The purpose of this thread is essentially to be a compendium where they can all be collected for later potential use.
Note that I'm quite a big fan of twists, mysteries, conspiracies (no, not the tinfoil hat kind), and psychological thrillers. What's posted here, however, are the spoiler-free or spoiler-lite versions of these stories, since they may be run at a later date. If anyone has questions, feedback, constructive critique, or just wants to help me massage the ol' ego, feel free to chime in below. If you think you'd be interested in participating in an RPG based on one of these concepts, give it a like so I know!
It has been a very long time since I've done anything beyond Gloomhaven with dice or a stat system, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit to being intrigued. If this moves beyond 'invite only', you could certainly colour me interested.
So named because they all take the same Kotoden bus home and use those ubiquitous cards, these four third-year students at Kōkyo have gotten to know each other fairly well, despite their very different personalities and backgrounds. They comprise the character ideas that I had for this RPG and I hope that you like them! Since I can't truly play all four, I'll try to pick one based on the needs of the group and what'll be interesting to play. You're welcome to make the others into NPCs. Also, if anyone else is struggling with character ideas or likes one of these, feel free to adopt one!
Mio out of uniform, mugging for her Insta profile
17 | Female | Band, Art Club
Characterization
Mio's that girl who desperately wants to be someone cooler and more grown up than she really is. Her father is a manga artist who works long hours for a major studio and her mother is a nurse and part-time musician who never made it big. Both are gloriously unfulfilled people who love her very much and have very little time for her or her eleven-year-old brother, Daisuke. I suppose you could say that a certain amount of creativity is in her blood but, truth be told, she's always been more of a fan than an artist of any sort herself. She plays bass in a typical teenage garage band named Snorkel Bomb that mostly just hangs out and smokes (though she doesn't really like smoking that much). She likes to be thought of as a bit of a bad girl, piercings, short skirt, band t-shirts and all. She's a doodler and dreamer and probably has a mild form of inattentive ADHD, but has gone to primary, middle, and now high school with many of her classmates and isn't really the angsty social outcast or cold kuudere she'd have you believe, at least sartorially. She's either the normie among oddballs or the oddball among normies and she's secretly kind of happy with that.
In fact, under the right circumstances, Mio can absolutely talk your ear off about a subject that she's into. You see, she has these monthly obsessions, and she can go very far down online rabbit holes learning every inconsequential little bit of trivia there is to know about them. The posters on her bedroom walls are a memorial to her past obsessions and even the less-than-heavy-metal boy bands she guiltily listens to sometimes. There are a few things that she keeps coming back to, however: deep sea species of fish, the Titanic disaster, and zombie apocalypses. She knows exactly which lifeboat she'd get on and when were she to time travel back to April 15, 1912, and she has a Complete Written Guide to Surviving a (Theoretical) Zombie Apocalypse... mostly...in her head. Someday, she'll get down to writing it all. Not that such a thing would ever actually come in handy.
Character Ties
?? — TBD later if accepted. Do not fill out until then. Add more if needed. (She takes the same bus home from school as Yuito, Akari, and Sota)
Inventory
1) Studded belt & chain because they're metal AF and Mio is metal AF, obv. 2) Pepper spray in her backpack because creeps are a thing. She really shouldn't have it. 3) A sketchbook and pencils for shading and colouring. 4) A bunch of random library books, most of them slightly overdue. 5) A torch-style butane lighter.
Yuito out of uniform, looking as relaxed as ever
18 | Male | Chess Club, Baseball Team, Student Council (Secretary)
Characterization
Yuito just might be the most easygoing guy you've ever met, though if you insisted otherwise, he wouldn't press the issue. More likely, he'd just shrug and smile. The only child of older parents - a salaryman and an early childhood educator, this eighteen-year-old is one of life's background characters. Truth be told, he's happy enough with that, since he's the main character in his own head.
In truth, Yuito is one of the better-liked students in his class, even if some people consider him a bit boring. He's just genuinely good-natured and emotionally uncomplicated. His rock-solid mental health, strong academic performance, and friendliness stand in stark contrast to media portrayals of a troubled generation. There is not, nor has there ever been, so much as a hint of chuunibyo about him.
Yet, it is almost impossible to tag Yuito with a defining trait, and perhaps that is a symptom of his overwhelming averageness. He's a good student, but not the very best. He has friends, but isn't one of the 'populars'. He's tall and particularly good at baseball, but rather plain-looking, and he's distinctly shy and quiet. Sometimes, he feels like he's destined to be one of those people who just coasts through life, on autopilot, absolutely nothing special about him. Of course, he doesn't voice those thoughts. His friends have bigger problems than he does and his parents are very hard-working people. He wouldn't want to burden anybody, and he has his PC and videogames as an outlet. He's honestly quite good. Sometimes, he wonders if he should try a bit more in those. His reflexes and reaction time are amazing, and his tactical mind, honed through years of chess playing that started as a young boy with his father, is sharp. He'd rather play with his friends than advance to a higher league, however. The time that they spend together is valuable, and it's not like he could make a career out of gaming anyhow. Come September, Yuito's off to Kyoto University, where he's already been conditionally accepted. He doesn't imagine he'll return to Takamatsu except to visit.
Character Ties
?? — TBD later if accepted. Do not fill out until then. Add more if needed. (He takes the same bus home from school as Mio, Akari, and Sota)
Inventory
1) 'Black Knight' chess piece that is the only one left from a set he got as a kid and lost in a house fire. It is always on him. 2) Louisville Slugger baseball bat that he takes home from school. 2) Two cans of energy drink, his keys, and a packed lunch. 3) A FitBit.
Akari lining up to take a free kick during a soccer practice
18 | Female | Fitness
Characterization
The first - and sometimes only - thing that people notice about Akari is her missing leg: result of a childhood battle with osteosarcoma (a type of bone cancer). In many ways, it defines her approach to life: nothing is guaranteed and nothing should be taken for granted. There are too many variables beyond your control, so instead of wasting your time worrying about them, just live the hell out of every single moment. Now, that's a wonderful bit of self-motivation to post on her social media profiles, paint on her bedroom wall, or recite as a kind of personal credo but, in practice, it's exhausting to keep up that level of intensity.
Generally speaking, Akari supplements her extended periods of go-getter attitude with shorter ones of indulgent, self-aware, sweatpants-wearing laziness. The second youngest of four siblings from a family of farmers who very much represent the fast-disappearing rural roots of Kagawa prefecture, there has never been any option not to be active, play outdoors, and keep up. However, during her cancer scare as a child, her parents moved their family to the city for her treatment, and her father took a job as a cab driver while her mother became a waitress. Money has never been abundant in the Hondo household, but there's a stubborn pride to them - Akari included - and you'll never see them asking for handouts or sympathy. They make do.
That's another part of her motivation: she's determined to justify what her parents and siblings went through - what they gave up for her sake. She'll never admit to that feeling of guilt, of course. She'll probably just punch you on the shoulder and make a joke or tell you about a great place she knows where you can get really cheap ice cream or Udon. Akari's a very hard worker in school, to the point of not having the kind of social life that she could and perhaps should. She also trains for hours a day in multiple sports and is already on the shortlist for the 2024 Japanese paralympic soccer team. She wakes up at 5:30 AM every Saturday and takes a train to Osaka to practice with the team, coming home at about 7:30 in the evening. Coming home with a medal around her neck someday would be the sweetest thing ever. While she's a teenage girl and far from immune to the allure of pop culture, Akari doesn't indulge herself in it. In fact, she attempts to bloc her time and schedule her day quite strictly, though usually with limited success. She has a sneaky, understated sort of natural curiosity that often gets the better of her, and she enjoys joking and taking a joke, often at her own or someone else's expense. However, one senses, sometimes, that she's not quite as chipper as she seems.
Character Ties
?? — TBD later if accepted. Do not fill out until then. Add more if needed. (She takes the same bus home from school as Mio, Yuito, and Sota)
Inventory
1) Numerous hair-ties and a pair of fingerless gloves. 2) A small sport bag with a soccer cleat and shin pad, sports drink, teriyaki beef jerky, and lanyard with keys. 3) A pocketknife and multitool with wire cutters and a screwdriver for... reasons. 4) One half of a paired koi pendant, carved out of wood. Her older sister Misaki has the other half. 5) A pair of light, sturdy forearm crutches. Yes, she has a prosthetic. She just doesn't wear it all the time, and not for soccer.
Sota out of uniform, as always...
17 | Male | Photography Club, Baseball Team
Characterization
Sota was never going to be anything but the school troublecauser and sometime class clown. A fairly recent arrival (circa three and a half years ago) from Okinawa, he stands out in his spoken dialect, heavily Americanized interests, and darker skin tone. His parents, who both work in the travel and tourism industry, upped and moved to Kagawa to take advantage of its recent rise in popularity as a place for Tokyo and Osaka-ites to get away. They bribed him with a new Nintendo Switch and his sister with some girly thing. It wasn't like they were going to listen had he said 'no' anyways. He just figured he'd kick up a bit of a fuss and get something out of the move. If his classmate Akari is 'the straight-laced girl from the sketchy family', then Sota is the 'sketchy boy from the straight-laced family'. His father, being a bit of an outsider and representative of a major hotel company, works hard to maintain a positive public image, something that this teenage 'bad apple' always seems eager to undo.
While most people assume that Sota doesn't really care and see him as a bad influence on their children, the truth is that he just doesn't care about school. He's dyslexic but has never been formally diagnosed due to the lack of awareness surrounding this learning difference in Japan. His parents recognized that something was wrong, and paid to have him privately tutored when he was eleven but, by that point, he'd become used to finishing bottom of the class and being the family embarrassment. Instead, he's circled the wagons around other pursuits - basically any other pursuits. Regularly found smoking behind the school with the likes of Mio and crew, he plays a lot of baseball, steals from vending machines (though not as often as people accuse him of) and shoplifts for the thrill, composes freestyle rap verses and works on his DJ skills, and indulges in long energy drink-fueled gaming sessions funded by his parents' credit card or whatever side hustle he has going on at the moment (some are quite ingenious while others are pretty harebrained). Sota's also a member of the photography club. It's not that he particularly loves the hobby. He just loves a girl who's in the club and... yeah, that's definitely the only reason. Soft side!? Pfffft! Yeah... no way, Jose!
Character Ties
?? — TBD later if accepted. Do not fill out until then. Add more if needed. (He takes the same bus home from school as Mio, Yuito, and Akari)
Inventory
1) Nintendo Switch that has been confiscated by teachers more than once. 2) Ziploc bags of... products for sale. 3) Laser pointer and a cheap digital camera filled with nature photos from Ritsurin Garden. 4) Pocketknife, lighter, and brass knuckles because 'bad boy'.
Changes: 1) Mio: Changed the completeness of Mio's Zombie Apocalypse Guide. It is now partially complete. Her band also now has a name: Snorkel Bomb. Horrible Engrish lyrics, activate! 2) Yuito: Added some more on Yuito's motivation to spend time with his friends. He is headed to the very prestigious Kyoto University in September and is probably not coming back to Takamatsu except to visit. 3) Akari: Mentioned Akari's Saturdays in Osaka training with the national team. Also included a video from another amp soccer player showing how fast she could be expected to run. Start at 2:20 if you want to see more than just running. 4) Sota: Altered the description of Sota's dyslexia to reflect how little awareness there is in Japan. Also made it clearer that his bad boy behaviour is not nature and is mostly a front for his insecurities.
Oh gee! An age and a gender and interests and things. Yeah, I have those. Ain't no way I'm about to trigger an existential crisis by typing them all out, though. You can find out what a nerd I am on discord, okay?
Stay awesome, people.
<div style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Oh gee! An age and a gender and interests and things. Yeah, I have those. Ain't no way I'm about to trigger an existential crisis by typing them all out, though. You can find out what a nerd I am on discord, okay?<br><br>Stay awesome, people.</div>