ToskaO

Emergence

dreamingflowers said It was kind of perfect really. Though I had my doubts, it would be kind of weird seeing "parts of" a character from someplace else in a original story.

Pablo Picasso said "Good artists copy, great artists steal."

;)

It's All Up from Moetsville-Shadowrun

This game is looking for two more players. If you're interested, please apply over at the OOC.

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I generally like to build campaigns around the character's so I won't get too backstory-y.
The basics are that I'm looking for four to six people for a 4th edition Shadowrun campaign. CS's would be in Mythweavers. Standard 400 point buy.

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A little taste of the setting

Moetesville was built on the remains of a fifth age military town that was swollowed by the sudden appearance of a massive swamp during the emergence. An ever present fog has erased all but the memory of the sun, and swamp gas makes it stink...
Nobody chooses to live in Moetsville... And no one would, even without the swamp. The gated upper class neighborhoods are policed to the point of tyranny by the armed divison of the fasciest AA Corp, Zodiac. Just outside the walls of those communites, the rundown slums are controlled by the ruthless Vory crimelords. Don't waste your time trying to find anything in between either, it doesn't exist.
As horrible as the town is for it's citizens (trapped there by poverty, drug addiction, Corp contracts, or likely all three), it is even worse for Shadowrunners. See, there are no shadows in Moetsville. Here the lines are clearly drawn... There's the black allyways, where the Vory run their criminal enterprises, and there's the blinding spotlight of Zodiac's psudo-utopian nanny state... and neither one is particularly fond of the meddleing of Shadowrunners... No, no Shadowrunner in their right mind would be in Moetsville...
Which is exactly why you're here now. You messed up, you trusted the wrong 'friend', ran a job against someone you really ought to not have, or saw something you shouldn't have. Now you have no choice but to hide in the one place that the people after you would never think you were crazy enough to go. After all, if you keep a low profile nothing could possibly go wrong... right?

Emergence

Finished!
I'm pretty happy with it, but I'd like to hear people's comments&suggestions.

Emergence

Character Sheet (Witch):

Name: Adelaide Ruine, goes by several alias' most commonly Abby L'Inke

Family: The House of Ruine was once an expansive clan of druids, shamans and spiritualists who used their magics for healing and to promote spiritual and natural balance. However since the Industrial Revolution, the family has both dwindled in numbers and changed it's outlook. Most of the few remaining members of House Ruine now use their powers ruthlessly to gain economic and political power. The name is commonly feared and reviled both in the magic comunity and in the world as a whole, as most members of House Ruine are not above using blackmail and murder, and the more powerfull witches commonly use their magic to crush the spirits of their opponents, turning them into little more than their thralls.

Innate Ability:
Tattoo magic. In ancient days tattoos were believed to be magic. The combination of blood, pain, and perminance caused many cultures to believe that tattoos were more than just symbols. For Adelaide this is true. After the Emergence she has found that her tattoos, and the ones she tattoos on other people, often carry some sort of power linked to the symbolism of the tattoo. However, neither she nor her patrons seem to be able to acurately controll or predict what the actuall effect of any given tattoo will be. The effects seem linked to the symbolism of the tattoo, the subconcious of the tattooee, and the whims of the universe. In addition, it seems that the ink of any tattoo fades a little as the magic is used, and it is possible that they could dissapear completely, though Adelaide hasn't yet experienced this.

Age: 24

Appearance: (Pic and Description of at least two paragraphs. No Anime.)
Like her personality, Adelaide's appearance can best be described as mercurial. She can almost be relied on to show up with a new piercing, haircut and/or dye, or tattoo, any two times she interacts with someone. Even her hazel eyes seem to be part of her inconsistancy, shifting through shades of blue, green, and grey.
There are some things that it seems that she can't change, no matter how much she'd like to. She is short, though not unreasonably so, and she tends toward the sort of unhealty seeming thinness that gives the impression that she sometimes forgets to eat. She commonly has dark circles under her eyes, and those who are observent enough will notice many small faded scars.
Her body language has very little middle ground. She is either loose to the point of seeming to be a rag doll, a hunched over closed off posture, or adopting an aggressive adversarial stance that would seem almost funny coming from someone of her stature, were it not for the fact that she gives the real impression that she intends to tear your throat out with her teeth.

Pic

Personality: Depending on who you were to ask, Adelaide's personality could be described two different ways.
To those who don't like her, or are trying to paint her in a bad light, would probably describe her as a cynical runaway drug-addict loose-cannon layabout with an anger problem.
Those who are feeling more cheritable would likely describe her as being a world-wise independant artist and free-spirit who isn't afraid to stand her ground.
To quote her parole officer's official file "Adelaide is a sharp-minded young woman, who's past experiences with people in power have left her untrusting of humanity in general, and authority figures in general. I get the impression that she harbors some deep emotional scars, which causes her to lash out at people who are only trying to help. Many of her legal problems come from her poor choice in friends, though her over-fondness of alcohol and psychoactive drugs seems to stem from something deeper. Her court appointed psychiatrist has noted in her file that she has a high likelyhood of paranoia, bipolar disorder, and acute alcoholism. Her notes are limited, however, as she refused to see Adelaide after her second session for reasons the psychiatrist refused to disclose."

Bio: Adelaide was born to Belladonna Ruine and a male model who had been magicly dominated so many times his mind was almost completely gone. Despite the Ruine's diabolical image among the magical community, Belladonna truely was a loving, but overbearing, mother. She provided all the best resources for her daughter, and pushed her to excell at school.
This did not suit the artistic and rebelious Adelaide, however. Adelaide had no intrest in continuing her families 'mighty empire,' and was completely discusted by the way her family treated people as resources to be used up and thrown away. Because of this she attempted to run away multiple times throughout her teenage years, but was thwarted by her mother's considerable money and influence.
Eventually, at the age of eighteen, Adelaide's mother alowed her to 'escape.' Adelaide quickly fled as far away from her family as she could, making a new home among a traveling group of musicians, artists, and petty criminals.
In the seven years since Adelaide learned and mastered the art of tattoo. Most of her former companions have either been arrested, died, or disapeared. Because of this Adelaide has been forced to settle down, and has opened her own tattoo parlor. Up untill the Emergence, Adelaide lived in a small studio appartment with her dog, a pit bull named Bachus, and a borderline abusive boyfriend. She broke up with the boyfriend shortly before the Emergence, and killed him in self-defence when he attacked her (this acted as her 'blood sacrifice,' activating her magic). Since then she has been living out of her shop.

Others: Adelaide is aware of her families magical heritage, but likes to pretend that she has escaped her family. In truth, she is fully aware that her mother uses her fortune to keep tabs on her daughter, and has kept her out of jail on multiple occasions.

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Witch Family Sheet:

Family Name: House Ruine

Leader/Notable Members:
Leader: Adelaide's Great-Uncle, Oliander Ruine
Notable Members: Adelaide's Mother and Uncle, Castor Ruine, are Senior and powerful members of the house, both socialy/economicly/politically, and magicly. The house itself is widely percieved as dying and other than the previously named members, there are only a handfull of first and second cousins.

Economic Standing: Extremely wealthy

Magical Standing: House Ruine is largly shunned by the Magical community, and are considered pariahs. Their magical power is only moderate, but the familes tendancy for creative and ruthless use of it has gained them a dangerous reputation.

Values: House Ruine has a twisted but deeply seated sense of honor. Family and clan is important to them, but in a way that may seem disfunctional to those outside the family (Think House Lannister, for those ASoIaF fans out there). This is intertwined with the families all-consuming drive for power, reasoning that power grants the family influence and protection.

Magical Style: House Ruine uses shamanistic magic, relying on pacts and dominions over sprits to work their magic. Each member of the family is able to see auras and astrally project without any cost or ritual. With practice they can use these skills to manipulate the minds, emotions, and to a small degree even the health (via affecting the bodies ability to heal itself) of non-witches/warlocks and animals with little more than the power of their will, and can do the same to witches/warlocks through a battle of wills (though losing this battle leaves them vulnerable to having their magic turned against them). Rituals become more important when it comes to dealing with spirits. Many spirits require those who request their aid to follow certain protocols or offer certain offerings. Mistakes to these procedures can easily result in the spirit turning on the wich/warlock themselves. For example a spirit of fire may require a gift in the form of a flame, a flamable material, or a symbol of fire (like lava rock). Generally speaking, the more powerfull the spirit the more complicated the offering.

Family History: The House of Ruine was once an expansive clan of druids, shamans and spiritualists who used their magics for healing and to promote spiritual and natural balance. However since the Industrial Revolution, the family has both dwindled in numbers and changed it's outlook. Most of the few remaining members of House Ruine now use their powers ruthlessly to gain economic and political power. The name is commonly feared and reviled both in the magic comunity and in the world as a whole, as most members of House Ruine are not above using blackmail and murder, and the more powerfull witches commonly use their magic to crush the spirits of their opponents, turning them into little more than their thralls.

Emergence (Witchcraft/Magic)

Definately keeping an eye on this. I'm playing around with the idea of shamanism, the idea of working with spirits that can be bargained with or controlled by force if weak enough (or the shaman is strong enough). Also bleeding into the ideas of astral projection and possession.

Servants of the Dragon (D&D 3.5)

Quick answer to your question before I head out.
No, not a pugilist. I have him weilding a heavy flail in the CS, and havent added in any of the feats necesary to practilcly play a pugilist.

Servants of the Dragon (D&D 3.5)

I'd read that as +2 Mod, not base... not that it matters much now. That source is normally better at lableing Homebrew vs OGL, I went trying to find the original documents, and eventually stumbled across a link that was actually labled Homebrew.

As an interesting sidenote.the article on NBoF Ballance gives a scale of brokeness for HB. (For nerds like me who read these things for fun)

I really am not super concerned about optimization, I tend to be the Actor/Explorer type of gamer. So I'd rather build an interesting player than get the most out of the 'crunch' aspect of the game. I'm sadly not finding many fighter feats I qualify for that match my character concept... I guess I'll figure something out when I come back.

Servants of the Dragon (D&D 3.5)

Ah, That's what WBL meant. (I work an acronym intesive job, so alot of acronyms get mixed up with identical ones. WBL was the last one I hadn't figured out.)

Mute is by no means means incommunicable. Basic sign language leaves him able to indicate the negitive or affirmitive, numbers, directions indicating specific objects, etc. Plus he's made of metal, so if it's a matter of making noise to get people's attention, he's more than capable.

Servants of the Dragon (D&D 3.5)

So... To replace that Feat...?
Enable Crit(Construct)
Gigantic Weapon
or
Brute

Enable Crit fits the backstroy, and Gigantic Weapon just kind of has a Rule of Cool factor. Brute seems practical and fits the backstory to some extent. Opinions?

Servants of the Dragon (D&D 3.5)

clanjos said
Don't know if he can get Improved Crit until later though- fighters need to meet bonus feat prereqs.

Yes, I'm aware of the prereqs, I've been playing D&D for nearly ten years, and a DM for eight. There's no need to talk down to me.
That said, I did misread the passage and missed the word 'base' in 'base attack bonus. I'll go find a replacement feat.
Since, we're helping eachother out with CS consistancies. Your Total Attack Bonus is +2, but you have it marked as +8 in your Weapon Section, and your Reflex base should be 3 not 4... at least acording to the Beguiler and Psycic Rogue sources I can find.
Also, you have several items in your 'Other Notes' section that don't show up in their proper sections of the CS. Assuming the Other Notes section is the correct set, your gold spent either too high by 75g or by 139% depending on if the GM wants us to use the chart from the GM's guide, or the starting gold from the PH (respectively).

On a less technical note; Yes, he did end up being a tank. It was actually kind of an accident, really. I started out with a character concept based around 'warforged' and trying to avoid the character positions that had already been claimed. Everything kind of fell into place from there... It's also a mute that has spent the majority of his time 'asleep' in storage after the civilization that built him crumbled.