Do you date outside your race? If so how often? Yep, whenever the occasion arises.
How do you view racial preferences as whole? (in society) In terms of friends, I think a person should try to diversify their friends to understand cultural differences. In terms of relationships, I think understanding the cultural differences and learning to close the gap between the two is where we should start in opening up to different cultures.
I don't think the discussion should be "Let's see pass race" but more "Let's understand what our culture stands for then see their differences and go from there". I think its far better to acknowledge than to dismiss (not to imply that anyone's doing that in this thread).
I hope to see more opportunities open up in the future as cultural boundaries are defined and understood.
Do you find yourself attracted or not attracted to certain race or races? I'm not sure but I'm open to any possibility based on where we are at in our lives.
Can you describe why you might have these preferences/dislikes? I don't think I have any preference because I grew up with a lot of diversity. I think more people either notice people's personality or attractiveness despite their inherent racial traits.
Do you think your mind has changed about any of this from the past or is subject to change in the future? I'm sure it will change depending on where society will head. I usually counter societal norms but it isn't consistent. I hope that if I do change my mind it is for the better and not the worse.
Name: Samuel or Sammy Age: 40 years old Appearance: Sam was heavily augmented with military grade augmentations. All his limbs were made of a special metal that prevented corrosion. They are not indestructible. Besides the visible augmentations, Sam kept his head shaved. There are minor augmentations on his face connected to his eyes and brain. They appear to be visible pieces of metal grafted onto his temples.
Height/Weight: 6' 280 - 300 lbs (because of augmentations)
Skills/Powers: Sam's augment enables him to do more than an average person without augmentations. He can run for a longer period of time, he could jump higher than normal, and he can move heavier objects than a average person. Aside from his augmentations, Sam's neural implants and eye implants enable him to receive tactical data depending on the environment he's in. He often uses these to gain tactical favor over the enemy.
Weapon(s)/item(s): Sam is well versed in handguns, shotguns, rifles, sniper rifles, RPGs, grenade launchers, grenades, knife use and setting up claymores. These are items that need to be picked up and accounted for before a mission. Otherwise, the only weapon Sam really has is his augmentations and his knife.
Sam's wields a custom combat knife crafted after the Bowie knife using today's technology. It is custom fitted for his augmented hands and movement. He opts to keep it in its sheathe stored at either his thigh, belt, or shoulder. Sam changes the position of the knife as needed for better concealment. This is typically done through a custom setup with his augmentation where he would normally store other items such as ammunition or first aid equipment.
Sam understands basic CQC techniques for take downs, engaging hand-to-hand combat, disarming, and can be paired with a knife that he keeps somewhere on him.
Personality: Sam's personality in the field and relaxed personality are night and day. When in the field Sam prefers professionalism as lives are on the line. He approaches situations with a no non-sense approach and tries to find the easiest way to do something. However, non-field related work or certain jobs that require little focus Sam likes to joke around and try to build camaraderie with the people he works for.
Bio: Sam was part of Squad A, one of the fire teams sent out to clear and patrol a certain sector in hostile territory. His squad leader was a one of a kind person - female and of African descent. She was calm, calculated, and equally skilled in armed combat as any of the top soldiers in the platoon. Like everyone else, she kept her black curly hair short, but not to the point where she was bald. She had large eyes with brown pupils, and full lips. Her physique was lean and tight - if she wasn't fighting along side the rest of the lowlifes she could have been in a fitness magazine.
There was Watson who was assigned to perform radio communications when the squad was out. Often times, the three of them would be together with two other random soldiers. Except today, they were assigned with two other members, another man named Castro who was built like an ox, and Becker who was a tall and lanky fellow. Castro went to boot camp with Sam and the two of them met Becker in the advanced portion of their training.
Castro had the blood of an ancient civilization in him - the blood of the Aztecs as he would say often. His speech often peppered with certain inflections that made him stand out more than the rest. Castro was also nicknamed "The Tank" for his bulky physique and love for natural human enhancements such as protein or supplements. He was a rarity in terms of preserving old school ways of maintaining fitness and strength.
Becker had a certain drawl to his speech - in a certain time or place he would have been known as a Southerner. His hand-to-eye coordination was top notch, his tactics unparalleled, and his demeanor came off as a very friendly individual. Sam has rarely seen Becker lose his cool but the moments he did were enough for Sam to steer clear of Becker's bad side.
Then there was Watson - from his accent he must have came from the great islands near old time Europe. He was probably the newest to the group and often was caught being hazed by the company. His distinctive feature would be his style. He sported a gentlemenly moustache, wore his hair in a split that combed neatly down the sides, and enjoyed smoking from a pipe. It was an archaic look but for some reason it fit him.
Sam, Adebowale, Castro, Becker, and Watson were part of the Fire Team as Squad Charlie. They were assigned to patrol a perimeter of a newly covered ground. Their mission objectives were simply to spot anything out of the ordinary and report back.
They all suited up and left the base. It must have been thirty minutes from the mission start that a loud explosion rocked their vehicle to its side. There were more explosions and chaos ensued: Sam crawled out of the vehicle and found that he had lost his weapon. He frantically looked around but the ringing in his ears dazed him. Clouds of smoke made it very hard to see and the sceams and yelling that pierced the ringing made him a bit nauseous.
Someone grabbed him and pulled him down towards a ditch. Sam looked and saw Castro's body blown to pieces and what appeared to be shock frozen on his head. Sam looked to his right and saw Watson trying to get on the radio and to his left he saw Adebowale trying to stabilize him. He looked down and saw his legs were blown clean off. He tried to move his arms but he couldn't - there was nothing there.
Becker was nowhere to be seen. The ringing wouldn't stop. Then everything faded to black.
It's been twenty years since that incident but Sam Lee kept dreaming about it. In a way, Sam had to thank the government was enrolling him into a program that gave him arms and legs. With his new gear, he was put to work, and the training, and the things he has seen has led him to believe that the people should have the power. Not government agencies, not gangs, but ordinary people who were willing to put in for the common good.
Sam remembered Adebowale and what she said about people of power and the people who fight their wars.
"Lee, we are on the same side now, but one day we might not be. You need to figure out what you're fighting for. Don't let me regret the day I saved your sorry ass for you to become a puppet of the government. Look around you and you'll see that people like us are needed," she waited a bit but took Sam's silence as his response. "I know a man you should see."
Let me know what needs to be changed to fit the role play better.
I'm working it out now but at the same time I felt it would fit here. I'm afraid of pitching a SAO-AU because I feel like a lot of people like the main cast. The other component that makes this all so hard is the level of role playing and dice mechanics that are involved. I've spent about three weeks looking at different systems, character progressions, and other people's tabletop role plays to get a feel for it.
Either way, it's still an idea that fascinates me.
I'm not exactly new but it would seem everybody I used to know has left or I have lost contact during the transition to the new forum. I figured this is a good way to meet the friendliest people in the Role Playing Guild. Let's see... my experience with role playing isn't extensive but when I do partake I enjoy it quite a bit. My favorite type of role plays are Alternate Universe role plays where the player is given the chance to change the course of history. Other than that, I mostly lurk and read other people's role plays or arena because I like to see everybody else's approach.
One of my favorite places to hang out in is the Articles & Guides because of the many user-generated guides that are there. The latest one I have read was about intelligence gathering. It was a very enlightening read! There was another one about war time strategies or engagements.
Either way, I'm here to meet new people and participate a bit more than just lurking.
I wanted to create a simple role play using basic dice rolls to determine success rates with a Sword Art Online setting. I chose non-canon because I veered off from the main story and stuck to core elements such as:
You die in-game, you die in real life
Clear 100 floors to beat the game
You don't need to be a great writer. I definitely am not one. Adhering to general role playing rules and clear writing is enough. Anything else that helps paint the world of Aincrad is definitely a plus.
I've put quite a bit of thought of what creates a "good" game and I've come up with a dozen variables and each one more different than the last. I was able to narrow it down to some concise points:
Easy to understand; straight-forward
Intuitive to the user and the game master
Utilizing all resources with a clear and intended purpose
The main focus of this role play is the story within a success rate environment. The random variable will be rolled between the numbers 1-100. For example, if we are engaged in a monster fight the following will happen:
Player A engages the Giant Ant.
This player (without being prompted) has the following options: - Use a "Sword Skill" - Regular Attack - Block - Switch (Party)
Using a sword skill increases your success rate to 35 + whatever you roll. Let's say you roll 80 and the total becomes 115. The 100 guarantees the skill hits and the extra points can inflict a status effect or be used on the next turn for a regular attack since the sword skill will be on cool down.
Regular hits will have no bonuses and will need a 90 or higher for a hit to occur. There'd be no left over points from regular attacks.
Blocks will grant extra hit bonus by increments of 10.
The fourth option will require another player to switch with you. Switches need to be done by Sword Skills only and it will add both player's rolls to determine a hit. If it happens that both players roll a 100 (without the bonus) the monster will immediately die and a boss type monster will be stunned for one round.
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Anything else from player interaction or interacting with the environment will not have a roll involved. It only pertains to fighting. Maybe later we can expand on this.
That is the bare bones setup I've come up with. Would this interest anyone?
Life may not always be great and there will be a lot of people out there who will put you down.
But there's just too much to learn, explore, and try in life to let the negatives bog you down. I am constantly trying something new and working on the skills I do enjoy into mastery. From writing to photography, I crawl at my own pace to get a tiny bit better than I was yesterday. These small increments mark my existence in this world because I am the one doing them.
Sure, I get yelled at for botching things up (on a professional level). I get bad anxiety when I have to deal with certain situations that I know I am not good at. People will say the worse things to you sometimes out of frustration. And times do get tough because life happens and life comes with no precautionary signs.
But all of that to me is part of the experience of living. All these experiences good or bad have taught me to be better. That for me is enough for me not to consider suicide. I feel that at the end of the day I will be a better me and more prepared to handle whatever life decides to send my way.
I'm glad you're able to reach out to any of the users on this forum and I hope someone will write a response that will relate to your experience.