Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by PKMNB0Y
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PKMNB0Y Archer Inferno

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Prologue

Paris, 2024

With the Summer Olympics over the horizon, the residents of Paris were abuzz with excitement. There was nothing to be said, really; hosting the Games always brought with it a large amount of national pride. Here, their grand city was on display for the world to see (as if it wasn’t famous enough), and shopkeepers were already preparing for the surge of tourists that would come once the reasons turned and the weather grew warmer.
Such a thing would be put on hold, however, as it made its presence known. A giant tear in what seemed to be the fabric of space-time, a Rift, opened up in front of the Eiffel Tower, The chaos that it caused—from both the nation’s citizens and from the world at large—was only a small taste of what was to come. As soon as that Rift appeared, more appeared all over the world—from Beijing to Los Angeles, Sao Paolo to Seoul, more and more of these Rifts seemed to pop up.
The international panic over these Rifts—about what they held within, about what could have caused their formation, and how to calm the hearts of the nation’s people—soon turned into a coalition formed by the UN, who sent the first squadron straight into the first Rift that had appeared in Paris. Upon their return, that team brought with them news of what seemed to be a realm of untapped natural resources, of danger that had only been seen within the realm of fantasy—and powers that could only have been gained in the world of fiction.
Attributes, they called them; while few members of the squadron had gained them, those who had were able to combat that which was beyond the Rift without the need for modern weaponry. There were a few who dubbed this ‘magic’, and rightfully so—though somewhat limited in scope, those with an Attribute were able to go well and beyond what any normal was capable of doing.
This revelation immediately preceded a shift in policy the world over—governments quickly formed their own teams to send into Rifts, and within a matter of days, found out far more about the Rifts. A few linked between nations, for example, while others led to locations vastly different from that which had been reported from the first Rift—closed systems whose only entrance and exit were the portal of light from which they had came. Others still held items or other such materials whose existences so defied the laws of nature that the scientific community was in an uproar.
It has been ten years since then, and the exploration of Rifts has thus been handed over to the people instead. While the governments of each nation still control who has access to a Rift (going so far as to sell the rights to non-international ones to corporations who specialize in the exploration thereof), the sudden influx of worldwide changes led to the rapid escalation in globalization, and exploring the new Rifts that appear and disappear with each passing day has become a viable alternative to the standard job market. With the number of people with Attributes growing ever so slowly in number and the increase of need to obtain things from these Rifts, it does indeed seem like the path of the world thus is set for the years to come.


Attributes

Attributes, in short, are traits bestowed upon people who have ventured into a non-transportation Rift. They appear very rarely among the populace, and generally come in three varieties. In descending order of power (and increasing rarity), they are: item attributes, elemental attributes, and conceptual attributes. Item attributes are straightforward: they either allow the given item to manifest, or to strengthen a copy of it that may exist within the confines of reality already. Elemental attributes (water, fire, etc. ;) allow for the manipulation and creation of whatever they represent, the degree to which is determined by the strength of the user. Conceptual attributes imbue the ‘idea’ of something onto the user or something that they wield; for example, an attribute of ‘magnetism’ could allow a person to repel or attract metal objects, while something like ‘wound’ could potentially transfer or remove wounds from one location to another.
In all three cases, the strength of an Attribute’s usage is determined by a combination of both the strength and of the ingenuity of the Attribute holder and their ability to use their skills creatively. Not all Attributes are created equal, of course, and their existence is valuable to the point where companies actively try and headhunt for Attribute users as early as high school well into late college (with a few going so far as to encourage people to drop out of higher education outright).


Alright, so... Here's my latest weird idea. Taking cues from series like A Returner's Magic Should Not Be Special, Solo Leveling, and Hardcore Leveling Warrior, I've come up with this mishmash of an idea. In short, you are a person who explores these Rifts, employed or freelance (or somewhere in between, maybe?), and your goal is to go through and explore around for the sake of... Well, whatever it is driving you forward, really. The story itself would, ideally, span the globe; consider the idea of jumping from one continent to another between missions as something that might happen every so often. Players, ideally, would start in a major city (I’ll leave that up to a majority vote or shove them somewhere made-up if need be) and work from there. I won’t push for any specific groups to form up, though, so if you want a party of people having just met up online Durarara!! style, feel free to do so. Questions? Concerns? As usual, just bring them up and I’ll do my best to answer. In any case: form!

Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by VitaVitaAR
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Right going to get going on a character soon.
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by ERode
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Do people instinctively understand what their Attribute is? Or are there instances where, for example, someone thinks they have a sword item attribute due to how they first used their power, when it's actually a metal element attribute?
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by PKMNB0Y
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@ERode: Instances of both can occur (because that can make for fun narratives).
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by Inuyasha
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I'm intrigued.
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by TheWendil
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TheWendil The Wendil-Sama™ / ಠ_ಠ

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@PKMNB0Y

To what degree do Item Attributes have special powers? Do Elemental Attributes just use the actual element, or do they have tools to help conjure/assist using that Element?
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by PKMNB0Y
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@TheWindel: Well, depends on the item (or, uh, animal if you go that route, I guess?) as well as the skill of the Attribute holder. You can get pretty wild (no, really, just throw something out there if you think it sounds cool and not too crazy for a starter).
Re: elemental attributes: Can do both. Sometimes, having a way to focus and visualize stuff makes things easier to do, right? Same sort of situation here. It's like image training, except not just an image.
...If that makes any sense.
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by ERode
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@PKMNB0Y ey, gonna pass this Attribute idea to you before I go with it. It's a Conceptual Attribute called 'Immolate' that basically operates as an ability to set things on fire at contact. These fires do not spread and only damages the target, and when the target dies, they disappear completely. My character will think of it as a specialized Fire Element Attribute, as would literally everyone else, all while being unaware of the second half of the effect.

Those who are Immolated are sacrificed to a greater power that my character doesn't know of, and I'll leave the rest of the implications to you.
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by SquishStar45
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Posting here to say that I'm showing interest and want to make a character but will probably wait for someone else to make a character first.
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Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by PKMNB0Y
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@ERode: Alright, you've caught my interest. Let's see where this rabbit hole takes us.
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by Cleverbird
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How powerful are we allowed to make our characters? Are we all supposed to play rookies, or are we allowed to make veterans or perhaps even famous characters?
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by PKMNB0Y
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Rookies okay, vets also okay, famous case-by-case (since you'd be unlikely to even touch the rest of the cast, I assume).
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by ERode
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19 y/o | 6'0 | 182 lbs
Albrecht Dietrich

Personality
Albrecht is an excellent shot caller who can improvise on the fly, with a natural combat sense that doesn’t truly fit his age or actual experience. He’s also a fuckboi who goes dungeon crawling cause he already has enough money to live a long life off of and wants to become famous as an explorer of extradimensional space. And to make things worse? Albrecht is terrible with women in the way that, if they’re even slightly attractive, he’ll go out of his way to be super-duper friendly, often bending over backwards to accommodate their needs. He also won’t hit them, even if they’re literally the incarnation of Satan, and he definitely won’t say ‘no’ if they ask him to carry their bags. Some sort of immature sense of chivalry, perhaps. Or maybe it’s because he went to an all-boys high school, and his own steady interaction with those of the opposite gender was his mom and his aunt, both who are figuratively dragons in the business world.

Of course, if any guy calls him out on that, they get the full all-boys high school treatment: a haymaker in the face followed by a German suplex before finishing in a rear naked choke. But that’s just guy stuff, ain’t it?

Attribute: Immolate [Conceptual]
As far as he’s aware, Albrecht has a Fire Element Attribute, being able to set target on fire when he touches them. This fire is incapable of harming anyone outside of the target and cannot spread or be put out the same way that normal fire can. Once the target dies or is destroyed, both the target and the flames disappear, leaving nothing but a shadowed outline of their body on the ground.

Abilities
Outside of his remarkably sharp decision-making skills in the heat of battle, Albrecht practices a form of mixed martial arts that focuses largely on footwork and quick strikes, as well as the occasional throw and low kick. His Attribute only works on physical contact and can’t spread, after all, so Albrecht naturally prefers using hit-and-run tactics: tagging one enemy before moving onto the next.

Skills
Having graduated from a fairly intense private high school with flying colors, Albrecht has a solid foundation of knowledge and physical skill. He can swim, he can run, he can do calculus, and he knows how to triangulate shit with two points of reference, among other relatively mundane things. Outside of that, Albrecht also has a fairly solid understanding on business, and is especially aware of how his own parents’ conglomerate functions. Long nights spent in dorms have given him both excellent sneaking abilities as well as a godly gift when it comes to playing Little Mac on Smash, while the morning after had granted him the ability to sleep anywhere. Naturally, being a guy with no actual taste when it comes to food and fashion, Albrecht can shamelessly eat and dress up in anything, all with enough confidence to convince people that, yes, this outfit is totally in vogue.

History
The Dietrich conglomerate spans the globe and has their fingers in every industry imaginable, a veritable powerhouse in the world of business, and growing up, Albrecht never wanted for anything and was always expected to be generous with everything. He tossed money at panhandlers, threw stupidly expensive gifts at his friends, literally didn’t give a shit when people lied in his face to get him to pay for their lunch, and overall was the sort of weird rich boy who was most definitely spoiled, but never actually let it get to his head.

Really, the biggest problem he had in life was the fact that his mom was insistent on making him do chores even when that was the job of their maid, and, thinking retrospectively, Albrecht thanks her for that. He’d hate to become an irresponsible adult incapable of washing his own dishes, after all.

Regardless though, life went on. Rifts happened, but after a year or so, it just became a business opportunity that the Dietrich Conglomerate capitalized on. His family got obscenely rich, set up a savings account that ensured Albrecht could live with minimal effort doing whatever he wanted, and soon, he realized that he had nothing that he really…wanted to do? It was easy enough to coast through elementary school and high school just doing homework and keeping up with punishingly fast-paced courses, but as graduation drew near, Albrecht realized that, without any external pressure pushing him to do anything in particular with his life, he had nothing he actually wanted to do.

So he dipped into a Rift, came out with a power, and became a self-styled adventurer that more or less already has more money that he’d ever need to use.

After all, people always say that they never feel more alive than when they near death. Maybe taking on the most dangerous job on the planet will be sufficient in giving him a reason to do more than eat, sleep and breathe.

Or maybe he’ll just die, unfulfilled and unsatisfied.

Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by OwO
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24 | 5'5" | 115 lbs
Xu Jian


|| | || ||||| | Personality
Xu Jian is, for lack of a better term, mellow. Someone who has incredible debt and has to slave away to barely chip away at it would usually be stressed out of their mind, but Xu Jian is rather calm about the entire ordeal. After all, she either pays it off or she dies. Both are viable ways of clearing it. She's often relaxed to the point of barely making an effort. While she does go hard and does things at maximum effort sometimes, it is only the result of rigorous discipline that she is able to do that. If she isn't forced to, she makes the absolute minimum amount of moves possible.

Money is constantly on her mind. After all, she has to take care of herself and a massive pile of debt. She can't afford (in both senses) to not think about it.

Despite her unapproachable face which constantly signals 'I am tired, do not talk to me', she's surprisingly friendly. She has an extremely bizarre sense of humour that almost never gets a laugh, but she still tries to make jokes on the reg. She's also a massive weirdo who wears bags and backpacks on the front. Who does that?

|| || ||| | || Attribute
Xu Jian is blessed with an affinity of metal. With this attribute, she can create weaponry, armour, tools, and everything in between. While she can freely augment pure metals, the speed and accuracy of her abilities relies severely on the purity of the metal she is augmenting. Range is also a notable consideration. While she can bend things that are farther away, altering what she can touch is considerably faster than anything long ranged. Things such as high carbon steel bend to her will significantly slower and less accurate than something like pure iron.

Because of the more physical composition of metal compared to things such as fire, Xu Jian's ability to create metals from nothing is considerably slow. For her, it's much more efficient to alter preexisting metal rather than create some from nothing. Metal that is blessed by a supernatural force, be it of the rifts or of attributes, are unable to be altered in any way. Metal she does create, however, is ethereal. It only lasts for days before crumbling into nothingness.

| || || | ||| Abilities
Xu Jian's combat talents lie in her ability to stay within the 5 Cs: calm, cool, collected, composed, and capable. Admittedly, those are all the same thing. Her ability to stay rational and act without panic is astounding, even compared to the most veteran explorers. She can make sound judgements based on her own capabilities. Besides that, she's incredibly mobile and has precise control of every movement her body makes.

| | | || || Skills
With a talent and history in gymnastics, Xu Jian can pull a sick floor routine. Besides that, she has all of the skills of a functional adult. Cooking, minor sewing, cleaning, budgeting, and everything in between.

| || |||| |||| History
Born to a new money family that had extremely high expectations of her, Xu Jian was destined for a life of effort and studying. Throughout her upbringing, she followed that lifestyle to a tee. Every waking moment was spent studying and otherwise preparing to be the perfect daughter. Her youth was punctuated with gymnastics in order to cultivate patriotism to curry favours with the government and schooling to eventually take over the family business. Either fortunately or unfortunately, her parent's family business had crumbled to nothing but mountains of debt after a series of scandals. Her parents, siblings, uncles, and everyone else related to her were forced to take on some debt and practically vanish off the earth. Xu Jian was free of her family, but she was alone.

So she escaped. Money made the world go 'round and she needed enough to survive. Her family's connections were useless and no regular job could help surmount the massive amount of debt she had. She was forced to do what she had to do; enter the rifts to make any sort of coin she could. Turns out, having a gymnast background helped considerably. Her first foray had filled her with an unknown power; she could control metal. While her aptitude wasn't great, her ability to properly move and stay calm under pressure helped. Days of entering rifts turned into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years. While her insurmountable debt is still there, she can at least make the minimum payments each month.

|| | ||| | | || Other
She dreams of getting a puppy, but can't afford it.
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by HereComesTheSnow
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This seems pretty interesting. Going back to the question of instinctual understanding versus one gained over time, is it possible to dip into a rift (potentially inebriated as all hell) without said power immediately manifesting?
Hidden 5 yrs ago 5 yrs ago Post by Duthguy
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* Name: Paul Aarons
* Age: 32
*

* Personality: Like most kids Paul spent his childhood wanting to be a hero or adventurer, though he was also realistic enough to know it just wasn't possible. Still he got his parents to sign him for boxing classes just in case he would get a chance to show said skills off. However he slowly focused more and more on regular life skills.

The appearance of the Rifts briefly reawakened Paul's old fantasies but the dangers involved as well the corporations claiming them for themselves meant he never had a chance to explore one.

* Attribute (If any): Ax [Item]
While the ax summoned is both incredibly tough and sharp, it's unfortunately too heavy for to use easily. As a result he mostly uses it as an improvised shield, to finish the fight or as a last resort, though he is trying to overcome this weakness.
* Abilities: He is by no means a pro but he knows some boxing moves and carries a metal bat as a weapon
* Skills: He has the skills expected for his age, but he also knows to read a map and has some minor knowledge of edible plants and mushrooms
* History: Paul's life really was pretty normal until about three months back when some friends took him along on a trip through a public no risk Rift. Of course anything valuable had already been claimed before the Rift became accessible to the public but traveling through it did gave him his attribute. While showing his ax off Paul quickly realized it was too heavy for him and spent time to un-summon it. That was the most exciting thing that happened to the group and it was clear the others were jealous of Paul's attribute, even with the issues he had with it.

Still he saw it as a chance to fulfill a childhood dream of becoming an adventurer while also making enough money to live off. Knowing the ax wouldn't be enough he returned to the boxing training he did in school and pretty quickly regained his former skill level leading him to decide he should be able to handle exploring Rifts as long as he had help.
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by PKMNB0Y
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@ERode@OwO: Accepted.
@HereComesTheSnow: Yes.
@Duthguy: Also accepted.

Anyways, here's a thing from me. Maybe it'll help spur other ideas on.

Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by HereComesTheSnow
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@PKMNB0Y Cool. Would you want that reflected in the profile, or just have the planned power in for transparency's sake?
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by PKMNB0Y
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@HereComesTheSnow: Both could work, I think, but if you have to pick one, the latter.
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by HereComesTheSnow
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@PKMNB0Y

Sure thing. Working on a draft now.
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