Jeremor

Fog of Torvelt

While the horrible yells still reverberated through the hills and the horrible stink grew only worse, the ground began to thud with the fast inhuman shambling of huge creatures. Then, finally, the figures burst over the far treeline and crested the hill to the party's front. Luckily the group had prepared swiftly, for the 2 large trolls raced down the slope of the hill in a frenzied sprint of feet and claw. There was only enough light to see their flesh, bright putrid green and yellow, but something was amiss.

Any adventurer would know the properties of a troll. Regenerative to the extreme, trolls are extremely difficult to kill because of their fast-healing bodies. They have only one true weakness, which is fire. However, the two trolls charging headlong at the party were obviously wounded. Gaping open sores oozed all over their bodies, rotting away as fast as the flesh tried to knit itself back together. Whole charred pieces of skin sloughed off of their forms as they ran, flapping in the breeze. The stink of death and rot grew ever stronger as a pale grey vapor oozed from their wounds. To those learned in the arcane, they reeked of necromantic magic in the extreme.

The two trolls, each standing about 9 feet tall, roared again as they sprinted across the open field. There was only time for an arrow or two, perhaps a single spell, before the disgusting creatures met with the line of warriors. The first troll, a sickly yellow-green, seemed to focus in on Gentle, the biggest target before him. It roared and swiped it's claws at the minotaur man. The second troll was a step behind, with two malformed heads sitting on it's shoulders. Both sets of eyes locked on to Naldir, the Aasimar, and slammed down it's rotting claws from above.

Shadowrun: The Big Easy

Hey guys, sorry for the slow progress. I'll try to get something up this week.

Fart

A Fantasy-Cyberpunk Adventure

The year is 2060 and shit has gotten weird.

About 40 years ago, magic reentered the world. All the things humankind had believed to be legends and myth, turned out to just be ancient histories of a time long forgotten. Animals transformed into mythical creatures as human beings also changed, giving birth to new kinds of humanoids dubbed Metahumans. The Meta's were your figures of fantasy novels, orcs and trolls and elves and dwarves and more. For some, it was a more unseen kind of change that began to manifest itself. Magic. Suddenly, those with the right talent could learn to control unseen forces of energy in order to create spells. Global society was immediately thrown into chaos.

In the intervening years much has happened. Most nations have fallen and risen once more, or else disappeared forever. International Megacorporations now serve as de facto rulers of the world, playing an endless global game of chess against their rivals. These games never end well for anyone, least of all the folks on the street. After years of brutal racial divides among humans and metahumans, most have settled into an uneasy coexistence. It's the Megacorps that fuck them over most of all, not some troll that runs a food cart down the way, or the mage that does parlor tricks for tips. The constant question of daily life is do you submit to the Megacorps, become a wageslave living in walled little arcologies like ants, or do you take matters into your own hands?

Shadowrunners were the inevitable consequence of this question. The Shadows are the dark spaces outside of the corporate web, the cracks where certain people with certain skills are in very high demand. Runners work for themselves, a tempting concept in this strange new world, and bet their lives on their skills. They do the work that the Megacorps can't do officially, or the work that others need done to the 'untouchable' corps themselves. The sort of jobs those are depends on one's expertise and their moral compass. The likelihood of them living very long depends entirely on their intuition. Being easily deniable, easily covered-up, and easily replaced is no recipe for a long life. But, it is a life of freedom in a world of chains.

⚜ Setting ⚜

New Orleans, Louisiana, Confederation of American States

The Big Easy. The Big Sleazy. Queen City. The Birthplace of Jazz, and Lee Harvey Oswald. New Orleans has always been a city of vice and exuberance and magic, long before it ever came back to the world. In 2060, the city is a dysfunctional metropolis at war with itself, in a crisis of identities. Mardi Gras still rages through the historic French Quarter even while modernization demolishes the rest of the city's culture and history. New Orleans has become the major hub of trade in the Gulf of Mexico, leading to the influx of Megacorps trying to unofficially claim the city for themselves. The local government is as corrupt as it has ever been, maybe even more so, and bends over backwards for anyone with enough bribe money. For the actual locals of New Orleans, there is a unifying animosity for the foreign Megacorps. Outside of the corporate zones, the mafias are the real authority. They oversee the many street gangs in their territory and dabble in local magic to varying degrees.

Voodoun

Voodoo has always been a powerful part of New Orleans and the surrounding bayou. With the onset of magic, the most ancient parts of these many different beliefs began to take on real power again. Soon enough all of the many varieties of voodoo, vodou, and more were united under one catch-all term. Voodoun is the name for this semi-religion semi-magic art, with it's practitioners being some combination of pharmacist and pastor handing out blessings and advice in equal measure. They form a vital part of New Orleans in 2060, Voodoun Kings and Queens often acting as leaders of the community. However, it was not only the good side of Voodoun that was resurrected.

Hoodoo is the dark side of Voodoun, every forbidden art that has been banned from modern times. Dolls to control or injure your enemies, all variety of hexes, curses, evil eyes, and of course necromancy. The creation of zombies was officially outlawed in the state of Louisiana some years ago, but the hoodoo witches of the bayou pay little attention to it. Cast out from the city, they can only be found in the swamps, and are sometimes employed by desperate fools.

⚜ Magic ⚜

Those that can tap into magic are called Awakened, but the laws of magic are only just being understood even after decades of trying. What is known is that it comes from a variety of belief systems, but the awakened themselves fit into three general molds.

Hermetic

The first is Hermetic magic, which is your standard Merlin, wizard in a pointy hat, shoot-fireballs-out-of-hand kind of thing. Hermetic Magicians, or just Mages for short, believe that magic is a quantifiable and therefore predictable force of nature. They study it like a science, use it like a mathematician uses a formula, and have their own particular theories on why it does what it does. The downside to this scientific form of magic is Drain. Drain is the term for the effect on one's body from casting too many powerful spells too quickly.

Shamanistic

The second is Shamanistic magic, which involves the help of some kind of guiding Totem Spirit in order to help channel the forces at work. Shamans, as these practitioners are known, at some point find their Totem Spirit. If the two accept one another, they form an intense bond that shapes the Shaman as a person. They use spells that their Totem approves of, are given blessings by it if they do well, and are protected by it when in danger. Totem spirits come in many shapes, but normally they are the ideal forms of animals that embody certain aspects.

Physical Adept

The last is also the most difficult to describe. Adepts, as they are known, are Awakened that cannot cast spells themselves. Instead, their connection to magic is constant and physical. They might be able to move faster than a normal metahuman, jump higher, sense things, or have any number of superhuman abilities they can tap into with a thought. Adepts are not so much workers of magic as they are vessels for it. In many cases, it can be a mystery even to themselves, but as natural as breathing.

⚜ Cyberware ⚜

Technology has expanded in leaps and bounds since the early 21st century. Prosthesis and robotics have gone beyond merely replicating human limbs, and now seek to improve upon them. Shadowrunners are notorious for their gleaming pieces of 'Chrome', upgrading themselves like a street racer might upgrade a car. These upgrades come in endless possibilities, from huge metal arms tipped with razor-blades to an upgraded immune system that filters out common toxins. The most common cyberware is that of the Datajack, a neural port in one's body that enables the easy connection into the Matrix.

These upgrades do come at a cost besides Nuyen, however. For every bit of one's body that is replaced with some metal and plastic abomination, their Essence is also lost. Essence is the term for one's ability to connect to the forces of magic. For non-Awakened this can be a trivial concern, since they can't truly tap into such things in the first place. For the Awakened this is a horrible experience, slowly cutting themselves off from their most precious sense.

Cyberware can be graded in these ascending tiers of quality: Basic, Alphaware, Betaware, Deltaware.

⚜ The Matrix ⚜

In the year 2029, a cyber plague swept through every bit of networked tech in the entire world. The Crash Virus, as it'd come to be known, would send the entire planet back into the stone age in short order. Unable to use the internet, anything connected to it and anything with any manner of complex software, led to the quick collapse of entire economies. While the virus was eventually eradicated, or so we're told, metahumanity had to start over completely. So, the Matrix was born.

Bearing only the most surface-level resemblance to the Keanu Reeves movie of the same name, the Matrix is how all networked devices now function. It can be seen as a startlingly real virtual reality simulation, using the SimSense technology that allows living beings to interface directly with the code itself. Cyberdecks are portable computers, essentially, that allow Deckers to run complex programs from within the Matrix. Once inside, skilled Deckers can see the code as tangible objects, change certain aspects to their liking, and fight against the protection software trying to stop them.

⚜ Characters ⚜

Metahumans

Metahumans
* Human: Still the most populous on earth, human beings are average in all aspects but also have no downsides either. It should be mentioned that they draw far less attention than other metahumans.

* Elf: Slender, graceful, and beautiful creatures with pointed ears. Elves are the third most common metatype and have a more developed culture of their own than most metahumans. Their main strengths are in charisma and dexterity.

* Dwarf: Short and stocky, dwarves have faced the least amount of prejudice among metahumans. Renowned for their technological prowess and work ethic. Dwarves are well suited to any technologically or analytically related tasks.

* Ork: Large and powerful metahumans, orks and trolls have suffered the most prejudice since their appearance. Normally, they tend towards physical jobs that take advantage of their superior strength.

* Troll: The rarest metahuman of all, trolls are towering behemoths of staggering might. Huge horns sprout from their foreheads and they share the orkish canine-like tusks jutting from their jaws. They make fearsome fighters and bodyguards.

* Metavariants: Each of these metahumans has begun to be broken down into further metavariants, as the world learns more about each of them. If you wish to play one of these lesser known metavariants, please ask for permission first.

Archetypes

Shadowrunner Archetypes
* Street samurai: The street samurai is streetwise and heavily armed, well versed in basically everything from swords to rocket launchers. Over time, a sammie begins to specialize their skills into a particular weapon, also augmenting their bodies with cyberware to become terrifying walking weapons.

* Mage: Hermetic mages use a wide variety of spells, both beneficial and offensive depending on their preference. Their power can be terrible to behold. The downside to this is Drain, over-taxing their bodies and spirits with the powerful spells they cast.

* Claimed Shaman: Shamanistic mages that follow their own Totem Spirit, specializing in utility magic and summoning elemental spirits to aid them. Barriers are also a key part of a Shaman's magic, magical force shields to cut off enemy movement or provide cover to allies.

* Adept: A physical combatant focusing on close range combat, augmented not by cyberware but through magical powers. Though they cannot cast 'spells' in the traditional sense, they do learn how to channel their innate powers to aid their combat skills.

* Rigger: Masters of the mechanical and robotic, these tinkerers can fix or splice into nearly anything mechanical. All riggers end up creating their own personal drone to aid them, whether a utility drone to support them or a death-dealing battlebot to do the work for them.

* Decker: Standing above the legions of script kiddies, these hackers are invaluable as shadowrunners in 2060. Their cyberdecks allow them to use datajacks to interact in the Matrix, using custom programs and viruses to help them against whatever ICE they're up against. This means they usually lack focus on their combat abilities

Character Sheet

[b]Name/Primary Alias[/b]:
[b]Metatype[/b]:
[b]Archetype[/b]:
[b]Age[/b]:
[b]Gender[/b]:
[b]Sexuality[/b]:
[b]Ethnicity[/b]:
[b]Height[/b]:
[b]Weight[/b]:

[b]Physical Description[/b]: (please provide a small written description even if supplying an image)

[u]Body Augmentations[/u]: (Cyberware, cosmetic changes, etc. May be subject to approval)
[list]
*
*
[/list]
[u]Weaponry[/u]: (If you'd like to get specific, please [url=adragon202.no-ip.org/Shadowrun/index.… from this list[/url])
[list]
*
*
[/list]
[u]Gear[/u]: (Equipment, armor, so forth)
[list]
*
*
[/list]
[u]Personal Belongings[/u]: (Anything important to your character, that they keep close)
[list]
*
*
[/list]
[u]Known Spells[/u]: ([url=adragon202.no-ip.org/Shadowrun/index.… 3 spells that your character knows[/url]. Remove this section if not Shaman or Mage)
[list]
*
*
*
[/list]

[b]Psyche Eval[/b]: (Personality traits, mannerisms)

[b]History[/b]: (Keep under 4 paragraphs, please. Focus mainly on their Shadowrunning career, and what led up to it)

⚜ OOC Info ⚜

Rules

* Don't be a dick. Number one rule, be nice to your fellow players, remember that this is a team exercise, and always try to make sure everyone is having fun.
* All standard Guild rules apply here, especially relating to sex and godmodding. NPC's count as my characters, I'll be in full control of them unless I tell you otherwise.
* There will be no post length requirements, just try to give your fellow writers enough to react to without writing a novel. Shorter posts keep it easier for me to read and respond to, and keep the RP moving faster.
* There will be no required posting order. Try to wait at least 4 replies between your own posts.
* Character pictures should be art, and not of a clearly anime style. I'd like to keep things somewhat realistic in tone.
* There will be a max of 6 players in the roleplay, one for each Archetype. You can reserve an Archetype for 7 days, simply post in this thread. First come first serve.

Info

* This RP isn't really based on the Shadowrun boardgame, since I know very little about it. There will be absolutely no dice rolling or stats involved in anything. We will be using the shadowrun setting as an inspiration, mostly, and then making the rest up as we go along. If you ever have a question about anything, always feel free to message me.
* All of your character should start the RP as freelance shadowrunners, meaning they're working alone right now. Each of them has separately been hired for a lucrative job as part of a team, and I'll go into more detail in my opening post about where that'll take place and what it is. Your only contact is codenamed 'Roux'.

Jeremor? More like Jereless

Name | Jehu Teico
Age | 23
Gender | Male
Appearance | Picture, A lean man a little under six feet in height with lanky proportions. At even the best of times, he looks a bit like a wild dog that's been shoved into people clothes. Wild is the best way to describe both his appearance and aura, a sort of font of exuberance that affects others. He keeps his hair shaven on both sides and then chopped just short enough to still be able to pull back out of his face. There are an eclectic collection of nature-themed tattoos spread out around his body.
Attire | Usually as little as he can get away with, as clothing feels restricting to him. It is usually in a very traditional hand-made quality, not particularly well made or quality. In fact, it is usually frayed and well worn. He carries no weaponry and prefers to only wrap his hands and legs in cloth.
Armament/Gear | Aside from necessary travel gear, Jehu does not carry any visible weapons or bulky equipment. He prefers to use his body as a weapon, when possible, and is a very adept unarmed combatant. Arguably more adept than he is a runic.
Alignment | Radical (Chaotic Moral)
Personality/Habits | Jehu is one might call a free spirit, someone unburdened by things like anxiety or fear. This isn't entirely true, he has fears and he does worry about things, but his forward-facing side is entirely boisterous and passionate and loud. He has never met a problem that he couldn't solve by ramming his head against it or pinning it to the ground until it surrendered. The world is a simple puzzle to Jehu, there are things which are good and right, and then there are things in the way. It doesn't really matter what you have to do to get them out of the way.
Affinity | Ars Terrata
Favored Abilities |

✴ Runic Axes - Combining all of the elements precisely, Jehu creates two identical elemental axes that he can use in battle. Should they break apart, they are easily reformed once more.
✴ Earth Armor - Manipulating the elements of the earth itself, rocks mold themselves to his body in the shape of a suit of armor to lessen blows or give his fists more punch.
✴ Water Prison - His rare offensive ability, he creates a sphere of water around his foe in order to hinder their movement or subdue them completely.

Other Skills/Talents | Jehu was brought up in a family of martial artists, dedicated to forming the most effective combat art possible. He is highly trained in striking with the different parts of his body, and also in grappling. It may be to the exclusion of all else, in fact, that he still perfects his skills in the martial arts.
Background | From the very first day he left his mother's womb, Jehu Teico was destined to fight.

The Teico family was large enough to constitute a small army on their own. Brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles, aunts, Jehu had a no shortage of people trying to teach him things or use him as a punching bag. Wealth was stretched thin, of course, and food was never plentiful. The family trade was their own brand of martial arts, the fighting skills they possessed, and this wasn't always very profitable. It was certainly not safe, either, and Jehu has lost many family members because of it.

Jehu was the first of his family to show skill with Runic arts. It began when he first met his close friend, Wren Torhice, and the two began to train for hours upon end. Though his art was always a bit less artful, a bit blunt and lacking with skill, Jehu demonstrated enough connection to the elements of the land to justify serving The Brotherhood. He left his family for the first time in order to join House Aughler, where he has been all too eager to jump into the front lines.

Fog of Torvelt

ROAD TO 'MUDSHIT'

---

The group of heroes had time to get their last necessities before hitting the muddy road. It had never stopped raining. Sometimes a little harder, sometimes merely a drizzle, the clouds seemed to follow them as they went. The town now renamed Mudshit was a full day and night's journey away, which meant that it soon grew dark while they trudged along on the road. Their caravan consisted of only a single cart pulled by a draft horse, laden with whatever couldn't be carried on their backs. It was in the back, near this cart, that Nathaniel 'lead' the group.

Now it should be said, a quick lesson on the geography of Torvelt. The land of Torvelt is actually a peninsula jutting out into the ocean, vaguely round in shape. The Crescent Mountains are, predictably, arranged in a crescent shape along the coastline. On the outside of the crescent is nothing but swamps and marsh all the way to the sea. In the center of the Crescent Mountains is the Old Forest, a flourishing tangled jungle of ancient trees and nightmarish dangers. None alive have seen the heart of the Old Forest. Koprust, for reference, laid on the hilly but manageable grasslands far from the coast. The party now traveled towards the Crescent, towards the forest, and towards danger.

The party had walked for some hours on the muddy roads as the sun just disappeared behind the looming line of mountains in the distance ahead of them. The sky was left a fleeting array of purple and orange between the dark rainclouds above, as the very last light was strangled out. It rained lightly now, what a true Torvellian might call Pretty Nice Weather. But, just as the party was given their last glimpses of sunlight, the cart horse slid to an abrupt halt. It's eyes flashed white as it snorted, jerking it's head to one side.

To Gentle the Minotaur's sensitive nose, a very distinctive smell suddenly washed over the road. Rotting, putrid meat, a stinking festering smell of decay, mixed with the smell of a watery bog. It would give him a moment's headstart, but the danger was quickly apparent to even the rest of the party. A great warbling wet throat-yell came from over the hill to the left of the road, joined by several other horrible yells. Soon the smell was strong enough for even human noses. To those well-learned in the foes of Torvelt, they knew that this could be nothing else: Trolls.

Nathaniel was quick to react. He thrust a hand into the pouch of components at his hip and threw a glittering dust over his head, while muttering arcane words of power. Then he vanished.

---

((Combat Time! Try to give everyone a chance to act between GM posts. I will be keeping a fast pace.))

Shadowrun: The Big Easy

Thanks for the interest everybody, I'm hugely excited. I had wanted to make it a somewhat small group, 4 to 5 players most likely, but I'm considering a few ways to let more people be involved.

Going to start working on the OOC and such today. I will link you guys here when I've got it posted up. For now, I can tease you all with a little bit more info... the RP will be starting out like any good shadowrun story, imo.

Each character will initially be a solo runner, that has been hired to fill a role for this mysterious job. As our crew works together, things may not go exactly as expected.

Shadowrun: The Big Easy

@Roach I've never played the tabletop, but I do listen to a couple of actual play podcasts. The amount of confusing rules and math sounds maddening, especially for mages. But I'm very glad we might have a rigger, I think they're a very cool part of shadowrun.

@BeefJerky Thank you very much for the interest, and yeah the games really got me into the whole setting first. I'm definitely taking inspiration from those sorts of RPG experiences.

@Bartimaeus Hah, that sounds pretty cool, I hadn't even heard of a Nartaki before. I'll have to do some thinking about allowing ghouls as players, though. It might make things a little too difficult to blend in... but it's tempting.

@Jabberwocky Can't wait to see you playing cyberpunk.

Fog of Torvelt

While a steady rain drummed on the stone walls of the castle, peals of lightning could be heard much further off. The dark skies over Koprust strangled out the day and made the chamber they all shared that much darker. Fire from the braziers reflected off of Nathaniel's bronze face even more clearly, as he turned his head slightly to follow Brynan, and then to examine the entire party while they spoke. Hands clasped behind him, he rocked on his feet gently, pleased by the flow of conversation now.

Then he turned towards the woman that spoke to him. The court magician took a long time in answering. Even without eyes, he clearly was observing her burnt face and Tiefling features.

"It isn't." He said finally, quite simply. "The town has nothing to do with the Fog. Mudshit, or whatever it's name is, just happens to be the last vestiges of humanity before you all venture forth in your quest. Let's call it a base of operations."

Feeling like he had very expertly answered that question, he began to rock on his heels once more and look up to the rest of the assembled.

"Once we get there, I'll show you my first trick." The mage said playfully, as if the eyes of his mask were suddenly smiling. Then, he clapped his gloved hands. "Now, any more questions before we make ready to leave?"

Shadowrun: The Big Easy

A Fantasy-Cyberpunk Adventure

A night club thumps with the heavy bass, growling guitars and synth keyboard of Neo-Punktech music, the latest craze among the severely sleep deprived. It's feverish pace matches sickeningly with flashing beams of neon light that paint the room. A sweaty mass of dancers fidget and flail on the busted dance floor of the dilapidated discotheque. It's the kind of music only the drugged can appreciate or stomach. Soon their highs will run out, and they'll either pass out or need more.

On the second floor, overlooking, massive guards with sagging jeans and gleaming cyberware stand watch for troublemakers. Behind them, there is a single man that is impossible to miss, because he takes up the entire sofa on his own. Horns sprout from his forehead and spiral upward, painted in a rainbow of colors. Thick grey skin, branded in writhing holographic tattoos of more shimmering color. Pearlescent sunglasses shaped like knives barely cover his bloodshot eyes, while he nods his shaven head to the awful music. The Troll wears an obscenity of gold chains around his neck and rings on his fingers, but they are an afterthought compared to the gaudy golden tusks protruding from his bottom jaw. Though the entire room is suffocating with humidity, he does not sweat.

He leans forward and the entire balcony feels in danger of collapsing.
"I've got a job for you, Shadowrunner."

---

Shadowrun is a tabletop roleplaying game series, made popular more recently by several fantastic pc games developed by Harebrained Schemes. The setting is a unique blend of fantasy and cyberpunk, with things such as elves, dragons, wizards and magic. This is paired with the essential cyberpunk tropes of sinister megacorporations, cool trenchcoats, cooler sunglasses and virtual reality hacking. For this roleplay, we would be starting in the year 2070 in the Louisiana city of New Orleans. Mardi Gras never ends, corruption is king, and zombies wander the bayou. Shadowrunners, the teams of mercenaries operating in the grey area of the law, are vital tools either for or against the asshole megacorps that control the world... usually against.

Never played the Shadowrun tabletop game before? Me neither! You have? Awesome, but forget a lot of what you learned. We will be using the very cool Shadowrun universe as a springboard to create a fun and interesting fantasy cyberpunk world. There will be no dice rolling or stats on any of the player's ends. This will be purely roleplay for anyone that joins. You will play the role of a small group of Shadowrunners that have been hired for a job, and I will list different roles for you to claim. Hacker, mage, muscle, there should be some flavor for everyone. Our setting will tend slightly towards the magical, however, as voodoo is very much alive(and undead) in New Orleans.

So, that's pretty much the pitch. Who here would be interested in this sort of shindig?

Annulus: Darkness Rising [Runic war RP]

Sounds very cool dude, I'm impressed with the lore. It feels tight.