[OOC] Vampire Hunters: Purge in the North

[Medjedovic]

@Voltus_Ventus I suggested soldier because I thought it fits your background more, but if you want fast and agile fighter then you better stick with Skirmisher. Without rank-ups, Skirmisher is just as impaired by medium armor as Soldier is by heavy, but he has high evasion and ability to move around faster, especially when the ground is not flat and solid.

[Voltus_Ventus]

finished product

Name: Zoltan Tamzarian

Class: Skirmisher

Age: 27

Gender: Male

Appearance: Zoltan stands about about 6ft 2inches tall and is fairly slim, not slim enough to be slight but not muscular enough to be bulky, one would almost go as far as lank but not quite, he's got enough muscle to heft his weapon effectively. He has a well rounded head, with soft slavic features and tinge of grubbiness to his white skin, his face lightly flecked with light freckles. On his head he has a thick brown hair, flattened haphazardly to his scalp due to the helmet he wears and large muttonchops on either side of his face. His eyes are discolored, one of the eyes (the right one) is the original brown whereas the other (left) is a venomous green, turned that way by the near hit magic of a witch, it also glows, casting a cone of eery green light.

The rest of his body is marred with scars and pocks and marks from run in's with unsavory types out on the open road, most notably a scar running from the top of his right shoulder blade going across diagonally before stopping at his left hip. 

When on the road or on a task, Zoltan wears his armor. It consists of a chainmail tunic with a firm patchwork hide vest over top and one large plate shoulder guard on his right shoulder, and a steel morion; around his neck he wears a blue and orange scarf, the colors of the lord he fought for. On his legs he wears hide chaps over his pantaloons and studded boots for good grip on surfaces. When not in combat, he wears a simple white tunic and removes his chaps.

Background:

Zoltan had never lead a privileged life, he was born to two parents who barely scraped by, farming the allotments of rich lords with too much land for just their serfs to work. From a young age he knew he wouldn't grow to be much, he lacked the vital substance that made important men important, he didn't have an education, nor did he have a title or wealth, he had nothing. Though one day he would lose everything and gain one thing.

He was working the fields with has ma and pa, the hot sun beating down on them when the lord of the borough came down from his castle on horseback, followed by his squires and stewards, he was fuming but Zoltan paid no attention to it, instead toiling in the earth. His father likewise wasn't paying attention, though now after the events of that day he developed a suspicion that his father was pretending to not pay attention. It seemed to be the case when the Lord stopped his horse in from of father.

His father gulped but did not look up, he knew what was coming to him. The Lord let loose a torrent of yells and the people in the field stopped to watch, the man was seething and his father just took it. Zoltan's mother held her only son and turned him around so he didn't have to see but Zoltan could hear. He heard the sword being drawn, the gasp of the workers and the gently thump of a body hitting the ground. He had a vague idea of what just happened, though it was reinforced by his mothers whimpers. The Lord rode off, without saying one more word. 

Zoltan's mother whispered in to his ear, "Walk forward and don't look back, Go home and pack your things." He did so, he didn't turn around as he walked, didn't turn around when he heard his mother howl in sorrow, nor when he heard the crowd of workers yelling and the sounds of stone started clanking off armor. He walked on.

Eventually his mother came back to their earthen hovel, her eyes red and her forehead bruised but otherwise unscathed. Wordlessly she went about the house and took everything of value, putting them all in a cast iron crockpot and tying it to her back. She took little Zoltan's hand and they left the hovel, they walked for days to the next borough and here, Zoltan found himself under the wing of senior squire. Zoltan had practiced hard and proved himself to be proficient in the thick of a fight but it seemed that, like he acknowledged when he was young, it would get him nowhere. He had no title and came from a lowly family of impoverished surfs, he couldn't be a knight, instead they made him a spearman and made him watch the stables. He resented them then, all of them but the squire that tried to help, this resentment made him bitter. He had to live with the weight of being robbed of his future because of what he was. 

Though his life is not only tragedy, he has had his victories and one such victory will remain with him forever.

A war had broken out in the kingdom, the Lords had turned against each other, two sides at each others throats like wild dogs. One side, wanted to give surfs the right to move from Borough to Borough and the other wanted them to be locked to their lords. The lord which Zoltan had found himself working for wanted the prior and thus rallied his men to fight in the nearest enemy borough, the borough that Zoltan had once called home.

They threw him like so many else as cannon fodder, so was the job of a spearmen, to be at the front of the line to face off the cavalry attacks. Wave after wave came after them and wave after wave of spearmen fell, accompanied by the shrill screams of dying horse and riders, thrashing in churned up soil and crimson blood. Eventually in was Zoltan and a few dozen left when the army stormed the keep and surrounded the Lord and his men. Upon seeing the man who had killed his father, Zoltan's blood boiled, he shouldn't have done what he did but he couldn't help himself. He pushed and shoved to the front of the line, where the Lord he was working for was passing his ultimatum to the rivals and lunged outwards with his spear, catching the enemy Lord in the neck. 

He was dishonorably discharged then, a light sentence considering he killed a Lord but harsh for only one act of insubordination.

From that point on, Zoltan felt he had achieved his goal and sunk into a rut of bad jobs and alcohol abuse, eventually he left town all together, leaving his savings in the hands of his mother and going out to wander the world. During his travels, he learned that fighting with a spear was harder without other spearmen by your side, so quickly he had to develop a solo method of fighting, more defensive and more brutal.

It was during one of these skirmishes that he became acquainted with the Sunlight Lance. He was on dire straights, running out of money and food, however he saw something that could save him, a caravan being attacked. He was hoping that if he helped fend off the raiders, they'd give him some money or at east something to eat. So he came in form behind and joined in the fighting, beating people back with his spear then stabbing at them with practiced ease. Upon the battle's end, he found that there was no reward for him, they thanked him and asked him if they would accompany them. He was under the illusion that at the end of their trip he would be payed, it turned out that instead he got more work. 

Though he is not officially part of the Sunlight Lance, he is often called on to help them fight, his low fees and good skills making him somewhat useful.

Skills:

A:
B: Reflex
C: Acrobatics, Weapon Proficiency (Spear)
D: Ride, Stealth, Armor
E: Survival

Equipment:

Spear 
Light Shield (Armor E)
Medium Armor (Armor C)
Crossbow (10 bolts)
Smoke Bomb (x4)
Fire Bomb (x2)

[Medjedovic]

@Lone Wanderer It's okay, you're accepted.

@Leolycan Both are fine, no problems.

@Voltus_Ventus Halberd is a separate weapon class from spear and Skirmisher has no access to it. Only Soldier can take halberds (because he can take anything).

Also, you didn't rank your skills up and didn't pick one where given a choice.

[Voltus_Ventus]

@Medjedovic I'm really sorry I'm butchering the process, if you check again I think I've fixed it.

[Medjedovic]

@Voltus_Ventus You can't rank-up one skill two times.

I also realized my mistake, Medium Armor is supposed to be C rank, but because both Skirmisher and Priest originally had Light Armor I forgot to fix rank in the parenthesis, so keep that in mind, I'll fix the first post.

[Quextamon]

CS

[Name]
Cateline Cassius

[Class]
Ranger

[Age]
26

[Gender]
Female

[Background]
Cateline was born into a small, loving family in a town surrounded by thick forests. Though the civic was quaint, it was a good place to be, for there was little oppression and interference from the governing lord of the land. As an only child for some time, Cateline grew introverted. She was quick to offer assistance to those who would teach her in return, but never received any formal education. Because of the involved network of socialization that the citizens had with her and each other, she learned to rely on other people who could compensate for the skills she lacked and flourished in temporary partnerships.

Always sneaking around the woods behind her grandmother’s house since she was a child, Cateline has become adept at blending in to her surroundings and traversing difficult terrain. On one of her longer ventures, she stumbled upon a bubbling creek bed. Near the sandy edge of this brook, an abandoned baby chick of a buzzard hawk was nestled in some of the vibrantly green underbrush of the trees. Cateline searched for the nest the bird had likely fell from overhead, but found nothing, and decided to help the creature. Beginning to dabble in first aid, Cateline restored the animal’s health and started to assist wounded people where her slim knowledge of medicine was enough.

Though she enjoyed being able to sooth the pain of others, Cateline soon found herself more interested in the active sport of bows and arrows, and her focus in life began to shift.

In her late teens and early twenties, Cateline began to study archery. Coming from a family lacking much esteem or wealth, she crafted her weapon and ammunition herself with the assistance anyone more knowledgeable than her would offer her and through trial and error. At first, she wanted to learn simply for the sake of protecting of herself and her small family, and to participate in friendly competition among other archers, but as time passed, her skills increased enough that she felt an obligation to do more than remain passive.

The final prompt for this change in her life came from the Sunlight Lance, who had recognized her skills and penchant for kindness at an archery tournament she had recently attended. Though she wrestled with the choice to leave the home she had lived in her entire life, her family urged her to join the organization, and she agreed to swear herself into the order. A fight for the greater good of humanity was more important than her own feelings or slim familial obligations.

Cateline does not like the sight of death and thus chooses a way of fighting that allows her to partially remove herself from the field, but she knows the work she does is invaluable in protecting civilization as a whole. This keeps her motivated more than anything. While she can be somewhat timid when it comes to interacting with other individuals, Cateline wholly believes in the work of the Fair Lady and in protecting those who cannot fight. Despite her accomplishments, she still struggles with feelings of guilt for leaving her family.

[Skills]
You can improve 3 skills by 1 rank, regardless of their rank.
A:
B: Weapon Proficiency (Bows),
C: Survival, Reflex, Stealth
D: Awareness, Hawkeye
E: First Aid

[Equipment]
Shortsword
Longbow (30 arrows)
Light Armor (Armor D)
Painkiller (x4)
Bandages (x5)
Disinfectant (x5)
Animal Companion (Hawk)

Here's my updated CS. Let me know if I need to change anything or if something doesn't make sense.

[Voltus_Ventus]

@Medjedovic Now it's fixed!

[Medjedovic]

@Voltus_Ventus Now you raised the rank of too many skills. I see 5 skills which are rank higher than they should be. You also downgraded the rank of ride and stealth, you can't do that.

@Quextamon Background is fine, but I mentioned in interest check that Rangers now have shortsword in addition to longbow and 30 arrows.

[Voltus_Ventus]

@Medjedovic Excuse me while I go and slam my head against the wall.

*sigh* could I have some help?

[Medjedovic]

@Voltus_Ventus With slamming your head or skills?

[Voltus_Ventus]

@Voltus_Ventus With slamming your head or skills?

@Medjedovic

Oh you're enjoying my frustration ain't ya? With the skills and due time my head.

[Leolycan]

A:
B:
C: Acrobatics, Reflex
D: Weapon Proficiency (Sword or Spear), Ride or Throw, Stealth
E: Armor, Survival or First Aid

This is your starting skills. At any point, no more then 3 can progress 1 grade. Meaning that armor cannot be rank c, because it has gone up two ranks. It can however, be rank d, so long as only two other have progressed. So, as example, you could do this.

A:
B: Acrobatics
c: Reflex, Weapon Proficiency (spear), Stealth
D: Ride
E: Armor, First Aid

As such, you chose to advance Acrobatics, Weapon Prof, and Stealth, meaning your character is able to traverse difficult terrain better, handle his spear with greater ease, and possesses more skill in stealth. At no point can you lower a skill to raise another. So if you tried to drop ride lower to raise reflex, it would not be allowed. As such, the skills above are just an example, set your character up how you want. But that's the overall ruling on skills.

@Voltus_Ventus

[Medjedovic]

@Voltus_Ventus Here's example. I'll use the_written_John's character because he wrote down his rank-ups.

This is Soldier's skill list from the class description in the first post:
[Skills]
A:
B:
C: Vigour or Prowess
D: Weapon Proficiency (Any), Armor, Reflex
E: Athletics, Discipline, Awareness

And here's John's Soldier character skills.

[Skills]

A:
B: Vigour
C: Armor
D: Weapon Proficiency (maces and hammers), Reflex, Awareness
E: Athletics, Discipline,
( Upgraded vigor - C to B, Armor - D to C, Awareness - E to D)

He picked Vigour in Vigour/Prowess choice, Maces and Hammers in his Weapon Proficiency choice, and then improved Vigour, Armor and Awareness by one rank.

You can't shift skills to lower ranks in order to gain more rank-ups. You only have 3.

[Quextamon]

@Medjedovic Edited! Is the equipment all in order now?

[Voltus_Ventus]

So like this?:

Original:

A:
B:
C: Acrobatics, Reflex
D: Weapon Proficiency (Sword or Spear), Ride or Throw, Stealth
E: Armor, Survival or First Aid

Upgraded:

A:
B: Reflex
C: Acrobatics, Weapon Proficiency (Spear)
D: Ride, Stealth, Armor
E: Survival

[Medjedovic]

@Quextamon Yep, it's fine now, accepted.

@Voltus_Ventus Just pick between Survival and First Aid and it will be fine.

[Voltus_Ventus]

I did it!

[Medjedovic]

@Voltus_Ventus Good, you're accepted now! :D

[Aphelion]

I have a few questions regarding Priest:

First, are we allowed to use our skill points to buy psalms right away (such as buying a Tier 2 Psalm)? Or are these points limited to our Skills section?

Second, are they allowed to be female?

[Medjedovic]

@Aphelion No, rank-ups at character creation are only for skills, but you can be a female Priest.

PS. Was starting to worry we'd be without caster class.