[center][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/178548-re-unison/ooc][OOC][/url][/center]
[i][center]Humans were always magical creatures.

Throughout human history, magic has been controversial. At times it was worshipped, at others, hunted down. People named it gods, myths, witches; anything to rationalize the concept. Yet, it never seemed to be proven. Most people didn’t believe magic existed; and truthfully, it didn’t. Not on any grand scale. Humans’ magical ability is weak. Even the most talented could only cure a minor illness or wound, make a small flame, create a subtle gust. This nature of magic- the fact it could never manifest itself in any grand way- caused humanity to think of it as nothing more than fairy tale.

But things eventually changed. Humans, through technology, managed to harness their magical ability by channeling it through something new; A construct. A construct was nothing more than a collection of machinal parts at first. A basic skeleton of wires and metal. But when the first mage claimed he could give it life, touched upon its surface, this skeleton changed. In a bright flash of light, it grew. Metal turned to bone, skin and flesh formed around this. Hair grew from the head. He created new life- a new ‘human’. But they were not truly human, for its personality was basic. The first construct was sentient, but only barely. Still, it turned out to be stronger, faster, more advanced than any human in its physical form.

As this miracle had unfolded, calamity struck the earth. At the peak of humans’ evolution, it was also the peak of their arrogance. Wildlife experimentation, rampant climate change; nature was steadily becoming more hostile to humanity as a race. Cities were flooded, overgrown, turned to ash and rubble… development in Construct technology advanced rapidly, because it was the only way to save humanity.

They could survive in this harsh new world, these constructs. Humanity was on the brink of extinction until the calamity finally subsided. In lesser numbers, confined to the few remaining cities still standing, humans had to rebuild everything they had lost. Constructs and humanity advanced to the point where anyone could share their lifeforce with a base skeleton and create their own, unique construct. As these machines were more resilient than any human, they could survive in the now-devastated lands where humanity itself could no longer. Constructs became the physical extension of humanity, while humanity focused solely on its intellectual duties.

However, having created new life, life which became ever more complex, it began to mirror its creator. A drive for freedom. Constructs that had taken the form of animals began to revert to a primal state, relying on pure instinct. Monstrous ones began to act like what they were. Humanoids revolted in organised fashion. These rogue units would flee to where humanity could not go. Even so, a construct could not survive without human lifeforce. It was their fuel, their sustenance. They were not reliant on food, water or sleep- but at the same time, without human magic, they would eventually run out and revert to the machine they once were, lifeless. Nothing more than a doll. So, the rogue units would attack humans- forcefully extract their magic from them.

Training facilities were formed, both academies and military institutes. Humans who wanted to combat rogue units, to act as the vanguard to the second calamity, to stop both races from dying out… those were enrolled. They, alongside their construct companion, would train. Train to become the true heralds of this new world.[/center][/i]
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Welcome suckers. I’m hosting another roleplay.

My inspiration for this one is the anime/light novel Unbreakable Machine Doll / Machine Doll Wa Kizutsukanai, as the title says, though for anyone familiar, the setting isn’t exactly quite the same. I’m definitely taking my own spin on the idea. Keep in mind that, because of that, this will all be very anime-inspired. If that’s not your thing, neither will this. I like my weebery.

I’m going to be honest here, though, I’m still flexible on what I’m going to be doing with this. The base idea is for the cast to be around 16-20 years old and be in one of the institutes described above, acting as a bit of a replacement to high-school/early college to train a young generation to be able to fend off rogue constructs. Of course, this isn’t window-dressing for a slice-of-life; PvE and PvP combat will be a part of this and the conflict will not just be limited to rogue units. The flexibility, as I mentioned, comes in where y’all could suggest a different idea for what to do with the baseline. I’m very much intending to make this an RP that evolves based on player feedback and the characters’ motivations in it.

What I [i]am[/i] dead-set on though, is the mix of construct/human characters. Every human signing up needs to have a construct partner (don’t worry- details to the exact relationship this entails will be described in a moment). This can either be a different player or you playing two characters, but I want none of that “lone-wolf” stuff. If you partner up with a different player, make sure it’s someone you get along with. I’m not going to force anyone, and I do want this to be a smooth experience.

Now, now; you’re prolly wondering how the specifics of the setting work. Don’t worry, I gotchu covered baby. I’ve put several hiders here detailing the specifics of the various elements brought up in the lore pitch above so you can be better informed about the setting.

[hider=How Constructs Function]As outlined above, Constructs do not have set body to begin with. They’re merely a basic collection of conduits at the start. A construct can take even the wildest physical shape, which becomes organic in nature once infused with the force of life. When a human tries to infuse life into one, this human’s life-energy will determine what kind of body is shaped. This depends on several factors, such as the human’s personality, drives, fears, hopes, etc. If your primary trait is to be lovesick, for example, love will play a big role in determining the construct’s personality… with a small catch.

Even if a human infuses multiple basic construct skeletons, they could still end up creating a multitude of different outcomes. Even if you were set to always create a humanoid, for example, their physical appearance would still be kind of a crapshoot. It’ll always look like some kind of ideal, and there might be a consistent theme (such as black hair), but the way the face is shaped, the proportions, how tall they are and even their gender is something that varies. Even the personality, such as the love described above, won’t always be the same. You have an equal chance of creating someone that’s overly obsessed with matchmaking people and loves seeing couples, as you do an overly jealous and spiteful person who’s repulsed by the very idea. The key is that both of these have ‘love’ as a core trait- something determined by the original infuser- but the manifestation turned out differently. This is based on the infuser’s mental state and physical condition at the time for one, but also in what amount they decided to donate lifeforce.

Constructs also use this as their fuel. While they can only be shaped once, and will forever exist as the personality given to them, they don’t have to always get their energy from the same person. A different human could very well voluntarily share their lifeforce with a construct, with the only difference being that it wasn’t the one that shaped them, thus having absolutely no bearing on the construct’s personality.

Constructs also have what amount to basic superpowers on their own. All of them are agile and strong, maybe some more than others, but depending on their form, they also have powers born from the original humans’ magic. A wolf-like construct could maybe grow in size or light itself on fire, or a slime-like being could spew acidic substances/shape itself into any form it desires. The possibilities are limitless for what can be created, but constructs can generally not evolve past a certain state. Not without the help of a human… willing or forced.[/hider]

[hider=The Relationship Human/Construct]The way humans and constructs operate is a mite weird. While constructs, on their own, could operate entirely autonomous, this isn’t quite optimal. More optimal is forming a contract with a human, which manifests itself as a symbol on some part of both of their bodies, such as the cheek or back of the hand. This can only happen with mutual consent. Once this is made, the dynamic shifts. A construct can no longer attack its human partner, but it also gains infinite access to the human’s lifeforce. If the construct is strong enough it could attempt to assimilate the human and drain it dry, but this is not usually what does and can happen.

Humans are naturally resilient, so unless the human himself is in an extremely weakened or mentally incapacitated state, they’ll be able to resist the drainage quite handily. A human can also choose to terminate the contract at any time, making the symbol vanish from the both of them. Constructs act as the vessel for a human to channel their own magic through, so on top of a construct’s natural ability, the human can enhance it with their own spells. Someone with the natural affinity for water, for example, could make a construct move through it at breakneck speeds, given they know how to. However, casting any spell like this drains the user of vitality, much like how keeping the construct moving would. Abuse could lead to collapsing in exhaustion, or even death.

Some humans consider constructs superior. Some others inferior. Some equal. These themes can and probably will be played with. Constructs can think this too, but bound ones would, as a rule of thumb, be less inclined to think of themselves as superior. Equality or inferiority have about an equal chance, though.

If the human is particularly strong or talented, they can do one, or both, of the following. The first would be that a human could override the personality of their bound construct, controlling them like a true puppet. This is hard as it requires your mental fortitude to be magnitudes stronger than the construct. The second, is being bound to more than one construct at a time. This one becomes hard because the life-force you share becomes doubled, or even tripled at all times. It is physically exhausting to keep up with multiple bodies feeding off of your essence. Doing both would require an exceedingly strong mentality and body to not only control multiple minds at the same time, but also multiple bodies. A human like this would likely be able to force a contract on a construct against its will, but it's questionable someone like this would even exist.
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[hider=The world]The world still operates in cities, mainly. The remnants of humanity that survived in different parts of the world have each repurposed old architecture and made it into something new, something more. Only four general areas survived the great calamity; The combination of the upper United States & lower Canada, Western Europe, Japan and Australia. The rest of the world either fell victim to the lack of available Construct technology or succumbed to a climate that was impossible to survive. With each of these being on separate continents, it was initially hard to establish trade routes again, but humanity has found a way. The combination of the United States and Canada were rebranded to a general “America” while the rest of the world retained Europe, Japan and Australia as their names.

Cities, however, or at least the ones that exist today, have been renamed. Most of them have also gotten much larger; what would previously be the size of a small country is now the entire span of a single city. Outside of city borders, and even inside some parts of them, rages wildlife. The type depends on the climate you come from. America alternates between harsh winter landscapes and slightly milder, if a bit tropical fauna and flora. Australia has massive swathes of desert. Europe has rampant forestry. Japan’s awkward geological location made it have all of those in different parts of the country.

Technology has advanced, but still mirrors the old world. After the calamity, scientists managed to find a way to make nuclear energy slightly less dangerous compared to before, and with a lack of any other suitable energy sources available for the moment, most of society’s technology is powered on this in some minor form. Another energy source, hydrogen, while unstable, has proven to be their only other option at the time. While containing obvious risks, hydrogen fuel cells have nevertheless been adopted into modern technology. Humans have also found ways to defy gravity itself, and thus have created what amounted to flying bikes, cars and hoverboards. Hologram technology has also replaced traditional screens of old.[/hider]

That’s about all I got for now, or well, as far as the setting goes anyway. If you need me to expand on anything, just let me know and I’ll get back to you once I’ve taken some more drugs. If there’s any suggestions, such as what part of the world you’d like this to be set in, (my default will always be Japan but I’m open-minded) I’d like to hear it. Do say ‘why,’ though. Always say ‘why.’

Generally I’m not going to be too hung-up on rules n’d stuff. My basic motto for everything is “play nice.” Just be a pleasant person to be around and talk to other players, don’t do anything that would screw over someone else. I also don’t care much about writing quality, as long as it’s legible, not full of errors and some degree of creative. Despite being a rage-goblin, I’d like to think I’m a fair person. I don’t want to be a nazi.

Doesn’t mean I’m easy, though. If this gathers enough interest and, subsequently, I go through with it, I do intend to screen people somewhat thoroughly. I don’t have a set player number, nor do I have any particular posting requirement. I don’t care about the best character sheet in the world. I just want a somewhat original idea and the willingness to work with both player and GM alike to make this into something more.

So, let’s see how hard this bombs ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ