Skyguard

A Dime a Dozen -- Investigative Woes

This is a cool idea for a mystery novella or short story, but I suspect this would be very hard to pull off well as a Play by Post roleplay. My experience is that PbP Roleplayers are prone to metagaming, so unless the writer of the culprit could manage to write their character without cluing in the other players that their character is the murderer, then somebody would likely come to the conclusion that that character is the murderer even if their character wouldn't have sufficient evidence to come to that conclusion.

Lost and Forgotten: A Mentor's Legacy

This seems like a cool idea for a game to me if you are still interested in this concept.

2100 ☢️ BADLAND REPUBLIC

Adrian Jackson Steele had never before been so glad to see civilization. The sensation he experienced must not have been too much unlike that experienced by old mariners when they finally spotted land after months at sea. Finally, the trying journey was nearing its end, and he would finally be able to rest comfortably.

Perhaps he was exaggerating, for at least AJ, as he was better known as, at least had a guide this time. The only thing worse than a grueling trek through the desert is getting lost in a desert, and that had nearly happened to AJ toward the end of the prior year; he had felt pretty much the same way then when he had finally stumbled onto civilization.

On the other hand, there was something to be said about how atrocious travelling the desert in the summer could be. AJ had done it before, but in times past he had been with friends or family who had helped him through it. This time around, he was a lone drifter travelling with a caravan. He had attempted to befriend a few of the caravan guards and travelling merchants, but at most he had earned a few chips and meals for his efforts. None of these people had expected him to stay, and he had been an outsider the whole journey. They weren’t bad people, but AJ would not miss their company either.

So it was that AJ arrived at Sully’s Rest worn, tired, hungry, dirty, parched, sunbaked, nearly penniless, and no doubt stinking to high heaven as well. With any luck he could use what chips he had left to rectify some of those conditions, and from there, he could get a job that would earn him enough chips to live another day.

After passing through the gates to Sully’s Rest and saying goodbyes to his late travelling companions, AJ made his way to the general store, where he was greeted by a homely middle aged man behind a counter, who noticeably wrinkled his nose as AJ approached. Yep, he definitely needed to do something about the smell.

“So, uh, I’m new in town, obviously,” AJ stammered. “Do you know where I can get a bath and food?”

“The Inn that the traders stay at has lodging, food, and baths, although if you want a more filling meal, you might want to try Stella’s Dine-Out,” the merchant replied.

“I see, and how much does a night at the Inn cost?” AJ inquired.

“Well, I haven’t had to stay there recently, mind you, but I do recall one of my customers griping about the place price gouging. I think I heard him say it cost him forty chips.”

AJ counted his chips. “Shit… um, that will be a problem. Say, do you happen to need help with anything that you might be able to, um, pay me to do.”

“I don’t need no protection. Bessie,” the merchant gestured toward a shotgun on the wall,” and the town guards are enough protection for me and my establishment.”

“Oh no, I didn’t mean like that. I uh, I used to be a scavver by trade. I don’t have any good salvage on me right now, but, um, if you happen to have any salvage here, I guess I could appraise it for you.”

The merchant studied AJ for a few moments, then pulled out a screw driver from behind his desk and asked, “alright, how much do you think this is worth?”

“Old world, standardized phillips head screwdriver… Not too much rust, although with the right cleaner, you might be able to get more luster out of this. All in all, it's a pretty good quality tool. I’d sell it for about 10 chips as is, with a nice shine I think you could sell it for 15,” AJ answered.

The merchant nodded approvingly. He quizzed AJ on a few other items and seemed suitably impressed with AJ’s responses. “Alright, I’ll make up a list of items I want you to go through, and I will pay when it's done. In the meantime, you can use my tub. I don’t want you scaring away my customers. And don’t try nothing. I know my stuff. If something goes missing, I’ll notice, and I’ll let the guard know you have it.”

“Understood, thank you so much for this opportunity Mister…”

“Jacobs,” the merchant replied, sticking out a hand. And yours…”

“AJ. Pleasure to meet you, Mister Jacobs.”

Mister Jacobs guided AJ to his bathroom and showed him where his soaps were (and asked him not to use too much). AJ filled up the tub, took a quick bath, and subsequently felt like a million chips. There is nothing quite like a good bath after one has become utterly disgusting. After emptying the now filthy bath. AJ returned to the merchant, who handed him a list, a pencil, and a notebook, and then showed AJ where the stock he wanted him to review was. AJ then spent the rest of the morning reviewing salvaged goods and writing up his analysis on their value. He still had a ways to go as noon rolled around, and his stomach growled angrily to remind him that he hadn’t eaten at all that day. As he stood up, he felt light headed, reminding him that he hadn’t had anything to drink either. Seeing a customer departing, AJ approached Mister Jacobs, who was muttering something about ‘damned mutants’. “Would it be okay if I take a lunch break?” he asked.

Mister Jacobs took his list and nodded appraisingly. “Good work AJ,” he handed him a few chips. “There are more to be had when you get through the rest of the list. Stella’s Diner is just around the corner from here. You can’t miss it.”

“I appreciate it chief,” AJ snatched the chips. “I’ll be back. Thanks again for the job.”

Mister Jacobs had been right about the diner being easy to find; there wasn’t all that much competition, and at this time of day, the place was pretty busy. AJ got in line to place an order, and after asking for something that sounded edible, he found a small unoccupied table and made himself comfortable. He was very much looking forward to his water arriving. He would have to be careful to pace himself. Out here, he doubted they did free refills, so he would need to make it last.

As he waited, he scanned the room. There were several looking eclectic folks in the establishment. One guy was clearly a mutant. AJ hadn’t had too many interactions with mutants. He knew that a lot of people didn’t like them, but he hadn’t found any reason to dislike them himself yet. In some ways he felt like he could empathize with them regarding being discriminated against because of how they looked, although they likely got it even worse than he did.

Another guy had a weird looking eye. At first AJ thought it might be a cybernetic implant of some sort (he’d known a dude with one of those) but before he could get a good look, the man turned away. It occurred to AJ that the eye could just be a filler glass eye or something if the man had lost his eye somehow, although he would have thought that a simple patch would meet the same purpose and would doubtlessly be cheaper. Who knew? It wasn’t his business…

2100 ☢️ BADLAND REPUBLIC

Adrian Jackson Steele

Adrian Jackson Steele

This is a chance to remake myself; be better than I was.

---

___________________________________ P R O F I L E Age 25 Sex Male Height 183 cm Weight 81.6 kg Race Human Origin Wanderer/Former Bandit Transportation N/A Starting Location Sully's Rest Color Code f7941d ___________________________________ I N V E N T O R Y -tent -firestarter kit -backpack -sleeping bag -multitool -knife -poncho -2 extra sets of clothes -shaving razor -water filter -canteen -soup pan -concealed gun holster ____________________________________ E Q U I P M E N T - Post war snub pistol (with two dozen rounds) - Combat Knife - Leather Jacket - Lockpick Set - Crowbar ____________________________________ A T T R I B U T E S Strength: - 0 (-1 First Time Loner) Fitness: - 2 (+1 Experienced Caseman, -1 First Time Loner) Dexterity: - 4 (+1 Experienced Caseman) Perception: - 3 (+1 Experienced Caseman) Intellect: - 2 Endurance: - 0 (-1 First Time Loner)

____________________________________________________________________________ APPEARANCE DESCRIPTION Adrian Jackson, better known as AJ, is tall and slender, but not awkwardly so. He has dark skin, dark eyes, and dark frizzy hair. He tries to remain as well kempt as he can with limited access to water and soaps. The same can be said of his apparel. He used to be able to change out clothes a fair bit when the spoils were good, but now that he is poor and alone, his appearance inevitably displays his scarcity. Now he just has a worn leather jacket and a few stinky shirts, pants, socks, and boxers that he changes out and cleans when he can. ____________________________________________________________________________ BACKSTORY Adrian Jackson Steele was a fortunate youth who was raised by remarkable parents who worked hard to make ends meet at the edges of the Republic. As he grew up, he helped his dad and uncles explore and recover salvage from the old world, and learned a number of tricks about getting into and avoiding damaging dilapidated buildings and valuable salvage. He also learned how to look good and make sales for the family business of selling this salvage to interested customers. However, Adrian Jackson grew to become a rebellious teenager. While his parents wanted to him to take over the family business, Adrian, now going by AJ, wanted to break out on his own. He fell in with another group of scavengers that he had met on his travels with his father, and he ultimately ended up working for them. However, these scavengers got into a lot of other shadier business than just scavenging. AJ found that with his looks, skills, and attention to detail that he could be a good at casing the goods of more honest folk when salvage got scarce, and it was this that these scavengers, calling themselves the Hanover Ridge Crew, would begin to have him do the most. Typically AJ would get eyes on the goods in a store or those owned by a caravan, often with the help of one of his crewmates being a distraction, and he would then report the value of the goods and the defenses of the potential victims, at which point the boss would decide whether initiate a raid or burglary. If the boss did decide to go for it, AJ would participate in the raid in a supporting role, usually helping scout out the area or being extra muscle where needed when his breaking and entering skills weren't needed. AJ found that he hated this lifestyle, as it went against the honest working values he had grown up with. However, he felt trapped with the crew he was in, and he felt like he couldn't face his dad after all that he had done. He also did have genuine friends in the crew, in particular, a tracker who called himself Colton. Adrian did this unsavory work for the Hanover Ridge Crew for nearly a decade as the roved around the edges of the New Republic of Sevara, never staying in one place long enough to become too well known by the locals. There were a few setbacks throughout the years, but overall, the Crew were extraordinarily lucky, so naturally they got complacent. Eventually the Boss decided to target a particularly juicy caravan the Crew had not adequately scouted, and although the raid was a success, they hadn't identified that he caravan was under the protection of they Ya'ii people. The Hanover Ridge Crew found this out the hard way the following night when their encampment was assaulted by a Ya'ii warband the following night. The attack was bloodily repulsed, but the assault had claimed the lives of the Boss and several of his key lieutenants. The Crew quickly left the area and managed to avoid further retribution for their crime, however, with the Boss dead, many of the survivors quickly began to squabble to be his replacement. AJ had decided that he had had enough. With his friend Colten covering for him, AJ disappeared from the Crew's camp with half his cut in the dead of night, and never came back. Subsequently, AJ worked odd jobs as he put as much distance between himself and his past life as he could, all the while watching his fortune decline throughout the year. Now hanging out with a caravan, nearly penniless and doing random errands to get the chips he needs to by food, AJ finds himself approaching Sully's Rest. Hopefully here he can turn things around and find decent enough honest work that he could someday return home with his head held high. ____________________________________________________________________________ PERSONALITY AJ is typically laid back and fairly relaxed. Despite his struggles, he believes in his destiny and good fortune to pull him through his hardships. While he does have plans and dreams, he is not overly ambitious, and he is patient enough to shrug of temporary obstacles and hostile comments. AJ is fairly skilled at being non-threatening and hiding his intentions and anxieties. That said, even AJ has limits, and when he is pushed over those limits, he is not good at controlling his rage or fear. AJ can be introverted, but he is a sociable introvert. He often employs a trick his mother taught making customers, which is to talk to others mostly by discussing their interests. He is good at making acquaintances comfortable around him by being a good listener. However, he is afraid to be vulnerable and face his own demons, so he typically steers conversations away from himself if they start to head in that direction. Ever since attack the killed the Hanover Ridge Crews Boss, everything about the Ya'ii people scares the crap out of AJ. Also, AJ doesn't have much experience with mutants, but he is inclined not to trust them. Otherwise, he is probably a little too trusting with other people, despite his own history of abusing such trust. ____________________________________________________________________________ MOTIVATION AND OUTLOOK AJ is optimistic that things will get better for him now that he is trying to live honestly, but he is getting sick of being poor. He is hoping to eventually settle somewhere nice once he feels he is safely far away enough from his old life and the remnants of the Hanover Ridge Crew. Eventually, once he has made it big on his own doing honest work, he wants to return home and make things up to his parents. ____________________________________________________________________________ MODIFIERS Experienced Caseman: AJ has a lot of experience getting eyes on things other people don't want him to see, which he learned by being skilled with his fingers and sharp with his eyes. He also was good at getting out of trouble fast when he was discovered (+1 Dexterity, +1 Perception, +1 Fitness) First Time Loner: AJ has usually been able to lean on a member of his family or his crew to help him figure out how to endure something challenging. This is his first time going it out alone this long, and he has been struggling to get sufficient food (-1 Strength, -1 Fitness, -1 Endurance)

2100 ☢️ BADLAND REPUBLIC

Adrian Jackson Steele

Adrian Jackson Steele

This is a chance to remake myself; be better than I was.

---

___________________________________ P R O F I L E Age 25 Sex Male Height 183 cm Weight 81.6 kg Race Human Origin Wanderer/Former Bandit Transportation N/A Starting Location Sully's Rest Color Code f7941d ___________________________________ I N V E N T O R Y -tent -firestarter kit -backpack -sleeping bag -multitool -knife -poncho -2 extra sets of clothes -shaving razor -water filter -canteen -soup pan -concealed gun holster ____________________________________ E Q U I P M E N T - Post war snub pistol (with two dozen rounds) - Combat Knife - Leather Jacket - Lockpick Set - Crowbar ____________________________________ A T T R I B U T E S Strength: - 0 (-1 First Time Loner) Fitness: - 2 (+1 Experienced Caseman, -1 First Time Loner) Dexterity: - 4 (+1 Experienced Caseman) Perception: - 3 (+1 Experienced Caseman) Intellect: - 2 Endurance: - 0 (-1 First Time Loner)

____________________________________________________________________________ APPEARANCE DESCRIPTION Adrian Jackson, better known as AJ, is tall and slender, but not awkwardly so. He has dark skin, dark eyes, and dark frizzy hair. He tries to remain as well kempt as he can with limited access to water and soaps. The same can be said of his apparel. He used to be able to change out clothes a fair bit when the spoils were good, but now that he is poor and alone, his appearance inevitably displays his scarcity. Now he just has a worn leather jacket and a few stinky shirts, pants, socks, and boxers that he changes out and cleans when he can. ____________________________________________________________________________ BACKSTORY Adrian Jackson Steele was a fortunate youth who was raised by remarkable parents who worked hard to make ends meet at the edges of the Republic. As he grew up, he helped his dad and uncles explore and recover salvage from the old world, and learned a number of tricks about getting into and avoiding damaging dilapidated buildings and valuable salvage. He also learned how to look good and make sales for the family business of selling this salvage to interested customers. However, Adrian Jackson grew to become a rebellious teenager. While his parents wanted to him to take over the family business, Adrian, now going by AJ, wanted to break out on his own. He fell in with another group of scavengers that he had met on his travels with his father, and he ultimately ended up working for them. However, these scavengers got into a lot of other shadier business than just scavenging. AJ found that with his looks, skills, and attention to detail that he could be a good at casing the goods of more honest folk when salvage got scarce, and it was this that these scavengers, calling themselves the Hanover Ridge Crew, would begin to have him do the most. Typically AJ would get eyes on the goods in a store or those owned by a caravan, often with the help of one of his crewmates being a distraction, and he would then report the value of the goods and the defenses of the potential victims, at which point the boss would decide whether initiate a raid or burglary. If the boss did decide to go for it, AJ would participate in the raid in a supporting role, usually helping scout out the area or being extra muscle where needed when his breaking and entering skills weren't needed. AJ found that he hated this lifestyle, as it went against the honest working values he had grown up with. However, he felt trapped with the crew he was in, and he felt like he couldn't face his dad after all that he had done. He also did have genuine friends in the crew, in particular, a tracker who called himself Colton. Adrian did this unsavory work for the Hanover Ridge Crew for nearly a decade as the roved around the edges of the New Republic of Sevara, never staying in one place long enough to become too well known by the locals. There were a few setbacks throughout the years, but overall, the Crew were extraordinarily lucky, so naturally they got complacent. Eventually the Boss decided to target a particularly juicy caravan the Crew had not adequately scouted, and although the raid was a success, they hadn't identified that he caravan was under the protection of they Ya'ii people. The Hanover Ridge Crew found this out the hard way the following night when their encampment was assaulted by a Ya'ii warband the following night. The attack was bloodily repulsed, but the assault had claimed the lives of the Boss and several of his key lieutenants. The Crew quickly left the area and managed to avoid further retribution for their crime, however, with the Boss dead, many of the survivors quickly began to squabble to be his replacement. AJ had decided that he had had enough. With his friend Colten covering for him, AJ disappeared from the Crew's camp with half his cut in the dead of night, and never came back. Subsequently, AJ worked odd jobs as he put as much distance between himself and his past life as he could, all the while watching his fortune decline throughout the year. Now hanging out with a caravan, nearly penniless and doing random errands to get the chips he needs to by food, AJ finds himself approaching Sully's Rest. Hopefully here he can turn things around and find decent enough honest work that he could someday return home with his head held high. ____________________________________________________________________________ PERSONALITY AJ is typically laid back and fairly relaxed. Despite his struggles, he believes in his destiny and good fortune to pull him through his hardships. While he does have plans and dreams, he is not overly ambitious, and he is patient enough to shrug of temporary obstacles and hostile comments. AJ is fairly skilled at being non-threatening and hiding his intentions and anxieties. That said, even AJ has limits, and when he is pushed over those limits, he is not good at controlling his rage or fear. AJ can be introverted, but he is a sociable introvert. He often employs a trick his mother taught making customers, which is to talk to others mostly by discussing their interests. He is good at making acquaintances comfortable around him by being a good listener. However, he is afraid to be vulnerable and face his own demons, so he typically steers conversations away from himself if they start to head in that direction. Ever since attack the killed the Hanover Ridge Crews Boss, everything about the Ya'ii people scares the crap out of AJ. Also, AJ doesn't have much experience with mutants, but he is inclined not to trust them. Otherwise, he is probably a little too trusting with other people, despite his own history of abusing such trust. ____________________________________________________________________________ MOTIVATION AND OUTLOOK AJ is optimistic that things will get better for him now that he is trying to live honestly, but he is getting sick of being poor. He is hoping to eventually settle somewhere nice once he feels he is safely far away enough from his old life and the remnants of the Hanover Ridge Crew. Eventually, once he has made it big on his own doing honest work, he wants to return home and make things up to his parents. ____________________________________________________________________________ MODIFIERS Experienced Caseman: AJ has a lot of experience getting eyes on things other people don't want him to see, which he learned by being skilled with his fingers and sharp with his eyes. He also was good at getting out of trouble fast when he was discovered (+1 Dexterity, +1 Perception, +1 Fitness) First Time Loner: AJ has usually been able to lean on a member of his family or his crew to help him figure out how to endure something challenging. This is his first time going it out alone this long, and he has been struggling to get sufficient food (-1 Strength, -1 Fitness, -1 Endurance)

Working Through the Newb Jitters

Thanks ChronicleMan!

Working Through the Newb Jitters

Thanks Letter Bee!

Closed/Dead

I should emphasize, characters have to be from the real world/earth-like world. They are average individuals that might have specific things that could give them enhancements compared to others (knowing martial arts, being great at soccer, was in swim, etc...).

This role-play is about character development. You want to think about the abilities rationally and reasonable to being FORCED out of your comfort world. Your every day world. And into a strange one where your character have abilities that your character cannot necessarily control at all or properly for a little bit.

Think if you woke up one day, instead of your bed, you are in a dungeon and when you get up. You shake your hand and a fireball comes out of it. That would freak you out, right? At first at least and then you might try it again. It doesn't work. You throw up your hand and a fireball comes out of it. The characters have to get used to themselves even if it takes 1-2 posts. They have to get a feel and understanding for their abilities and at first, they might not realize they have *all* the abilities that they have.

Through role-play story and a dice rolling enemies out of existence. Your character will gain experience, understanding, and more for themselves, others, and all around in the categories of physical, magical, and so on.

@The Savant

I appreciate your feedback! It will take me a decent while to parse through everything and adjust Candace accordingly. I plan on getting my second draft up tomorrow.

I confess I am not entirely certain what you mean when you mention DMing you. Does DM stand for Discord Message or something else?

Also, I don't have experience drawing my characters or using AI to create halfway decent pictures. Lacking these skills, what are my options for submitting an acceptable face claim? I've typically just searched for pictures on Google images, but this method is difficult to use for getting a decent enough picture, let alone multiple similar pictures. I am guessing you want me to use a picture of what Candace looked like when she was a human?

Closed/Dead

2nd Draft for Candace Profile

Candace Saint Arnaud

Given Name: Candace Saint Arnaud

Role: Candace was working as a front desk customer service representative for a local department store in Jacksonville, Florida prior to her arrival in the Dungeons

Class: Necromancer specializing in reanimation and debuff spells.



Appearance: Prior to her transformation, Candace was slender and fairly average height. She had fair skin, blue eyes, and somewhat dark straight blonde hair that she liked to get dyed to a lighter shade and which she typically kept fairly long. Candace’s transformation stretched most of her features, lengthening her limbs, her fingers, her feet, her torso, her toes, her nails, her neck, her face, her ears, and her hair. Her skin became more pallid, her ears became pointed, her hair became a greyish white, and her iris’s became a shimmering turquoise-green.

Age: 26

Gender: Female

Height: Just under 6 feet post-transformation. She was about 5’7 before that.

Weight: About 120 pounds prior to her transformation and only give or take 10 more pounds now.

Distinguishing Features: Candace has no tattoos, nor piercings yet. She had some acne scars that she typically hid with makeup, but her transformation has rectified those “blemishes”.

Starting Attire: Candace was wearing a rather chic white blouse, khakis, shades, and pumps. She has a medium sized purse that contains her wallet, keys, earbuds, a stick of lipstick, a tin of rouge, a bottle of mascara, a kit of eye shadow, brushes, a pen, a notepad, a bottle of lotion, a bottle of sunscreen, a can of pepper spray, her Iphone, and a charging brick and cable.

Personality traits: Candace is generally introverted and melancholy, but she can fake a smile and socialize with those around her as the situation demands. She can become loyal to a fault to certain people she has come to respect, often overlooking their faults and minimizing their mistakes, sometimes almost to the point of hero worship. On the other hand, she tends to be dismissive and judgemental of people who make a bad impression on her. Candace is afraid of herself, her feelings, and her pain, and she doesn’t want her friends to know of her struggles. She has also never particularly cared for pets and other animals, and although she never intentionally tortured animals, she did not take care of nor handle the few pets she had growing up well.

Ideals: Candace’s work in customer service to spoiled people has left her jaded to the human condition. Rather than having any intentions to bettering humanity as a whole, her priorities have shifted to preserving herself, her loved ones, and her friends at any reasonable cost. The discovery of her necromantic abilities and her visions will introduce to her the intoxicating possibility that she may be able to bring back the family she has lost. Once that's accomplished, her powers might even enable her to live happily ever after… forever.

Motivations: Disease and death haunted Candace, claiming her parents, her grandfather, her twin sister, and sense of taste in smell, as well as her overall physical and mental health. Her transformation has restored her lost senses and amplified all of them, however her family is still gone, and her sanity has only slipped further. Candace thinks she has seen her sister and believes that her sister is leading her toward the knowledge she will need to bring her, her grandfather, and maybe even her parents back. However, the road ahead will be a rough one, for not only does Candace need to discover her power, but she also needs to rediscover her body and her limitations. This is not a path she will be strong enough to walk on her own; she will need others to cover for her weaknesses and help her adapt to her new environment.

Flaws: Candace is still rather physically, mentally, and emotionally fragile and lacking in self esteem, despite her cool new looks and abilities. With access to souls and corpses, she can learn to create servants and employ spells to keep her enemies off of her, but without the proper raw materials, she is rather helpless if her enemies get to her. Some of the characteristics of her new mind and body will only exacerbate her difficulties in stressful situations. Candace doesn’t particularly value the lives of anybody and any creature that hasn’t earned her love or respect. While this helps her cope with the murder that getting the most of necromancy magic entails, this sociopathy can disconcert and disgust her potential friends and allies.

Weaknesses: Candace has become an elf, blessed with enhancements to most of the seven senses and an instinctual connection with magic that makes learning and using magic easier. These characteristics come at a substantial cost. She can see details up close and further away with greater clarity, colors are more vibrant, and her low light vision potential is above average, however, very bright lights are more disorienting and take longer to recover from and it takes longer for her eyes to adjust to light or dark environments. She can make out quiet sounds from further away and subtleties to music sound that much sweeter, but very loud sounds hurt more and the subsequent ringing takes longer to recover from. She can make out more subtle flavors, and good flavors are that much greater, but very spicy and awful tasting things are more debilitating and harder to sufficiently remove. Same patterns with good and bad smells, although like the human nose, the elven nose can get used to and tolerate smells after enough exposure. Her improved sense of balance also suffers from the general effect that if she becomes disoriented, it takes longer for her to recover, but until then she has greater ability to adapt to gravity’s effects on her. Enhancements to Candace’s senses of touch and bodily awareness increase her awareness of subtle environmental effects (such as wind and pressure changes), but also significantly amplify pain caused by physical trauma. All of the additional sensory data Candace receives takes longer for her elven mind to process, resulting in it taking longer for her brain to display unexpected developments. This doesn’t mean that she necessarily has slower reflexes, but rather that it takes her longer to gain control over her reflexes as the elven amygdala has to compensate for the longer timeframe the cortex needs to parse through the extra data (in game turns, this could look like Candace having an extra turn in an ambush scenario in which she can only employ a basic fight, flight, or freeze action before she can do something that requires logic such as casting a spell, and it would likely take her longer to formulate a logical response to and unexpectedly hurtful statement in a conversation). Additionally, the connection with magic results in increased vulnerability to harmful magical effects and substances, and contact with iron feels like contact with bleach. Wearing a suit of armor would feel like swimming in bleach, which would feel awful and distract her from being able to think clearly. Injuries caused by iron weapons cause even greater pain and take longer to recover from. Mechanically, I imagine all this comes out to disorienting effects such as stuns and staggers lasting an extra turn, Iron weapons dealing something like +2 damage, magic effects that require a roll to succeed against her have a modifier positive modifier along with the above mentioned delayed logical reaction time, having a lower base health points, and being unable to wield iron and other heavier metal equipment (although she could probably use bronze and other metals designed for magical creatures). In return, she would get a positive modifier to checks involving the 7 senses and checks on the success of spells she casts.

Background: Candace and her twin sister were orphaned when they were six years old when their parents perished in a car accident (Candace and her sister Melanie were not in the car at the time). Their grandparents on their mother’s side took them in and raised them in a small apartment in Jacksonville Florida. The sisters were inseparable, and both went to a community college in Jacksonville and had nearly graduated when 2020 happened. Covid ended up being incredibly devastating to the Saint Arnaud family, claiming the lives of Melanie and their grandfather, Jean, while leaving Candace and her grandmother, Marie, with long Covid symptoms including a loss of senses of taste and smell. Candace graduated college and got a job at a department store and was eventually promoted to be a customer service representative, where she got good at pretending to care about the company’s spoiled customers while she suppressed her grief. While she put up a strong face, inside, Candace was an absolute wreck as she struggled to mourn her losses and take care of her ailing Grandmother, and she constantly found herself praying to whatever higher power existed that her circumstances could change. Much to her surprise, they did…

When in school, Candace and her sister took dance lessons and participated in some school sports like softball and soccer, but Candace was never particularly amazing at any of these activities. The twin sisters still participated in some club activities during their college years, but after Melanie died and Candace began her career, she stopped taking lessons and participating in any athletics. The two girls did enjoy reading fiction, fantasy, and romance stories, and were quite well read.

Abilities: For simplicity's sake I will include a +2 magical modifier for racial her racial trait to listed rolls for spell success. Please let me know if you want me to adjust this. A lot of the spells I am listing here are abilities I plan on her eventually getting rather than spells that she will start off with. I imagine that she would only start with Sense Souls and Project Pain. Souls depart from the material plane within a minute after the host dies, so spells that use souls as ammunition cannot reuse spent souls. Reanimation spells are something of an exception to this as the souls are bound to entities on the material plane, however, once a reanimated being is destroyed, the souls powering them are lost.

Sense Souls: Candace can sense nearby souls depending on her emotional state. Souls will appear to Candace as faint blue orbs within the living (or dying) beings when Candace is experiencing “negative” emotions such as sadness, anger, fear, anxiety, or stress. The strength of the emotion impacts the range at which she can “see” souls, from less than 10 yards to almost 100 yards when she is having a full blown panic attack. Just because she is capable of sensing a soul doesn’t necessarily mean she will have the presence of mind to do anything productive with that information. This ability does not work when Candace is having a good time or when she is asleep (although nightmares could trigger it), and creatures with magical concealment abilities can mask her ability to detect their soul. This is a Basic Spell for Candace.

Project Pain: When in dire straits, Candace can project her emotional and physical pain onto a single nearby foe (within 10 feet), staggering them for d4 posts, potentially giving her friends and servants time to bail her out. In ideal conditions, the rolls are 1-7 equals a failure (target shrugs off the invading feelings), 8-14 equals partial failure (50% shorter stun period) and 15-20 equals total success (full stun period). Candace is loath to use this ability due to her fear of being emotionally vulnerable. This spell only works while Candace is in physical and emotional distress, and targets that don’t feel pain and emotions (such as skeletons) are unaffected by this spell.

Gather Soul: If Candace should acquire phylacteries for storing souls, she could learn to store souls of recently killed beings into these devices. The rolls for this spell would 1-7 equals a failure (soul escapes to the afterlife), 8-14 equals partial failure (soul is captured but is a level weaker) and 15-20 equals total success (soul is captured at full strength)

Soul Blast: Candace can project a nearby soul into the soul of another being, stunning the target for d4 posts and causing d10 damage in ideal conditions (hitting one target with the soul of an equal target at medium range [so around 25 yards] with no obstructions nor distractions). In ideal conditions, the rolls are 1-7 equals a miss, 8-14 equals partial failure (50% less final damage and 50% shorter stun period) and 15-20 equals total success (full damage and stun period). Hitting a human with a rat soul will typically do less damage and be less likely to stun while hitting a wolf with a minotaur soul will have higher damage potential and a longer stun. Souls of healthy living beings and hostile reanimated entities cannot be used as ammunition for this spell. Until Candace acquires phylacteries to store souls in, she will have to resort to using to souls of nearby dying enemies, killing small captured animals, or stripping the soul from one of her reanimated beings in order to employ this spell (once she learns how to do it). This is a Medium Spell. Beings that do not have souls nor are powered by souls are unaffected by this spell.

Hex of Terror: Candace can curse a single target with irrational feelings of impending doom. This can cause a target to become distracted, lowering their defences, or even freeze or flee in terror. In ideal conditions (the target is at medium range [so around 25 yards] with no obstructions nor distractions, and the target does not have extremely high moral), the rolls are 1-7 equals a miss (or the target brushes off the hex), 8-14 equals partial failure (target is visibly shaken and is more vulnerable to subsequent attacks for d4 posts) and 15-20 equals total success (target is frozen or fleeing in fear and is more vulnerable to subsequent attacks for d4 posts). This is a medium spell that does not cost souls to use. The spell does not affect mindless targets.

Curse of Sickness: Candace causes a single enemy to briefly experience some of the worst symptoms of Covid 19, causing them to experience terrible body aches and have trouble breathing for d6 turns. In ideal conditions (the target is at medium range [so around 25 yards] with no obstructions nor distractions, the rolls are 1-7 equals a miss (or the target brushes off the curse), 8-14 equals partial failure (the target is slowed by 25%, deals 25% less physical damage, and has a lower hit modifier by 1) and 15-20 equals total success (the target is slowed by 50%, deals 50% less physical damage, and has a lower hit modifier by 2). This is a medium spell that does not cost souls to use. The spell does not affect mindless targets.

Command Dead: Candace can attempt to dislodge the soul of a single nearby undead or animated construct that is not under her command, stunning the target d4 posts and causing d10 damage in ideal conditions (hitting one target with the soul of an equal target at close range [within 10 yards] with no obstructions nor distractions). In ideal conditions, the rolls are 1-7 equals a miss, 8-14 equals partial failure (50% less final damage and 50% shorter stun period) and 15-20 equals total success (full damage and stun period). This is a medium spell that does not cost souls to use.

Basic Reanimation: Candace will learn to be able to use Necromancy spells to bring back creatures to fight for her. This is an advanced spell that takes at least multiple minutes to do, so will not generally be useful in the middle of combat. This spell can only be used on one target at a time. The starting rolls for this spell in ideal conditions (the creature she is trying to reanimate is freshly dead and not much stronger than her) are 1-7 equals total failure, 8-14 equals partial failure (the body is only 40% effective and the animation spells break down after about an hour, and 15-20 equals total success (the body is 80% effective and the animation spell lasts about 30 hours).

Animate Skeletons: Candace can use nearby souls to animate d4 nearby skeletons if enough of the bones are present. This is an advanced spell that takes at least multiple minutes to do, so will not generally be useful in the middle of combat. The power of the soul used to power this spell must be similar to that of the skeletons being animated (so Candace can’t use a rodent soul to animate human skeletons and vice versa). If the spell is successful, there are multiple skeletons nearby, and the die rolls higher than one, the soul spent to cast the spell is split between all the raised bodies. A split soul cannot be used to power other spells. The starting rolls for this spell in ideal conditions (the creature’s skeletons that she is attempting to animate are nearly fully intact and not much stronger than her) are 1-7 equals total failure, 8-14 equals partial failure (the skeletons are only 40% effective and the animation spells break down after about an hour, and 15-20 equals total success (the skeletons are 80% effective and the animation spell lasts about 30 hours).

Candace will potentially learn more advanced versions of these spells as the story progresses, but hopefully this will suffice to explain the basic array of spells I see being at her disposal eventually.

Closed/Dead

Potential character profile awaiting GM Review.