hello there. one of my friends told me about this rp and i found it interesting. may i ask what the available races are? and what are our thresholds in terms of a character's weapons?
@Rultaos Things are pretty low-tech outside of the Cardinal Cities. I sent you a PM explaining a little of what I had in mind for North City. For everyone who didn't know (which is everyone), North City is an underground (formerly military...long before Rainend became Rainend) compound that is highly fortified and fairly advanced. I haven't planned out a whole lot, but South City will be the only other city more advanced in Rainend.
To make it quick. Most places can still manage to create and harness electricity. Most of the rediscovered tech is unusable. Some caravans and travelers would use beasts of burden to get around (what kind doesn't much matter. make somethin' up if you wanna!). No airplanes or airships exist within Rainend.
@mackielars I only plan on implementing humans as a playable race, right now. Depending on what you mean by 'threshold', I don't have anything particular in place. However, I will say that I want people to have fun in this RP all-around. So, advice on that is don't make an instant win weapon and keep your Mineral Weapons to two. I'll be checking over CS stuff, once they're up and giving my input. Thanks for your interest and welcome, by the way!
Sorry for the delays/being a spaz, everyone. Everything is crazy, right now and I'll reply to whatever comes my way as quickly as possible!
@BasarinYeah, I am too! Once everyone has their characters up, I'll get started on the intro post. My plan is to have us all meeting up with the Duke inside of North City, as he's forming a team specifically to deal with the Immortals. Cherry will have returned from her failed mission two days prior to where we'll be picking up, so she'll already be within the city. Others may have traveled there after receiving a request or were brought there against their will.
I'ma leave that up to the players, but I wanted to kinda give an idea as to how we're gonna be getting underway. If anyone has suggestions or questions or anything of the sort, feel free to shoot me a PM or post your question here. If you post here, make sure to @ me so I don't miss it. ^^
Thanks, everyone, for your interest! I'm pretty excited about seeing this little project get underway. ^^
Affiliation: North City - Gaius has lived there all his life, and has not ventured very far out into Rainend. He knows a lot of the people there and has plenty of friends within the underground hive-like city. While he is not necessarily loyal to The Duke who leads the place competently enough (though he will follow their orders out of both respect and fear), he is more loyal to the people of his city, and is sure to do his best to keep them safe from whoever and whatever may try to bring them harm.
Findley Weapons and Arms - A small company started by his grandfather, it is a well-known weapon manufacturer within North City, and some outlying settlements who often do trade with merchants coming from North City. It is a family business with some paid workers for mass production of large orders, and while it is currently owned by his father (who handles many of their financial dealings) Gaius is expected to take up the mantle after his father becomes too old and his hands become too shaky to screw a gun together properly. They mainly produce ballistic firearms but have recently tried to dabble in compact hand-carried laser-weaponry after extensive research into the laser turrets utilized by the local guards. While they are nothing impressive when compared to the superior armaments of South City and Lady Crimson, within their region they are counted among the best producers of top-quality firearms. Gaius cares a lot about the business as he views it as their family's legacy and will do his best to make sure it stays alive and continues to become greater.
Usually wears a brown, hooded jacket with the insignia of their company on the right chest. When travelling outside the city during a particularly windy day whhere the sand is being kicked up into the air, he has a scarf as part of the jacket that he uses to cover his nose and mouth while the goggles covers his eyes. He prefers letting his red hair (inherited from his mother) flow freely.
Personality: Gaius is a perfectionist, and cannot stand the idea of leaving things to chance or fate. His family did not get far in the gun business by being careless, after all. He plans out much of what he does to the last detail, whether it's about new weapon designs, or deciding on profitable deals to strike with other merchants. This nature of his has caused him to view a lot of bad events as caused by shortcomings and failures on both his part and everyone else involved, because he views no situation as "unavoidable" or any defeat "circumstantial" because everyone has the power to alter the flow of events if they really wanted to or knew how to. So while he has an incredibly strong drive to succeed against any and all odds, he also has a tendency to berate himself if ever he falls short of his goals. The mental backlash of such an event borders on atelophobic in nature.
While he does view failure as an opportunity to learn and grow, he takes the "learn" portion from it very seriously. Should he ever feel as if he failed at something, or not fulfill a goal he has set for himself, he will spend hours thinking about what he did wrong and what else could be done to avoid that in the future. He will find himself quickly annoyed at people who are careless or do not seem to exert as much effort as he does in being detailed and careful, most especially people who decide to "wing it" or improvise instead of analyzing situations as he views these as surefire ways to repeat past mistakes or make new ones altogether.
Occupation: Artisan. Gun designer and manufacturer for Findley Weapons and Arms
Equipment: "The Pacifier" - This mineral weapon is an old, semi-automatic hunting rifle with gold trimming along its oak stock, and ornate designs of what appears to be blowing smoke on the main body of the rifle. The word "Pacifier" is etched onto the right side of the rifle's body encased in a golden rectangle. The scope of the weapon appears to be some kind of strange gemstone rather than normal glass, but can still be adjusted by the valve on the right side of it. What makes this weapon unique is that whenever it is lined up to make a killing shot (such as pointing at the head or the torso of a living creature) the view of the scope becomes distorted and the crosshairs no longer align properly. In addition to this, should you attempt to fire the weapon in this state, the shot will often go off-course, causing the user to miss even if they try to aim without the scope. However, if the weapon is pointed at inanimate objects or non-lethal parts of a body (such as the legs and arms) the view through the scope will remain crystal clear in even the harshest of weather conditions, and the bullet will always travel with pinpoint accuracy to where the crosshairs are pointed. Gaius even feels as if the weapon compensates for wind and distance on its own by adjusting the bullet's direction as it exits the barrel of the gun to make sure that it will always land on where the crosshairs point. The weapon uses standard sniper rifle ammunition and can often be restocked at any place that sells ballistic armaments, but Gaius prefers taking from his family's own produced stockpile to be sure of its quality.
Experimental Laser Pistol - One of their company's first ventures into the production of handheld laser weapons labelled as the "Scorcher" model, it is a hefty weapon much larger than most ballistic pistols. It is a weapon that uses charged "Battery" magazines to fire its laser, giving it 10 "shots" (though in actuality it is a controlled burst of laser energy) before needing to be replaced. The weapon is inredibly accurate as long as the laser lens are properly cleaned and maintained and has an effective range rivaling most rifles. The laser is devastating to most organic targets as it burns the tissue and causes blood to burst from the veins as they are boiled by the heat of the weapon. However, the weapon struggles when dealing with armored targets (as discovered in the testing phase) and can only weaken metal armor by softening up the material with its heat. The battery ammunition it uses is specifically made as well and, as far as Gaius is aware, are only produced by their family business. As such, he is careful not to use it unless necessary. He usually carries around 4 battery packs giving him 40 shots with the weapon.
Tools of the Trade - Gaius always carries around a backpack carrying anything he may need to build or maintain weapons (and some machines) wherever he goes. It contains a few spare parts needed to repair common firearms such as revolvers, automatic pistols, and rifles. However, most of the extra parts he carries are for the maintenance of "The Pacifier" and the "Scorcher" (such as spare laser lens). Aside from this, it also contains the tools needed for maintenance and repair, including a screwdriver with varying heads, a large adjustable wrench, a bottle of oil lubricant, and clean cloths. In a pinch, the wrench can act as a melee weapon due to its sturdiness.
Abilities: Smithy's Senses (Occupation) - Much like the keen eyes of many alert wastelanders, being a weaponsmith entails being able to spot minute details honed from years of having to spot the tiniest of abnormalities in a weapon that would make it stop functioning, and acting upon it. Gaius is capable of noticing small physical details from the chinks in a rifle's barrel to a stray coin in the gutter.
Natural Machinist (Occupation) - Gaius is a natural when it comes to dealing with many machines, not just weapons (though he is far more knowledgeable when it comes to firearms). As such, he is capable of repairing most, if not all, mechanical objects that he may encounter with relative ease. He will only struggle with highly complex items (such as the laser guns of North City), needing more time and information if he is expected to make a repair job out of it. If needed however, he can even build firearms outside of his family's workshop, as long as he is provided with enough supplies to construct one.
Steady Hands (Occupation) - A weaponsmith's hands are steady and stable above all else. Gaius in particular harnesses this stability by being able to handle the internal components of both weapons and machines with surgical precision, and to fire a vast array of weapons with accuracy rivaling some of The Duke's finest soldiers. His time in the weapon ranges of North City and from performing his own weapon demonstrations both inside and outside the city gates have developed both his skills and reputation in this regard.
A Merchant's Perspective (Occupation) - As a necessity of running their own business, Gaius has learned the ins and outs of making deals with people, often capable of realizing whenever he is getting offered a poor bargain, and will often call them out on it to get a better deal. However, while he can stop others from giving them poor exchanges, he is not always skilled enough to constantly make situations profitable as he never truly specialized in it.
"Nothing's Outside Our Control" (Racial) - Gaius' perfectionist attitude has developed within him a sense of responsibility over his actions, to the point of believing that failure will always be one's own fault. Because of this, he has an uncommonly high level of determination when he sets out to do something, and come Hell or high water he will be doing everything in his power to get it done. He will never believe that a cause is lost until it's already been lost. The drawback to this however is that when he does fail or lose from his point of view, he tends to take it very harshly, bordering on atelophobic anxiety attacks.
: Gaius was born to Richard and Maria Findley in North City. Richard owned the weapon production company "Findley Weapons and Arms" which was started by Gaius' grandfather, Walter Findley. From an early age, he was exposed to various different weapons and machines, and taught how they function; how each individual piece contributed to the purpose of the machine. His father and mother were both gifted in the craft of weaponsmithing and were intent on passing on their skills to Gaius to continue their family legacy. Eventually, this upbringing molded his perfectionist attitude and his belief that everything was under one's own control "you only need to know the right pieces to tweak" he would often say, referring to the different factors that would cause an outcome, not so different from adjusting a rifle.
His teens saw him continue his training in the art of weaponsmithing while also developing his social relations with the people in North City. At this point, they also began teaching Gaius how to deal with people and, inevitably, shrewd merchants that he would often encounter in their line of work. Here he made friends with the children of their city section, mainly other Artisans and also a few kids of merchants who both do travelling and sell only locally. Here he learned how to value his work, and how to tell whether he is getting the short end of the stick. It was also at this stage that he began developing a sense of duty and loyalty to his home city, if only to protect the people he cared about.
It was also during this stage of his life when a travelling merchant traded "The Pacifier" to his father. They managed to get a relatively good deal out of it as the weapon was in poor condition when it was given to them, and it did not take long for them to repair the rifle without changing its core components (which they knew were usually essential to a mineral weapon's power). It was discovered a short while later that the rifle, living true to its name, refused to kill anything. Gaius was annoyed at this discovery, especially after being initially impressed with the rifle's reliability and accuracy when he used it on the shooting ranges. When he attempted to take down some of the local Triple Stingers (Small scoropions with 3 stinger tails that can also shoot out the poison if especially threatened), the weapon behaved very unreliably and the scope itself would not focus properly. Further tests against other local wildlife had the same results, yet it would focus and fire just fine when aimed at less vital portions of their bodies. Despite his annoyance at the rifle's refusal to kill, he will never find a rifle as accurate and as reliable as The Pacifier, and that was a trait Gaius could respect.
Throughout the years, he has built a reputation within North City and some nearby settlements as something of a prodigy. Both from the quality of the weapons his family produces, but also from the weapons demonstrations he gives occasionally. In order to demonstrate the full extent of their products, he has to be capable of hitting both stationary and moving targets at varying distances, while handling both semi-automatic and fully automatic weapons at various different calibers. Gaius has shown that he is fully capable of doing so, demonstrating the accuracy and reliability of their weapons with such expertise that some citizens of North City think that it was a waste that he became an Artisan as he would've made an excellent soldier in The Duke's local militia. This reputation that he constructed however, only served to further reinforce his drive to become better and better and avoid failure or shortcomings at any cost (which is a near-constant mental strain on his mind).
Currently, he is already equipped with most of the knowledge needed to run their family business, and there is little more that his parents can add to what he already knows (with the exception of new weapon ideas based on laser technology, which Gaius is still learning about). However, his father is worried that he does not have enough real life experience out in the far reaches of Rainend, beyond the outlying settlements near their cities. His father fears that Gaius might not understand what exactly their weapons are meant to protect people from, which would make the priorities of their company skewed once Gaius took charge of it. When they received a summons from The Duke for what appeared to be a dangerous excursion, it appeared that they had found the answer to that dilemma. But whether it will answer their problem, or cause entirely new ones still has yet to be seen.
Well that took longer than expected. Also came out a lot longer too. I dunno if I revealed too much info about the character but, there you have it I guess >_<. Let me know if I need to change anyting
Thought I'd pop in and say that. Here's hoping it went well for everyone!
@Rultaos Hehehe, yeah, I'm still pretty excited too! I'll be putting up the In Character intro sometime in the next couple of days, but I'll try to give your friend some time to get a CS up; assuming he's still interested. ^_^
@Crumbs Aww thanks. That's very thoughtful of you . Most of my Christmas day was spnt in traffic (literally several hours) but at least I suffered together with my family
@Rultaos Hehehe, no problem! Glad to hear that your Christmas was bearable. Mine went pretty well, too!
I'm gonna get started on the IC post sometime in the next little while, but I'm still holding off for @mackielars. Regardless of how things go, I expect to have the thread started either on Friday or Saturday.
Hope everyone is doing well! Thanks for sticking with me, guys!
@mackielars told me they are still interested in playing, they've just been really busy this December. But I don't think they mind having the IC posted before they finish their CS. If anything I think it would give them more inspiration to write ^_^
@Acid Hippie Hahaha, awesome. Glad it caught ya interest.
@ScreenAcne For sure, my brother. Kick it with us, wicked style. Hop on in~
I'm pretty impressed that this has gotten so much interest, given how everything started out.
Thanks guys, ya made my day. ^_^
The intro post will be put up once Character Sheets are all posted and stuff.
Quick Edit: Given the number of people that have expressed interest, I'd like to put forth the question about whether or not you guys would like a Discord channel. Let me know how ya feel about it.
Edit: I've shut down recruitment, because there are a lot of people involved with this, now. Originally, it was intended to be a very small group. I don't mind the change, but I think we've got a good number of folks to work with now.
Thanks y'all, for your interest. I'm looking forward to seeing your characters and RPing with you!
Appearance: (if it's ok. I'd like to draw this in pixel art later because it's pretty late right now)
Aahford struggles with emotional juggling, in fact you can declare him almost totally single minded when it comes to taking things into consideration. While not sociopathic, he finds it hard to dedicate any serious thought to much else when an issue consumes him. It not that dosen't care that you're hurt, it's just that he dosen't have words as you were not meant to be big issue right now. Causing him to have confused or awkward, even unwittingly cruel response out of unsure expression. He's the kind of person that would add "I guess?" to "I'm glad you're family is ok"
Because he focus on one issue at a time, he dosen't keep in mind the damage he does along the way. Even if, at the start his intention were good. If you present an equation to Andrew he would search for the same answer for that equation, even when the problem had expanded considerably. He is, partially aware of this but not quick. Possibly even emotionally retarded in many ways. His redeeming quality is that he does care, alot. Even if he fucks up constantly and if you want something done, he may leave a trail of hurt people in his chase, he will not stop until he gets his bone.
Lonely and desperate for emotional connection. He clumsily reaches out to people in awkward silences, off putting topic starters that are leaps from normal boundaries , which he sometimes dosen't even listen to. While lacking in many areas, Andrew isn't scared to step up and in many cases will do so too quickly. Developing a bit of guilt in round about ways. He uses passive aggression-or out right aggression- to handle things. Making him forward but sometimes pushy and imperceptive.
Occupation:
Former: Smelter
Current: adventurer(merc, scavenger, selling tid bits ectr)
Equipment:
Iron Flask: A simple revolver side arm. It lacks any distinctive features in design although its years have left patterns on it, such as a long scratch down the side of the barrel and is name scrawled in some sort of tattoo on the side. The handle is made up of a leather wrap that has long since started to crack.
The Mask: Andrew wears a worn poncho, black and leathery all over that drapes past his knees and hugs his wrists in constant movement. A series of small bulky patch work can be seen poking from the inside at points from the shoulders, the gut and around the neck. Each holding solid metal for minor protection. The most notable aspect of this dress is that it has a front side hoody, which when pulled over the face like a reverse hood, it is tied with belts. The fabric having a circular, copper based breathing apparatus with anti-fog, green bug eyes.
Abilities:
Shaky Reviews: The mask has earned a mixed opinion in his travels, due to Ashford's general personality he sometimes unawaringly leave chaos in his wake of helping someone. As a result, depending on the location and the affiliation, he may be considered a trouble worth appeasing until he leaves or a local doo gooder.
Environmental protection: The mask that he wears is capable of defending him from most forms of toxic gases and deadly air borne pathogen. Although most of his skin, most notably his hands and shins are not protected by anything but standard gloves and jeans.
Metal Knowledge: His years as a smelter make him someone knowledgeable of most basic designs. Chance are that if it exists he aided in its creation once in one of the foundry, be it from blades to guns, to locks and chairs. He may be able to offer some insight into a specific items attributes but not any mineral or special items.
Born into a working family under the Lady Cinnamon. They spent their time pragmatically slaving away and trying to improve what little they could in the caste. His father was dull and deliberate, he didn't want excitement but he was exact. His mother was delicate but detailed. Together, they made a good team. Quickly punished by his mother for being too active or saying anything wrong, sometimes even having emotional outbursts and being unaware of his father own, disinterested manners outside of commands and creeds. Andrew was raised to be as finely tuned as them, in sacrifice he rarely had a voice and had to complain or passively express grief. A fact seen as positive to the role model workers.
After he married and left home, he never contacted his family again. In awkward dinners and silent meetings of the entire lineage he may of appeared but torn between an innert dad and badgering mother he fell into confused platitudes. His own wife and daughter were drastically different. Perhaps in some vague way he viewed them as a chance to have some sort of connection with someone that was denied. His wife, originally a set up affair.
His sexual desires and romantic gestures, routinely confused quickly led to he and his wife being unprepared for what the other wanted. His wife, was emotionally bubble. He, was emotionally dry and haunted by the fact he hadn't really lived a life he liked as death drew closer. Not really respected by her, most of their conversations were impotent and sneaky arguments. In the end they broke up when he had neglected her, after having not had a single event when he wasn't working in over 3 years. She claimed neglect and while he did pursue her and try to articulate himself, his inner frustration came out. He couldn't rise up to the task.
Left with his daughter. He sought to give her company by buying her a dog, since he was at work constantly he hoped it would help her heal. However when she chased the dog once outside the city near a rain dropped area, he simply let it out in the middle of the night. In return from his wife, he had overly sought to replace her with his daughter. Emotionally. Being on the verge of over protective and even vindictively uncertain. She did, in the end. Run away to her mothers in an unknown location when she sent word. This, is what lead to Andrew leaving home and going exploring for his family.