The Harbinger of Ferocity

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

That would be correct for positioning and dropping it will be the best option then, @Hekazu. No point in making this overly complicated any further, this chapter has gone on for far too long.

Printed guns, melded metal - An experimental GM-less Cyberpunk RP

I will read over your character tomorrow, @LeeRoy. I foresee no issues, but I have yet to delve into it. On an unrelated note, assuming no one has begun tomorrow, I will throw something simple into getting us going. It will not be grand or glorious, but it will be more than nothing which is where we are at currently. If you are already in the process of drafting a post, I will write around yours if you move on it before I do, so do not feel the need to delay.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Not even close to a hit, but now certainly is the time to make short work of them as expediently as possible before another wave or worse decides to eventually catch up. The escape was one thing, now sealing the escape is another, something which I would say - dare hope - is the end of this chapter if we manage it right. The forest should make it very difficult for them to even dare to keep up with us between all of the natural talent we have and someone's character being familiar to the lay of the land, but there are likely to be patrols or the sort about.

First things first however, someone kill one of them. That is all.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

The enemy was as seemingly foolish as they were zealous, as it was made clear several times over they had hacked down the best of the regulars they had in mere moments; their own champions were the few things that had even posed them, let alone a town, a threat at all. Whatever promises of greatness and glory they had been sewn with, the knight-ranger was determined to reap from them. So with the beating of the horses' hooves and their shouts, the presence of the riders of the clustered together, they made for a relatively easy shot; spurring the man to draw an arrow from his quiver. The tension on his longbow stringing out in response, this was all true except for the fact that the rest of the escaping entourage had been lagging behind for any number of reasons; blaming any one or any individual was moot.

There was no time to adjust the shot, a blind arrow that missed friends was better than a sure arrow that hit any one of them as there was no telling where they would go to avoid their pursuers. Thus the warrior committed and the shaft loosed, darting through the night, whipping past the monk and bear, down the corridor that was between them and the other archer of Greenest. Unfortunately, it too sailed well wide off from the two east-most riders, who had slowed to either maneuver or dismount into battle. But the wildblooded paladin was not through with them yet, taking off to press the moment forward, back past his compatriots and where he could meet the enemy; perhaps dissuade them further, this time in close with steel.

Unsheathing the blade, he bounded through the tall grass, cloak turned now to the forest and allowing the bear to pass by. There was no time to flee anymore, just fight, and to be perfectly honest with himself, the tiger in him wanted a fight. Brannor could not be sure if this was the beast he was - the true him beneath the flesh - or the holy compass in spirit, the pull to at last strike back against his enemy rather than skulk away, or even the melding of them both as one pure, divine, wild thing. Either way, be it animalistic anger or sanctified vengeance, these men came here full aware they were likely to die, still stained with all of the evil things they had done.

Why not see them to those ends?

So the sword was loosed from its scabbard and the bow was cast from hand, Brannor rising in voice, hoping the scene at hand now made the issue clear despite his comment some minutes before, "Now is that time to fight."

Effects

Brannor fires an arrow, which is a near assured miss on a 4. He then moves 30ft, his maximum movement, to the south-east-most corner of the bear form Torus and drops his bow. He then prepares his greatsword and will use his opportunity attack on the first humanoid enemy to provoke one, regardless if they remain a rider or decide to dismount, attempting to keep them away from Leosin the monk. Unless noted otherwise, he will not target the horse over the rider.

@Hekazu@Gordian Nought@Ryonara@Lucius Cypher@Norschtalen

Thoughts On Playing REAL People?

Perhaps in concept the greatest and most noteworthy issue I take with the idea is that the portrayal is unlikely to be a real, credible tribute to that person. Ignoring all of the potentially strange and even slightly disturbing and depraved things that could come with it, it feels terribly insincere in concept and I would argue, do in fact, it is at least as problematic as attempting canon characters, yet is one shade worse. While of course people are free to do so, I see no reasonable or possible attraction to the idea on that issue alone.

The individual is not really "them", they are a doppelganger, a fake, a dupe, portrayed by someone else attempting to be them. The odds they would behave appropriately are limited, if not almost assuredly inaccurate. Perhaps that is just ignored for the sake of the event and experience, but for myself, if I even had so much as an icon as that? I suspect I would find my suspension of disbelief dashed or my patience tested whenever anything that seems inappropriate to their person is played out. It creates an air of inherent dissonance that would inevitably permeate all of the idea, where things will not simply connect as they "should". It would be an even greater disassociation from the goal, I reason.

It comes with a certain expectation, one I doubt most would ever meet in their portrayal and that is just as an observer looking in, theorizing and hypothesizing. Mayhap that is not the case, that the portrayal might be remarkable and good experiences abound, but the simplest answer suggests that is unlikely, at least for myself. Though I will concede the whole concept is alien to me, especially with the issue of escapism versus mundanity; it is still fantasy of course, but it all appears much too normal.

To each's own, but the proposal is lost on me.

Post a random fact about yourself.

I agree that there is something special to be said for realizing the value of life as @Gunther noted, @LeeRoy. I have had a few brushes with both sides of it, but three in particular stand out.

Of my injuries, the most severe and notable I experienced was in youth, where I had been accidentally poisoned. I was rendered unconscious for a few days and was failing to improve, read becoming worse, and was unreaponsive. However, to my perception and as naive as it was at the time, I had gone on a tour of the cosmos and the infamous "life before one's eyes" type experience. Of all the hallucinations and delusions I have ever experienced, even compared to other near-death encounters, none compared to it. It was both the most fascinating and terrifying experience of my life, to which I recall the only real underlying understanding I had was that this was "the end", whatever that was to mean, but it was not yet the time.

For being no more than the age of six or so years, no more than eight, and one of the few things I still remember at all, I regard it as great support to the idea of near-death experience. The second far, far later instance was similar in that it was a twilight place filled with strange and bizarre sights and ended by a sudden jolt back into the corporeal, as was the third and most recent. Each instance was unique and personal, but all had similar behaviors and themes. In this day I mostly view them as part of what created my understanding of the matter.

Yet oddly I have never broken any bone in my body. I have however, been carved all too many times. At least those heal given they are flesh wounds.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Brannor has rolled a 9 for his Initiative check at the edge of the forest, @Hekazu. I suspect, given the ranger-knight was ahead of the group, that he is likely near to or at the front of the procession into the woods when the riders at last catch up. Other than that, I have no real say or power in any way; that is the only reasonable place to be based on the turn of events.

Sleep Paralysis

I have experienced a few encounters with the phenomena, although I note my experiences were less frightening or alarming than they were enraging. Each time it has been the initial shock of being enfeebled, followed by a surge of fury which allowed me to break it. Similar to the notion of "moving your toes" although my reaction was to strain every inch of the body to resist and mentally motivate myself to fight free. Fortunately this resulted in the episodes being extremely brief, a few moments of tremendous trembling as everything works to break the paralysis, but never as disturbing as some have reported. I suppose that might be in part due to my reaction being one of intense, single minded will to escape and get free and or fight back against what initially feels like an attacker. The only downside being almost throwing myself free, but I suspect that would be a small price to pay to no longer feel disabled as that.

As for how the incursions upon sleep came to be, yes, odd sleeping behavior and positions were the issues I suspect, such as not sleeping in a regular format I am accustomed to. The oddity in it all was an overwhelming atmosphere of darkness, that the world felt darker, appeared darker, and gave a malevolent air to it. That too likely added to the fight and or flight response.

Printed guns, melded metal - An experimental GM-less Cyberpunk RP

Mark Theron

Solo, Intellitron Corporation "Hunter"

Name: Mark Theron
Appearance: For all intents and purposes Theron is outwardly as human as one might come, at least at a cursory glance of physique and build, although as much is suspect in the age of internalized cybernetics and cosmetic alteration. However, rather than being trimmed in chrome and lined with hardware, Theron is a rehash, a chimera, a "splicer", an exotic, all thanks to the handiwork of microscopic machines and a bit of genetic tinkering and biological trickery to biosculpt. As it goes, it isn't that his athleticism or ability is innate to him, rather it was put there like any other mod, just much more even and throughout. Part of that makes him deceptively human, but there are some clues on the surface he isn't untouched; Theron is too anatomically improved without hardware bolted on to be legitimate. People are not just normally faster, stronger, or more resilient without a good throw of the dice from their parents and probably more than a little training added in. Theron on the other hand is what happens when you decide to throw some of the wilder things into the mix.

The end result is that Theron is lean, as tall as any other man, perhaps a bit taller, and has an abnormally defined build throughout that is uncannily limber, and pocked with too few scars for his own good despite his occupation. Though of course he has a few distinct novelties built in, the kind people do notice; night eyes of the amber variety, retractile rippers, skin grafts and the like, all the thing one does when they want to make an identity for themselves while having too much credit and faith in an employer offering upgrades. Fortunately, he's a bit older now, a bit wiser. Unfortunately, Theron is not all that much better off, but at least he's kept his penchant for having his near-black crew cut and avoiding balding while not being too pale. There's some perks to being an exotic after all, even if not all of you is human throughout anymore.

Unlike the stereotyped ronin or enforcer, Theron opts to avoid the duster and camouflage. Granted he isn't far off of course, preferring black, polished combat boots, grey battle pants, fingerless weighted gloves, smoked polarized adjusting sunglasses, and headed off by a false leather armored jacket. Woven with fiber-optic cable and integrated lighting, it makes for a nice addition anywhere where the air is hazy and simultaneously all too dark and garnished with garish vibrant pinks, yellows, blues, or violet. Of course one could always turn off the lighting, which is at least half of the appeal for when you need to look somewhat professional.

Cyberware:

• Bioware
  • Biosculpting
    • GENX Biomedical Apex Sculpt¹ (Genetic external cosmetic physique and condition improvement, includes pronounced features. Animal donor basis.)
    • GENX Biomedical "Chimera" Template (Viral Modification) (Genetic internal template, allows cross-species grafting, alters base genetic code.)
  • Audio
    • Graff-Stein Research Laboratory "Clairaudience" (Amplified hearing, supersonic, subsonic ranges.)
  • Grafts
    • Re-Human Stage I (Muscle Graft) (Enhanced muscular strength, endurance. Growth hormone, animal donor basis.)
    • Re-Human Stage I (Muscle and Bone Lace) (Viral Modification) (Enhanced muscular and bone strength, endurance, amplification. Organic variant, growth hormone, animal donor basis.)
    • Re-Human Stage I (Nervous Augmentation) (Viral Modification) (Enhanced passive reflexes, reaction. Compare to Kerenzikov Reflex Booster neuralware. Organic variant.)
    • Unlisted Retractile Claws¹ (Compare to generic ripper cyberweapons, animal donor basis. Organic variant.)
  • Immunity
    • Unlisted Metabolism Accelerator¹ (Viral Modification) (Improved healing rate, disease resistance, energy output, metabolic reserve. Shortened life expectancy, increased consumption demands, atypical circulatory and respiratory behavior, animal donor basis. Compare to Enhanced Antibodies.)
  • Olfactory
    • GENX Biomedical "Hunter" Boost (Enhanced perception, tracking by scent. Compare to Olfactory Boost. Organic variant.)
  • Optical
    • GENX Biomedical "Eyeshine" Night-Eyes (See in dim light, near-total darkness. Retinal retroreflector. Amber, predator variant, animal donor basis. Compare to Low Lite^TM cyberoptic.)

_{1 = Grey bioware, cross-species hack, unauthorized tampering with patent(s).}

Weapons:

• Brandish Fingerless Weighted Gloves (Kevlar reinforced, knuckle weighted and polymer capped, fingerless model. Finished in black pseudo-leather.)
• Cobalt M31 Heavy Pistol (Gas-operated, semiautomatic, twelve round, magazine fed, 11mm handgun. Designed to fire tungsten penetrator caseless ammunition. Highly effective against armor and cover, less effective on soft targets due to lacking hollow point ammunition and its over-penetration. Features integrated reflex sight and tritium optic, hand and trigger guard, black polymer finish.)

Armour:

• Cylife "Urban Jungle" False Jacket (Protective light Kevlar jacket, finished in black pseudo-leather, capable of stopping most handgun and submachine gun rounds. Passes for regular leather jacket, but features integrated Synthskin and Biomonitor, both of which are controlled on the sleeves.)

Background: Mark Theron did not so much chip in as he "spliced in", trading far more plentiful, available cyberware for the sort of thing that turns a man inside out and messes with all of the little details deep down inside them. Of course this was easy, everything is when you can pay for it, no matter how deviant the purchase is, and rest assured getting biosculpted at the genetic level into a chimera, a muddied mess of human and animal, is pretty deviant even if it is not obvious as with other exotics. The reward of course for the deviancy was being ahead of the averaged jacked up, glinting booster, yet Theron was far from finished.

What came next was a venture into the criminal underground, first as a hand for hire, rather another added gun for the fight in the Combat Zones of Night City. While this afforded Theron a few more tweaks and augments through the grey market, things that "just so happened" to end up for sale outside their clinics, it wasn't enough. What Theron was looking for cost handily, but at least now he had a base to work from and a reputation. GENX Biomedical, the same ones who provided a number of his earlier augments, were offering work and incentives in place of euros, and it helped to already be on file for their side of the Net. For an aspiring solo, this was an opportunity too good to ignore.

Though like everything good, it never lasted forever. No matter how competitive one remains, everyone is replaceable, and Mark Theron was no exception. GENX Biomedical reorganized not long after and swept away anyone their corporation considered non-essential. While norm for Night City, it set the man back further than desired. Months were spent doing what he had done before in the shallow end of the pool until the Intellitron Corporation decided it needed something more subtle, more atypical, more unexpected and low-key. The type of contracted agent who didn't look like he had seen one too many ripperdocs or stuck too many 'dorphs into what few non-wired veins they still had. What they needed were hunter-killers in one, contracted out to those who could go just about anywhere and complete either role, and Mark Theron was one.

In short order, ending that stint of wandering the street and its Combat Zones again with nothing but animal cunning and some experience, the Intellitron Corporation had another Hunter, and only fitting it was a man who was at least some notable percent leopard. As expected the first few marks went smoothly enough, some hunting and observation, others with a dash of finishing the work. What came next however, was another sealed document, nothing digital, about a Night City Police Department lieutenant by the name of Davison, working for Murkywater Security. And while it was clear there was only two reasonable contractors for the Intellitron Corporation to be directed by in this matter, something else was at play...

Corporations working through proxies don't offer incentives in place of pay.

Printed guns, melded metal - An experimental GM-less Cyberpunk RP

More or less my plan was to upload my character to the list today, hoping people would have added more over the weekend, but since we all seem to be in a general mindset of "To hell with it.", I might just start. This does need to begin at some point, so unless anyone is in opposition, let the posting commence after their sheet is transferred?