RBYDark

Dungeons of Drakkenheim 5e

I think, if everyone sticks around, that gives us five players. So far, I'm hearing (besides me) bard, celestial warlock, gloomstalker ranger.

I've got to ask, though, what roles are you guys looking at? Y'know: melee damage, ranged damage, skill monkey, support (including healing), tank, those roles.

Obviously, some overlap is fine, I guess I just want to get a feel for how people are shaping characters? I usually play skill monkey or support myself, but I might go for ranged/melee damage, or instead focus on tanking.

Dungeons of Drakkenheim 5e

Also down to clown. Looking at sorcerer (shadow magic), bard (college of swords), or fighter (archer/close quarters shooter) mostly, but if we end up missing any category, I'll fill it.

Edit: Looks like we may need a fighter, so I'll focus on that. Maybe Close-quarters, assuming the bard is support/ranged since most warlocks I know of are ranged.

Dungeons of Drakkenheim 5e

What level of character are we talking, and how light/dark do you want characters to be?

Digimon- [The Uncanny Frontier]

A short distance from the situation unfolding at the edge of the wilderness, the telltale signs of the beast’s incursions had yet to disturb the everyday goings-on of the city. Nonetheless, within the otherwise serene and peaceful setting of Takiyama castle, a scruffy young man jolted out of his early-evening funk with a start at a sudden noise.

“Christ-” Only narrowly managing not to spill a cup of coffee so dark that light itself struggled to escape its surface, he winced before raising a hand to the improperly-calibrated earpiece that had scared him half to death with its caterwauling. That much was one thing, but if it was playing up this badly, he already knew the coffee was the least of his concerns-

“-ura, are you there? We have a situation.” This time as he pressed a few buttons on the earpiece, the communications came through loud and clear.

“Yeah, guessed as much.” he grumbled, getting up from the bench. Figured that something big enough to scramble the line would come through on his day off. He took a deep sigh, before taking a big swig of his coffee and continuing with a somewhat more committed: “Right, I’ll call it in and head over.” He didn’t ask for details, choosing to trust the considerably keener senses and instincts of his partner- “If we wait for HQ to send someone out we could be looking at a worse situation, so I guess we’ll have to handle it for now. You and Nora going to be alright until then?”

“Not sure. No visual yet, but whatever it is, it’s big. Smells like… dramon.”

To the untrained ear, the way the voice coming over the line lingered on those last few words would sound ominous, even somewhat fearful. The young man knew the creature on the other end well enough, however, to recognize the predatory desire brimming beneath them.

“Riiight. Nora’s probably already working on a perimeter, so help her with that and don’t do anything stupid until I get over.” Reaching into his pocket, he grabbed out a beat-up smartphone and set about handling his own end of affairs. “Calling in a wildfire might be too conspicuous and I’ll be damned if I’m ever talking to seismologists again after that one time in the G-Cans, but this time of year we might just get away with a tornado warning.”

He only hoped that and the efforts of the two already at the site would be enough to prevent a real disaster.

---

The area was brimming with meat, the dragon-like beast rapidly discovered. A disappointing amount of it was airborne, chirping and twittering as the feathered animals flew to safer grounds from the bending and groaning trees. These, it didn’t even bother to try catching. Others were too small, not even as long as a claw and bursting like overripe berries when the beast bit down, leaving it decidedly unsated.

A growl erupted to its right, and it looked to see a peculiar creature. In some ways, it reminded it of Grizzlymon, but it was without the armor plates and massive claws. The color looked all wrong as well, a deep, deep brown almost as dark as a cavern. The creature rose to its hind legs and growled again, much louder, sharp canine teeth visible. The scaled beast delighted in growling back and sensing the confusion and fear the not-Grizzlymon gave off. Well. It was much larger than the other animals seen so far.

The six-limbed beast rushed at the not-Grizzlymon, toppling trees as it tackled its newest prey with all four arms. The not-Grizzlymon roared and swiped its claws - so it did have claws, just much smaller - across the beast’s face. They bounced off the ore-augmented scales, leaving only a slight trail through the dust that had long settled and caked onto the beast’s body. The beast snarled and lunged for the not-Grizzlymon’s neck in retaliation; the prey was not a Grizzlymon, but the space between any creature’s head and torso was often a weak point and a good way to disable prey. It also didn’t appreciate the creature’s attempts to fight, no matter how harmless they were. It was hungry, and it didn’t feel like having to fight for its food. Its claws sank into and cleaved the flesh between the creature's arm and body from the force the beast used trying to hold the creature still. The scream that sundered the night air made the earlier treefalls seem downright prosaic.

The creature’s scream jumped into snarls, then a roar, and then whimpers before those too finally died out with it. The beast gave it a light sniff and a poke with its snout, as if to confirm it would no longer struggle, before diving in. Hot blood oozed from the carcass and from between the beast’s teeth as it tore into the meat. It was better than the small creatures, to be certain. The white bone-like protrusions in the prey were easily avoided, and the fluid flowed from the meat into the ground where it couldn’t taint the taste. A few more of these, the beast decided, and that would be enough before it established a shelter to stay in and sleep off its meal. Well, a few more of this stature - it still didn’t feel like having to put up even with an ineffective fight.

With a final tear of the meat from bone, the beast resumed its hunt once more. It barely cared for stealth, only trying to move quietly out of habit. Its only remotely-satisfying prey had come to it, after all. Who was to say it wouldn't happen again and, if so, why not leave a trail to lead it directly into its waiting jaws?

That was when it saw the smaller creature.

It was less than a quarter of a kilometer away, mostly a blur to the beast's less-than-developed eyesight, but its ability to detect vibrations made it clear that the creature was walking perpendicular to the beast's current route. The beast crept closer, squinting to better make out the creature's appearance. This one was definitely smaller than the not-Grizzlymon, reminding it a bit of a D'arcmon. Of course, the not-D'arcmon's coloration was also all wrong. Perhaps more importantly, though, this one lacked the wings and staff that made D'arcmon such irksome prey. If the beast was more cognizant, it might have thanked the Host for delivering unarmed prey into its new territory. It wasn't even looking its way, and it could feel the vibrations emanating from the tool on the creature's head. It didn't recognize them as any sound it knew, but did that matter? What mattered was that it seemed like the creature was more focused on those vibrations than its surroundings. Its tongue licked along its sharpened teeth, blood-tinged drool dripping to the ground as it tensed its muscles. It then galloped at the creature, ready to tackle and devour it in one fell swoop.

Clockwork Heart: Odyssesy of Steam

Skylar 'Snowy' Wheeler

Name: Skylar 'Snowy' Wheeler

Gender: Male

Age: 19

Appearance: At a glance, it's already clear something is 'off' with Skylar. He's rarely seen without his welding goggles and gloves when out in public, quite distasteful really; he typically wears a long canvas coat with a newsboy cap that's just a tad too large; and what can be seen of him looks sickly and pale, completely washed out. Find him in his workplace during down time, however, and the answer becomes clear: this young man has albinism. He lacks the more shocking traits, such as the pinkish-red eyes and white hair, but his pale blue eyes, platium blond hair, easily burnt pale skin, and occasional bouts of vision issues all mark his condition neatly.
Aside from his complexion, however, he still manages to be a tad eccentric. He's rather embraced the fashion of attaching gears and decorative jewelry chains to his vest, a deep blue fabric that manages to stand out against the silver metals, and he pins the cuffs of his white working shirt with modified bolt heads. His slacks and toolbelt are required to be secured by suspenders, something which may explain his slight slouch.

Personality: The first thing most people notice about Skylar is that he's quite knowledgeable and experienced for his age - half the time, he can just glance at a broken machine and accurately diagnose the problem. He's quite adept with Automatic Dolls, which leads to the second thing most people notice.
He must be flat-out bonkers.
No amount of talent and work can make up for the unease many feel when he claims the seradite core 'told' him what the problem was, and his claims that he is, in fact, being literal - that seradite speaks to him with its own voice, and he can hear it audibly. His dream, besides being a great engineer who revolutionizes the world the same way Engel Sera did, is to find the 'real source' of seradite so he can 'hear it speak in more than just fragments'.
Assuming you can get past that, what you're left with is a dedicated but meek young man who spends a lot of time drating ideas for inventions (including a transteleporter), tending to a small automaton in the shape of a snake, insect-watching, and studying swordfighting techniques (according to him, his brother's idea).

History: Honestly, at a glance, little about Skylar's history stands out. It is true that, at 15, he made a small automaton, but nothing else would have foreshadowed his entrance into the field of automaton engineering and repair a mere year later. He was often punished in school for 'frequent daydreaming' and 'choosing the hand of the Devil', and even the family's tutor confided to his parents that he was unlikely to get much further than a factory assembly line. As Skylar tells it, his older brother was the only one who seemed to have any faith in his abilities and the desire to encourage his 'silly doodling'. These days, he mostly feels his failures in childhood can be chalked up to the fact that his parents were raising him to be a merchant more than an engineer.
That all said, his apparent insanity had been present since he was 10 and met his first Automatic Doll ('his', as in it did not belong to the family and was merely one owned by someone else walking by), but it did not become prominent until his entry into the field. Were it not for his talent, he likely would have been completely ostracized. As it stood, though, the company that hired him was willing to look the other way. At 17, he and his older brother had an explosive argument that has left them out of contact ever since over the nature of his 'belief', as the company called it, and whether the aforementioned company was exploiting said 'belief'.
He's been over to the Danforth estate a few times for repairing Automatic Dolls, not enough to truly establish connections but enough to be familiar with the family. When the knowledge of the threats emerged, he volunteered to assist, arguing that someone would be necessary to ensure Elizabeth's protective Dolls would remain able to fight and watch out for sabotage of the train itself.

Equipment: Basic tool kit - torque wrench, socket wrench, screw wrench, spud wrench, tension wrench, dead blow hammer, engineer's hammer, chasing hammer, hex screwdriver, flat screwdriver, watchmaker screwdriver set, long nose plier, a portable welding torch, wire brush, mathematics compass, tape measure, half-round smooth file, you know. The basics. Frankly, in the right hands (not Skylar's), his "basic" tool kit could double as quite an effective bludgeon. There's also the life-sized (as in, just under two feet long) clockwork snake automaton that tends to stay hidden in his vest.

Skills: Repair and minor remodeling of Automatic Dolls, repair of smaller devices such as jewelry chains and watches, lockpicking, blueprint drafting/mapping

Character Type: Human

Clockwork Heart: Odyssesy of Steam

I mean, for the record I didn't mean to come across as accusatory. I was just confused. Usually I'm the one holding up proceedings.

@VitaVitaAR Anyways, I'm done my WIP sheet, any feedback? (First post after yours)

Strawberry Romantic

Man, my own post feels so short in comparison. And that was with watching half-an-hour of parkour.

Strawberry Romantic

"Who wants to bet my brother can't reach that window ledge? Any takers?"

Diarmi posed confidently, glancing upwards at the second-story window ledge his little sister had pointed to. Maybe three inches wide, a foot and a half long, set into the brick exterior of some deli he knew nothing about (though its broad windows certainly invited inspection).

Yeah. He could make that.

He stretched, feeling the familiar popping of bones shifting around their joints, as his little sister collected bets. Some were genuine, he knew, though others were 'betting' just for the pleasure of seeing him either fall flat on his face, or out of spite towards those people. Most people were betting against him, and Zola absolutely did not carry enough cash to pay out if he failed.

He couldn't fail. He wouldn't fail.

And when she said 'Dimi?', off he went. Personally, he thought leaping at the deli window without actually smacking into it was far more impressive than getting up to a second-story window, but that's not what the people were betting on, was it? Out of the corner of his eye, he could see someone, probably an employee, startle at his presence, but he refused to allow it to distract him. It took only a slight bend of the knee to launch himself up, grab the upper ledge, and twist his body to land above it. This next part would be tricky, but it was simple to him: just move quick enough and gravity would lag behind. His fingers, callused from hours of stunts like these, gripped onto the rough bricks and he skittered along the surface, grabbing the ledge from beneath, and pushing off the wall to flip up onto the ledge, where he turned and waved down to the crowd, in varying states of flabberghast (was that a word?), amusement, and awe. His parents, who'd been watching with only mild interest, gave a polite applause in contrast to the whoops and cheers from the crowd. Zola went among them to pay out the handful of winners. And in the back of the crowd, he could see his two oldest siblings moving about.

His stomach dropped, but his grin didn't. He stood, catching the top of the window, and bowed, encouraging their excitement and their attention on him. Better him than Zola, he'd decided all those months ago. Let her stay innocent in all this. He leaped off from the ledge, taking the second to pose in the air before landing in a tumble and springing back to his feet. The crowd went nuts - well, most. Some were beginning to leave, down the street or into the deli where he suspected they'd tell that poor employee about the stunt that weird kid had just pulled. While it wasn't like the family couldn't hold people captive, them leaving was never good. It meant less money, and, to his own disgust, fewer targets.

Not that such feelings showed on his face. Instead, he bowed and gestured to his parents - his mother had already drawn out the old in-desperate-need-of-a-polish fiddle to play, and his father was promising "magic like you've never seen before!"

Which, Diarmi supposed, was a fair claim to make. How often did money vanish from people's wallets anyways?

Clockwork Heart: Odyssesy of Steam

Sorry I vanished! My own rp picked up several people, had to answer a lot of questions and draft up an example sheet, and-

...
Where is everybody?

Digimon- [The Uncanny Frontier]

Aaaaaaaaaand first IC post is up! Now's a good time to set up your characters and get ready for a fight/contracting!