Letter Bee

Letter Bee's Character Sheets

Princess the Hopeful: Freeform Contagion

Disclaimer: The idea was someone else's, but I was allowed to borrow it.

I. Intro

In the independent archipelago-nation of Beaux Rêve (Sweet Dream), situated in the Pacific Northwest, ideas and ideals clash as the world knocks on its door, seeking access to resources both mundane and supernatural. As a place that is radically different from most of its neighbors, many of the customs are alien even on the global stage. Colonized first by the French elite when Europeans first came and claimed what they saw as the New World, Beaux Rêve has adopted a number of notably French customs and expressions, intermixed with British, American, Russian, and Japanese influences.

The Capital, Beaux Rêve City, is famous for its extreme and bizarre one-school policy. A space the size of a whole city district has been carved out to make space for a truly massive educational complex, ranging from nurseries all the way up to university faculties. Children from all over the city are made to mix regardless of their economic circumstances or housing situations. This brings a number of advantages and issues. Bullying is high, many classrooms or even whole buildings are left vacant due to issues or a lack of funding, teachers face extreme workloads and massive classes and the economy of the whole city has shifted to accommodate this. Everybody knows somebody who works at the school, and rumors spread like wildfire about the daily happenings. The district and the schooling system is just commonly known as "The Complex" or "Beaux Rêve Educational."

As the center of the nation's economic life, the Capital is also split into a number of districts that serve various needs. The Complex is the main district, located at the center of the city. The residential district isn't split by any official lines, but the disparity between rich and poor is clear to see, with worn-down apartments overshadowed by massive skyscrapers and penthouses belonging to the ultra-rich. It's not particularly rare for people to live in other districts above shops, in barracks-like accommodations for laborers, or on the more rural and suburban city borders. Other districts include the commercial district full of bustling markets and French imports, which contrasts with the industrial district full of broken-down warehouses and demolished factories.

The party currently in charge is the Autocrats, who have used Beaux Rêve as a testing ground for their larger plans over the years. Challenging this party are the Humanitarians, a slightly awkward and needs-must party made up of a mixture of people who genuinely want to change things for the better, and others who are simply riding the wave for power or for more cynical reasons. Rumors of more extreme elements of the party decry extremism and violent demonstrations.

Princesses and Princes, aka Magical Girls and Boys, are the dominant supernatural force in Beaux Rêve, if one does not count Hunters, who serve as their oversight. Both Princesses and Hunters have taken up arms to protect the Capital and wider nation, with average folk becoming empowered to take the fight to the core of the issues facing the town, as Mortals squabble about their differences on the streets. The Light that they represent is delicate, however, flickering in the face of so much darkness and suffering. Individuals struggle with their burden, far too spread out and fractured amongst themselves to weather the looming storm. The chances are low, but if those standing for what is right can brook the crashing wave, the path to a brighter future could be left in the wake.

Everything is on the verge of collapse, and that weight falls squarely on your shoulders. If you don't have to strength to lift it up, the dedication to make this place better, then it will drag you down with it, along with all you've ever loved.

II. Haphazard Info and Exposition

All right, what is Princess the Hopeful and why should we care?

Princess the Hopeful (Tv. Tropes page here) is a homebrew tabletop game, a custom splat based on the Chronicles of Darkness (New World of Darkness 2e) setting and system created by White Wolf Publishing, now owned by Paradox Interactive. The homebrew focuses on Magical Girls and Boys (or Magical Women and Men) who are literally driven to be 'Good People in a Grimdark Universe', fighting for a legitimate cause that does not give them a guarantee of victory. They fight because a cause is genuinely right, even if they're slated to lose, and that's where the horror of the game line comes in.

Thanks to the reality-warping plague called the Contagion (which exists in Canon), there are significant differences between this world and 'Vanilla' Chronicles of Darkness, namely that Princesses are as powerful as Mages in this RP (to make sure people don't ignore this ruling, I will be managing everything related to Mages as well as Princesses). Also, Beasts don't exist here for reasons anyone who knows about them can understand. Every other CofD 'race/template/splat' does exist here, though.

But what do we do? Are we part of one single party?

Yes, you're part of one single group of 6 folk (8 counting GMPCs), whose goal is to prevent the city from going to crap due to partisan infighting between the two fictional political parties of Beaux Rêve City (the rest of the archipelago will be explored in due time).

Beaux Rêve City is the size of Wellington, and has a slightly smaller population. The island it stands on, Beaux Rêve Island, is as big as Hawaii (the island), with the surrounding environment being similar to Olympic National Park, only developed with farms and sawmills and factories, although large parts remain pristine.

There is also a volcano, Mt. D' Albret, named after Jeanne d' Albret, a notable figure among the Calvinists in the French Wars of Religion. Said Volcano has a large deposit of red diamonds, the rarest kind of diamond on earth IRL, which in turn makes Beaux Rêve (the nation) extremely rich and important.

The other islands of the archipelago are roughly estimated to be as big as the other islands of the Hawaiian Archipelago; this is to reduce the GM's workload. Also, Beaux Rêve Island is 1609.25 kms/621.34 miles away from Graham Island in Canada; a moderately wide stretch of ocean away.

Anyway, if you want to play someone not a Princess (aka any other template in the Chronicles of Darkness except Beast), consult the White Wolf Wiki.

III. Rules

1) No Godmodding or Powergaming, aka no controlling other players' actions
2) Any consenting relationship between people of the same age group is allowed, whether it's Homosexual or Heterosexual. If you cannot stand such things, don't post here in the first place. That said, do not violate SB rules; that means no sexualizing minors.
3) Be polite to others.
4) Please notify me if you will be gone for more than a week, I myself will let you guys know if I will be gone for that same amount of time.
5) The GM reserves the right to control inactive PCs as NPCs in order to keep the plot moving.
6.) If anything conflicts with a strict reading of the Chronicles of Darkness canon, the Contagion changed reality to make it so.
7.) If you want to play a Vampire, Werewolf, Demon, or any other Template (that isn't Beast), you are in charge of writing up what powers your OC has; do not abuse this right to god mode. And if you can prove that you know the lore for those Templates, the GM might consult with you from time to time.
8.) We're not using dice or stats; we use the honor system, narrative necessity and plausibility, and common sense.

IV. Character Sheet

[b]Name:[/b] (What’s your characters name?)

[b]Age:[/b] (How old is your character? 16 - 30 preferred, but younger/older OCs can be applied for on special request)

[b]Physical Description:[/b] (What does your character look like?)

(Place any photos or written descriptions here. If a Princess, post your Transformed Self's costume)

[b]Weapons and Items:[/b] (What kind of weapons or other important items does your character have? If your character has cash, put it there too.)

[b]Are you a Princess/Prince? :[/b] (Simple Y/N question)

[Spoiler=If a Princess]
[b]Calling:[/b] (Champion, Grace, Mender, Seeker, Troubadour; consult the Princess Wiki for more details)

[b]Court:[/b] (Clubs, Diamonds, Spades, Hearts, Swords; no Tears, Storms, and Mirrors, but their Invocations might be allowed - See below. Consult the Princess Wiki for more details.)

[b]Invocation:[/b] (Consult the Princess Wiki for details. All 'Vanilla' Invocations plus the ones from the Road of Dawn supplement are allowed if you can explain why your OC can access them. Also, you get 1 Invocation at Level 3, 1 Invocation at Level 2, and 1 Invocation at Level 1).

[b]Charms:[/b] (As part of the buffs to Princesses and Princes, you get to buy dots in Charm [i]Families[/i] not just Individual Charms. This means that you can buy Fight 3 and get all Charms that are compatible with your Invocations up to that level. To balance this, you only have 5 Charm Dots and you are capped to Level 3 in any Charm Family on Character Creation. However, for your Calling's Affinity Charm, aka Fight for Champions, Connect for Graces, etc, you get a [i]sixth[/i] dot you can only invest in it.)
[/spoiler]

[Spoiler=If a Mage]
[b]Path:[/b] (Acathus, Obrimos, Mastigos, Moros, Thyrsus.)

[b]Order:[/b] (Adamantine Arrow, Guardians of the Veil, Mysterium, Silver Ladder, Free Council.)

[b]Arcana:[/b] (4 Dots, but your Affinity Arcanum gets a fifth and a sixth you can only invest in those. Consult the Wikis on what the Arcanum are.)
[/spoiler]

[b]Short Bio:[/b] Tell us your character's story up to this point. Who are they exactly? Where did they come from? What are they like? All of the above goes here.

V. Sample Bio

Ken Aizawa

Name: Ken Aizawa

Age: 16

Physical Description:





Weapons and Items: Beaux Rêve school uniform (silken), wallet, personal documentation, Smartphone, Laptop, Backpack, Textbooks, Pepper Spray, and a Taser plus a Wooden Kendo Sword. Also cash and debit cards worth $50,000 (Resources 3 equivalent).

Are you a Princess/Prince? : Y.

Calling: Champion.

Court: (Clubs, Diamonds, Spades, Hearts, Swords; no Tears, Storms, and Mirrors, but their Invocations might be allowed - See below. Consult the Princess Wiki for more details.)

Invocation: Fuoco 3, Acqua 2, Terra 1.

Charms: Fight 3, Perfect 2, Govern 1.

Short Bio: Ken was born in Tokyo to a Japanese Father and a Caucasian Mother from the (fictional) city of Beaux Rêves. This was made more ‘unusual’ than it is now due to his father being a member of the Hototogisu and his mother being a Princess who fell in love with the man despite the former trying to ‘steal’ her powers in the first place. And so Ken was raised with two sometimes-conflicting influences, his father’s, who was focused on money and influence and ambition, and his mother’s, who was focused on compassion, philanthropy, and sometimes self-righteousness. Nevertheless, the boy quickly learned from both, leaning towards his mother more.

At school in Tokyo, Ken was frequently bullied for his half-foreign heritage and quickly learned to stand up for himself. Standing up for others, though, was harder for him, but then he met a boy, a boy who awakened him to his budding bisexuality. He tried to ignore these feelings at first, but seeing that other boy being bullied in school, even worse than he was, because he was ‘weak’, slowly roused a desire for justice and a desire to protect him, and one day, he stood up to protect the person he had to admit, he loved.

In a flash of light, Ken’s clothes transformed into that of a soldier wearing the ballistics vest of an elite JSSDF Infantryman, and the boy punched the lights out of the bullies threatening to beat his fellow student. And his life changed forever.

His parents soon caught wind of what happened and paid a huge amount of money to keep the mouths of any witnesses shut. Then after accepting that yes, Ken did in fact like both genders ‘that way’, the two debated on what to do to protect him. This resulted in his father inducting him into the Hototogisu’s employ even though he was below the legal age for employment in Japan and then sending him to the city of Beaux Rêves, where the Age of Majority was 16. There, he was to represent the Japanese Corporation’s more philanthropic side and ‘observe’ events going on in the area and how the Conspiracy/Company can benefit from it.

And yes, he’s still allowed to talk to the person he protected, his new boyfriend...

Fallout: The Vegas Affair

Raven Rivers

"Albert!" said the soldier as he took out his Hunting Rifle, crouched, and fired at the Legionnaires, trying to cover his friend as he tried to get a feel for the enemy's numbers. It seemed as though the Legion's tattered remnants were not done yet; they had sent a force to besiege the camp. Well, like heck they're gonna take him again; he needed to clear his head and more importantly, clear the way for the clearly-allied Vertibird to arrive and land. Gritting his teeth, he dived behind a stack of boxes as he realized that the gate had been blown open; he had to hold back the enemy lest they slaughtered everyone inside - Or worse.

He was unlucky enough to be cut off from the other NCR troops, but Raven had learned to live with his lack of fortune a long time ago. Not caring that he might be in the midst of a Legion onslaught, he fired at a Recruit Legionnaire coming through the gate and shot the foe dead in the eyes; a merciful fate for someone who had lived knowing nothing but inflicting and taking torment.

This did result in him getting the attention of what seemed to be, in this fog of war, an entire squad of Legionnaires rushing towards him, turning themselves into 'bullet sponges' so that a couple of their remaining Veterans can shoot at him with their caravan shotguns and cowboy repeaters. It didn't matter; he will survive this - His luck was abysmal but it would not grant him the peace of death as long as there were more opportunities to suffer more.

He remembered Timothy's face and their stolen moments, he remembered slaves throwing away what they had believed before to join the arena in hopes of getting an 'amnesty' and a chance to join their tormentors. This was time he could have used to throw a grenade if he had carried one, but alas, such was his luck and the influence of PTSD; Raven endured it nonetheless.

Drawing his Service Rifle now, Raven shot again, perforating a machete-wielding Legionnaire in the gut - It wasn't going to be a clean death this time.

Legion as well as NCR soldiers began falling around him, but Raven held out, having learned a perverse trust in his bad luck that he would be spared in order to be tortured more, and until that time, he'd survive what the Wasteland had to throw at him.

There was one Legionnaire facing him, one last survivor of the squad that had rushed him. It might just be a trick of his mind, but that Legionnaire looked like him, like the son he could have had if he had stayed behind and married a woman -

Raven was already instinctively dodging the foe's attempted stabbing with a gladius, before focusing long enough to score a gash on his opponent's armor and ripping off the breastplate through the gash. Then he stabbed again, burying his switchblade inside the enemy's guts; he'd requisition a new one later on. Were the NCR counterattacking? Had he bought them enough time and space, or did they misuse it?

He did not know...

Fallout (Post Fallout 4) Interest Check

I would prefer something like Fallout 2 or Fallout New Vegas; something about factions and competing visions for rebuilding civilization.

Mechwarrior: Disposable Heroes

Looking forward to reading this. Just barely started watching videos about MechWarrior/BattleTech so I'm not even going to try to join. Maybe Season Two. Maybe as a Halfling. Half kidding.

But yeah looking forward to reading and congrats for lasting so long.

@BangoSkank

Hello; welcome to the thread.

Fallout: The Vegas Affair

((Collab Post between @Letter Bee and @DirtyDingo.))

Raven Rivers x Albert Brosnovic

In hindsight, returning to duty was merely the best of many bad choices.

For Raven Rivers, what he really wanted was cash and a plot of land to retire on, but apparently, escaping from The Regime did not qualify one for a large-enough pension from the bureaucrats. And his relatives didn't have enough cash to support him for the rest of his life while the job market for civvie work in the NCR was worse than ever. So he had to return to Ranger Station Foxtrot, where he had nothing to do except read books he bought from traveling merchants, shoot at passing raiders and Legion remnants, and lose himself in depression over a literal decade spent as less than nothing in others' eyes.

At least he had free time, at least he had some choices in what he can do with said free time. But right now, he was lonely, the memories of his dead boyfriend Timothy still fresh after all these years. Raven Rivers might not find a man like him again, while as for women, well, he liked them as well as men, but he did not know how to talk to them anymore. He did want to have a son to name Timothy, though.

Shaking his head, Raven observed his surroundings; he was in a watchtower in Ranger Station Foxtrot, where he was bored out of his mind scanning the desert for any sign of raiders, Legion, or Regime troops, whether Securitons or organic 'auxiliaries'. In the distance to the north, Raven saw a cloaked silhouette, smoking what appeared to be a disproportionately large cigar. Candidly patrolling the outskirts of the station alone. The unmistakable outline of a Van Graff made tri-laser rifle resting on his shoulder.

The man was no stranger to the station, his gruff and rugged appearance complimented by faded tan ranch wear, and a leather cowboy hat to complete the set. There was no mistaking who the man was. It was him.

Albert Brosnovic grunted as his knees buckled with every step, the years of enforcement work had taken it's toll on the aged man turned mercenary. His eyes scanned the horizon as he strode, ever since the second battle of Hoover Dam and the formation of The Regime; he had struggled to find anywhere true to settle. The truth of the matter was, Albert greatly missed his home in Freeside. Hell, he even missed the pompous assholes he had to deal with at the Lucky 38 when they'd get too rowdy. There had always been a charm to the violence of his line of work. Even if it rarely had to come to taking lives. Out here, in the wastes of the Mojave however, it just felt empty. No raucous laughter, no beautiful women and not a goddamned sip of good whiskey to quench his thirst within thirty miles.

"Fuck this, ain't nobody comin'." he had said to himself, before tossing his cigar to the floor and stomping it out. Albert had been given honorary Ranger status after the uprising of The Regime. Although he hated the thought of being responsible for more than a building with very little to compensate for it. Truth be told, if he'd had anywhere else to go. He would have abandoned Foxtrot months ago.

With a deep sigh, he gripped his modified rifle in two hands. Pumping it's lever a number of times in order to detach the microfusion cells which operated it. Catching each one as they fell with his off-hand before resting the weapon on his shoulder once more. Giving a two fingerer salute to the watchtower, wherein he surmised his friend Raven had been keeping watch; as he often would.

Albert was a bright spot in his life; the old man was a good friend indeed, in Raven's views. Either way, he waved at the Honorary Ranger as he appeared and gave the signal to let the guy in. As the outpost gates opened, the no-longer-young soldier, who had earned some respect from the Rangers despite not being one himself, went to gesture Albert in, before asking, "So, you doing all right? I presume that things are still going bad in... That City?"

Then he remembered, "Oh, where are my manners; let's have a cup of coffee; it's on me - I no longer drink more than a few bottles of beer a week."

"Long as you don't stop me putting a couple shots of this sweet stuff in mine, kiddo." Albert laughed as he pulled his canteen from his hip and swished it's contents around before ruffling the significantly younger man's hair as he walked past him with a a jovial grin slapped across his face. "How's them things I tended to for ya holdin' up? Need me to take another look?" he continued, his smile seemingly vanishing from his face instantaneously as he changed the subject to Raven's hidden scar tissue.

Raven cringed at that and said, "I honestly don't like taking off my shirt again, even in private, to a doctor." He then looked at Albert and said, "But if you want, we can do it in the infirmary."

The man had suffered much. First under the Legion then under the Regime, where, and he had told Albert this in private, he had... served in Gommorah and that had entailed some things that would have gotten him scorned or pitied even in the NCR Army - Mostly pitied. But he didn't give any specifics, same for how, as his fame as a gladiator had risen, other unspeakable things had become the norm.

But it was best not to elaborate on that. Point was, Raven was adverse to close contact, even with people he trusted. "As for your earlier question...my mole's gone dark. Haven't heard a lick off the guy for a week now. But it seems like shit keeps gettin' worse back home. Just wish we had a way to pull the plug on that fucker and turn him to scrap that he is. I - Albert had begun venting, his anger and hatred for The Regime beginning to slip from his usually calm and collected demeanor when suddenly the unmistakable thrumming of a Vertibird in the distance became audible.

"Sounds like trouble."

Raven nodded but said, "Perhaps, but let's wait for my superiors to give the order to fire; it might be Bear Force One for all we know... I'm joking."

Noble Arms Lore Thread (Letter Bee Version)

4/22/2023 - Added a fuller explanation of how the Occult Programming Language works.

Genshin Impact - Eikons [Current Chapter: Geo]

The Fastest Gun in Uvera

Ken grinned and said, "Well, don't mind if I do!"

Nevertheless, he didn't act immediately. Instead, he sought a piece of dried, half-eaten, or even rotten fruit from the edge of the arena even as he observed the Guards and the Aldugan Spines fighting amongst each other. Then, as the other prisoner-gladiators began charging at the mysterious masked man, the youth went towards Takemura and said, "So, want to form a strategy to take down Mr. Lightning Guy, or would you prefer to be a gladiator forever? No shame if the latter, but I'm taking my chance to get out, get in good with the Sand King,, and make those Aldugan Spines pay..."

The Oni smiled and said, "He's flying; how do we get at him?"

Ken gave it some thought and said, "Toss me at 'Mr. Lighting Guy'." That ought to put me above the heads of the other prisoners, too. And make for a show.

Takemura said, "Will do," before dropping his club, picking up Ken, and then tossing him at the floating foe, pistol in one hand and a piece of half-eaten fruit in the other while his Vision was tied to his rags. If Ken hit, he'd smash the half-eaten fruit onto the masked man's covered face and turn it into a sleeping aerosol that would seep inside the mask - The guy needed to breathe, right?

If that didn't work, well, he still had his gun and was going to shoot him in the side of the head before that guy used lightning on himself to repel his assailant. But just in case he did, Ken, grit his teeth so that he could resist being fried by electricity - Wait, he still had a lingering shield from the Geo Generator; he could survive one shock, maybe two!

If the boy kept a clear head and trusted his luck, maybe freedom would be at hand, and so would access to his old gear. And if he can get a favor from the Sand King, perhaps by foiling the Aldugan Spines' coup, he can obstruct attempts to enslave Uverans (and the occasional Waltonian) and thus remove foreign interference in Greater Walton/Uvera...

@Renose

Noble Arms Lore Thread (Letter Bee Version)

4/18/2023 - Edited 'Misc Lore' to include relevant information about the Occult Programming Language!

Noble Arms - The ASEAN War [Moved to New Thread]

@SkyHresvelg@Chiro@Aisede@Lewascan2@Sniblet@Conscripts@Gerlando@Creative Chaos@Nimbus@The Man Emperor@KaiserElectric @Landaus Five-One@QJT:

QJT made yet another post!

Mechwarrior: Disposable Heroes

are y'all still accepting peeps or am I too late?

@SnakieDarker

Not sure, but we did accept someone new not too long ago...