Azazeal's archive

[Azazeal849]

I've been toying with the idea of compiling all my favourite characters in a blog series for some time now, but thought that a blog needed something more than just the character sheets to write about. Lo and behold, while I was still musing about potential essays on Grey vs Grey morality or what running themes in my characters might say about me as a person, I belatedly discovered this section of the forum and realised that I can both have my cake and eat it. So here we go - in no particular order, some of the characters I have written, and hopefully I'll keep updating periodically until I have the whole set.


40K SERIES

Marc Black (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&p=1309922&viewfull=1#post1309922)
Kelly Black (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=3&p=1943180&viewfull=1#post1943180)
Ella Seren (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=2&p=1340101&viewfull=1#post1340101)
Joseph Schenke (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=2&p=1367731&viewfull=1#post1367731)
Raechel Kuscelian (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=3&p=1541753&viewfull=1#post1541753)
Kimmie Raeden (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=3&p=1781527&viewfull=1#post1781527)
Abhinav Kol (and friends) (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=4&p=2429354&viewfull=1#post2429354)
NPC inquisitors (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=5&p=2566179&viewfull=1#post2566179)
NPCs from Reckoning (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=7&p=2841046&viewfull=1#post2841046)
Eldar (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=7&p=2944478&viewfull=1#post2944478)
Kira Loque and Azazeal (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=8&p=2992962&viewfull=1#post2992962)

ETERNUM SERIES

Decius Marcius (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&p=1313526&viewfull=1#post1313526)
Varro Salvius (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=2&p=1349870&viewfull=1#post1349870)
Aulus Ovidius (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=3&p=1630937&viewfull=1#post1630937)
Suriyana (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=3&p=1652502&viewfull=1#post1652502)
Gaius Octavius (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=4&p=2251541&viewfull=1#post2251541)

OTHERS

Daniel Doverton-Hawke (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&p=1313530&viewfull=1#post1313530)
Shrk'jaar (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&p=1325044&viewfull=1#post1325044)
The Skaarj Empire (unused) (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=6&p=2763544&viewfull=1#post2763544)
Sonia Martinez (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=7&p=2799886&viewfull=1#post2799886)
Gina Wright (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=3&p=1393607&viewfull=1#post1393607)
Matty Bedinger (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=7&p=2907031&viewfull=1#post2907031)
Reap Cortes (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=4&p=2327058&viewfull=1#post2327058)
Vespa Tehrani (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=5&p=2446175&viewfull=1#post2446175)
Rhisiart and Lowri Corbyn (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=5&p=2596291&viewfull=1#post2596291)
NPCs from Business Is War (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=4&p=2063784&viewfull=1#post2063784)
Sayori Warrick (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=7&p=2958660&viewfull=1#post2958660)


First up is:

INQUISITION AGENT MARCUS BLACK

"For what we are about to receive, may the Emperor make us truly thankful..."

https://www.blogcdn.com/www.tvsquad.com/media/2009/03/tahmoh200-031209.jpg

Featured in: He's A Dead Man (https://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?251903-Lucius-pembroke-is-a-dead-man), The Replicants (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40923), The Prophet In Silver (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=57718), Drowning for the Cure (https://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?285687-Drowning-for-the-Cure), A Wash of Black (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?p=688793#post688793), Kaleidoscope (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19424), Penitence (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=74089)

Marc seems like a logical place to start because he is probably my most ubiquitous character, and one that I keep coming back to. This is largely due to the impressive narrative weaved by SandQueen through the Pembroke series, allowing him to develop from an undercover operative struggling with the rift this has driven between him and his family, to a seasoned investigator with strong bonds of friendship with the other returning characters. Most interesting is the arch-enemy dynamic he has developed with Kardar's character, the Chaos cultist Arcolin DeRei. Given Marc's obsessive nature and underlying ruthlessness, I can only see it ending with the death of one of them - or more likely both.

Unfortunately that plotline was greatly delayed after SandQueen's apparent retirement from RPA. However I have always been interested in developing the character further, and exploring how he ended up skirting a dangerous path of obsession and revenge with only his friends and family holding him back. As such I started writing my own additions to the Pembroke series, set in the 5 years between the first story and Drowning for the Cure. The first of these was The Replicants, followed by The Prophet In Silver. After that came Penitence, where I am attempting to take up SandQueen's mantle and GM the long-awaited sequel to Kaleidoscope. We'll see how it goes.

Trivia: Marc's original incarnation was a survivor named Mark Black, in a Left 4 Dead fanfic called Dead Origin (https://44470.activeboard.com/t38265343/for-the-guests/). Although the character went through significant changes before appearing in 40K, I kept his name (latinising it to Marcus for a more gothic feel) and the strong family bond that had previously defined his character.

Name: Marcus “Marc” Black
Age: 31 (at the time of Kaleidoscope)
Occupation: Investigator / front-line agent

Family:
+ Father, Varrius Black, 52, enforcer – invalided out of active service following injury during secessionist rebellion, now returned to duty in Decker Hive following augmetic surgery.
+ Mother, Cassandria Black, deceased, victim of Makita’s great hive plague.
+ Sister, Kelly Black, 30, former enforcer (verispex division), and a member of Sidonis’ analysis and prosecutions team until she joined her brother in escaping with Van Der Mir.

Physical Description: Marc is 6'1 and of medium build, with short dark hair and green eyes. His strong jaw is usually cleanshaven. His features are otherwise unremarkable, and barring short periods of tan from missions to warmer climates his skin is the typical pale of a hive-dweller. He has entrance and exit scars on his right leg, courtesy of Major Al-Omar during the Pembroke case, which have healed up well but still give him some pain during colder weather.

Personality: Marc has an analytical mind and a talent for piecing together information. Generally, he hates to leave a job unfinished. With his employment with the inquisition now out in the open, he is considerably more social, while remaining businesslike when on mission. Ever since his father was injured during a successionist rebellion, he has possessed an almost fanatical hatred of traitors of any kind, and this has led to a continuing vendetta against the cultist Arcolin DeRei. He is incredibly loyal to his family, and to the friends he now includes under that heading, and he is ruthless in defending them. Nowhere was this more apparent than when he learned that Sidonis' favoured interrogator, archmagos Brunswick, was responsible for torturing McKenzie von Rousch – he needed little encouragement from Van Der Mir to crush the archmagos' larynx and leave him to suffocate, even though as it turned out he knew little about the heretic magos Carmine's operations on the planet below.

Equipment: Marc’s primary talent has always been investigation and his equipment reflects this, backed up by the full financial weight of the inquisition.

+ Spy drone - A mechanical construct similar in size and appearance to a common fly, which can transmit visual and auger data back to Marc’s armour. Alicia Tarran also has access to the data it transmits following an earlier exchange.
+ Low-level inquisitorial signet ring - A microprocessor containing inquisitorial overrides, worm programs and encryption breakers re-tailored to the various cogitator systems used in the Sol system.
+ Micro-needler - Mounted in another ring, it generally contains one dose each of Paralytum, Veritas and Etum Omega.
+ Triplex-Phall pattern laspistol - A relic of Marc’s undercover work with inquisitor de Shilo, it sits in a hip holster.
+ Military-grade flak vest - More often than not cast as the “face” of the team, Marc needs something that will both protect him and fit relatively inconspicuously under his customary business suit.

More dangerous deployments such as his recent unofficial mission on Teleostei call for additional, somewhat heavier armament:

+ Decker pattern autogun - Produced in one of Solomon's still-standing hives, it is a bullpup configuration assault rifle designed for urban warfare.
+ Military-grade carapace armour - A pressurised armour suit painted in urban camo, containing standard vox and image enhancement in the helmet and several mag-locks for additional equipment. A sophisticated auspex suite is built into the vambrace.

Background: Marc was born in Makita Hive on planet Solomon, into a family of mid-level hivers with a strong tradition of service in the local enforcers. His father was a front-line sergeant, preferring to remain in the field despite offers of transfer or promotion, while Marc rose up through the CID branch and his younger sister Kelly went into Verispex. Marc’s father was invalided out of service two years ago, losing both his legs to an IED planted by secessionist rebels. The rebels’ direct targeting of government and law enforcement assets in an attempt to destabilise Imperial rule drew the intention of the local Inquisition, and Marc was only too happy to assist them in their investigations. After playing a vital role in locating and apprehending a secessionist cell, Marc was brought to the attention of the inquisitor supervising the investigation – one Eran de Shilo. He was subsequently recruited, given additional training, and maintained as an unofficial agent in de Shilo’s staff. As far as everyone else knew he had simply gone freelance – a cover story that strained relations with his highly dutiful father.

Five years ago, Marc was ordered by de Shilo to join up with Franklin Priest and his group to hunt down Lucius Pembroke, a rogue inquisition agent who unknown to Marc and even de Shilo, was infected with malignant C’tan necrodermis. Despite his inquisition training, Marc quickly found himself in over his head. Another inquisitor, Nasreen Massani, was also after Pembroke and was willing to go through anyone from civilians to hive arbitrators to get at him. Marc’s team barely escaped from Daxos - Massani’s gene-augmented electro priest - to recover Pembroke, and relations within the team itself were frayed due to Marc’s suspicion of one of his associates, ex-arbitrator Arcolin DeRei.

The team’s attempts to escape and find out more about their pursuers resulted in a bloody firefight uphive. Marc was shot and wounded by Major Kadath Al-Omar, Massani’s prime hunter, and had to be evacuated to a Medicae hospice. While he was there, Houseman - another of Massani’s agents - made an attempt on his sister’s life which only failed by pure chance. Things went from bad to worse when Arcolin, also recovering in the hospice, revealed himself as a Tzeentchian cultist and disappeared. Lord Inquisitor Sidonis personally stepped in to resolve the Pembroke case, overruling inquisitor de Shilo on the matter and leaving Marc without orders.

Marc later joined up with - of all people - Major Al-Omar and his associate Westin, who had defected from Massani’s retinue following the uphive incident. Under the impression that Pembroke was secure, and bereft of further orders from his superior, Marc agreed to join Kadath in apprehending inquisitor Massani. Meeting up with Frank at the spaceport, they found themselves in a shootout with Houseman and Daxos, in which Westin and both of Massani’s agents were killed. Marc himself personally shot and killed Houseman, granting himself some degree of closure. Failing to reach Massani’s HQ before Sidonis’ space marines, Marc ran straight into the rogue inquisitor as she attempted to flee the building, and mortally wounded her with Kadath’s Tallarn autopistol. On the other side of the hive Pembroke finally lost his battle with the necrodermis infecting his system, and Marc and the others had to be evacuated while Sidonis levelled Makita Hive from orbit.

With his home destroyed and his cover blown, Marc joined the rest of Frank’s team in transferring to official inquisition service under Lord Sidonis. On the plus side, bringing his affiliation with the Ordos out into the open allowed Marc to reconcile with his father - who has since returned to active duty in Decker Hive, with a pair of high-grade bionic legs paid for by Marc’s share of Pembroke’s bounty. Marc and his sister Kelly, also looking for a new job (not to mention unwilling to let Marc simply bugger off on his own again), subsequently signed up to Sidonis’ extensive retinue.

Following the events on Teleostei, Marc has been wrestling with his doubts. He trusts his sister and his former associates (such as Kally) completely, Van Der Mir somewhat less, and the recently-resurfaced Arcolin not at all. Marc is practically seething that after his proven Chaotic allegiance, several fatal shootings on Teleostei, and most recently the brutal murder of major Kadath, the cultist still draws breath.

[Felwether]

Great idea Az, it's nice to see your thought process and a bit of history behind Marc's creation.

[Death of Korzan]

This is a great character.

Post moar >: ]

[Potatrobot]

I wanna see Daniel here next P:

[Death of Korzan]

Marcius > Daniel

[Azazeal849]

Great idea Az, it's nice to see your thought process and a bit of history behind Marc's creation.

Thanks. :> Like I said, I've been wanting to do this for a while now.


I wanna see Daniel here next :P


Marcius > Daniel

Haha. I'll put them both up, how's that?


LEGATUS DECIUS MARCIUS

"The enemy of my enemy...dies next."

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130125163328/spartacus/images/e/ef/CrassusCloseUp.jpg

Featured in: Eternum: Of Gods and Demons (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=34669&p=1076742#post1076742), Eternum: Blood of the Gods (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=52010), Eternum: Rise of Kronos (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=71431&p=2428174#post2428174)

I've always had funny ideas about villains. I've seen plenty of less-than-white heroes taking on villains who are even darker (Grey vs Black, as it were), but what really interests me is Grey vs Grey. Simply put, no-one self-identifies as evil or does bad things just for the hell of it (unless they're a sociopath) and I think that a black-and-white viewpoint is unrealistic and, potentially, a very dangerous way to view the real world. Perhaps this is why I liked Die Untergang better than Rise of Evil (both films about Hitler). What I found more frightening was not the hate-spitting, dog-kicking monster from Rise, but the all-too-human Hitler in Untergang. It reminds me that he wasn't an abstract monster, but a man, and that a man was capable of doing these things. It's an effective warning.

That's enough philosophy for now, but it does lead into my current character - although admittedly, I hope he doesn't come off as anything close to Hitler. Decius Marcius is a character concept I've wanted to write for a while now, and tried once before in a sci-fi RP (http://www.role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=25117) that unfortunately never got off the ground: the heroic villain. The idea was to have a character who fought for the designated "evil" side, and was genuinely and ruthlessly dedicated to that cause, but was otherwise a mostly sympathetic individual. Someone who is a father to his men, wants to protect his empire's civilians, has a strong sense of duty, and loves his family. To my great happiness, Death of Korzan's RP Eternum provided me with precisely that opportunity. Plus, it featured people who were essentially the Roman Empire on another planet, and how could that possibly not turn out awesome?

Trivia: A whole bunch of inspirations went into my ideas for Decius (and the steadily increasing number of other characters I am adding to his world). A few of them were the Total War games, HBO's Rome, the new Spartacus series, and no small amount of random research which gave me little facts to throw in - like how legionaries carried their shields, or how they brushed their teeth.

Name: Decius Marcius

Age: 39

Race: Namorian

Rank: Dux (general)

Godly Parents: N/A

Appearance: Standing at 5'8, Marcius is average height for a Namorian but short when compared to the likes of the Combrogi and the Southmen. However, with his strong jaw, aquiline nose and piercing eyes, he can be quite imposing when he wants to be. He has black hair, cut short, and olive skin prematurely lined around his mouth and at the corners of his eyes by the northern sun. His limbs are corded with old muscle and one or two scars, as well as some nearly-healed burn scars on his chest and neck from his recent run-in with a dragon. His right hand is slowly healing from severing his own wrist tendons at the battle of Hercinia, and although he is able to fight left handed in the meantime, it is with nothing like the same proficiency.

Personality: Decius Marcius is a man of contrasts. As a commander he is cunning and pragmatic; humane to his own men, and ruthless towards his opponents. As a man he loves his family, is unflinching in his duty to the Emperor and the Namorian people, and is utterly determined to see the Free South crushed and the Namorian borders secure. He is even willing to work with his former enemies to achieve this, though he keeps a wary eye on them at all times – especially the crocolykes who he has hated ever since putting down their last rebellion. Like many Namorians he has a certain distrust of foreigners in general, though dwarves are an exception as dwarven auxilliaries have been a long-standing component of his legion. He respects Ann von Bayern, who aided him in his previous campaign, but retains a quiet distrust for all other Earthborn despite their theoretical alliance.

Background: The firstborn son of a respected political family, Marcius was given command of the newly-founded 18th Legion (the Fulminata, or 'Thunderers') at the age of 25. He proved that he had a talent for command by putting down a crocolyke uprising in Hercine, for which he won much acclaim, followed by border patrols against the South and other minor campaigns. After establishing himself socially and financially, he settled down at the age of 30 by marrying Lycinia Caelesta, the daughter of a Namorian praetor. Arranged by their respective fathers, the marriage was of course politically motivated; however they proved to be a happy match and raised three children - Marcus, Diana and Aurelia.

Marcius did not have to fight another major war until the arrival of the Earthborn, where the emperor struck an alliance and recalled half the Namorian legions (as well as raising 5 new ones) for an expedition to conquer the Free South once and for all. However, the murder of the Southern king Korzan heralded the invasion of the Imperium by immortal armies raised from the dead of ancient Earth. Summoned to action by the emperor, Marcius understood the peril of appearing weak before their Earthborn “allies” and so advised that the Southern invasion go ahead, while sending his own trusted bodyguard to retrieve the legendary Alcamor Stones that could help defeat the invaders.

Marcius himself bought time by taking his legion west to meet the invaders, and received help from the gods Mars and Lupinus in the form of a demon-possessed sword (formerly belonging to the demigod Gabriel) and a dire wolf bodyguard respectively. He succeeded in defeating both the Roman and Greek invasions, and later made allies of both, but during the final battle the dire wolf Silverwick was killed by the demigod Chaaru, who also made off with the demon sword. Marcius was not grieved to see it go, as the demon within the sword had nearly overwhelmed him, such that at the end he had to cut his own wrist to be free of it.

After a brief return to Emor, Marcius was promoted to Dux Orientem and tasked with liberating the eastern provinces from their invaders. This he set out to do with the help of his former enemies the Greeks and Romans, as well as an unexpected force of crocolykes. The alliance was far from stable, but after defeating another immortal force with the help of the guardian spirits of Combrogia, Marcius and his army were poised to enter Dun Moriga and confront whatever enemy is attacking the dwarf realm. On the march he was joined by the demigoddess Elisavet, who brought him the crushing news of his family's murder by Korzan's Avengers. It was largely her support that kept him together in following days.

Struggling to keep the empire together as it splintered under pressure of the war, Marcius failed to stop the orc army from escaping through one of the Arks, and has since left the Roman legions as peacekeepers in Dun Moriga, while he raced to Combrogia in search of the orcs. Instead he found the Namorian senate in exile with the 2nd and 3rd legions, driven out by emperor Claudius who had fallen to madness after being mind controlled by the demon Zahneri. Now Marcius struggles to prevent a civil war, even as many in the rebel camp call for him to declare himself the new emperor.

Faction: Namorian Empire (senate faction)

Loves: His family, the Emor skyline, Hercinian wine

Hates: The cold, the Southern tribes

Weaponry / Armour: Marcius wears Namorian laminar armour, made of hardened steel bands over leather. He carries a sword which is engraved with the Imperium's trademark initialism, IPQE ("Imperator Populusque Emorus"), though for now he can only wield it left-handed. His indigo cloak is pinned with a clasp displaying the Fulminata thunderbolt, and he wears the emblem of the eastern provinces (a hammer and a sun held in the talons of a Namorian eagle) on a chain around his neck. As of a meeting with the god Mars and his favoured children, he also bears the Sword of Mars, with which it is said he can summon the gods during the final battle against Kronos.

[Azazeal849]

And...

SIS AGENT DANIEL DOVERTON-HAWKE

"Well, if all soldiers were honest men we’d never be at war, would we?"

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fcQFot8ReqE/TtuNvHcLu3I/AAAAAAAABiY/3_LT5IVRXsY/s640/MichaelFassbender.jpg

Featured in: Scorpio (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=18436), Scorpio: Earthbound (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=39559)

It's not often you get to play a tongue-in-cheek stereotype of your own home country, but that's exactly how this character came about. Enigma presented an interesting sci-fi with spies, assassins, and a planet that was "a romantic's idea of old-Earth Britain". The chance to muck about with a James Bond expy and some weird spy gadgets was far too good to pass up.

As with several other characters I've written, I took a slightly silly concept but played it almost completely straight IC, resulting in something of a deconstruction of the spy tropes I was invoking. Daniel was charming, yes, but much of it was an act to hide a calculating and ruthless mind that was willing to resort to questionable methods to get the job done. In the end, exploring the balance between "charming gentleman", "ruthless agent" and "insufferable dick" turned out to be an interesting one (and one which did allow for a bit of dark comedy now and again) and Daniel is currently busy on his second tour of the Scorpio in Enigma's sequel, Earthbound.

Trivia: This character also cameo'd in the short-lived story RPA Come To Life (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?p=746981) in which I (as in, the writer) got sucked into the RPA website. Don't ask.

Character Name: Daniel Doverton-Hawke (“Dan” or “Danny” to friends)

Deck/Cabin Assignment: Preferably, near or next to Butterfly's room so he can protect her effectively.

Description: Daniel is a 33-year-old human, born in New Yorkshire on planet Londinium (by descent he is probably Canadian or American, as surprisingly few actual Brits emigrated to Londinium).

He is Caucasian, with mild blue eyes, a strong jaw and a straight nose. His hair is short and dark, always combed back and carefully parted along the left side. He stands slightly above average height, and his frame is wiry rather than muscular. He can usually be seen strolling about the Scorpio in some form of dark coloured suit, often combined with a bowler hat and a silver-handled cane.

Like most Londinians (regardless of social class) he speaks with a soft RP accent, and his speech is always impeccably polite. Also like most Londinians, he suffers from moderate to severe caffeine addiction due to high consumption of tea.

Profession: Field agent with the Londinium Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) - better known to the public by its old name MI6. Officially, his job involves helping to prevent and resolve foreign conflicts, and ensuring that Londinium’s social and economic security is maintained.

Bio: Daniel grew up at Hawke Manor in New Yorkshire - a temperate land of rolling hills in Londinium’s southern hemisphere. The “cities” there are very spread out affairs, interspaced with Old Earth-inspired castles and cathedrals, all held together by an efficient mag-lev network (the trains of which are designed to resemble the steam locomotives of the early 20th century). Daniel graduated from Kingston-upon-Sur university with a second class degree in archaeology, and worked as a historian for two years before replying to a newspaper ad offering a job with "opportunities for foreign travel and adventure". It turned out to be an assessment centre for the Londinium SIS.

Daniel became involved with "the Zayan case" during an unrelated operation to capture a notorious space pirate, and almost by accident uncovered a Santosian conspiracy to make us of ancient Zayan tech. After helping foil that plot and seeing Butterfly safe to the Brotherhood temple on Beylix, Daniel was recalled to help deal with the aftermath. He has had a busy six months, working to bring in the corrupt former SIS agent Harris Brown and investigating the extent of Zayan influence on Londinium. When the SIS heard that Daniel had been personally asked for to help escort Butterfly to Earth, they dispatched him immediately - as much to keep an eye on the rogue Zayan Eachert as to protect Butterfly.

[Azazeal849]

Hmm...who to analyse next? Any requests?

[Potatrobot]

Ooh! Shrk'Jaar! I've been reading Deadmatch2 recently, fun as always.

[Azazeal849]

SHRK'JAAR, SKAARJ WARRIOR

"Uhr gt'cha!"

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/monster/images/4/41/Adfs.png

Featured in: Deadmatch II (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=28337)

Shrk'Jaar is a character who grew far and away beyond his original remit. Deadmatch was originally conceived as a simple competition and an excuse to write over-the-top fight scenes with utterly expendable characters. I followed this, picking a Skaarj because I have fond memories of the game Unreal. And then somehow Shrk'Jaar ended up winning the Most Realistic Character award for 2013. How the hell did that happen?

Partially because I decided to play my posts almost completely seriously despite the crazy premise, and partially because I shamelessly roped some friends into forming an alliance against a team of demons. The PCs teaming up led to some quite surprising character development, allowing me to show the interesting contrast of ruthless xenophobia and unflinching honour that gave the Skaarj depth in the original game. Although I don't plan to enter another tournament game, I would definitely bring Shrk'Jaar back in a future RP. It would have to be alongside his former ally Huntsman (played by DarkPotato), as the dynamic of growing trust between a human and an alien who used to kill them on sight is something I'd like to explore further.

Trivia: I borrowed several bits of the Skaarj "language (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7ecOOL4A7E)" (phonetically, and probably inaccurately) from the original Unreal game, but the translations are my own. Also, this isn't the first time I've created a Skaarj-inspired character, although the previous was modeled on the Warlord rather than a basic warrior. Here he is (http://44470.activeboard.com/t9202860/avenging-angels-2-destinys-call/?page=2) - with a suspiciously similar name and battlecry! - in a RP loosely based on Final Fantasy X (8th post down).

Username: Azazeal849
Player Name: Shrk'Jaar
Weapon: Dual razik - a pair of bracers each incorporating two serrated blades (retracted in picture above). When extended, they look like this (http://www.freewebs.com/lansunreal/Unreal%202%20screen%20shot.jpg).
Weapon Power: In addition to the blades, each razik can generate and fire small plasma bolts (you can see one in the picture) that make an awful mess of anything they hit.
Player Power: As a species, Skaarj are practically tailor-made for asskicking. They are naturally stronger than your average human and a fair bit more agile too. Their reflexes are such that they have been known to jump out of the line of fire before an opponent can pull the trigger.
Player Class: Skaarj warrior
Fighting Style: (This is mainly for the information of other players who want to tag him) Ambush and close quarters combat. Uses plasma shots and lots of dodging to get in close.

[PaintSerf]

How about Ella?

[Azazeal849]

How about her indeed!

ASTROPATH ELLA SEREN

"Does anyone remember when I used to do mainly psy-mail?"

https://keyassets-p2.timeincuk.net/wp/prod/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/2009/12/LYDIAKELLY02.jpg

Featured in: It's Just A Short Run (https://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?238592-It-s-Just-a-Short-Run!-RPG-Main-Thread), Gibbous (https://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?307341-Gibbous-IC-Thread), A Wash Of Black (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?p=688793), Kaleidoscope (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19424), Penitence (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=74089)

I've noticed a theme running through a lot of my characters (besides the fact that most of them seem to hang out in the universe of Warhammer 40K), and it's that they end up way over their heads. Ella certainly fits that bill - astropaths are universally blind and almost never trained in combat, and on her way to her first posting her ship gets attacked as part of a pirate conspiracy, swiftly followed by her being conscripted by the inquisition.

Like my other character Marc it is a sense of duty that drives her through these trials, although it's more selfless and less the brooding obsession that Marc exhibits (and this dynamic is part of the fun of pairing them up as psyker and handler/bodyguard in several of the above RPs). This might lead some readers to peg her as a bit of a martyr, but I have enjoyed writing about this young astropath's steadily-growing confidence over the course of her RPs, from sending a vital distress signal, to handling a gun for the first time, to another character (a GMPC) having enough faith to see her as a potential battle-psyker some time in the future. I'm very excited to see where fate takes her next, which will be explored in my upcoming RP Penitence.

Trivia: Her middle name is Zoe, because SandQueen once described her as "Zooey Deschanel with mind powers". Also, she probably has a German accent, since she was born on Sancta Heroica (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77TpMvRZ_LQ).

Name: Ella Zoe Seren
Age: 22
Occupation: Astropath

Family:
+ Family status unknown, presumed dead following exterminatus of Sancta Heroica 2 years ago. Ella remains blissfully unaware of her homeworld's fate.

Physical Description: Ella is of average height, and has an honest, heart-shaped face with a narrow chin and nose. Her face is framed by white-blonde hair, cut short so as not to interfere with the neural plugs in the back of her neck. Like most astropaths she is blind, so the way her hazel eyes don't dilate or focus when she looks at someone can take a bit of getting used to. Her skin is naturally pale, exacerbated by twelve years in the cloistered Scholastica Psykana halls on Terra.

Personality: Ella might be quite reserved, spending a lot of time consulting her cards, but by astropath standards she is positively upbeat. She gets on well with Marc (her handler) and Jansen. She is incredibly dedicated, sometimes pushing herself beyond her own limits for the good of the mission. Following repeated exposures to front-line combat she is gradually hardening herself to them, allowing her to keep her focus and perhaps use her abilities even in the stress of a combat situation. In her now-infrequent down time she enjoys playing regicide, and is quite good at it.

Weapons: Hazy warp-sight with an effective range of about ten metres is not exactly conductive to marksmanship, but she has handled a las weapon on one occasion and would do so again if the situation were dire enough.

Equipment: Most relevant among her sundry personal items are a pack of Imperial Tarot cards, which she reads frequently, and a badge of office marking her as a member of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica.

Psyker Index: Ella is an iota-level telepath. She is capable of astro-telepathy, but her ability to send and receive when not "plugged in" to a telepathic array is somewhat reduced (maybe half a million km maximum range). She can read the Imperial Tarot well enough, and is becoming quite adept at auto-séancing.

Background: Born on the hive world of Sancta Heroica into a family of manufactorum workers, Ella was picked up during one of the standard psyker screenings (read: witch hunts) prior to a scheduled visit by the inquisition’s black ships. She was considered malleable enough to be useful and so was spared the sacrifice of the golden throne, but she lacked the strength necessary to resist the perils of the warp alone. Not fulfilling the criteria for a primaris psyker, she was instead trained as an astropath, her studies culminating in the ritual of soul-binding that steeled her mind against possession, but cost her her sight.

Now a full astropath, Ella was originally assigned to the shrine world of Aurelias Prime. However the ship transporting her there, the Greed’s Reward, suffered a Gellar field malfunction part way into the journey and had to make an emergency transition in the middle of deep space. Shortly after, the ship came under attack from pirates. Ella’s handler, a commissar named Schenke, set to rallying the defenders with the help of several others, commissioning Ella to try and predict the pirates’ plans. In addition, mostly on her own initiative, Ella attempted to divine the reason behind the suspiciously well-timed pirate attack, pushing her already strained psychic powers to the limit. Through repeated Tarot readings she eventually learned that the ship’s captain, together with the leading tech magos, had arranged the attack as cover for them to abscond with Imperial property (a xenos artefact) from the cargo hold, leaving the rest of the ship for their pirate allies to plunder.

Armed with this information, and with the help of an inquisitor lord Derivas who had been working under cover to try and discover the same, they were able to foil the magos’ plan and escape the ship’s destruction. Ella’s dedication to duty under extreme pressure earned her a recommendation from both her commissar handler and the attention of Lord Derivas. Six months later, she found herself seconded to inquisition service. Her first mission, a recovery op on captured research station Epsilon 27, was a disaster; the inquisitor leading her team was killed, and the rescue of a broken Sororitas palatine their only consolation. Ella and the rest of her team were recalled by inquisitor lord Sidonis, with Ella herself being assigned to the care of agent Marcus Black. Both took part in Walt Brenner's unsanctioned mission to rescue Dr Taymor, and it was Ella who uncovered some vital clues about their opposition through various psychic readings. When the team was captured by interrogator Van Der Mir, her warnings about the “taloned shadow” she had seen went unheeded (unknown to her, the “shadow” was Van Der Mir himself, and the capture all part of a plan that he could not reveal until later) although she correctly deduced their need to come quietly, and her advice would have worked if it hadn't been for the unexpected intervention of hot-headed stormtrooper Kylara Mainwering. Ella and the others survived however, and are now working with Van Der Mir to try and foil the plans of the daemon Malfallax. Ella hopes that her ability to read the Tarot will offset the fateweaving of Malfallax, though her more immediate use will be in dealing with the other Telepathica representatives who control Saros Station.

[Death of Korzan]

Salvius? :3

[Azazeal849]

Aye-firmitive.

CENTURION VARRO SALVIUS

Marcius: "He's a friend of Mors, a brother of Fortuna, and a son of a bitch. He'll get the job done."

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120320074553/spartacus/images/2/26/Salvius.png

Featured in: Eternum: Of Gods and Demons (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=34669&p=1076742#post1076742), Eternum: Blood of the Gods (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=52010), Eternum: Rise of Kronos (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=71431&p=2428174#post2428174)

If Marcius is my heroic villain, then Salvius is my soldier's soldier, dedicated to following his orders no matter what. This could easily have made him into a pretty vicious bad guy - which was intentional because at the time his faction was being set up as the antagonists, rather than the protagonists as ended up through a quirk of player numbers (and, I must add, our GM rolled with this unexpected reversal awesomely). Happily for us - perhaps less so for Salvius - his orders were a Lord of the Rings-style quest to hell itself in order to retrieve some ancient artefacts and save the planet, which despite the absurdly high risk of death puts him in the good-guy camp.

Of course, being "good" doesn't mean he isn't slightly dickish (he is a gruff Roman Namorian centurion after all) and this ended up being a lot of fun to write; bringing a different dynamic to the usually tight-knit group that forms the heart of most "quest" stories. In fact, he has a completely different rapport with each of the major characters: a pre-formed bond of trust with an old friend, ingrained deference to a foreign royal, grudging protectivism towards a young tagalong (which is slowly warming as she proves herself) and abrasive tolerance of a fallen angel (who is an even bigger jerk than he is). This variety, as well as a few personal threads such as whether he wants to return to the army or retire when he duty is complete, are more than enough incentive to keep me writing this character through Eternum and maybe a sequel as well.

Trivia: He is partially inspired by the character of the same name from Spartacus: Vengeance, who despite being a fairly minor character stuck out to me. Even though he was a sneering elitist who seemed to get his face punched in a lot, he demonstrated unswerving loyalty to his commander and also gets credit for being the only Roman soldier that the writers allowed to kill off a major character.

Name: Varro Salvius

Age: 32

Race: Namorian

Rank: Centurion, protector (bodyguard)

Godly Parents: N/A

Appearance: Tall for a Namorian and heavily muscled, Salvius is an imposing man. He has black hair and is cleanshaven, accentuating a square jaw and a blocky face that looks like it has been punched in repeatedly (which it has).

Personality: Salvius is a man easily provoked to both laughter and anger. In the presence of royalty or superior officers he is rigidly professional, but around friends and men of his own rank he reveals a sardonic, irreverent sense of humour and is an easy man to like when he is not trying to be threatening. Being threatening is an art which he has – admittedly – perfected, and he is unapologetically stern in a command role. He has a strong sense of duty and will see a mission through whatever the cost, although given the choice he will not leave friends or children to die.

Background: Salvius is a career soldier, having served in the 18th Legion for many years before being promoted for bravery during the 3rd Southern campaign. Put in command of the 1st cohort's 4th century, Salvius developed a reputation as a tough but popular leader. Centurions are expected to lead by example and Salvius did just that, which brought him to the attention of the legion's new commander, Decius Marcius. After seeing the man in action against the Southerners, Marcius employed Salvius as his personal bodyguard. Taking the day-to-day approach to life common in soldiers, Salvius enjoyed the status and pay of his post, while still taking his job very seriously.

With his current tour of duty soon to end, Salvius was unsure whether he wanted to retire to a rich civilian life or extend his commission for another 10 years, but this problem was put aside following the death of Korzan, after which the Imperium found itself under attack by unkillable armies from ancient Earth. Salvius was sent on a mission to Tartarus to retrieve the Alcamor Stones – a slim hope, but one which could save the Imperium. Chance, mistakes and the intervention of gods both friendly and hostile have seen him through to Afragia with a mysterious guide and only two of his companions remaining. Although Salvius hopes to be reunited with his old friend Kuronus (who, unknown to him, is now a werewolf), he has yet to do so. Chance, luck and the intervention of both gods and resurected immortals have seen him through to the Gates of Tartarus, now accompanied by Gabriel, Numiera, queen Nesara and Suriyana.

Faction: Namorian Empire

Loves: The perks of his job, games of chance, beautiful women

Hates: Dereliction of duty, any and all Southerners, being idle

Weaponry / Armour: Salvius' preferred weapon is still his long cavalry spatha. While designed for use from horseback, he is just as competent with it on foot. Being made of iron, an element that naturally repels demons and disrupts their corporeal forms, it should prove useful in the underworld. He no longer carries a shield, it having been ruined during the battle of Sharktooth Bay. Under a plain travelling cloak Salvius wears scale armour and steel greaves, and still carries his distinctive horizontal-plumed centurion's helmet.

[kardar233]

It's cool getting to look inside your characters. Ella is a personal favourite of mine, despite not being around for too long, relatively speaking. I'm considering doing one of these for my own people, but it's going to have to wait as there's still a ton of interesting secrets to go for most of my characters, most notably Arcolin and Alley, and the former's mind is a scary place that I'm leaving unexplored for now. Maybe Marc will pry in, sometime...

I could cover Lia, though.

[Azazeal849]

The question is how to unveil those secrets when Kaleidoscope has been permanently shelved...

Hmm, who have I not done yet?

[kardar233]

It could be in that game between Wash of Black and Kaleidoscope that you proposed. It would require some retconning of the opening bits of Kaleidoscope, but it could work.

[PaintSerf]

Hmm, who have I not done yet?

Although we haven't seen him in a while, a along while at that, there is Commissar Joseph Schenke.

[Jarms48]

Hmm, who have I not done yet?

NPC characters from your games? :>

[Azazeal849]

Although we haven't seen him in a while, a along while at that, there is Commissar Joseph Schenke.

You're quite right. He deserves a mention.

COMMISSAR JOSEPH SCHENKE

"Dying for the Emperor is expected, but I'm still going to need your help after this scrap, so I'd consider it a discourtesy if any of you got yourselves killed."

http://www.scifimoviezone.com/imagehorrorscifi/residentevil028.jpg

Featured in: It's Just A Short Run (https://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?238592-It-s-Just-a-Short-Run!-RPG-Main-Thread)

When I was informed that Ella (see the top of this page) would need a second character to act as her handler in her first RP, I decided to create a young Imperial Commissar. Feeling it was slightly cheeky to be running two characters at once, I initially planned to have him killed off early. But instead of a suitable executioner he ran into a PC mutant called Janie, and from there they began to rally support and make a big impact on the story. Since then the uncompromising but fair-minded young officer with his offbeat sense of humour has stuck with me as one of my favourite characters.

Getting the balance right between "inspiring leader" and "ruthless punisher of failure" (which is what I perceive 40K commissars to be, although many portrayals lean more to one side or the other) was both the hardest and the most fun aspect of the character; closely followed by his growing bond with Janie the mutant who, despite the stigma attached to her genetic heritage, showed more faith and guts than half the other characters combined. I can definitely see any future RP with Schenke featuring him and his mutant sidekick going around the galaxy as an almost Cain and Jurgen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciaphas_Cain)-type duo, and the illustrious PaintSerf has hinted that such a RP might just be in the works. If that doesn't materialise by the end of Penitence, then there's always the sequel...

Trivia: I took a lot of inspiration from Commissar Holt (from the obscure 40K computer game Final Liberation) when creating Schenke.

Name: Joseph Schenke

Rank: Junior commissar

Age: 27 (Terran standard)

Appearance: Schenke is a tall and wiry man, with brown hair that he wears regimentally short, revealing a curved scar across one temple. The scar is testament to a boarding action a year ago, when a pirate slave tried to take his head off with a wrench. Schenke's face is stern and angular, and quite unreadable when he wants it to be; this does not mesh well with his slightly offbeat sense of humour, as it can be difficult to tell when he is joking.

Personality: Despite his young age, Schenke carries himself with a natural confidence and authority. He is exceptionally level-headed and unlike some commissars he understands the usefulness of tact. As such, he generally does not interfere with the normal chain of command unless he deems it necessary. When he does step in he leads by example, and expects the same of the men following him. While he is quick to applaud success, he is just as quick to punish failure.

Preferred weapons: Like many commissars, Schenke carries a bolt pistol and is competent in its use, despite the heavy recoil of the kicker charges required to make the weapon effective at close quarters. He also has an affinity for auto-shotguns, perhaps because they have the same imposing look, high recoil and loud discharge as his traditional sidearm.

Background: Schenke never knew his parents, his earliest memories being of growing up in a Schola Progenia orphanage on Weldar. Naturally perceptive, with a practical mindset and a budding talent for leadership, he was earmarked for the Munitorium and, ultimately, the commissariat.

Having been rigorously trained but lacking combat experience, Schenke's first role was as a psyker handler for a newly-minted astropath named Ella Seren, who required escort from Weldar to her posting on the shrine world of Aurelias Prime. Ella was a cheerful individual by astropath standards, and while he maintained his watch over her Schenke saw no harm in being civil - it was, after all, a long and uncomfortable warp journey; one that would have been made worse by having to spend it in silence. The two could often be found playing regicide in the ship's common hall, although Schenke occasionally teased Ella by accusing her of reading his mind.

The journey to Aurelias became an unexpected trial by fire for Schenke when sabotage of their ship's Gellar field left them stranded in deep space and under attack by human pirates, in the employ of an Eldar corsair who wished to retrieve a xenos artefact from the ship's holds. This was no opportunistic strike; little did Schenke and the rest of the crew know that this operation had in fact been facilitated by the ship's captain and his senior magos, although they planned to double-cross the pirates and abscond with the artefact themselves (to deliver it, as they remained blissfully unaware, to the very same Eldar). Separated from his astropath charge, Schenke initially stumbled through simple reaction to the pirates' attacks in an attempt to get back to her, conscripting several of the ship's crew into his service in the process. The most remarkable of said conscripts was a mutant called Janie Ephese, who despite appearances proved to be both a useful advisor and a suicidally brave fighter. Schenke later maintained that running into the mutant must have been the Emperor's will.

Schenke and his ad-hoc team scored their first victory by repelling a pirate attack on the main hanger. Realising that it was a strategic objective for the pirates, who needed a staging point to retrieve their boarding parties and plunder, Schenke rallied both the ship's provosts and the passengers to the hanger's defence despite enmity between the two parties. Incidentally, this also foiled the treacherous captain's escape plan, as he now could not reach his prepared shuttle in that same hanger without being noticed. While other passengers and crewmen produced less bloody but no less vital heroics (not least of which were battling through to the upper decks to send a psychic distress call, retaking the enginarium to prevent the pirates self-destructing the ship, and tracking down the treacherous captain and magos) Schenke's stubborn defenders sucked more and more pirates into the battle for the hanger. Eventually, despite horrendous casualties, they forced the pirates to abandon their attack. A Navy warship arrived in response to the distress call some time later, carrying one inquisitor Derivas who had arranged for the artefact's transport to Aurelias, and commended the defenders on their efforts.

After the conspirators' plot was foiled, Schenke was transferred to a new posting. At the commissar's own insistence, Janie was sent with him and instated as his official adjutor. While being accompanied by a mutant has caused no end of raised eyebrows, Schenke is always quick to defend her with the line that being a mutant (like an astropath, Navigator or an astronomica Chosen) doesn't stop someone from being useful.

[Azazeal849]

Still a few to go...

GINA WRIGHT

"Am I going insane? Am I the only one here without a ****ing death wish!?"

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100723101108/amalgaversehigh/images/9/9f/Gingerfitzgerald.jpg

Featured in: Field Trip (http://www.role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19674) (retconned), Austere (http://www.role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=23598), West Hills Haunted High (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=33384), The Reborn (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=68842) (spin-off).

Gina is the only one so far without a title, and there's a reason for that. She is just a regular Leicester girl, with no special skills beyond hockey training and the first aid courses she took to try and help her career as a paramedic, who is trying to keep things together after her mum broke up with her dad and moved them to America. She's also a contender for unluckiest person in the universe, as since then I've thrown her into a zombie apocalypse, a town full of body-snatching ghosts, and a school with every classic horror character imaginable. The first plotline I have retconned as it never got off the ground, but I took the liberty of tying the latter two together into one ongoing plot so I could further Gina's character arc.

I really like writing for this character, and mostly it's because she's the most ordinary. It's intriguing to explore how normal people react to extraordinary situations, and hopefully win through with just their own courage and wits. As a side effect I've had to write straight-faced drama through some pretty silly premises (for instance, trying to convince a newcomer that they are in danger by showing them a classmate who's been transfigured into a tree), but the human issues Gina ends up dealing with are real enough, and deserve to be taken seriously. The depth of character I've ended up cultivating for her keeps me coming back to write, and I imagine she'll be kicking about RPA for some time yet. Even if Gina herself sometimes frequently ends up railing against the crazy people and crazier situations (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=68779&page=79&p=2927716&viewfull=1#post2927716) she finds herself dealing with.

Trivia: While talking about this character, it would be rude not to mention G and her fantastic portrayal of Gina's mum Jenny in Austere. Though the original RP was never finished, hopefully we can find out just how the two of them resolved their differences in the reboot that AliceMalice15 has occasionally dropped hints about.

I have included two profiles for Gina, since I'm not sure yet if The Reborn is going to be part of her "canon" backstory for future RPs.

Full Name: Georgina Wright

Nickname: Gina (though her mum still insists on "Georgie")

Age: 18

Birthday: 6 April

Appearance: Georgina is 5'8, with strawberry-blonde hair and blue eyes. She has an oval face and quite soft features, with big eyes, a narrow nose and a small mouth. Being ginger (and from the UK, which is not exactly famous for its sunshine) her skin is quite pale. Lately, a lack of sleep has left her looking tired and washed out, which she does her best to hide with make-up.

Personality: Gina is an outgoing and cheerful girl when she's not chronically tired, which is a lot of the time nowadays; since the events in Austere (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=23598) she has suffered from insomnia and nightmares. She does however have a high capacity for counting her blessings and trying to get on with things, which has kept her going so far. She tries to think before she speaks (mostly a backlash against her mum, who is the exact opposite), and doesn't have much time for petty teenage politics. She used to love nights out, but no longer has the time or the network of friends. She isn't a violent person (as she'll tell you, hockey is about controlled aggression), and in fact has a strong desire to help people. She has been taking voluntary courses with the St John's ambulance service since she was 14, and is a qualified first aider.

Likes: Hockey, running, indie music, vodka and red bull (she takes a very northern approach to getting drunk, i.e. no half measures).

Dislikes: Tea, cigarette smoke, the West Hills school uniform.

Habits and Hobbies: Gina enjoys sports, specifically hockey, and was on the local team back in England. She likes to unwind by listening to music, or running (though lately this is more an attempt to tire herself out so she can actually sleep). She is a fan of indie rock, and her favourite bands are Muse and Kasabian. She tends to subconsciously play with her hair while speaking to people.

Favourite Class: Biology, gym.

Least Favourite Class: Music. She loves listening to it, but has no knack for playing it.

Bio: Georgina is the only child of a middle-class family from Leicestershire in England. Her northern accent occasionally gets her misidentified as Australian by Americans, a fact that never ceases to amuse her. Unlike the traditional British stereotype she prefers coffee to tea and actually has rather nice teeth.

Gina’s parents are separated, which went about as smoothly as could be reasonably expected until her mum pretty much jumped at a job opportunity in America, and of course Gina had to go with her. This caused a lot of friction between Gina and her dad on one side and her mum on the other, and Gina and her mum were barely on speaking terms when they moved to the small town of Austere, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, Austere wasn't a normal town. Gina doesn't speak about what happened there (who would believe her if she did?) but it has left her with trouble sleeping, and she still suffers from occasional nightmares. She is also a lot less incredulous about the supernatural than she used to be.

Gina and her mum moved out of the town after only two months. Perhaps the one good thing to come out of their brief stay was that it got the two of them talking again, and Gina's mum has promised to sort something out with her ex-husband so that Gina can actually start seeing her dad again. Gina knows that such a thing is still going to be difficult (they are still on opposite sides of the Atlantic after all), but she is hopeful.

Changing schools, and whatever happened in Austere, didn't do much for Gina's grades - a more mundane problem that has come back to bite her now that she and her mum have moved again. Gina is a bright girl; not brilliant, but hard-working, and she knows she needs to step up her game at her new school if she wants to get a university place and study to be a paramedic, a goal that she is stubbornly sticking to despite everything. As such she just wants to focus on her work. Easier said than done, of course.
Full Name: Georgina Wright

Nickname: Gina (though her mum still insists on "Georgie")

Age: 18

Birthday: 6 April

Job: Student, first-aider, and impromptu ghost hunter.

Appearance: Georgina is 5'8, with copper hair and blue eyes. She has an oval face and quite soft features, with big eyes, a narrow nose and a small mouth. Being ginger (and from the UK, which is not exactly famous for its sunshine) her skin is quite pale. She has a gauze pad taped to the side of her neck, and is doing her best to hide it with her shirt collar. Before her first teleport she was wearing a West Hills school uniform and had a pair of sharp, sterling-silver scissors hidden in her sleeve.

Personality: Gina doesn't think of herself as a leader, but she is surprisingly adept at filling the role in a crisis. Her preference is to plan, think and keep a group together, though she can easily get stressed worrying about the details. She has a strong desire to help people, and can be determined when it matters most. On the other hand, past experiences can make her suspicious or even paranoid, and she often has trouble sleeping.

Socially she is an outgoing and cheerful girl, at least when she's not stressed, which unfortunately is a lot of the time nowadays. She tries to think before she speaks (mostly a backlash against her mum, who is the exact opposite), and doesn't have much time for petty teenage politics. She also tends to push back against confrontation, though usually not with direct violence (as she'll tell you, hockey is about controlled aggression).

Likes: Hockey, running, indie music, vodka and red bull (she takes a very northern approach to getting drunk, i.e. no half measures).

Dislikes: Tea, cigarette smoke, ghosts (which she habitually refers to as "Them").

Habits and Hobbies: Gina has been taking voluntary courses with the St John's ambulance service since she was 14, and is a qualified first aider. She enjoys sports, specifically hockey, and was on the school team back in England. She likes to unwind by listening to music, or running (though sometimes this is simply to tire herself out, so she can actually sleep). She tends to subconsciously play with her hair while speaking to people.

Bio: Originally from Leicester, England, Gina moved to America a year ago following the breakdown of her mum's marriage. Dealing with this change and the separation from her dad have been almost the least of her worries, however. Until quite recently, if you had said "supernatural" to her, the first thing she would have thought of would have been Sam and Dean Winchester. This was before her move to Austere (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=23598), Pennsylvania. Gina doesn't often speak about what happened there, but it has left her with trouble sleeping, and she still suffers from occasional nightmares. She and her mum tried to put it behind them, moving again and enrolling Gina in West Hills (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=33384) school for her final year.

Gina is a bright girl; not brilliant, but hard-working, and originally she wanted to study medicine. This goal has been somewhat curbed by West Hills turning out to be the American Horror Story of boarding schools. Gina and a group of fellow students were involved in a deadly five-way playoff against a ghost-summoning headmistress, a vampire, a mad scientist and a sociopathic half-vampire classmate before Gina herself was ripped out of her canon universe to serve as one of the Multiverse Travellers.

[Azazeal849]

For the old Warseer crowd.

TECH ADEPT RAECHEL KUSCELIAN

"So I am going to survive two weeks? Is that long enough to get a derogatory nickname?"

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/6b/6c/20/6b6c205dd987c6ecd6b9c04ca2bb0a32.jpg

Featured In: To Cleanse The Stars (www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?264360-To-Cleanse-the-Stars-Gameplay), Sins of Ambition (www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?289458-The-Sins-of-Ambition-Warhammer-40K-Space-Hulk-RPG-IC-Thread) (retconned), The Silent Forge (part 1) (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=56288), The Silent Forge (part 2) (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=71660), Penitence (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=74089)

When I decided I was going to do an Adeptus Mechanicus character, I thought I'd break the mould a bit. For those of you who don't know the Ad Mech from 40K, their go-to trait is usually "cold, calculating bastard" spiced with elements of the crazy scientist. As a chemical engineer myself, I've made an interesting observation about the people I work with: although engineers get stereotyped as hidebound and socially awkward, many of the ones I know are quite social and articulate, and while they are often sparing with their words in group conversations they tend to have a really good sense of humour. I decided to carry this across into my character. A couple of other core concepts I had in mind were a news article I had recently read about a young girl with a pacemaker, and a talk by robotics professor Kevin Warwick I had attended a few years before (and particularly, a throwaway line where he admitted to "looking at something as simple as a TV remote and being embarrassed that (he) couldn't see in as many spectra as it could" - a sentiment that struck me as just so very Ad Mech).

In a way, Raechel is both one of the easiest and one of the hardest characters for me to write. Easy because her mindset isn't far removed from my own: practical, inquisitive, and likes being around people and things that keep her creativity sharp. Hard because of the amount of research that keeps cropping up - she is a woman of applied science and technology, and when I'm quoting such things in the story I want to make damn sure I get the exposition behind it right. For all that, she can be quite an entertaining character to write; such as when she didn't see the point of explaining a Spinning Disc Reactor (https://www.uk-cpi.com/smart-chemistry/spinning-disk-reactor/) to another character and just told them that the rotation pleases the Machine God, or when her inquisitive naivete caused a more jaded character to instantly nickname her "Optimist" and spend the next 5 minutes psyching her out about how she was going to die. I also enjoy looking at the contrast between her and older, more serious tech adepts (who she loves to learn from, but sometimes feels suppressed by) and with more esoteric inquisition characters who tend to bring out her more human side. This conflict between her Ad Mech origins and the more "exciting" work of the inquisition is something I tried to explore more fully in The Silent Forge. It's not entirely finished - Raechel has a bad habit of joining RPs that die, a jinx that I hope will not apply to my upcoming Penitence - but I'll have another chance now that Atrum Daemon has renewed the RP for a second chapter.

My ultimate aim with Raechel (besides to show off some ChemEng knowledge) was to create a character who is recognisably a member of the Ad Mech, with the same secret knowledge and weird mysticism, but retaining a level of humanity and individuality that endears her to the reader. You RPA folks can judge for yourselves if I've succeeded!

Trivia: Her surname is a bastardisation of the lead singer's from Walls of Jericho. I also based Raechel's face on one of my old friends', with different coloured eyes and hair. This turned out to be a mistake as far as finding a picture for her was concerned, because not only is the red hair/brown eyes combination rather rare, my friend apparently also has a rather rare face shape. There was precisely one "actress" I could find to fit the bill, and even then it was a challenge to find a photo that didn't look too obviously model-y. Damn you Lily Cole!

Name: Raechel Kuscelian ("ku-SELL-ee-an")

Faction: Adeptus Mechanicus

Role: Tech priest

Age: 13 Vostian (approximately 27 standard)

Appearance: Kuscelian is a tall, willowy woman with a round face and wide-set eyes. She has wavy auburn hair which she usually ties back to keep it out of her face while she works. She has several operation scars on her head from her tech-priest’s electrograft (which her hair has since grown back over) and another much older surgical scar on her left side.

Personality: Like most members of the mechanicus, Kuscelian doesn’t speak much without prompting and she doesn’t mince her words when she does. After getting to know others however she is much more likely to get involved in conversation, particularly if it involves debating her subjects of interest - without giving away any mechanicus secrets, of course. She does have a sense of humour (usually used to dispel her own tension) although it is somewhat underused around the Ad Mech.

Kuscelian has a strong loyalty to the machine cult, not least because its technology is what's keeping her alive. Since her short sprint working with inquisitor Sigrun Hypatia and her colourful retinue, however, she has been slightly torn between her devotion to the mechanicus and the knowledge of the Machine God offered by the wider universe. With her xenotech expertise and previous experience with the inquisition opening up a wider range of missions to her, she is determined to make the most of it.

Equipment: As a junior tech-priest Kuscelian remains largely unaugmented, having yet to require or earn advanced bionics (unless you count a simple cochlea implant in one ear, following an explosion incident in the Hypatia case that partially deafened her). Her primary asset is her electrograft, a combined storage medium and network uplink implanted into her brain. She is currently carrying a multi-role auspex, a survival pack and a Krieg-pattern rebreather. Her knowledge of weapons is mostly theoretical, though she has been keeping a lasgun from a dead skitarius close since the fighting started. She is also wearing an armoured survival suit, although it is currently compromised due to a las shot to the chest.

History: Kuscelian was born on Vost, a productive Civilised world in the Antilles sector, segmentum Obscurus. Hailing from a wholly unremarkable background, Kuscelian is the only child of two Ad Mech menials assigned to the Garm Reach manufactorum. Her association with the machine cult began almost from birth - she was born with a hole in her heart, requiring a pacemaker to keep her alive. This no doubt coloured her view of machines being necessary to supplement the inadequacies of flesh.

As a teenager Kuscelian scored above average in the manufactorum aptitude tests, and was separated from the other menials for further training. She spent 6 standard years on construction and maintenance rituals before being elevated to the rank of Tech Priest and receiving her electrograft implants. She has since been involved in research with the Divisio Xenologis, a branch of the Ad Mech dedicated to analysing alien tech with the dual objectives of finding its weaknesses and attempting to uncover the pure science behind the tainted alien designs, the better to understand and emulate the Omnissiah. This led to her assignment as Ad Mech liaison to inquisitor Sigrun Hypatia, during an investigation of xeno artefact smuggling on her home planet. All records of this investigation are highly classified, though it is known to have involved the death of her former mentor, magos Solisto.

With valuable experience of handling potentially dangerous unsanctioned tech, and of liaising with potentially dangerous Ordo Hereticus types, Kuscelian was headhunted by one of magos Tenarus' subordinates for the mission to the silent forge.

So far Kuscelian has been standoffish around her fellow priests, almost to the point of favouring the team's inquisitorial representative. She has also been suffering strange malfunctions of her memory implants, including flashbacks of the Hypatia case. Her last contact with the Truthseeker was a maser burst from a reactivated comms spire, detailing contact with heretek forces and pleading for immediate reinforcement.

[Azazeal849]

For the RPA awards (how on earth did I get nominated for them?)

AULUS OVIDIUS

Shanaar: "You ****ing traitor!"
Ovidius: "No...****ing Namorian!"

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e9/60/2e/e9602eec2ad94bf0b1f41033d23a0f4f.jpg

Featured in: Eternum: Of Gods and Demons (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=34669&p=1076742#post1076742), Eternum: Blood of the Gods (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=52010), Eternum: Rise of Kronos (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=71431&p=2428174#post2428174)

A spy in the employ of house Marcius, Aulus Ovidius is not a man to influence the course of a war from the front line. However, it was he who brought news of the demon attack on the mages' guild, and he who Isis visited to warn the Namorian Empire of the necessity of making allies rather than enemies of the immortal Romans. Ovidius is less than enthusiastic about the idea of being a hero, or of being singled out by the goddess Isis, but he is loyal enough to the Marcius clan to accept his next mission: a journey to the desert land of Afragia, to try and tip the balance of power towards a potential ally.

Ovidius is more of a happy accident than a true PC. Rather like Shrk'Jaar (see page 1), he is a character who has grown beyond his original remit. I realised pretty quickly during Of Gods And Demons that there was far too much going on in the world for one or two characters to witness it all, and so I hit upon the idea of using "throwaway" characters who would just appear for a post or two in order to tell the story of some of the wider conflicts. A sudden loss of communication with an independent faction needed investigating, and since I had envisioned Marcius (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&p=1313526&viewfull=1#post1313526)' wife as a shrewd political animal with ears to the ground and a network of all the right contacts, I created Ovidius the spy to go and investigate it. This he duly did and I didn't have any particular plan for him afterwards, instead just bringing him up whenever something interesting happened around the city of Emor, which was actually often enough to almost make him a fully-fledged PC in terms of screen time. Eventually I grew quite fond of the character and began to plan further ahead for him, ultimately sitting down to write him a dedicated subplot (which will play out in the sequel Blood of the Gods) as well as the character sheet you're reading now to cement his new-found PC status.

Here I ran into a slight roadblock: since he was a minor character, I'd never given proper thought to what he looked like. Eventually I settled on a fairly typical mediterranean (i.e. Roman Namorian) look, and I went back and retroactively added some description to the RP text, but the real fun came when I started looking for a suitable picture for the character sheet. Some of you may recognise Jon Snow from Game of Thrones as his "actor", who I picked not just because of the reasonably close match to Ovidius' description (although Kit Harrington is paler than I imagine most Namorians to be) but because of the several amusing similarities between their characters. Namely, he is the black sheep of his family, goes undercover among an enemy population, and has a girlfriend who constantly pokes fun at him.

Trivia: He is named after one of the default spies from Rome: Total War.


Name: Aulus Ovidius

Age: 26

Race: Namorian

Occupation: Mercenary, spy

Godly Parents: N/A

Appearances: Ovidius has classical Namorian features, with a narrow, aquiline nose and a broad forehead crowned with curly black hair. His olive skin is sun-lined but still youthful, and his eyes are dark and sharp, missing little and giving away even less. He carries a scar across his ribs where he narrowly avoided the Assassin at the mages' guild.

Personality: Ovidius is a man from the gutter and he knows it. He is aware of the nature of his work and so tends not to ask questions about it, but that doesn't stop him from having a roguish wit and an affable, easygoing nature. He is prone to wry humour and deadpan understatement. As the son of a freedman, he is more self-aware than most when talking to slaves. On the job he is cunning, quick-thinking and, to a point, brave, although he can recognise a situation where he is in over his head.

Background: Born in the shadows and with a natural affinity for them, Ovidius was practically made for a career of shady work. He is the son of a freed slave and grew up in the poorer districts of Emor, though he hardly rues not being born to a Namorian citizen whose word he would have to treat as law. He is mostly estranged from his parents, who approve of little, if anything, that he does.

Originally a mercenary in the field of spying and courier work, he did a lot of jobs for house Marcius and is now their sworn man in all but oath, taking most of his orders from the family mother, Lycinia. He is even involved with one of her body slaves, Suriyana (Afragia to her Namorian masters). Until recently they had only met through their mutual employer, but Ovidius had had his eye on the young slave for some time, and a silver lining of being injured several times in the line of duty was that he got a chance to talk to her. It was Suriyana who patched Ovidius up after he barely escaped the demon-infested mages' guild, and she who helped him remember the vision that the goddess Isis planted in his head, ultimately leading to an alliance with the Romans that saved Emor from a devastating siege. Ovidius was somewhat unnerved at being singled out by a goddess, but Suriyana (who, following the religion of her Afragian parents, was a strong patron of Isis) encouraged him. Enjoying each other's company more than Suriyana had expected (and as much as Ovidius had hoped) the two began a tenuous relationship.

After word reached Emor of the power struggle between the immortal Egyptians who had landed in Afragia, Ovidius and Suriyana were sent to pre-empt the kind of bloodshed which had occurred in Combrogia and Hercine. They plan to do this by covertly assisting the Egyptian leader most likely to be friendly to the Imperium. Flying there in Ann von Bayern's hi-tech dropship, they reached the Egyptian city of New Giza and successfully orchestrated the rise of the potentially friendly pharoah Ahsha. However, Ovidius and Suriyana's relationship fell through after Suriyana became disillusioned with their manipulating and betraying the immortal Egyptians. Upset, Ovidius has been trying to put Suriyana out of his mind after he returned to Emor and the service of the Marcius family. Dux Marcius quickly enlisted him for a dangerous mission into Emor to kidnap the emperor, who unknown to him has been mind-controlled by a demon.

Ovidius occasionally receives visions that the goddess Isis, although he is still uneasy with the idea of being one of the goddess' "chosen".

Faction: Namorian Empire (senate faction)

Weaponry / Armour: Ovidius carries a dagger, usually concealed.

[Azazeal849]

And we couldn't have Ovidius without...

SURIYANA

"And in the grand scheme of it, are you worth less? The gods know better than us who's worthy of their attention."

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1254585912/image_400x400.jpg

Featured in: Eternum: Of Gods and Demons (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=34669&p=1076742#post1076742), Eternum: Blood of the Gods (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=52010), Eternum: Rise of Kronos (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=71431&p=2428174#post2428174)

Suriyana is a character that came about through a self-imposed challenge. After using a throwaway line about fancying one of his employer's slaves to help flesh out a certain other minor character (see above) I decided to challenge myself to write a romantic subplot. It was something that I hadn't really done yet (despite making a blog about them); not because of any particular aversion to the idea, it had just never come up in-story. And so I created Suriyana - a foil to the quintessential rogue Ovidius, who could give as good as she got in their good-natured verbal sparrings that punctuated the quieter scenes of Gods and Demons. Despite her (hopefully) fairly distinct personality, I was very conscious about Suri devolving into just a satellite character for Ovidius and so I wanted to give her as much screen time of her own as possible. Fellow player The Bartender was wonderfully helpful for this, coming up with a subplot where another character begins to train Suri as a mage. She also has her own distinct part to play as a guide, translator and co-conspirator on the mission to subtly turn aside the Namorians' next potential foe - the Egyptians of old Earth (it makes sense in context).

One of the aspects of Suriyana's character that I feel that I have to tread carefully around is the fact that she is a slave. Although I have presented the Marcius family as benevolent masters (to the point that it instils a certain loyalty) I am under no illusions that this is the exception to the historical rule; although some slaves in the Roman Empire (which the Eternum Namorians are based on) lived better than lower-class citizens, many more were treated appallingly, especially the forced labour slaves on mines and farms. To whitewash this fact was not at all my intention, and I intend to balance my somewhat one-sided portrayal in Gods and Demons with some darker scenes in the sequel, if I get the chance. I would be particularly interested in getting feedback on the slavery subject from people who have read through Gods and Demons, so please do post below or PM me with any thoughts.

Trivia: You may notice that she shares a name with an Eldar character of mine, who has recently appeared in another RP. The Eldar actually came first (a character in my 40K Eldar army with an origin story that is detailed in an Inquisitor campaign (https://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?102464-Webway-campaign-dscussion) over on Warseer), but as "Suriyana" is a slight modification of a traditional African name I thought I could get away with it.

Name: Suriyana (aka Afragia)

Age: 20

Race: Namorian-born Afragian

Rank: Slave

Godly Parents: N/A

Appearance: Suriyana is the daughter of two Afragian slaves, and inherited their deep brown skin despite growing up in temperate Namor. She has a delicate oval face with shrewd brown eyes and very white teeth, which she often flashes in a slightly lop-sided smile. Her hair is black and naturally wavy, and falls to her middle back when not tied up.

Personality: Suriyana is quick-witted and very sardonic, and she can match pretty much anyone blow-for-blow in an argument. The same quick wits make her level headed, and she tends to be mindful of long-term consequences rather than impulsive. Cautious and pragmatic, especially about her own situation, she hopes to buy her freedom some day but is proud enough to want to do this on her own merits rather than by anyone else’s help. She also does not want to risk the life of a fugitive that running away would bring, although she also has a (perhaps surprising) streak of loyalty towards her masters as well, since the Marcius family have - by and large - treated her kindly.

Background: Suriyana was born in Emor, to two Afragian slaves in the household of clan Marcius. As per Namorian law she too became automatic property of her owner, who gave her the slave name of Afragia in a simple reference to her ethnicity. She was gifted to her master's son Decius on his wedding day, as a body slave for his new wife Lycinia Marci (nee Caelesta). Lycinia soon recognised Suriyana's natural intelligence and started trusting her with other tasks such as courier work and basic nursing.

After word reached Emor of the power struggle between the immortal Egyptians who had landed in Afragia, Lycinia Marci hatched a plan with the Earthborn Ann von Bayern to bring to power the Egyptian leader most likely to be friendly to the Imperium. Although she had no experience in subterfuge, Suriyana's heritage, her familiarity with the Egyptian gods and language, and her natural wits were enough for Lycinia to trust her with the mission. Suriyana was dispatched along with Ann and with Lycinia's trusted spy Ovidius, with whom Suriyana had adopted an intimate rapport. On the journey to Afragia, Ann took it upon herself to train Suriyana in magic - ostensibly for self-defence, but with an ulterior motive of adopting her into the Earthborn priesthood of the Rising Sun. This backfired however when Suriyana became upset with the immoral actions that their mission demanded, broke up with Ovidius, and shortly after disappeared to the Gates of Tartarus with queen Nesara. Anne, however, can still follow her actions through the familiar Qia'bul...

Faction: Namorian Empire

Weaponry / Armour: Suriyana is unarmed but knows some magic and is eager to learn more, assisted by a small avian familiar called Qia'bul.

[Azazeal849]

It's probably about time I put up another one...

MISSIONARY KIMBERLEY RAEDEN

"We destroy sorrows. We destroy daemons. We are the messengers."

https://img04.deviantart.net/0a14/i/2010/106/d/7/lara_underworld_2_by_illyne.jpg

Featured in: A Light In The Black (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=31645) (retconned), Shades of Grey (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=80860)

Treachery is a relatively common theme in 40K, and it seems that the majority of those traitors turned because of (or end up siding with) Chaos. One question I've occasionally asked myself when reading 40K stuff is, "But why do people join Chaos?" Granted, a lot of people get fed up with the oppressive Imperium, but if 99% of Chaos converts never actually benefited from the arrangement - which is how it sometimes seems - you'd think word would get out. Or that the Imperium wouldn't bother trying to keep Chaos a secret (then again, the counterproductive nature of some Imperial policies is a topic for another day). I also wanted to explore what sort of reasons people might have for deserting their Imperial loyalties outside the relatively standard cliches of "they were naive and stupid" or "they were already a maniac". I did touch on this in a previous RP (https://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?308270-For-The-Lesser-Evil-IC), where a Khornate daemon opines that "the heart beats only for blood" and a Slaaneshi one counters that "there's no stronger force in the universe than love" (and then, because this is a daemon we're talking about, adds "and no force easier to manipulate"). But I wanted to take the idea further.

I created Kim so I could do a character study on the temptations of Chaos - not necessarily one that will end with her switching sides, but one that at least addesses why the prospect might be legitimately tempting to an otherwise "normal" human. As such, I designed her as an Imperial missionary turned inquisition agent who is going through a test of faith, with her duty conflicting with her own interests and morality (and, let's face it, it's not hard for the Imperium's methods to conflict with the morality of anyone who doesn't have the luxury of a completely detached view of utilitarianism). More specifically, I intended to use her as a vehicle for the age-old question of is it right to sacrifice a few for the many (or rather, can you live with yourself if you're the one who makes the call); as well as the slightly more personal question of putting your duty before someone you care about. Because ordinary human love is something that seems criminally under-represented in the 40K universe. You'll note that the exact nature of these conflicts isn't mentioned in her profile, as I intended to reveal them IC.

I have only used Kim in one RP so far, and I have to admit that it didn't really work (firstly because the RP unfortunately died before it could really get going, and secondly because the "Chaos" featured in the story was actually a Mechanicus tech heresy that Kim couldn't really relate to, thus limiting the scope for any "temptation"). I do however have plans to bring her back if an idea currently developing in my head evolves into something I can turn into a proper RP. If it does, I will probably attempt to run it concurrently with the upcoming Prophet In Silver and Penitence, so watch this space.

Trivia: My initial inspiration for Kim was, believe it or not, Lara Croft. Beyond that, I specifically designed a lot of Kim's attributes to go against the grain of "stereotypical" Imperial priests (who tend to be firebrand old men with giant chainsaws).

Name: Kimberley Raeden

Age: 26 (by the Terran calender)

Occupation: Inquisitorial agent, formerly of the Missionarius Galaxia

Appearance: Kim is 5'9, with a fit, slender build and hands roughened by her time on the feudal world Adhara, but she still retains a relatively youthful appearance. Her long assignment to a sub-tropical region of Adhara has given her a dark tan, which is gradually fading back to her natural pale. She has a strong, well-proportioned face and intense brown eyes. Her brown hair is usually tied out of the way in a plait or ponytail.

Equipment and Gear: Being a militant church, one of the survival skills the Ministorum teach their missionaries is how to handle firearms. Though Kim can accomplish more with words than guns, she takes advantage of the Inquisition's extensive armoury for those times when she is deployed for combat rather than infiltration.

Kim's primary weapon is a bullpup lasgun (https://world.guns.ru/userfiles/images/assault/as41/fn_f2000_3.jpg) with an underslung grenade launcher. Naturally for a member of the Ecclesiarchy, her rifle grenades of choice are incendiary. Armour-wise she wears the standard flak vest and helmet of a common Guardsman. She has personally consecrated her armour and weaponry. Pouches on her belt carry her grenades and spare magazines as well as religious paraphernalia such as chalk and a small flask of sacred oils. She always wears a silver Aquila on a chain round her neck.

Personality: As the only child of a Ministorum preacher, Kim is strong-willed and self-sufficient by nature. Strongly indoctrinated from birth, it was perhaps inevitable that she would follow her father into the Imperial Church. Unlike some more firebrand preachers she wins over her flock with an approachable manner and a quiet, self-assured confidence in her faith. She can, however, spit fire and brimstone with the best of them when her blood is up, and is brave to the point of recklessness in the face of the Emperor’s enemies. Recent events have caused her faith to take something of a knock.

Kim is an intelligent and resourceful young woman, and not as hidebound as some preachers, which is why she was put forward for the Missionarius Galaxia. One of the first and most important lessons she was taught there was of the inevitable differences in dogma between worlds, and hence that there are not just one but many ways to worship the Emperor. As such, there is less friction than there might otherwise be between her and other members of her inquisitor's retinue.

Short History: Kim is a relatively new addition to the retinue, having been recruited just a few months ago. She is a former cleric of the Missionarius Galaxia assigned to the planet Adhara, which was recently rediscovered after being isolated from Imperial contact for 2000 years. After an unknown calamity, the Adharans had regressed to a pre-gunpowder tech level and splintered into dozens of isolated countries. The planet's religion had similarly regressed and mutated, and so the Galaxia dispatched missionaries to bring the world back into the Imperial fold. As the Adharans followed a matriachal system of governance, the Galaxia dispatched female missionaries to boost their influence, and Kim was among those chosen.

After 18 months of studying the local culture and how their religion might be adapted to the Imperial Creed, Kim faked her own death and returned in the guise of the Prophet of the New Word, upon which she began preaching the modified dogma that she and her sisters had agreed upon. This went well at first, until a new “prophet” appeared in the region. Calling himself the Deliverer, he preached that the gods were angry and demanded blood sacrifice. As the region was currently in the grip of a crop blight, his cult began to grow even more swiftly than Kim's. When he “proved” the gods' favour by demonstrating the ability to move objects without touching them and to conjure fire with his hands, Kim was worried enough to contact the Inquisition.

To her dismay, Kim found that the Deliverer's following had grown too large for her to oppose directly. So instead she professed interest in his teachings, hoping to infiltrate the cult and gather tactical information. Luckily for her, telepathy was not among the rogue psyker's powers and she succeeded. When the Inquisition arrived a month later, Kim gave them all the information they needed to bring the Deliverer down. After careful planning, the nascent Chaos cult was purged in a single night, and the other Adharans were cowed by this sign of “the gods'” wrath.

As an assumed heretic (and more to the point, presumed dead for a second time) Kim could no longer carry on her work as a prophet of the New Word. The inquisition however was impressed with Kim's courage and resourcefulness, and inducted her into their organisation. Aside from her job in data gathering and potential future training as an exorcist, Kim acts as the team's confessor and leads their weekly prayers.

[Azazeal849]

INQUISITION VERISPEX KELLY BLACK

"Bolter round to the head, right enough. Wasnae even subtle."

https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/missy-peregrym-fbi.jpg?w=1000

Featured in: Lucius Pembroke Is A Dead Man (https://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?251903-Lucius-pembroke-is-a-dead-man), The Replicants (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40923), The Prophet In Silver (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=57718), Drowning for the Cure (https://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?285687-Drowning-for-the-Cure), A Wash of Black (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?p=688793#post688793), Kaleidoscope (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19424), Penitence (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=74089)

Kelly initially appeared as a satellite character to her brother Marc, acting as an information contact and providing depth to his family-vs-duty struggle. As Pembroke spanned out into an increasingly developed series, I quickly began to feel that she deserved more screen time, although imposed limits on the number of PCs per player made it difficult. I managed to sneak her in for minor roles in A Wash Of Black and Kaleidoscope, before getting her the spotlight she deserved in the midquels Replicants and The Prophet in Silver. Hopefully people don't mix her up too much with the similarly named Kally who is a PC in the same stories.

In many ways, Kelly is a counterpoint to her brother. She has his sense of duty, yes, but she can actually switch off at the end of the day, which probably makes her more fun to be around. Perhaps more importantly, she is far better at taking a step back and looking at things more logically and objectively (which makes sense for a Scene of Crime Officer). Hopefully this dichotemy comes across in The Replicants, and I am looking to explore it further in future RPs.

One thing you may notice about Kelly is that her accent wanders up and down in strength between stories. This is because I thought that the language barriers of an interstellar empire deserve at least a passing acknowledgement, and I chose to indicate when Kelly and Marc were speaking in their "native" brand of Low Gothic with Edinburgh slang (because I live in the city, and like the local accent). I experimented with a few different levels of the dialect through various chapters in the series (with it reaching its thickest in A Wash Of Black) before realising that it was probably getting distracting and difficult to understand. I have scaled it back accordingly in more recent RPs.

Trivia: Kelly draws some slight inspiration from one of my own sisters. Like Marc, her original incarnation was in the Left 4 Dead fanfic Dead Origin (https://44470.activeboard.com/t38265343/for-the-guests/).

Name: Kelly Black
Age: 30 (at the time of Kaleidoscope)
Occupation: Verispex, qualified for both lab work and front-line scene of crime investigation

Family:
+ Father, Varrius Black, 52, enforcer - invalided out of active service by injury sustained during secessionist rebellion, now returned to duty in Decker Hive following augmetic surgery.
+ Mother, Cassandria Black, deceased - victim of Makita hive's Great Plague.
+ Brother, Marcus Black, 31, field agent - former enforcer detective, served with inquisitor Eran de Shilo before transferring to the staff of lord Immanuel Sidonis.

Physical Description: Kelly is average height, with shoulder-length brown hair and her mother's brown eyes. Her face is light-skinned and chiselled, given character by a long, straight nose and arched eyebrows. Her figure is more wiry than curved; her natural body shape has always tended towards slimness, and hive enforcer fitness regimes are a hard habit to break.

Personality: Kelly's logical, meticulous mind is a natural fit for verispex work. She has a gift for objectivity, and can usually be relied on to make quick, sensible decisions under pressure. She is a loyal friend, and losses can hit her hard. She carefully separates her work and personal lives, even in the inquistion, and is generally lively and talkative when off shift. She can however be somewhat elitist, especially about her work, and doesn't take slights or second opinions well from people she doesn't know closely.

Equipment: When she takes to the field rather than the lab, Kelly's equipment often varies by mission, but always includes a pict stealer and bio-auspex. Due to the dangerous nature of policing in an Imperial hive, the Makita Hive Enforcers ensured that even their Scene of Crime Officers were armoured and trained to defend themselves if necessary. Kelly still has her MHE-stencilled flak vest and Makita pattern autopistol, and is equally comfortable with a laspistol.

Background: Kelly Black was born in hive Makita on the planet Solomon, in the middle levels of one of the megacity's ancillary spires. Her home in spire 13 was removed from the hellish ghettoes of the underhive, but still a far cry from the upper tiers of the spire, never mind those of the central hub. Growing up with her strict, dutiful father after her mother died in a virulent hive plague, Kelly made do as hivers must. She was always close to her brother Marc, who was a year and a half older than her. Even in her rebellious teenage years Kelly was the "sensible" one of her group of friends, making sure they never strayed too far into the rough lower levels of the midhive.

The Black family had a strong tradition of serving in the Makita Hive Enforcers; with her father, late mother and eventually Marc all serving as front-line officers, Kelly shouldered her own responsibility and signed up as soon as she left school to help make scarce ends meet. With a good grasp of basic science but not enough technical aptitude to warrant the attention of the mechanicus, she found her niche in the MHE's verispex devision.

Even in the midhive crime scenes were not always safe, especially when a cultist uprising flared through the hive in 602. Kelly was fortunate enough to escape injury, but her father lost both legs to an improvised explosive. Although the Tzeentchian cult was crushed with the aid of the inquisition, something about it greatly affected Marc and he resigned from the MHE to work as a private investigator. Their father was furious at this apparent dereliction of duty, and Kelly was left in the unenviable position of caring for their father while also trying to act as a bridge to her estranged brother.

Kelly became caught up in the infamous Pembroke incident of 604 when one of the excommunicate inquisitor Massani's agents attempted to assassinate her as a known contact of Marc's, but instead killed Kelly's fellow verispex Sandra Farrel. Kelly was infuriatingly kept in the dark about what was really happening, but was safely evacuated to Decker hive. It was only afterwards, after the escalating incident led to the orbital cleansing of hive Makita, that Kelly and her father learned that Marc had actually resigned his detective post at MHE to take up undercover work with the inquisition. It is probably a testament to Kelly's objective nature, and her loyalty to family, that she only remained angry at her brother for a few weeks after the revelation.

The inquisition extended its offer of employment to Kelly as well, and with few prospects in Decker hive she accepted - in part because she didn't want to see Marc vanish on his own for a second time. She continued her verispex work under lord inquisitor Sidonis and handled the relative increase in field operations compared to lab work well, her analytical mind often proving useful in other aspects of the investigations. With a gift for separating her work and social lives, she bonded well with fellow agent Kally Sonder and others.

After a debacle over the planet Taleostei, Kelly was one of the lucky few who escaped on the rogue trader ship Mooncalf after lord Sidonis was possessed by the daemon Malfallax. This did not, unfortunately, spare her from the events that followed.

[Jarms48]

Hopefully people don't mix her up too much with the similarly named Kally who is a PC in the same stories.

I only confuse the names, not the characters. ;)

[Azazeal849]

Well that's reassuring.

Still on my to-do list: Commodore Captain Elspeth von Scharn, Septimus Comorant and his team of Night Lord serfs, the various Eldar from Blocking Out The Sun, and possibly Britta Engel (and / or Lisa Asari) from Business Is War.

[dakkagor]

I'd like to see some of the NPC's from business is war. That game rocked.

[PaintSerf]

I'd like to see some of the NPC's from business is war. That game rocked.

Seconded!

[Azazeal849]

You guys are the bane of my free time, but I'll see what I can do. :D

[Azazeal849]

BUSINESS IS WAR

As per the requests on the previous page, I have put together a few thoughts on the very first RP I ran on this site, detailing some of its major NPCs. I haven't got round to editing the IC posts of Business into a readable novel yet (to my shame) but the original story thread can be found here (https://www.role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=25457).

I should probably take a moment to explain the central theme of my story, as a lot of the NPC characterisation grows from it. Business was a very dark RP, characterised more by slivers of hope than true happy endings. With such a pessimistic RP, what would be left to root for? I chose the value of human life, and a blog entry on my thought process can be found here (https://role-player.net/forum/entry.php?b=5024).

I took a very conscious approach to this theme by humanising every character I could, including the villains, and especially the regular guards and mooks who would normally be just shot and forgotten about by the players. I didn't want any death to seem trivial, and even those of the worst characters would have to struggle for justification. Of course, I didn't tell the players this until I began writing their first fight scene. Thus, I started the players off with a blank slate to commit mayhem, and then rammed the actual consequences down their throats (even during the initial phase of the story where their characters were essentially under mind control - I hoped that this would create a suitable sense of horror and resentment).

This approach of guilting my players ala Spec Ops: The Line might not have been particularly fair, but it did occasionally have surprising consequences. One player, for example, complained "Oh great, now my character has to kill a woman." I was pleased to see such discussion being generated, although I did feel compelled to ask him why he thought killing an innocent woman was any more or less heinous than killing an innocent man. Meanwhile, the illustrious PaintSerf (who has been a solid contributor to almost all of my RPs) told me later that he made a complete U-turn in his character, changing his planned arc from that of an ice-cold psychopath into one of the most sympathetic characters in the story.

In the end I was very pleased with how the players responded to my intended moral, with several running with it to produce great character studies, and one completely disregarding it to create one of the scariest antagonists I have ever seen.

"Now really isn't a time for half measures."

https://s1.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20120613&t=2&i=618290294&r=CBRE85C0YPC00&w=940

Xenakis was the CEO of EuroCorp's energy division, an ex-mafia boss of the Neapolitan comorra, and the story's primary antagonist.

The original Syndicate game ran on the satirical premise of the world's big businesses being run by criminals. I've included as many nods to the original game as I could (including a joke regarding the persuadertron - which appears, but the character who suggests naming it as such immediately gets shot down in favour of something less silly) but this is the main one. In a way, the premise makes a twisted kind of sense. With mass privatisation essentially encouraging and rewarding greed, and with deregulation stopping governments from acting except to bail out companies which are "too big to fail" (whether that means letting them get away with incompetence (https://www.economist.com/news/schoolsbrief/21584534-effects-financial-crisis-are-still-being-felt-five-years-article) or with bald-faced criminal behaviour (https://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/dec/11/hsbc-fine-prosecution-money-laundering)) it does almost seem like the logical extreme of modern neo-liberalism.

A massive influence on Business, and on Xenakis in particular, was Gomorrah by Roberto Saviano - an in-depth look at the Italian comorra clans (who are much like the better-known mafia, but are based mostly in Naples instead of Sicily). One point the book made was that comorra bosses would indeed make good CEOs. They are intelligent and effective businessmen; they just don't let the law, morals or human decency get in the way of results. Xenakis is this philosophy embodied at the helm of a powerful corporation with its own hit squad of cyborg assassins. However, unlike the syndicates in the original game he is not omnipotent. There is a ray of hope in that politicians with enough courage could still defeat the corporate lobbyists, the controlled media and the corrupt judges, and dismantle EuroCorp - a corporation, at the end of the day, cannot stand up to a government (with an army!) if the latter refuse to be bribed. As such, one of the syndicates' main concerns in Business is keeping their more brazen criminal activities out of the spotlight.

I pretty much set Xenakis up as morally bankrupt from the get-go, opening the story with him having a subordinate shot and ordering the PCs be conscripted for a new batch of agents, but I was a bit worried by how little time he spent "on camera". He was explicitly mentioned as being behind the civilian casualties that kicked off the EuroCorp-Sonbushi mob war, but as this happened mostly offscreen I didn't feel that it was enough. I attempted to rectify this towards the end, making sure he portrayed all of the brutality and ruthless self-interest of the bosses in Gomorrah - and I hated him for it. Even with my RP's main theme being the value of human life, I couldn't resist giving Xenakis one of the most graphic and humiliating deaths of the story.

Trivia: I have done a major disservice to one of my good work friends, by giving the book's main villain his surname (the only connection is that I was casting about for a Greek name, as I envisioned the CEO as Greek-Italian). If he reads this, I hope he will forgive me.

"If Marco Xenakis wants a blood war, then by God we'll give him one."

https://fscomps.fotosearch.com/compc/ULY/ULY287/portrait-of-a-businessman-pointing-a-stock-image__u41590625.jpg

These two guys represent the Tao syndicate, which in the original game controlled most of Asia through the front of a corporation called Sonbushi. In the moral scale of the story's villains they stand somewhere in the middle - perhaps not as bad as Xenakis; perhaps worse than some of the minor character executives (who turn a blind eye to the agent program and its fallout, but occasionally call out their superiors). Although both men show the same ruthlessness in their actions, not to mention the same callous disregard for the humanity of their agents, between themselves they are far more affable. Starikov forgives Dobrynin with a smile after a failed mission (in direct contrast to Xenakis, who had his operator executed - although admittedly the stakes were different), and Dobrynin is in a functional and loving relationship, talking about taking his girlfriend out for dinner once their business is concluded. The death of Dobrynin, and of his girlfriend, are a large factor in Starikov declaring war on Xenakis and EuroCorp. Even then, he is horrified by the massacre perpetrated by a rogue agent in the story's climax, even if most of it is driven by the realisation that he might be held responsible.

These little shows of humanity were intentional. I gave both men redeeming features because for me it was important to make them seem "real". Small humanisations make the darker sides of a character stand out even more, because they remind you that real people could do these terrible things - and it's a sad fact that real people sometimes do. Small redeeming qualities hopefully also stop you from simply dismissing their deaths when they happen - in spite of their evil actions - which fits in with the main theme of the story.

Trivia: Starikov's offhand line about having an informant killed and then disposed of in a burning car is lifted straight out of a phone call recorded in Gomorrah. One of the most shocking things about that book was the accounts of how crime bosses could discuss torture and murder in completely conversational tones - business as usual.

"They're controlling you. They're controlling everyone."

https://www.stratfordeast.com/media/1954/ayesha-dharker-daljit.jpg?width=1000

Lisa was a British-Indian EuroCorp scientist specialising in CHIP design, who defected after deciding she wanted no part in a technology that straddled a line between gadget and dangerous drug. I imagine her as speaking with a Leicester accent, although in the story I simply described it as "British" to avoid confusing people.

Lisa is an idealist confronted by reality. Although her intentions are good, her initial attempts to go it alone fail and she comes to believe that the only viable way to execute her plan of freeing the world from the syndicates and their CHIP control is to make a deal with the devil. It's an interesting question - how far is it permissible to go when systemic changes are necessary, and what changes are actually needed (or rather, what changes would actually be effective?). It's not my intention in Business to preach an answer to the reader - more to provoke them into making up their own mind. Lisa's heart is definitely in the right place, but she tries so hard to believe she can make a difference that she's willing to try even the worst and the most unlikely of her options. Admittedly those options are very limited, but she is still naive in that she doesn't see or doesn't want to see the potential consequences. Her passion is both her strength and her weakness. This was an important part of her character, and I fully expected the players to call her out on it, although it also served a secondary purpose of showing that there would be no quick fixes in this RP.

To Lisa's credit though, she must have learned something by the end of the story. At the end, she fought to dissuade another character (who seemed to think that he was in a more traditional overthrow-the-evil-empire plotline) from making the same mistakes that she had. This was partly to show Lisa's character growth, and partly because I was very consciously trying to subvert the idea that violence could be solved with even more violence (which would break the whole premise of the story). In the end, several of the characters had differing - and potentially valid - ideas about what to do next, and this is why I gave an ambiguous ending to the final scene where Lisa considers her next move. I leave the reader free to draw their own interpretation.

Trivia: I named Lisa after my girlfriend, although as with Xenakis it's possibly a disservice, as the real Lisa is far less naive than Asari. I made the character asian British instead of white British as a celebration of UK multiculturalism - something that I sincerely hope won't be damaged by the reactionary anti-immigration rhetoric that is being thrown about these days.

"To stop the bloodshed? Whatever it takes."

https://ak1.picdn.net/shutterstock/videos/2904961/thumb/1.jpg

Britta was one of the junior executives of EuroCorp, responsible for handling the PC agents, and her journey throughout the story somewhat mirrors that of the players. It is a sad fact that meaningful change only seems to happen in the wake of tragedy (even if people have been shouting warnings from the rooftops for years) and Britta's character arc follows this pattern.

As you can hopefully see from her profile picture, I conceived Britta as silk covering steel - the perfect controller to send the PC agents on their missions. However, there is a limit to how deep that steel runs. When I was first planning out the story, I was actually undecided whether Britta was going to implement real changes at the end, or simply be revealed as another Xenakis out to secure personal power. However, after one scene put her face to face with the human consequences of her work there was only one way to go without losing all faith in humanity, and this was cemented later on by the very personal loss of a family member. In the end, Britta was able to kid herself about the dirtier side of her job, and might even have fancied herself as another Xenakis, but she succumbs to human decency when confronted with the reality. This partial redemption is to her credit, and with Britta's afore-mentioned inner steel, there was at least a sliver of hope at the end of Business that she and the remaining PCs could change things for the better.

Britta is in some ways a counterpoint to Lisa, or at least to Lisa as she appears at the start of the story. She doesn't believe in quick fixes, and she knows the limits of her own power. This was my reason for subverting the sweeping changes that some readers might have been hoping for at the end, instead having Britta settle for the more realistic goal of a ceasefire between EuroCorp and Sonbushi. Nor did she go with Lisa's plan of scrapping the CHIPs (which were a form of subliminal manipulation, but also a drug-like escape from a bleak world that was embraced by a large percentage of the population) although she did attempt a compromise. This wasn't just a desire to preserve the status quo, but an awareness of how badly forcing people to kick an addiction all at once could have gone. Like most of the characters in Business, I will let the reader decide if she was right.

Trivia: A major part of Britta's "silk" persona was describing her as having a soft Stuttgart accent. The stereotype of German accents is "harsh", but the ones I have actually heard in person - especially those from the south of the country - are rather pleasant to listen to. Even if, as a Stuttgart-born friend once admitted to me, other Germans have trouble understanding their dialect!

[dakkagor]

I loved the characters and NPCs for Business is war. its clear you worked hard to make each one fit into a point on the moral scale between Black and White, with Xenakis being the worst by far. Its always good when you hate your villains, but its better when you can get your players to hate your villains. Xenakis's death was well deserved.

So, question on PC/NPC progression. Some PC's have alluded to it in Prophet in Silver. . .but do you think Marc would make a good Inquisitor? And if he did make the rank, what would be his style?

[Azazeal849]

It's interesting that you should ask that, because it's something I thought about and decided to explore in Prophet. Essentially, the essay from the intro sums it up:


Anyone can apply logic abstractly. Ask if it is right to let one man die when it is the only way to save ten, and any logical person will tell you that yes, it is. But what do they say when that one man is standing right in front of them? What do they do when they hear his children plead for their father's life? What if this one man is someone they know - a friend, a brother, a lover? Suddenly the arithmetic doesn't look so simple.

That is why most men will never be inquisitors.

Marc is loyal to people rather than to principles. People like Kelly, Kally and Vincent are his motivation and his moral compass. While he can be ruthless, he lacks the ability to be objective and impartial enough with that ruthlessness. Is this a strength, or a weakness, or both? I will hopefully get the chance to show you in Prophet and Penitence.

[Azazeal849]

I've been wanting to get this guy's inner workings down on paper for a while now...

MAGUS GAIUS OCTAVIUS

"I'll find out who did this to you. cousin. And I will make them scream."

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/villains/images/9/94/John_Hannah_as_Quintus_Lentulus_Batiatus.jpg/revision/20140305045321

Featured in: Eternum: Of Gods and Demons (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=34669), Eternum: Blood of the Gods (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=52010), Eternum: Rise of Kronos (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=71431&p=2428174#post2428174)

Gaius is my study in self-destructive obsession. To punish the people who murdered his cousin and her children, he goes to more and more extreme lengths as the world conspires against him. While countless books and films will tell you that revenge is a great motivator (www.cracked.com/4-personality-flaws-movies-think-are-awesome/), comparatively fewer will tell you how it eventually burns people up inside and damages both themselves and the people around them. It is clear, however, that it is a flaw that turns up over and over again in real life. The reasons for it are always unique and complicated, and so I knew from the start that I couldn't preach a clear-cut answer on the subject.

As such, I've deliberately tried to write Gaius as a character who can be interpreted sympathetically and unsympathetically - on the one hand, you might decide he does what he does because he fears his wife and son could be next, and note that he recognises the threat of a demon army and puts it before his own desires. On the other hand, you could say that the way he repeatedly abandons his family shows that they're just his self-deluding excuse for his actions rather than his reason, and point out that he ignores the suffering of both Southerners and his own people at various points in the story. Either way, the one thing that I wanted to make clear was that his pursuit of revenge only ever made things worse. In my experience, this is pretty much the truism regardless of how sympathetic one's reasons are.

It is definitely worth noting that almost every decision Gaius makes in the story turns out to be a mistake, and the reader often has the information at that point in the story to be aware of it. This generates some considerable dramatic irony, but the really telling mistakes are the ones Gaius makes consciously - going down the same route as a fallen predecessor, when that predecessor's mistake resulted in dozens of deaths. The chance of reaching his goal matters more to him than the potential consequences. This is where the "multiple interpretations" philosophy got difficult, as it was something of a battle trying to keep Gaius on the right side of sympathetic for the majority of the story (grounding his obsession in a desire to protect his son, for example, and almost immediately feeling sorry after having an unwarranted go at his wife). I'd be quite interested in finding out if and when other readers stopped rooting for him.

In retrospect, I have to say that Gaius' character study didn't work out as well as I had hoped. The main reason for this was the late curveballs that got thrown into his storyline (or rather, how quickly they followed each other). His overconfident repetition of his predecessor's mistakes in the first book played out relatively well, as did his unholy alliance with the demon-using queen of the South. The latter also introduced an unexpected sub-plot; a friendship with one of the queen's demon servants that challenged his perception of demons in general, and added a bit more depth to his otherwise one-track storyline. Shortly after, however, he was required to screw over his allies by sacrificing a pair of the queen's children to an unknown (but guessable) fate. This most likely destroyed his sympathy for some of the readers (or at least, did so a bit earlier than I had intended), as well as wasting the friendship subplot (and the accompanying dynamite revelation that said demon friend had - willingly or not - stolen his memories and used them to screw over his home empire). Aware of this, I tried to shift focus onto his ruthless and self-hating side. But shortly after that, it was revealed that the Satan of the setting had been manipulating him all along and was responsible for all the obstacles that drove him to his current fate. While suitably tragic, I couldn't help but feel that it undermined his original arc, as well as forcing me to switch his focus yet again to a broken and fatalistic outlook. While I would like to hear your views on how the story as written stands up under its own merits (and extra scenes in the final novel may yet improve it) I'm still not quite sure where I'm going to take his story from here.

Trivia: If I were to pick a song that captures Gaius' story throughout Eternum perfectly, it would definitely be Danse Macabre (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpRsQemj_Pw) by The Agonist. One more reason to love those guys!

Name: Gaius Octavius

Age: 42

Race: Namorian

Rank: Namorian patrician, former mage

Godly Parents: N/A

Appearance: Gaius is a man of average height and wiry build, with chiselled but slightly gaunt features. His skin is a typical Namorian olive and his hair is dark and curly, though cut short. He has intense, calculating eyes. He has been mutated by Kronos, who marks him as his pawn with a pair of stubby horns at his forehead, although Kronos has also gifted him with demon-like strength.

Personality: Though he loves his family and serves his empire, Gaius is a man of many flaws. His temper can be short, and he is determined to the point of ruthlessness and obsession. While he knows the dangers of his current actions, when pressed he will break almost any rule to achieve what he feels he must. A trained mage, he understands better than most the perils of demons, but that same understanding leaves him prone to overconfidence.

Background: Undermined by technological innovation, the power of the mages' guild in Namor has been waning for decades. Their prestige fell further when rumours surfaced of mages abandoning the empire to find work and influence in the rebel South. Gaius, a graduate of the guild himself, and his wife Seppia became a minor scandal in Emor when they sent their son Titus to study at that same guild. It was during Titus' studies that one of the guild's masters finally went too far, flooding the ancient tower with demons after attempting to harness their power for his own. Titus miraculously escaped, but Gaius and Seppia were left shaken.

Cousins with Decius Marcius through his aunt's marriage to Decius' father, Gaius enjoyed a close relationship with the family. He was more than willing to help his cousin's wife Lycinia investigate the fall of the mages' guild, and to aid them both in planning to defeat the many foes who now threatened the empire. The brutal murder of Lycinia and all three of her children, just a few short months afterwards, hit him hard. Outraged, and fearing that his own family could easily be next, Gaius swore to find and kill the murderers - even if the magic that would enable him to do so had been banned as a result of the guild's fall.

His hunt led him into a steady spiral of dark alliances and reprehensible acts, but his alliance and eventual betrayal of the demon-using Odinsen family only played into the hands of Kronos, who revealed his whole plan to Gaius before setting him free in Combrogia. Seemingly unable to defy Kronos' will whatever he tries, Gaius instead focused on the old enemy that had been placed right in front of him: Korzan's Avengers, his cousin's murderers.

Faction: Namorian empire (rogue)

Loves: Knowledge, power, and (his interpretation of) justice

Hates: Snow, demons, feeling powerless or manipulated

Weaponry / Armour Though Gaius carries no physical weapons, he can cast a formidable variety of offensive and defensive magic, and wears a protective amulet of Mars woven with additional defensive spells.

[Azazeal849]

I'm writing this one in anticipation of an old RP that's about to be revamped!

TRIBUTE REAP CORTES

"Don't look 'em in the eye, darlin'."

http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/fn-latino/news/0/0/elian%20gonzalez.jpg

Featured in: Death of Korzan's Hunger Games - original (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=45853), revamp (pending)

As an engineer, I love building things. RPs which offer "create-your-own" construction options therefore tend to catch my eye. I was very disappointed that Falling Skies (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=63418) folded before I could submit my idea for an AEWAC mobile suit, even though I usually have no interest in mecha stories. Perhaps it was a similar "create-your-own" skills template that drew me towards another franchise that I had never particularly thought about: The Hunger Games. This one was actually a double-whammy, as I don't often join explicitly player vs player RPs either - they can get VERY messy and argumentative - but in this case I knew the GM and trusted him to be able to pull it off (and a skill set to arbitrate the PVP element seemed like a promising start).

I had a pretty clear idea of the sort of character I wanted to create for this one. Having attempted a few "grey" characters who always seemed to diffuse towards the nicer end of the scale (they were never dicks to random strangers, for example) I wanted to create a character who was genuinely a bit of an abrasive jerk. Of course, I wanted to keep this within the bounds of relatability; someone whose motives would still make sense to the reader. I envisioned someone a bit selfish, relentlessly practical and determined to do what it takes to survive - the sort of person that the hard world of the Hunger Games universe might create, and someone who might realistically stand a chance if thrown into a fight-to-the-death scenario. The minutiae of his personality - his stubborn pride, his wariness of strangers, his hatred of defeatism and his ugly smile - fell into place with surprising ease after that. I also had a clear idea of what I wanted his skill-set to be: a bow seemed like a good investment when most people would be limited to hand-to-hand, so most of his points went into unlocking this weapon and giving him enough speed to keep people at range, with the rest scattered around general survival skills. A bit of poacher backstory to justify his skill-set, and a name that fitted District 11's running agricultural theme, and Reap was good to go. (It was only some time after I made the character that I realised that my abrasive, survivalist, bow-armed poacher bore an embarrassing resemblance to the original Katniss. Hopefully my explanation above gives me something resembling a get-out clause.)

I've had a bit of fun bouncing Reap off DoK's colourful NPCs (including my attempt at interpreting the canon characters Chaff and Seeder), but Reap's main interactions so far have been with his chatty, sensitive fellow tribute Thames. I don't know if the GM crafted her before or after I submitted Reap, but happy coincidence or not, writing her scenes with Reap is both difficult and awesome. Awesome because they are such great contrasts. Difficult because Thames is so relentlessly sweet, and I have to consciously suppress my own reactions to her in favour of Reap's. Watching him brush her off when she's obviously looking to him for support is like watching someone kicking a puppy. On the other hand, given that I'm trying to write Reap as practical and stranger-wary rather than an outright dick, he has moments of empathy for her and so chances are high that he'll thaw out at some point. Without wanting to metagame, it would certainly be in his interests so do so because she's probably the game's best potential medic.

At present, like most normal human beings, Reap doesn't feel like he has it in him to kill anybody. No doubt, if he lives long enough, he will find out how shockingly easy it actually is. I am going to leave it up to future events to decide how he reacts to that, as I suspect that a lot of it will depend on the circumstances and the allies (if any) he has around him at the time.

Trivia: My original thought for the character's name was "Reaper", but I shortened it to stop him from sounding implausibly badass. Not that Reap himself won't probably take advantage of the similarity to garner some fan support.

Name: Reap Cortes
Age: 17
Gender: Male
District: 11

Description: Reap is of latino stock, with roughly-cut black hair, deep olive skin and brown eyes underneath thick eyebrows. He tries to stay cleanshaven - more out of annoyance than anything, because his facial hair tends to come through patchy and wispy. He is not tall, a poorly-balanced childhood diet having stunted his growth somewhat, but he is noticeably muscular. His back and shoulders are a mess of criss-crossing scar tissue.

Background: Reap grew up in a shanty town near the border of Districts 11 and 10, and like the rest of his family he did what he could to get by on the plantations. The Games is as good as a death sentence to District 11's malnourished, uneducated workers, and so Reap's parents refused to let him and his younger siblings accept the Tesserae. Instead they resorted to stealing from the rich crop plantations. Reap was caught twice by the overseers, and publically flogged. While Reap's mother attempted to grow vegetables on the small plot of common land given to the workers, his father used the communal rest days to sneak across the border into District 10 and poach sheep and other livestock. He started to take Reap with him after he turned 15. It was dangerous work but Reap became quite good at it, learning to shoot using his father's bow. One month ago Reap's father broke his leg falling from an orchard ladder, and so Reap had to take up the duty alone. On his last foray however his luck ran out, and he was caught on his way back by the overseers. His repeat offences - now combined with violating the District borders - would have added up to a death penalty, but with the Games approaching the Peacekeepers had a better idea. Reap was given an unenviable choice: execution, or volunteering as Tribute.

Strength: 4 - from outdoor labouring, and with arm and back musculature built up over time through archery.

Agility: 5 - he is a decent shot with his bow, and a lifetime of sneaking around trying to steal things have made sure that his reflexes are good.

Intelligence: 1 - being from District 11, he received almost no formal education, and doesn't have the scientific grounding to quickly understand unfamiliar items.

Tracking: 3 - learned from his dad.

Climbing: 0 - no real experience; there wasn't much opportunity for rock-climbing in his farmland home, and poachers don't generally operate in trees.

Building: 0 - the deep south being quite warm in summer, he normally just made do with sleeping rough when out poaching.

Cardio: 4 - he is necessarily quite fit, for both his normal work and his less legal activities.

Vigilance: 3 - he learned very quickly that a poacher needs to be both quiet and alert to danger.

Survival Skills: 3 - working on (and stealing from) agricultural land ha given him a fair idea of what's edible and what's not; he also knows how to safely deal with pests such as the Tracker Jackers which are common in District 11.

Conditioning: 0 - although he is familiar with hunger, his active lifestyle and high teenage metabolism don't optimise him for going for long periods without food.

Resistance: 0 - stolen food has stopped him from becoming malnourished or sickly, but that hardly means he's immune to disease and poison.

Crafting: 2 - he has improvised a few basic tools before on his poaching trips.
Weapons Experience: Hunting knife (though as more of a utility tool than a weapon), bow.

[Azazeal849]

Dropped off the front page? I must try harder. By the way, if anyone has specific requests just let me know.

LORD ABHINAV KOL

"I think I may have a solution, lord governor..."

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/f3/44/b9/f344b9f97e87d962869b525f86eba28c.jpg

Featured in: The Hands We're Dealt (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=68885)

As I mentioned above, I do love the odd construction-based RP, and Jarms' Civilisation-style game Hands captured my interest, particularly after learning that we would have to scheme and negotiate to agree on the way forward. Now I (and apparently most of the other players too) realised fairly quickly that meta-gaming to an agreement with the best possible options would be efficient but not particularly interesting, and so I created Kol with this in mind. The "disdainful of military types and does not understand warfare" part of his personality was designed specifically to generate conflict with one of the other characters, but after this proved relatively unproductive (a war hasn't turned up...yet) I decided to focus instead on his motivation for power as the scion of an established trader house. Thus Kol the competent but specialised agri minister began to morph into Kol the self-serving opportunist, which hopefully makes sense IC for a politician steadily growing more cocksure and ambitious as his influence in the government grows.

I decided to be a dick and have Kol as often as possible suggest sound and logical plans, but at every turn drive home in the supplementary text that he was doing so mainly for his own gain, or to protect his own image. The fact that I had decided earlier on to play Kol with an unfailingly polite, affable attitude (of questionable veracity) dovetailed with this nicely, turning him into the quintessential smiling assassin. I hoped that this would cause some characters to either shy away from the soundest plans (making the choices of the game harder or more interesting) or else generate resentment at playing into Kol's hands (which might lead to interesting conflict later on).

On the other hand, one or two of the more realpolitik-minded characters actually saw Kol as a useful ally, albeit an unsavoury one. This was probably because I didn't want to play Kol as an overt bastard, and so I was careful to make sure that he followed through with his promises and supported his ally's goals - provided he could gain something by doing so. Kol could be quite despicable enough as a ruthless businessman without being a backstabbing stock villain. In this he probably falls somewhere between two of my other shady characters: the reliable if self-interested senator Agrippa (from Eternum), and the completely ruthless prick Xenakis (from Business Is War).

I do take an interest in real-world politics (which have come up several times in the Hands OOC, in fact), and although Kol embodies a lot of the things I hate about the business - blatant spindoctoring, undue corporate influence - I can't deny that he has been fun to write.

Trivia: He is, of course, named after the Kol class battleship from Sins of a Solar Empire. See how many other Sins references you can find in my RPs - particularly The Lesser Evil and Dakkagor's Wreckage.

Name: Abhinav Kol
Age: 48 (a vain man, he has been receiving juvenat treatment since 25)
Sex: Male
Role: Minister of Agriculture

Background: The son of an inter-sector agri trader heavily involved in the development of new colonies, it was mostly his mother's influence that got him the job in the Sarus ministry. Still, he at least seems to have picked up a certain knowledge of the agri industry, planetary development and fostering co-operation from locals. He gained some recognition in the council for his early work, and quickly leveraged this influence to reveal an ambitious opportunism. His family business has provided a useful offworld trade contact, though his fellow councillors would be right to suspect that a certain conflict of interest is involved. Every policy he draws up to benefit Sarus also seems to benefit himself in some way.

Kol is a master of PR and has a talent for improvisation, and seeks to set himself up as a friend and mediator to as many powerful groups as possible - the people of Sarus, and potentially beneficial government institutions such as the trade ministry, the Imperial Church and the adeptus mechanicus. While a competent political animal, Kol has disdain for military types, and an unwillingness to learn otherwise makes him somewhat naive about military matters.

Chartered trader Sanvi Kol: The minister's cousin, captain of the bulk trader Numenia. Kol admired her as a shrewd businesswoman. She was presumed dead, along with the rest of the Numenia's crew, when the Sarusian trade fleet disappeared in the warp, one year prior to the Ork-Sarus war.

Forewoman Anastasia Valk: Overseer of the Denarii Forest Garden project and one of Kol's staunchest supporters among the Sarus agri sector's upper class. Kol attempted to have her elected planetary labour representative, but she narrowly lost to Reynard Giacomenni. An ivory-skinned, dagger-eyed woman with a tendency towards hot-headedness.

Lex Adept Anisha Kumar: One of Kol's premier council assistants, an expert in trade legislation as well as local Sarusian law. A gracefully aged woman with deep brown skin and wire-frame spectacles.

Savant Mandira Singh: A chipper young woman who has been augmented to serve as Kol's accountant and budget planner. Tan-skinned and shaven-headed, with a collection of winking interface cables trailing from her scalp.

Procurator Julius Ramzan: Another of Kol's aides; a pale, bearded young man with a sober demeanour who manages forward planning for the Sarusian agri sector.

Lady Avani Kol: Abhinav's older sister of two years, who headed the Kols' news distribution enterprises before handing over the directorship in 608.M41, so as to handle a new client's business contacts in the Ixaniad sector. A small but formidable woman, she is of the opinion that Abhinav wasted his time on Sarus courting the wrong people. Her son Jagdesh works as head political correspondent on Tephaine, the capital of the Adrantis subsector.


[*Adeptus Administratum;*]
[*Planetary Request; Sarus*]
[*Segmentum Request; Tempestus*]
[*Planetary Classification; Civilized*]
[*Filter Request; "Kol"*]

... Loading Adeptus Administratum Request.
... Loading
... Loading


+++ Political Analysis: House Kol in the First Decade after the Ork-Sarus War +++
+++ Opening Extract +++

Lord Kol's easy acquiescence to allowing supposed rivals to sit on the board of the new planetary information network began to make sense shortly after the war. With the Sarusian rep and pontifex Tarpeian's own delegate constantly at loggerheads as to how a particular story should be framed, the planetwide broadcasts were invariably hours behind the transmissions of local KNN outlets, which inevitably followed Kol's own preferred line. A notable exception was that the network did, as promised, run many stories focussing on the importance of psykers to the imperium, which went some way to ameliorating the backlash against the imperial psyker tithe despite Lord Kol's own noted antipathy towards psykers.

Starting a year after the war, KNN began subtle but sustained attacks on archbishop Tarpeian, possibly instigated by the leaking of plans for the church to lobby to take control of the Denarii Forest Garden.

Lord Kol's influence on the council appeared to suffer with the unexpected resignation of governor Musonius, who had been Kol's only consistent backer among the ruling council. The new centre-right governor was notably less well disposed to Kol's populist welfare projects, and stymied Kol's attempt to monopolise the aid and reconstruction operations on Sarus' war-damaged south eastern continent. The agri minister also suffered a setback during the row over servitorisation of the planet's mining sector. After the bill was passed despite his opposition, his bid to offer retraining and relocation of the displaced Sarusian miners by expanding the fishery sector was outflanked by calls for a general ban on servitors - led by Kol's old nemesis Union Rep Giacomenni and by industry minister Kosa Toi, whom Kol had long ago dismissed as a serious political opponent. Governor Johannes Alaricus quickly supported the move.

Perhaps the most damning evidence of the decline of Kol's influence was that he was not chosen to assist in the negotiations with the imperial fleet, despite his noted prior role as a council mediator. For the foreseeable future, the influence of Kol Industries on Sarus was confined to the agri sector and to various charity and infrastructure projects. Kol appears to have contented himself with a smaller but steadier flow of profits, and with the fact that archbishop Tarpeian's deselection removed a significant personal thorn from his side.


+++ Extract ends +++

[dakkagor]

Man, I was gutted when Falling skies folded. I was going full Macross and the thing just died without going anywhere.

How has the Hands we're dealt been going? For a game in the Sci-fi forum it seems like its going to go the distance!

[Azazeal849]

Man, I was gutted when Falling skies folded. I was going full Macross and the thing just died without going anywhere.

Start your own, I still have that AEWAC template! And while I'm making unreasonable demands, reboot Wreckage (in the Mature section) as well. :P


How has the Hands we're dealt been going? For a game in the Sci-fi forum it seems like its going to go the distance!

It's going alright for now, but there's a real chance that Orks will roll into the system in a couple of turns and end everything very quickly.

[Waarnemen]

Azazeal, your characters are so realistic... how do you do it?

[Azazeal849]

Thanks, lady S. :>

I couldn't really give you a definitive answer, I'm afraid. Some of my characters use people I know or have read about as guidelines, some of them I've fleshed out by assigning them a Myers-Briggs personality type and then looking into the other traits that usually go with it, and some I've just tried to stay true to a few "core" traits to make it easier to decide how they (rather than I!) would react to a given situation. Stupid little quirks that don't (usually) add to the story but serve to humanise the character can help too, like a relatable hobby or a recognisable physical tic - usually drawn from somebody I know in real life.

Occasionally, my fellow RPers help me figure it out - for example, PaintSerf seems to know Alia Machairi better than I do.

[Azazeal849]

ENGINEER VESPA TEHRANI

"Does a history book instil the same conviction as feeling what our predecessors went through? Humanity's been at war with itself for a long time since it started recording history."

https://78.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_luj1bxDfvR1qk9q2ho1_500.jpg

Featured in: Wreckage (www.role-player.nt/forum/showthread.php?=59093) (retconned), Wreckage (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=77360)(reboot)

As I have mentioned in a couple of other entries, I'm a fan of the Sins of a Solar Empire franchise, and one of its three races in particular: the Advent. For the uninitiated, the Advent were a pacifist human sect that developed psychic powers through genetic/cybernetic enhancement, the primary use of which was to link all their acolytes together into a single consciousness called "the Unity". The galactic government of the day didn't like this (for unspecified ideological reasons) and banished them. Unfortunately a hive mind has a long memory, and 1000 years later, the exiles returned on a murderous crusade against their former oppressors (though some have since begun to repent). Interestingly, they are not a "hive mind" in the classic sense since their collective is distinctly subdivided into various factions, and even individual members seem to retain enough individuality to talk about themselves in the first person.

I've had an idea for an Advent character bouncing around my head for a while, and I'll freely admit that my initial pitch for Dakkagor's Wreckage was essentially this with the serial numbers filed off. It was more the Advent's intriguing society I wanted to explore rather than their vengeful crusade, and so I set myself to picturing what they might have been like in their pre-exile days. Another major influence on creating Vespa's character came from this essay (https://www.aleph.se/Trans/Global/Posthumanity/WeBorg.html), which discusses how a hive mind might operate in practice (and, interestingly, that it need not necessarily lead to destructive group-think).

Eventually, Vespa morphed into an exploration of a potential post-human society and how it would affect people, with a potential dose of commentary on today's information- and internet-culture thrown in. The main thrust of this exploration was the idea that people could connect with each other at all times, but by the same token also have essentially unlimited access to what other people were doing. This violates all sorts of human instincts towards privacy (www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/apr/08/dick-pic-government-privacy-surveillance-gchq) (and this is indeed one of the first discussions that is had with an uninitiated character in the original RP), but the interesting thought remains that it would be essentially impossible to commit any sort of crime under such a system. Even abuse of the open access might be somewhat mitigated - it is, after all, a lot harder to snoop on someone getting dressed if their partner or parents are also watching you.

I'll put my hands up right now and say that such a society would almost certainly never work in real life. The "total freedom of information" part would likely get quietly dropped some time after the "total surveillance" came into effect, much as real-life attempts at communism have always got lost somewhere between "total government control" and "fair distribution of the now government-controlled resources". I also wouldn't put it past some clever hackers to be able to mask their presence in the collective, thus defeating the "community watch" effect. Still, it's interesting to imagine how someone with no concept of privacy, who is used to simply sensing someone's emotions rather than asking about them, and has a very weird concept of death, would interact with "normal" people.

Vespa's character arc was still very much in its infancy at the time the original Wreckage folded, and so now that Dakkagor is rebooting it I have taken the opportunity to modify her a little. This was partially to make her a better fit for the revised universe, but also because I noticed that previously I had been focusing on the Harmony as a society more than Vespa as a person. Part of a hive mind she might be, but I thought that she would benefit from a less vague personality and backstory. The change in her appearance was incidental, since I was browsing around for more "realistic" shipwear, but I don't mind because this thread could probably do with more actors of colour anyway.

Trivia: Vespa's first name comes, of course, from the Sins ship class of the same name (Advent Rebels for the win!), although her surname is that of one of my work colleagues.


https://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I00003L6uxP9nbRQ/s/860/860/Penny-Arcade-Expo045.jpg

Name: Vespa Tehrani

Age: 34

Race: Human, born on the planet Senar. Member of the Voice of Senar cult and its highly spiritualised hive mind, 'the Harmony'.

Appearance: Vespa is of average height and build, with a sandy complexion and wispy, mousy brown hair that she wears short for work purposes. She has a nubian nose and thin lips, though her eye colour is not natural due to a pair of sight-enhancing implants that have replaced the original lenses of both eyes. Such occular implants are extremely common on Senar and have the side effect of colouring the user's irises a milky silver-blue...which doesn't help Vespa's rather odd demeanour one bit.

The traditional dress for members of the Voice of Senar is their distinctive white and blue robes. Obviously this is not always practical on a starship, and the crew of the Chiaroscuro are more likely to see her in a simple engineer's jumpsuit or else her sealed hazardous environment suit.

Job Description: Drone controller (although she prefers the more floral Senar title, 'animus'). She remotely operates a team of salvage androids in environments which are too extreme or too dangerous to send human operators.

Education: Vespa is a qualified animus of the Voice of Senar's kine guild.

Prior Experience: She has eight years experience in repairing and directing drones in mining operations on Senar's mineral-rich moons. Currently, she is qualified to operate up to four drones at once.

Personality: Serene, spiritual, and has an unfortunate tendency to stare due to her mind often operating on two planes at once. Vespa is quite talkative and is happy to discuss work and her philosophical views with the rest of the crew, although her use of “we” as a personal pronoun can take a bit of getting used to. When she is alone ('alone' being a relative term for a member of a hive mind) she likes to pass time by stargazing.

Background: Of the various groups that retreated to the fringe worlds seeking spiritual escape after the Triple Alliance War, the Voice of Senar (hailing from the planet of the same name) is probably one of the strangest. Believing that all conflict stemmed from disunity, they sought to merge their acolytes in a single gestalt consciousness which they called 'the Harmony'. This was achieved by integrating each citizen with a cortical implant, each of which was in turn connected to a vast data transfer network. This artificial hive mind allows the members of the Harmony to share their thoughts, feelings and experiences on an almost innate level. As the Voice of Senar began to spread out across space, a series of hyperwave transmitters allowed the members of the Harmony to hear each other even over light years of distance. While undoubtedly advantageous in terms of empathy and information exchange, the Harmony gives its members some unusual outlooks on personal identity, privacy and even death - which outsiders find weird if not outright disturbing.

With every citizen of Senar receiving a cortical implant at a young age, the members of the Harmony have little reservation about fitting their bodies with further implants to assist in their work and their day to day lives. Not surprisingly, many outsiders find this practice strange, or even repulsive, adding to the Voice of Senar's mixed reputation.

Strange though they are, no-one could argue that the Voice of Senar aren't productive members of the Terran Alliance. Because of their emphasis on integrating the bionic with the organic, the Voice of Senar also produce some of the most advanced robots in the Alliance. Many of these are operated by specialists known as anima, who direct the androids as if they were extensions of their own bodies. Their ability to multiply labour by controlling several drones at once (easy for someone who has been sharing and partitioning their mind for most of their life anyway) is their unique selling point in a market of historically unpopular AIs and more limited non-sentient robots.

Because of Senar's rather esoteric technology, the qualifications of their kine guild were only officially recognised by the Athenian IRE (Institute of Robotics Engineers) two years ago. However, it wasn't long after that before an influx of Senar anima and other technical specialists entered the market as they sought out lucrative employment opportunities for their skills (and, inevitably, a chance to spread the ideals of the Harmony across the wider Terran Alliance). Vespa is one such specialist, who until recently was working on reconstruction work on the glassworld of Haber VI. When a job opening was announced on the salvage vessel Chiaroscuro, the group of anima working on Haber put forward Vespa as one of their more experienced engineers. The offer of a Senar drone squad - with a dedicated handler and maintainer - was a welcome opportunity to reduce the risks (and costs) of a generally dirty and dangerous operation, and Vespa secured the job despite seriously weirding out her interviewers.

Personal Equipment: Vespa brought a team of six androids with her to the Chiaroscuro, as well as all the equipment and tools she needs to service them. Her hazardous environment suit includes a hyperwave transmitter in the helmet, which allows her direct control over her drones.

Nestled unobtrusively inside Vespa's skull is the cortical implant that all members of the Harmony use. She also has a pair of implants in her eyes which provide image enhancement in poor visibility, as well as limited mechanical interfacing (though generally only with Senar tech which is designed to receive it).

https://media.moddb.com/images/downloads/1/66/65164/sins_of_solar_empire_rebellion_p.jpg


https://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/8200000/Kandyse-McClure-BSG-Screencaps-kandyse-mcclure-8203827-1024-576.jpg

Name: Vespa Tehrani

Age: 34

Race: Human. 8th generation member of the Harmony Project, now known simply as 'the Harmony'.

Appearance: Vespa is of average height and build, with a nut-brown complexion and wavy black hair that she wears long to soften her strong jaw, although she usually ties it back for work purposes. She has a nubian nose and amber eyes. The crew of the Jackal are most likely to see her in a simple engineer's jumpsuit, or else her sealed hazardous environment suit.

Job Description: Engineer (drone controller). She remotely operates a team of salvage androids (either from the ground or from orbit) in environments which are too extreme or too dangerous to send human crewmembers.

Education: Vespa originally wanted to study robotics at an offworld university, but lost out on a Harmony scholarship to a more promising candidate. She graduated from Senar university as a qualified drone controller, and has since passed UN courses in sphere trade language, hazardous environment training and orbital training.

Prior Experience: She has seven years experience in planetside ops, repairing and directing drones in mining operations, and one in orbital working aboard the Jackal. Currently, she is qualified to operate up to four drones at once.

Personality: Though Vespa was introverted as a child, you wouldn't know it now; she is quite talkative and is happy to discuss work and her philosophical views with the rest of the crew, occasionally bordering on being a bit of a missionary. She can also get overly defensive if the Harmony is criticised (an especial pet peeve is being compared to the Seph), though other members of the Harmony tend to step in and mitigate these faults. She loves tinkering with things, either to fix them or simply to find out how they work, and her ambition is to have her name on some big archeotech find from the dead worlds. Because the Harmony internalises a lot of verbal and emotional communication, Vespa doesn't outwardly emote much (often having to consciously "hitch up" smiles and the like for the benefit of outsiders) and conversely can get quite frustrated at her hit-and-miss ability to read people (something that the rest of the Harmony are rarely any help with either). When she is alone - 'alone' being a relative term for a member of a hive mind - she likes to pass time by stargazing or messing around in the Jackal's workshops.

Personal Equipment: Vespa maintains a team of six androids aboard the Jackal (four active, two replacement), as well as all the equipment and tools she needs to service them. Her hazardous environment suit includes a hyperwave transmitter in the helmet, which allows her direct control over her drones.

Nestled unobtrusively inside Vespa's skull is the cortical implant that all members of the Harmony use. She also has a pair of eye implants replacing the natural lenses of her eyes, the primary purpose of which is to display data from the Harmony. They also provide image enhancement in poor visibility as well as limited mechanical interfacing (though generally only with tech which is designed to receive it).

While the Seph are indifferent to humanity at best, and many humans in turn regard the Seph with fear, this attitude is not universal. A cabal of scientists in the border worlds became fascinated by the Seph's hive mind, and sought to emulate their radio-based telepathy. Bringing together a loose collection of like-minded volunteers, they eventually succeeded in integrating each citizen with a cortical implant, each of which was in turn connected to a vast data transfer network. This ten year endeavour was originally known as the Harmony Project, although over time it came to be known simply as the Harmony. In creating a true Seph analogue it was unsuccessful - computing limitations capped the number of minds that could access the network at several hundred, although the test subjects still viewed the instant sharing of information and empathic signals as an almost transcendent experience. The artificial network was not a hive mind in the traditional sense, as (so far) its members retain their distinct personalities, although said personalities are inevitably somewhat altered by being able to share their thoughts, feelings and experiences on an almost innate level.

Though the project itself was a failure, the hive mind endured at the wishes of the test subjects. The number of minds supported by the network has been steadily increased down the generations, now standing at several thousand, and a large amount of the Harmony's collective brain-power is geared towards improving their network to support yet more acolytes.

While undoubtedly advantageous in terms of empathy and information exchange, the Harmony gives its members some unusual outlooks on personal identity, privacy and even death - and outsiders often find this aping of the Seph Reaching (down to the adoption of "we" as a personal pronoun) weird if not outright disturbing. The Harmony has an uneasy public image, especially with followers of the view that attempted transhumanism was the bane of all the dead civilisations, or with people who distrust anything associated with the Seph in general.

One of the Harmony's more controversial practices is the induction of most of its members at a young age (typically 7 or 8 Earth years for the children of existing acolytes) in order for them to learn to cope with the hive mind and utilise it to its full potential. With every member receiving a cortical implant during childhood, the Harmony have little reservation about fitting their bodies with further implants to assist in their work and their day to day lives (eye implants being the most common).

The mental changes wrought by the Harmony do result in several unexpected upsides. For example, Harmony members frequently use their implants to remotely link with robots or other technology - much as a re-sleeved human "wears" an android - though a natural aptitude for sharing and partitioning their minds allows Harmony acolytes to direct several androids simultaneously and independently. Their ability to multiply labour by controlling several drones at once, and as precisely as if they were extensions of their own bodies, has allowed the Harmony's technical specialists to find lucrative employment across the Terran sphere. Vespa is one such specialist, and works as a dedicated handler and maintainer aboard the Jackal, allowing its crew to reduce the risks of its generally dirty and dangerous planetside operations.

[dakkagor]

One day I will reboot Wreckage. A black day, when the courage of man breaks and wolves howl at the gates.

But that day IS NOT TODAY.

Might be later this year though.

[Azazeal849]

THE INQUISITION

A trio of short profiles today, since none of them are traditional PCs, but two of them have received almost enough screen time to qualify as such.

"Lone wolves get killed, agent Sonder. Pure and simple."

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/dcmovies/images/e/e4/Temuera_Morrison.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100315181606

Featured in: The Replicants (url=https://www.role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=57718), The Prophet In Silver (https://www.role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=57718)

The above list of RPs is a bit deceptive, since the real Javid Schafer barely featured in the one, and not at all in the other. The alien clone wearing his face however was a perfect match for his personality and mannerisms, so in a way the difference is immaterial. When I was brainstorming Javid (and his arch-rival Alia, who didn't appear onscreen until later) I tried to think about the kind of people that the inquisition would select for leadership. Well, leaders obviously - but then there are several ways to lead, and I deliberately crafted Javid and Alia to embody different philosophies on the subject.

Javid is the no-nonsense taskmaster who leads by example and doesn't spare the feelings of others when they make a mistake or get in his way. There are however hints scattered throughout Replicants that he reserves the majority of his ire for the newbies, mostly to make sure that they don't pick up bad habits, and gives his agents a bit more leeway once they've proved that they know the ropes. This can be seen most obviously in the slightly more relaxed way he interacts with Clement and Sapphira in Replicants. He also isn't without a certain caustic humour, which I enjoyed bringing out on occasion - not to mention an underhanded reference to Monty Python's famous "no-one expects" joke.

One mistake I feel I made with Schafer was that he and Alia never managed to meet onscreen in my RPs. While of course two people who are used to being the sole one in charge are bound to clash, and a blazing row between them would have been a sight to behold, it also limited my ability to contrast the two. You can, however, hopefully pick up something from the way they act when the other comes up in conversation (though of course their opinions of each other are flagrantly biased!).

Trivia: I chose his surname because he is a "shaper" according to the Belbin team roles - the authoritative leader who makes sure that things get done.

"Going somewhere, heretic?"

https://image.xyface.com/image/d/artist-daniela-amavia/daniela-amavia-310824.jpg

Featured in: The Prophet In Silver (https://www.role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=57718), Penitence (https://www.role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=74089)

Alia is the flipside of Javid's very direct, stern leadership, basing her command style more on charisma and clever diplomacy. She inspires loyalty in her agents by investing personal time in them. I find her a rather complicated character because there is an element of deception to this - she is genuinely personable, but isn't above using it to manipulate people, and she doesn't react well when her authority is challenged. She also considers the key ability of an inquisitor to be able to essentially switch off empathy.

Small wonder then that the straight-talking Javid's first IC opinion of her is "a two-faced bitch". All the same, I enjoy writing this character and I don't think of her as sociopathic. It is clear from certain scenes in Prophet that she does genuinely care about her people and the decisions she has to make. It is just that the duty always comes first. In this, she is perfect inquisitor material, although I could personally never make the calls that she does. But then, to quote Alia herself, that is why most people will never be inquisitors.

I also enjoy Alia's interactions with her subordinates, including her close friend and bodyguard Tomas, and the ever-reliable confessor Solvan who is anxious to remind her that even aspiring inquisitors need advice. Perhaps the most interesting is her unusually candid talks with the blank Martin Crenshaw (the closest thing she has to an equal in her RPs) about the state of the imperium. All of these give the reader little snapshots into a woman who doesn't normally make a habit of sharing her private thoughts and feelings.

Trivia: Alia's surname is taken from the Greek word for "knife" (although in Alia's case I always imagine it pronounced "Ma-KYE-ree"), making her a fairly obvious homage to the Dune character. This is carried forward to her physical appearance, which I based upon her actress in the Sci Fi channel miniseries (if you get the chance, watch both trilogies - I highly recommend them). All I need to do now is get her declared a saint...

"I trust the Tarot. I don't trust the psyker reading it."

https://media.melty.fr/article-1890619-ajust_930-f1384180082/stephen-dillane.jpg

Featured in: Penitence (https://www.role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=74089), Shades of Grey (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=80860&p=2766847#post2766847)

This is a character that's been going around in my head in various permutations for a while now, even though all of the RPs I plan to feature him in will essentially be cameo roles. His original incarnation (for a story that never made it out of my head) was quietly pious and quite personable, but when I eventually assigned those traits to Kimmie Raeden (www.role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=3&p=1781527&viewfull=1#post1781527) instead, he morphed into someone much colder and more mysterious.

I forget the exact topic we were discussing, but in a thread on Warseer another poster brought up the idea of an inquisitor replacing his eyes with those of an executed heretic, so that he could "see the world from a sinner's point of view" and thus better pick out his targets. It was just insane enough to be right at home in 40K, and while it was a bit too insane to outright confirm one way or another, I thought it was exactly the kind of rumour that might spring up around a man who works a sinister job, doesn't let on much about himself, and doesn't pay much attention to what other people say about him. In a similar vein, I genuinely haven't decided at this point if Feyd is a psyker or not. All we know is that he doesn't like blanks, and is extremely good at knowing when people are lying.

The one thing I was sure of about Feyd was that he would be scrupulously fair despite his dark reputation, and this will come to light in both Penitence and Shades of Grey.

Trivia: The fact that he has turned out almost like Stannis Baratheon in space is perhaps more PaintSerf's doing than mine (he has a wonderful ability to extrapolate my characters beyond the basic traits I had originally planned for them) although I will admit that Stannis is one of my favourite ASoIaF characters and had some influence on Feyd's eventual incarnation. Not to mention his physical appearance being taken straight from the TV version of the character.

[Azazeal849]

RHISIART CORBYN

"If only my little sister had had the courtesy to die."

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/5f/3a/a9/5f3aa9c8949c80b1f30e70739cb27116.jpg

Featured in: War of Succession (www.role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=74768), A Bridge of Tears (pending)

Believe it or not, this guy started out as an Ork. It began when Hoef had asked my advice on some rules he was drawing up for a new 40K RP which featured the Orks. During the process I briefly considered joining, even though I had never particularly felt the inclination to write an Ork character before. I had never really seen much scope in their "War! War! War!" mindset, nor in their occasional niche as comic relief, but it suddenly occurred to me how downright frightening it would be to write about someone who literally didn't understand how the human mind worked, and didn't see how anyone couldn't thoroughly enjoy warfare. I had an image of the Ork boss conducting an experiment on captured humans, where he observes a couple's reaction to him ripping their child out of their arms, and although he simply doesn't understand why they would attach any importance to something smaller than them (Orks only show deference to those bigger than themselves), he draws the conclusion that he can lure human troops out of their positions by attacking civilian towns.

I eventually decided against pursuing the idea (mainly because I found the final ruleset for the RP a little too complicated), but then while I was still musing about sociopathy I came across Emperor Tiberiu's sparsely-detailed but potentially interesting low fantasy story Wars of Succession, that my fellow writer DoK was already signed up to. I messaged Tiber and he very kindly opened up an extra space for me. Thus I took the basic idea of a frighteningly amoral creature and toned it down into something a bit more relatable - an aggressive young man with severe entitlement issues. Enter Rhisiart.

I made Rhisiart's mercenaries an archer company, because I wanted to write about the medieval longbowmen made famous by battles such as Halidon Hill, Crecy and Agincourt, although I am aware that they weren't quite the godlike armour-piercing weapons that they are sometimes portrayed as. I am also aware that it was actually the Welsh, not the English, who first invented and mastered the war bow, and I have attempted to pay homage to this in the Welsh names and syntax of the characters (Rhisiart - pronounced RHISH-art - is of course the Welsh form of Richard). I had fun coming up with some larger-than-life secondary characters to act as foils to Rhisiart's constant sneering and brooding, and I also thought it was important to contrast how he sees himself (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y-J7sBT_no) when he's the POV character with how he actually appears (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njGeGBBa1XA) to an objective observer.

As the title of the RP suggests, there were several potential factions for Rhisiart to fight for. I aligned him with lord Madlynvr (for the sake of reader sanity, it's pronounced MALLY-nor), who was the son of an impoverished noble looking to elevate himself and other members of the local middle class. This sounded to me like a goal that would appeal to an ambitious mercenary with an inferiority complex - though being the massive cynic that he is, Rhisiart doesn't believe Madlynvr's populist words for a moment and assumes that he's really just manipulating people for his own gain. I have been told by the GM whether his assessment of his lord is accurate or not, but I won't spoiler it here.

Not long after beginning Rhisiart's arc, I felt that I needed to tell the other side of his story as well, and so I started fleshing out his luckless half-sister Lowri (which, after the Welsh fashion, is pronounced LOH-ree). I have attached her profile below Rhisiart's.

Trivia: Yes, that is Anguy the Archer from Game of Thrones. Or at least it was before I aged him down for A Bridge of Tears.

Name: Rhisiart Corbyn ("Sir" Rhisiart Corbyn to anyone who will listen)

Age: 27

Faction: Mercenary, currently fights for lord Madlynvr

Appearance: An unremarkable young man, with roughly-chopped brown hair and an overlong nose, though there is something confident (or perhaps arrogant) in his thin face. He has an appraising gaze and a phlegmatic manner...most of the time.

Armour: A simple brigandine and open helmet (of worn but good-quality steel)

Weapons: War bow, buckler. Has proficiency with a short sword, but prefers the maul.

Equipment: Horse (rouncey), dagger, waterproof arrow bag, dark green waterproof cloak, various non-combat equipment stowed in the company baggage

Backstory: Rhisiart (pronounced RHISH-art) is not a knight, and technically he's not even a Corbyn - having been illegitimately fathered on a favoured serving girl not long before sir Dylan Corbyn's official marriage to Seren Wrexham. His father allowed him to grow up in the Corbyn castle at Ruthin (on the border of the lands now claimed by prince Esdori and lord Madwynvr) and train with his master at arms. He even put Rhisiart in charge of training the House's archers at 18, which most would have considered generous, though Rhisiart was still resentful of the lack of respect and privilege archers commanded compared to knights. He was even more resentful of his younger trueborn siblings, only one of which survived infancy. When lady Seren died suddenly, leaving her sickly teenage daughter Lowri as the only heir to House Corbyn, Rhisiart confronted his father. An argument ensued which led sir Dylan to send Rhisiart and his archers to garrison nearby Holytown, as much to send him away as to give him a command.

This proved to be a mistake; after sir Dylan was set upon and killed by bandits on the road to Longdale, Rhisiart promptly took most of his father's bowmen (who by now had more loyalty to him than to his half-sister) and rode east to find his own fortune. Casting aside the raven-on-silver insignia of House Corbyn, they found themselves new raincloaks in Holytown, and green happened to be cheapest. Styling themselves the Green Company after their new cloaks, they enjoyed moderate success fighting orc raiders in the far east and, after the death of king Friav, in helping petty lords settle old grudges. Now comprising a number of men-at-arms as well as their core bowmen, Rhisiart's company of 100 have recently enlisted with lord Madlynvr, who Rhisiart is told plans to upset the old nobility and put his own supporters into power. Rhisiart had always had a vague dream of returning to Ruthin and claiming his father's seat for himself - it would be interesting to have the chance to make that dream a reality.

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/6a/ea/91/6aea9165edabe2c5fd36e96531e39939.jpg

Name: Lowri Corbyn

Titles: Lady Corbyn; Warden of Ruthin

Sigil: Black raven on a silver field

Age: 19

Faction: Prince Esdori

Appearance: Lowri (pronounced LOH-ree) has her father's long nose and her mother's brown hair. Her eyes are blue beneath thin, gull-wing eyebrows, and her face is soft-featured, although her skin is sickly pale from seldom seeing the sun. Her mother always said that she was pretty when she made the effort, but finding the energy to make that effort is something of a challenge for her. She stands tall for a woman, but there is little meat on her thin frame.

Weapons: N/A, though she generally travels with Corbyn family guards equipped with helmets, breastplates and either spears or swords.

Backstory: Rhisiart's younger half-sister by 8 years, Lowri was the only one of lady Seren Corbyn's children to survive infancy. As such her mother doted on her, and her father, expecting her to be his only legitimate heir, had her educated in the management of the Corbyn estate of castle Ruthin. Though a sweet girl, Lowri never got on well with her half-brother Rhisiart - or rather, he never got on with her, making it quite plain that he saw her as an unjust obstacle to his own inheritance, denied by an arbitrary rule of blood.

Lowri was unfortunate enough to suffer from M.E (chronic fatigue syndrome), which began to present problems for her from the age of about six or seven. While her case was not severe enough to be debilitating, it was sufficient to curtail a lot of the day-to-day activities that most people took for granted. Most of the symptoms being invisible made it particularly hard, and Lowri has gotten used to being called cursed, hypochondriac or even just lazy behind her back. She isn't sure if she hates these disbelieving reactions worst, or the pitying ones that she also sometimes gets.

Having to deal with a relentless disease and her needlessly hostile brother changed Lowri into a slightly bitter and cynical person, but she retains the core of her practical and dutiful personality. This should have stood her in good stead when she had the ownership of castle Ruthin thrust upon her, after her father died in a brutal bandit attack (one of the precursors to "lord" Tiberiu's rise) during a routine visit to the crownlands town of Longdale. However, the fates were against her when shortly afterward, Rhisiart convinced a number of house Corbyn's soldiers that he was more deserving of their loyalty than his well-meaning but sickly half-sister. The defection of those soldiers to form the Green Company was a slap in the face from which House Corbyn's honour never truly recovered.

Lowri marshalled her remaining men in a purely defensive stance during the war that followed king Friav's assassination. Lying on the eastern border of the crownlands, the lands around castle Ruthin saw some conflict, and the castle itself was besieged once early in the war, but was relieved three weeks later by prince Esdori's host returning from the north. Lowri has always declared for prince Esdori, seeing him as king Friav's rightful successor, but with many of the borderland lords declaring for lord Madlynvr she is anxious to prove that loyalty.

[Azazeal849]

CHARACTER REVIEW

With a couple of complete or nearly complete RPs added to my repertoire since I posted some of the characters in this thread, I thought that now might be a good time to take stock of how they've progressed and a few lessons learned. As always, anyone who is passing by feel free to leave your own thoughts, especially if you were involved in one of these RPs. It's always useful to get an outside view of a character, since what's going on in your head (and especially my head...) might not be quite what other people are seeing on the page!

Decius Marcius (Eternum series): Decius has come a long way since his inception, largely due to the incredibly broad yet decently guided storyline of DoK's Eternum trilogy. Decius was very much a protagonist (if not the protagonist) of the first RP, partly due to him being in all the right places at the right times and partly due to my own rather aggressive posting schedule. I deliberately scaled this back a little in the second RP, partially to avoid dominating the story by myself, but also to allow some of my minor characters to come to the fore. The different characters offered different writing challenges while also allowing me to get involved in all the branches of the story that Decius wasn't a part of. Despite the reduction in focus on him, I still feel that Decius received a clear and satisfying arc in the second RP of dealing with the death of his family.

The third RP again sees Decius taking a back seat (albeit as de facto ruler of the imperium!) for now, though I expect he will be rising to prominence again come the finale. I am generally happy with the way his story has developed, although I would like to hear other opinions (hint hint, dear reader).

Raechel Kuscelian (The Silent Forge): I've been feeling for a while that Raechel's story hasn't gone as well as it might have done, and it's taken me some thought to pin down why this is. My initial idea for her character arc was for her to eventually deal with her paranoia but maintain a healthy suspicion of her fellow magi, thereby becoming a good candidate for the Lords Dragon (her organisation's secret service equivalent). I probably should have thought this through a little better, since for most of the story (and what is revealed of her past) she does not really have a good reason to be suspicious of everybody. Attempting to rectify this by summarising the previous story in a single late flashback might have come across as a bit melodramatic and unsatisfying.

I have come to the conclusion that weaving a slow reveal into a story is only easy if you are controlling the events that trigger it (i.e. you are the GM) as it is otherwise quite difficult to make it feel organic and not like a random aside to the real plot. It can also be difficult to have your arc make sense within the wider story - in Raechel's case she had fellow tech-priest Nikolai, who she should have trusted and didn't, and who teaches her to do so, but then she also had an inquisitor (a rank she originally had a high opinion of) turn out to be spying on her. It's difficult to draw a conclusion to her desired arc based on those events, and I will probably be making significant changes in editing to make Raechel's subplot run more coherently - and make her own reactions make more sense. As it stands, the character seems incompetent and irrational enough to have a legitimate sexist writing charge laid against her (or rather, me).

On the plus side, one thing that worked reasonably well was Raechel's progression towards rogue magus hunter, as both the main villain of the story and the subplot of an unknown enemy who has framed her for heresy (the whole reason the inquisitor was after her in the first place) somewhat facilitate this. I am hoping that Nikolai (already a Lords Dragon agent) will join her in going after the unknown enemy at the end of the story, since he will likely be her eventual recruiter. If I can fix Raechel's currently rather irrational-seeming "paranoia" arc in editing and make her seem reasonably competent in the final fight, then it might be believable for her to reappear as a full-fledged Dragon agent by her next RP.

Whether she can be salvaged in editing or not, Raechel has been a learning experience that I can hopefully apply to other characters with emotion-based arcs and slow-reveal stories. The main test of if I've learned anything will be Kimmie Raeden in the eventual Shades of Grey, and I invite you to critique me on it!

Gina Wright (The Reborn): If Decius has gone well and Raechel not so well, Gina is one I'm still on the fence about. One advantage I have in writing Gina over Raechel is that I don't have a predetermined arc for her that I want to shoehorn into the story; it's much more a case of having her react to her immediate surroundings and see how events affect her over time. There are, however, a few things that make Gina's inclusion in this RP challenging.

Firstly, she's somewhat underpowered compared to her fellow characters, being a baseline human with ghost-hunting experience which may not apply to her new setting(s), while her companions are a magic user and a gun-toting werewolf respectively. I don't mind this overmuch, as it makes me think outside the box a bit (and I trust the GM not to set Gina challenges that she can't actually overcome). Also, Gina retains a natural niche as the leader / planner of the group, although that in turn leads into a second issue; from a meta perspective, it is not ideal to have one player / character dictating the group's actions. This is something that is going to require some thought.

Another meta influence that I have been becoming increasingly aware of is Gina's core drive of keeping her friends alive clashing with players dropping out of roleplays (usually, resulting in their characters being killed). While these deaths are never presented as Gina's fault, I imagine that it's extremely hard for her to feel like she's constantly failing at her job. Even if she is as determined as all get out, I get the feeling that she'll need a win pretty soon. Minkasha has pointed out that she is essentially inflicting this pain on herself by always assuming responsibility, but I find it difficult to imagine Gina (who is an ENFJ personality type) reacting in any other way.

Like I said, it's too early to tell whether Gina's outing in Reborn is going to be a success or not.

[Azazeal849]

CHARACTER REVIEW II

I'm always keen to improve as a writer, especially in my handling of characters. I often wonder about how my characters look from an outside perspective, and I also like to "test" them using various metrics lying about the Internet. Which led to this.

I came across the "Strong Female Character" test and thought it would be an interesting exercise to apply to my own creations - after all, not being a woman myself, I should probably be more mindful of how I write female characters than male ones. I found this particular test on Jo Writes Stuff (www.jowritesstuff.wordpress.com), though I'm not sure of the original source of it. The test involves answering 10 questions, which are as follows:

1. Does the character shape her own destiny? Does she actively try to change her situation and if not, why not?

2. Does she have her own goals, beliefs and hobbies? Did she come up with them on her own?

3. Is her character consistent? Do her personality or skills change as the plot demands?

4. Can you describe her in one short sentence without mentioning her love life, her physical appearance, or the words ‘strong female character’?

5. Does she make decisions that aren’t influenced by her love life?

6. Does she develop over the course of the story?

7. Does she have a weakness?

8. Does she influence the plot without getting captured or killed?

9. How does she relate to stereotypes about gender?

10. How does she relate to other female characters?

The blog I found the test on considers 8 or more out of 10 to be a "pass", which seems like a rather high bar for me but I'll see how it goes. In any case, it should be useful to highlight which characters need more focus.

I have applied the test to most of my female characters who get at least one full RP of screen time. Characters which I considered but decided didn't have enough screen time to make the test fair included Vespa Tehrani (Wreckage), Natalia Veiss (Prophet), Eppie von Scharn (Hearts of Darkness), Kira Loque (Hearts of Darkness) and Kimmie Raeden (Shades of Grey)

First up, the ladies from Business Is War, which I still consider to be my best GM job so far. But how do the characters measure up?

1. To some degree, Britta's story is decided for her - first as a EuroCorp handler and later as an (initially unwilling) accomplice to the newly-freed agents. Once she does some soul-searching however, she takes an active role in shaping and enabling the agents' plans, and it's arguably for her own redemption as much as for the greater ideal. 0.5/1

2. Business doesn't tell much about Britta's hobbies (not that the team have much down time), and her eventual goal is arguably set by the group rather than herself. Her beliefs - pragmatism, harm minimisation - are her own, but I won't count ambition because it is ultimately the team's actions not her own which put her at the helm of EuroCorp at story's end. 0.5/1

3. Britta has a definite character arc but her rational approach remains constant, and I don't think I gave her any abilities that weren't set up earlier in the story. 1/1

4. A self-assured, level-headed handler who is forced to face up to the reality of her organisation and her own complicity in it. 1/1

5. She doesn't have a love interest in the story - her decisions are all driven by her values and her job, or else by her own survival. 1/1

6. Her outlook changes significantly after agent Wallace throws a blood-soaked handkerchief in her face. You could almost say she "wakes up" at the same time as her agents. 1/1

7. Her major flaw is the cognitive dissonance she displays prior to the agents' awakening. Though it doesn't disadvantage her personally so much as drive the plot. 0.5/1

8. Together with Lisa, she is one of the most influential NPCs for the main characters. 1/1

9. The decisive, authoritative female boss isn't a traditional feminine stereotype, but it's common enough nowadays that it's not directly subverting any stereotypes either. 0.5/1

10. Britta's main female interaction is Lisa, to whom she intentionally provides a foil. I won't count her sister Jess, who to my shame is an almost painfully straight example of a Woman In The Refrigerator. 0.5/1

Total: 7.5/10 (nearly a pass, but not quite)

1. Much less ambiguous than Britta; her actions largely kick off the plot and she's trying to follow her own plan throughout. 1/1

2. Again not much time for hobbies, but her goal is ultimately to free everyone from the CHIPs, driven by her clear-cut morality on the subject. 1/1

3. Her main skill (crashing CHIPs) is a constant, as is her idealistic streak. 1/1

4. An idealistic scientist who wants to rid the world of a dangerous technology, but whose desperation leads her to make costly mistakes. 1/1

5. She doesn't have a love interest in the story, and her decisions are mostly informed by her personal values. 1/1

6. She becomes somewhat less naive and uncompromising over the course of the story. 0.5/1

7. Her naïveté and desperation give her trouble almost throughout, and the team quite rightly call her out on it. 1/1

8. Not going to award a full point here, because for the first half of the story she's effectively the McGuffin the players have to catch. 0.5/1

9. The plucky scientist isn't really new, and arguably neither is the woman as the more idealistic / emotional gender. 0.5/1

10. Her main interactions are with Britta, contrasting her desire for the ideal (but likely chaos-inducing) outcome with Britta's more measured compromises. 0.5/1

Total: 8/10 (pass - woohoo!)

Moving on now to the girls of the 40K universe; let's see how they do.

1. Debatable. A lot of the time, she's following orders from one higher authority or another. She does, however, make her own call on field work, and on joining Walt's mission to Saros to help her brother. 0.5/1

2. Kelly's a social girl, although often we only see hints of it. She is very clear about her beliefs and isn't afraid to argue them. 0.5/1

3. There is something of a shift from "the tech" to "the heart" over the stories, partially because there's not always ways to showcase her SOCO skills. 0.5/1

4. A logical but empathetic field agent with a strong moral compass and a perceptive concern for her friends. 1/1

5. Despite a healthy sex drive, she doesn't have any onscreen love interests, and her decisions vary between being informed by concern for family, friends or more general morality. 1/1

6. She is always cool-headed and empathetic, but I think the sense of justice that gets explored in Prophet counts as character development. 1/1

7. I'm struggling to think of one. I won't count her principles as a weakness - although it did lead to a mission-threatening intervention in Prophet, neither she nor the team suffered any major setback. 0/1

8. She affects her peers, and I give her as much agency as I can given that GMPCs shouldn't take centre stage away from the PCs, and she is occasionally responsible for plot-moving breakthroughs, but there is an upcoming event in Penitence that's making me withhold the full point. 0.5/1

9. The "heart" of the group is a fairly stereotypical female role, though her cool head and lab skills were showcased first. 0.5/1

10. She has regular strong interactions with Sapphira and Kally, the other principal female team members (though PaintSerf and Dakkagor get more credit for this point than me!) 1/1

Total: 6/10 (Hmm...I was actually hoping that Kelly would be one of my better scores)

1. She tries to improve her skills within the confines of her assigned "role", but is generally quite humble about her duty. So in general she (deliberately) stays where she is (her game-changing force sword was given rather than taken). 0.5/1

2. We know that she likes choir music, and her main belief - selfless duty - is well showcased. 1/1

3. Her desire to help people remains her main driver through most of her appearances. 1/1

4. An inexperienced but strong-willed psyker with unshakeable conviction and a desire to do her duty. 1/1

5. I actually can't answer this one without spoilers for Penitence. N/A

6. While her skills develop, I wouldn't say we learn much more about her as a person until her sexuality gets broached in Penitence 0/1

7. Pushing herself beyond her limits to help as much as she can has landed her in psychic trouble a couple of times. 1/1

8. She gets the point for Short Run, where her actions significantly influence the outcome. Her readings provide subtle help throughout the series. 1/1

9. I'm withholding this point; making the selfless, pure, dutiful one a woman is hardly groundbreaking. 0/1

10. She had interesting exchanges with Janie (and somewhat tenser ones with two Sisters) in Short Run, but oddly enough she seems to have interacted mostly with men since. A budding friendship with Dosi redresses the balance slightly in Penitence. 0.5/1

Total: 6/9 (Fail - damn!)

1. Offscreen perhaps, but Alia is very much in control of where she's going and how she handles the missions she's assigned (and she'd probably push back hard if it was any other way. 1/1

2. I don't think writing theses counts as a hobby, but we do know about her ambitions and her worldview - both from Schafer's POV and her own. 1/1

3. She's a diplomat first and a fighter second, and I think her leadership style is more or less consistent. 1/1

4. A Machiavellian leader who uses both diplomacy and dispassionate pragmatism to achieve her mission. 1/1

5. As seems to be becoming a pattern in my characters, she doesn't have a love interest and calls her shots based on her values. 1/1

6. We discover throughout Prophet that she's neither ruthless nor truly a "mother to her men", but somewhere inbetween. 1/1

7. She hates being talked down / back to, but it hasn't had any significant consequences for her so far. 0/1

8. As the GMPC leading the team through the plot I think she qualifies, even if she disappears offscreen sometimes to help keep the focus on the players. 0.5/1

9. I like to think that she's a progressive character, in that she's in charge with a flexible leadership style and her gender isn't particularly commented on by anyone. Half a point off because I focus a lot on her stately clothing and I know it. 0.5/1

10. She interacts with the women of the team, but not often in a deep way (Sapphira, the main candidate, has a past association with Schafer that keeps Alia standoffish to this day). Her main confidants are Tomas. Solvan and Crenshaw. 0.5/1

Total: 7.5/10 (Again nearly a pass, but not quite...)

1. She certainly tries to forge her own path - it just doesn't always work out very well for her. 0.5/1

2. We know she likes Menial music and amuses herself by bullshitting people about how classified tech works, and we know that she values humour and humanity (in conflict with her religion). And her main goal is to learn and understand. 1/1

3. Due to my sloppy writing, her distrust of authority is consistent but not always logical. 0.5/1

4. A tech-savvy woman with trust issues following past events, who struggles to reconcile conflicting loyalties. 1/1

5. Yes - although her decisions are sometimes based on faulty logic. 1/1

6. I had a clear arc in mind, but it got muddied by the way the story and the other characters turned out. 0.5/1

7. Her paranoia definitely qualifies. 1/1

8. As one of the PCs, she obviously has some influence on the story. 1/1

9. While "irrational and overly emotional" was emphatically not what I was shooting for, she may come across as such, and that's a pretty bad stereotype. 0/1

10. She spends a lot of time interacting with Elizabeth, and her handling of the agent is somewhat plot relevant. 1/1

Total: 7.5/10 (Actually better than I was expecting)

Next the women of DoK's excellent Eternum series. Being a more fantastical (though also slightly more progressive) spin on the Roman Empire, with most of them taking the role of ancient nobles, I'm interested to see if I've broken away enough from stereotypes.

1. Although her goals mirror her husband's, she has her own way of going about them and deals with different problems on her own. 1/1

2. We don't learn much about what she does in her time off (other than mothering), though we get a feel for her perceptive mind and Machiavellian values. 0.5/1

3. She is consistently shrewd, diplomatic and loving towards her family. 1/1

4. A confident politician with a keen eye for new developments, who is focused on the safety and stability of the empire. 1/1

5. While she and Decius want the same things, her handling of her side of the story is separate. 1/1

6. She doesn't really develop during Gods. 0/1

7. She doesn't have a particular weakness that I can think of. 0/1

8. Her influence on events in Emor is significant. 1/1

9. I think I've shaken up the traditional mother role a bit - unfortunately her death arguably serves little narrative purpose except to screw with Decius (although, I will point out that I did not plan or expect her to be killed). 0.5/1

10. I'm hesitant to award the full point, because while she does frequently interact with female friends, it's often not particularly deep. 0.5/1

Total: 6.5/10 (Although her Refrigerator death brings the score down, the main things I will take away are character development and interaction)

1. She makes a few difficult and important choices in Blood, which are important to defining her character. 1/1

2. We don't know much about what she does in her free time other than she spends some of it down the baths with Lycinia and Julia, though we can see her values in how she puts family first but still tries to do the moral thing for the people around her. 0.5/1

3. She is consistent in her values, and doesn't magically gain Lycinia's talent for public speaking. 1/1

4. An anxious wife and mother, who tries to do right by the wider empire while also keeping her family safe. 1/1

5. While the safety (and sanity) of her husband does understandably affect a lot of her thinking, it's not the only thing that influences her choices. 0.5/1

6. I won't count a point for this, because her growth is essentially from an extra to an actual character. 0.5/1

7. She's a nervous public speaker and not the most assertive - both of which work against her in-story. 1/1

8. She does a lot to advance the Emor plot in Blood. 1/1

9. Again we're still half in the traditional wife and mother role, so although it doesn't totally define her character it's hardly groundbreaking. 0.5/1

10. She has some fairly significant talks with Julia, so I'll give her half a point. 0.5/1

Total: 7.5/10 (Doing better now)

1. This girl definitely knows what she wants to achieve and sets out to do it. 1/1

2. While it isn't outright stated, we can infer that she's well read. We also know that she's plucky, egalitarian and in the habit of giving zero fucks about other people's opinions of her (for better or worse). 1/1

3. While she's not been in the spotlight for long, I think she's been reasonably consistent. 1/1

4. An outspoken teenager with a strong sense of right and wrong but a naive outlook on how to achieve her goals. 1/1

5. Although she is married (like Lycinia and Seppia), a fair bit of her arc is actually independent of Marcus, and she pursues her own pet project. 1/1

6. Like Seppia, her development from extra to main character doesn't really count as growth, although I will cheat and award myself half a point because she's learning some important lessons in the story's present / near future. 0.5/1

7. Her righteousness is well-meaning but not well thought out, and her self confidence strikes at least one other character as bratty. 1/1

8. She has had some impact, albeit mostly on side-plots. 0.5/1

9. I'm not going to award myself a whole point here, because the plucky girl is almost a cliche of its own nowadays. 0.5/1

10. As well as Seppia, she has small but important exchanges with the older and wiser senator Aemilia. 1/1

Total: 8.5/10 (PASS!)

1. I won't award a full point, because some of it is facilitated by other people, but when she's given a choice she makes up her own mind. 0.5/1

2. We know she's devout, but that's hardly a hobby. Her goals, beliefs and values are well defined. 0.5/1

3. Her quick wit gets downplayed in times of danger, but it's usually present alongside her moral principles and realistic view of her own circumstances. 1/1

4. A religious former slave with a cutting sense of humour and strong moral beliefs, who wants to forge her own place in the world. 1/1

5. Yes - in fact she leaves her short-term boyfriend because his views don't match her own. 1/1

6. She adapts to consecutive new roles well, and we learn about her sense of right and wrong. 1/1

7. There isn't any particular trait I can think of that sets her back in-story. 0/1

8. After navigating several subplots, she joins the Quest Party on what may be the most important mission of the series. 1/1

9. ...Yeah, I really should have paused after thinking "Hey, let's make the slave girl black!" 0/1

10. Her interactions with Anne and Nesara are quite important to her course. 1/1

Total: 7/10 (Not bad, but I evidently need to think of a character weakness for her, or have her inflexible morals hinder her more significantly)

And finally Gina, our resident (unwilling) magnet for strange and deadly adventures.

1. She certainly tries to - she had a life plan before things took s turn for the supernatural, and since then she's been doing her level best to help / save people. 1/1

2. For once we do know her hobbies (running, hockey and music) although they don't often come up in a plot relevant way. Her altruistic values are also usually front and centre. 1/1

3. I can't think of any blatant out-of-character moments, and she usually comes off worse in fights with supernatural foes until she figures out their weaknesses (at which point she becomes more of a badass). 1/1

4. A determined, altruistic girl who tries to protect her friends even in the face of incomprehensible enemies. 1/1

5. While we can infer that she's had partners in the past (she tells a vampire stalker that it's none of his business), she's generally far more occupied with surviving, and her mind is usually focused on problem solving. 1/1

6. Unfortunately I can't count Austere as character development, since so much of that happens offscreen. After that, she doesn't change much. 0/1

7. "Baseline human" probably doesn't count, but her saviour complex and tendency to blame herself can and do work against her. 1/1

8. She leads the group in West Hills (and occasionally in Reborn) and is rarely just in the background. 1/1

9. I'm assuming that breaking down when people die is a human stereotype rather than a feminine one, though you could make an argument that "plucky schoolgirl" and "wants to work in healthcare" are somewhat cliche. 0.5/1

10. Gina has plenty of interactions with female friends/colleagues and family, including some illuminating heart to hearts. 1/1

Total: 8.5/10 (PASS!)

So, with only three characters scoring the required 8, there's clearly room for improvement. My main takeaways from this test are that I need to give my girls some more hobbies, ensure they continue to develop across RPs, and have them talk more to each other! Any thoughts on my analysis? If you'd like me to run a similar experiment on one of your own characters, just say the word!

[PaintSerf]

Honestly, I would say that you’re being harsh on yourself with the 40k ladies. Firstly, consider that most of them who’ve featured as your characters (rather than as GMPCs – who, as you’ve said are naturally limited to ) have been unlucky enough to be in games that shuttered early rather than playing out to what would’ve been a natural conclusion. Survey says:

Ella: It's Just A Short Run, Gibbous, A Wash Of Black, Kaleidoscope, Penitence

Ella’s only had two competed games, and all things being equal, Gibbous was a fun-size sampler compared to A Wash of Black. Short Run and Kaleidoscope died prematurely, and we’re still in progress with Penitence – where we simply haven’t yet been able to have Ella speak most of the other ladies aboard, simply because we’ve all been swamped with other scenes and real-word distractions.

Raechel: To Cleanse The Stars, Sins of Ambition (retconned), The Silent Forge (part 1), The Silent Forge (part 2), Penitence

Zero competed games for Raechel, including the retcon from (again, failed) Sins of Ambition where surprisingly enough all of the deployed tech-priests were female – although not that there was much time for idle conversation, being priestesses of Mars and almost immediately deployed into the hulk. Also, we haven’t even seen Raechel in Penitence yet.

Kelly: Lucius Pembroke Is A Dead Man, The Replicants, The Prophet In Silver, Drowning for the Cure, A Wash of Black, Kaleidoscope, Penitence

Outside of Kaleidoscope, all of Kelly’s games have completed…although she was never the player character herself, and either makes brief cameo appearances – Pembroke, Drowning, Wash, and for what it’s worth, Kaleidoscope – purely due to GM limitations on the number of characters allowed as full PCs. Kelly’s only full credits are as a GMPC in Replicants, Prophet, and the presently running Penitence.

I would also point out that those completed games where Ella and Kelly featured were SandQueen GM’d. I’ll always be thankful that she started this whole series, and that you’ve continued it in motion.

Now that being said, SQ’s games were essentially action movies in terms of content and pace, both the characters and the writers producing the material – and often at an uncomfortably breakneck pace. Objectively, it’s hard indulge in a showcase hobby, and have some character development girl talk when there’s almost no downtime because shit’s exploding and you and your characters are constantly reacting to that. Another issue with those earlier games was that the GMPCs and their dramatic issues (Hi, Walt/Julia/Eileen) were quite often monopolizing a lot of the non-combat screen time.

Secondly, this test already has a significantly high pass criterion…and mechanically there is a not insignificant amount of conflict with these questions and 40k as an IP. For instance the first question asks Does the character shape her own destiny? Does she actively try to change her situation and if not, why not? That’s a slight bit unfair to Ella, Raechel, and Kelly as the mindboggling overwhelming majority of all human beings have little personal agency over their situation. Alia’s a supremely rare example of that sort of person, and it just so happens that she’s a female with the ability, ambition, and opportunity to have such a privileged (in a sword of Damocles sort of way) role in the Imperium of Man.

There’s also the fact we haven’t had the opportunity – again, due to what’s already on our collective plates as writers and real world obligations, to fully exploit our untapped opportunities for character development. I’m still absolutely in for Girl’s Night Out with Kally, Kelly, and Sapphira (perhaps joined by McKenzie?) after Prophet. I would also be intrigued to see what could be explored in the interlude aboard the Mooncalf as it travels to Terra after Wash.

Lastly, let’s not forget what’s already on deck for the ladies in Penitence, Shades of Grey, and Adrantis War – and that’s just what’s been planned to occur, never mind what’ll spawn from a live game!

[Azazeal849]

Ella’s only had two competed games, and all things being equal, Gibbous was a fun-size sampler compared to A Wash of Black. Short Run and Kaleidoscope died prematurely, and we’re still in progress with Penitence – where we simply haven’t yet been able to have Ella speak most of the other ladies aboard, simply because we’ve all been swamped with other scenes and real-word distractions.

True - I'm currently in the annoying position of my only potential writing time being the train to and from work (you may have noticed that Shades has slipped behind schedule along with a general slowdown in everything else).


Zero competed games for Raechel, including the retcon from (again, failed) Sins of Ambition where surprisingly enough all of the deployed tech-priests were female – although not that there was much time for idle conversation, being priestesses of Mars and almost immediately deployed into the hulk. Also, we haven’t even seen Raechel in Penitence yet.

The Kuscelian Curse for jinxing RPs is still in effect, it would seem. Hopefully she won't do the same to Penitence!

More awkward I think is the need for "offscreen character development" that dead RPs cause. I usually go into a RP with an idea of my character's arc, and if I don't want to retcon out the whole thing and repeat the arc next time (which I usually don't) then I have to adjust the character as if it did happen.

Raechel, Ella and Gina have all been victims of this, and unfortunately flashbacks to try and fill the gaps can come off as clunky if they don't relate enough to the alpha plot (case in point: Raechel in Silent Forge).


Another issue with those earlier games was that the GMPCs and their dramatic issues (Hi, Walt/Julia/Eileen) were quite often monopolizing a lot of the non-combat screen time.

That is something I had noticed and I've actively been trying to avoid - when it's essentially impossible to get every character to talk (deeply) with every other one in the limited "quiet" scenes, I'd rather see the players get the chance to write something rather than just read my GM text.

Although there's also the fact that certain characters just naturally pair off / play off with each other (in Ella's case, it happened to be Marc until Dosi arrived).


There’s also the fact we haven’t had the opportunity – again, due to what’s already on our collective plates as writers and real world obligations, to fully exploit our untapped opportunities for character development. I’m still absolutely in for Girl’s Night Out with Kally, Kelly, and Sapphira (perhaps joined by McKenzie?) after Prophet.

I get the impression that McKenzie would have hung around with the other "higher ups" in Sidonis' retinue, though she might well take the opportunity to dress Sapphira up again.

If we're going to crack on with that short story, we should probably hammer out a few worthwhile things for them to talk about, and possibly a background plot / event. I've thought about it a couple of times but I keep drawing blanks.


I would also be intrigued to see what could be explored in the interlude aboard the Mooncalf as it travels to Terra after Wash.

My approach so far has been to add those scenes to the beginning of Kaleidoscope - I've so far added an introduction for Zerlinda, Ella's birthday party and a confrontation between Marc/Alley and Arcolin.


Now that being said, SQ’s games were essentially action movies in terms of content and pace, both the characters and the writers producing the material – and often at an uncomfortably breakneck pace. Objectively, it’s hard indulge in a showcase hobby, and have some character development girl talk when there’s almost no downtime because shit’s exploding and you and your characters are constantly reacting to that.

It's no easy thing to strike a balance between a fast-moving plot and just the right amount of down-time to let the characters develop, I can tell you that! I have definitely been helped by the sheer willingness of you guys to craft character-driven subplots.

[dakkagor]

What can I say? Love me some drama :D

I think Paints pretty much on the money regarding his analysis of your analysis (analyception, if you will), in that when you are running NPC's the chances to develop them are actually pretty limited to what your players are interested in. I keep meaning to get started on a scene between Kelly and Kally after certain 'revelations' have been made, and I think that would give Kelly an excellent chance to shine as a more complex character.

I need to go back and look at Girls Night Out. It was probably going to end up feeling very much like the start of the Citadel DLC. . .

And I would be honoured if you put Kally through the test!

[Azazeal849]

I need to go back and look at Girls Night Out. It was probably going to end up feeling very much like the start of the Citadel DLC. . .

PM me if you have any brainwaves. Like I said, I've thought about it once or twice but drew a blank as to what conversations and background plot would be covered.


And I would be honoured if you put Kally through the test!

Aye-firmitive!

1. Kally forged her own path up through the underhive, and it was very much her own choice to stay with the inquisition (despite what it had done to her) so she could be there for her friends. Given her reckless streak, I strongly doubt that she wouldn't have made a break for it if she had really wanted to. There are some sections where she is tossed about by fate, but not much more than some of the other characters. 1/1

2. We know that she enjoys working out, as well as some rather extreme music. We also know from her conversations with Solvan that she wonders about what her Blank nature means from a religious point of view, but if Kally has real faith in anything, it's her team-mates. Plenty to go on. 1/1

3. Kally can be both extremely cold and extremely warm, depending on the person and the situation. We see plenty of both across the series. Once you earn her trust, it's practically unbreakable. Her combat skills are consistently deadly, and regular human enemies rarely slow her down, although she struggles against experienced or superhuman foes, showing that there is an upper limit to her abilities. She's also given to some slightly reckless stunts (like hanging out of a flying grav-car to shoot out someone's windshield) which keep things entertaining. 1/1

4. A battered hiver with almost nothing naturally in her favour, but who takes on everything the universe throws at her with sheer willpower - she cracks but she never breaks. 1/1

5. She didn't really have a love life until Prophet (apart from a no-strings pass at Tomas and a brief, unrequited interest in Marc), but even though her former friend-with-benefits Crenshaw is back in the picture in Penitence, any influence he has on her is advice taken rather than anything she feels compelled to do. So even though she's one of the few characters on the team who's regularly shown to have a sex drive, it hardly defines her character. 1/1

6. When we first see Kally in Pembroke, she's actually rather cheerful. This becomes rarer later, but that's perfectly understandable given what she goes through. She also casts off her old ganger hair dye and adopts a more businesslike demeanour. The development from Pembroke to Replicants is the main change we see her go through - while we do learn new snippets of her past in later stories (usually, that it was awful) the arc is generally her going through something horrible and ultimately rising above it. 0.5/1

7. You could potentially count Kally's stimm habit as a weakness, but her major drawback is definitely her temper. People who hit particular buttons almost always elicit violence from her, and this has landed her in trouble with team leaders several times, or directly impacted her ability to complete her mission. 1/1

8. She does get captured to drive the plot once, though that was my fault rather than Dakkagor's. Her incarceration with Strelilov might count. Normally however, she is at the forefront of the action and proactively suggesting solutions to current problems, or else readily interacting with teammates. 0.5/1

9. The mentally-scarred badass is traditionally a male character, so no worries here, especially since Kally is more than just "mentally scarred" and "a badass". She frequently relies on other characters for support, but I'd argue that's a human trait rather than a feminine stereotype. 1/1

10. To some degree, Kally falls afoul of the sheer size of the cast here. That said, the only female regular we haven't seen her sit down and talk with is Ella (although, from some sharp words she gave to Josiah, she seems to have something of a protective instinct towards her). Her chief wingmen are Vincent and Marc, justified since she met them first, but she is good friends with Sapphira and Kelly (even if, as noted above, the "off work" aspect of their friendship could use more screen time). She has an uneasy relationship with Alia, as she does with most authority figures. 1/1

Total: 9/10 - PASS!

Kally is a Strong Female Character, and can now start appropriating Chuck Norris memes.

[dakkagor]

9/10!!! I would have been tempted to knock her down a half point on hobbies and another half on consistency, myself, but I won;t argue with a pass mark!

[Azazeal849]

Working out is a hobby, and I've just realised I forgot to add "drinking with Vince and Marc" and "going out on the pull with Sapphira and Kelly". Storywise, they tell us that she enjoys simple, earthly pleasures, and her fitness habits tell us that she hates feeling weak or vulnerable.

What would you have marked down for inconsistency?

[dakkagor]

Hmm, I suppose its a personal thing. I'm just constantly paranoid that none of my characters are actually very 'consistent', because I find such things very hard to judge, and I want all my characters to have a distinctive voice, and I'm never sure I actually manage that. And because Kallys character is very much 'high and low' (to nearly manic-depressive levels) I am always concerned that I'm not nailing the right moments for a high or low.

[Azazeal849]

Hmm, I suppose its a personal thing. I'm just constantly paranoid that none of my characters are actually very 'consistent', because I find such things very hard to judge,

Yeah, it can be very difficult to examine how characters look outside your own head, which is part of the reason I look for feedback on this thread.


and I want all my characters to have a distinctive voice, and I'm never sure I actually manage that.

That's something that most writer's struggle with, I think (even look at ASoIaF - great series though it is, almost all of the POV characters use very similar word and thought patterns). I've tried it a couple of times myself, though with the exception of Marc and Kelly's on-again off-again Edinburgh brogue (and maybe the Welsh characters from Succession) it's probably too subtle too make much difference - some characters speak slightly more or less formally; Raechel is like Crenshaw in that she never uses contractions etc.

Speaking of Crenshaw, PaintSerf seems to be particularly good at distinctive character voices (Gavin, Merle and Gerry all spring to mind) so it might be worth asking him for ideas.


And because Kallys character is very much 'high and low' (to nearly manic-depressive levels) I am always concerned that I'm not nailing the right moments for a high or low.

I wouldn't say that Kally is manic-depressive; more like "normal and low", where the low / anger can be an abrupt switch and is often provoked by a trigger. That sounds a bit like depression to me, based on what I've witnessed first hand. Depressed people can often be happy for periods when their particular thought-cascades aren't bothering them (in addition to simply faking happiness when they're feeling shit).

Though if Kally was depressed, you might also expect to see periods where she just feels flat and apathetic (for want of a better word, feeling "meh"), so perhaps her symptoms align somewhat better with PTSD. When her PTSD is being treated / in remission, we see her acting considerably more like her "normal" self than in Replicants and Penitence.

[dakkagor]

Paint does seem to be able to nail distinctive voices very, very well. Total inspiration in that department. I also think you sell yourself short a bit: Kelly and Marc especially work really well as a brother-sister team, and you totally get Vince everytime you NPC him. Both the interrogators have fallen out in very different ways, even with limited screen time between them.

As for Kally's high and lows, PTSD definitely fits better for symptoms presented and her past (both in and out of game), so I should go away and do some research on that to better represent it.

[Azazeal849]

Both the interrogators have fallen out in very different ways, even with limited screen time between them.

Yeah, I still occasionally think it was a massive wasted opportunity not to throw interrogator Jango Fett and interrogator Alia Atreides into a single scene together. Perhaps one day, though I don't currently have plans for any more prequels, and I think to resurrect replicant Schafer a second time would be kind of cheap (even if it would be amusing to go the full Captain Scarlet and have Schafer's replicant rejoin the good guys).


As for Kally's high and lows, PTSD definitely fits better for symptoms presented and her past (both in and out of game), so I should go away and do some research on that to better represent it.

Good plan. I used both read-ups and people I know to inform Kelly's symptoms, but I still feel like I'm on thin ice as someone who hasn't experienced it personally, and might be triggering / insulting a reader who has.

[Azazeal849]

THE SKAARJ

And here's a case of me becoming a victim of my own ambition. Just when I was gearing up to set myself the challenge of a second GM job, along comes a RP called Galactic Empires (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=80402) with several of my favourite things: Dakkagor's writing, design-your-own machines and space combat. Despite knowing I probably wouldn't have the time to join, I couldn't resist throwing a few notes together. I already had a semi-solid concept in my mind to reimagine the Skaarj from Unreal (one of my favourite old PC games, as you can perhaps tell from the "849" in my username), as my friend Death of Korzan had recently pitched a similar RP idea.

While the Skaarj in DoK's RP would have been new players on the galactic stage, hungry to carve out their infamous empire, the setting of Galactic Empires gave me a rather different idea. Given that any "new" races would have to be subordinate to the five big players, I thought it might be interesting to play a reformed Skaarj empire that had had their imperial tendencies unceremoniously slapped out of them by a larger but more benevolent enemy. While I did like the potential of exploring the ruthless but honourable tendencies of the Skaarj in this new context, along with remaining undercurrents of racism with their former slaves (probably with modern-day subtext), I couldn't nail down solid ideas for individual characters - and without engaging characters, the idea would be dead in the water, which was the final reason that convinced me to sit this RP out.

Hence in the profiles below, there are a couple of character names but little else, even if the actual history and technology seem to have fallen into place rather easily. I'm posting this just for interest, and to possibly resurrect and reform it in some other relevant RP down the line. Enjoy!

Trivia: You may notice that one of the character's surnames is "Jaar". I am of course planning to reference a certain other character (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&p=1325044&viewfull=1#post1325044) as her brood ancestor.

Type: Rim power (23 garden worlds)
Government: Federal Superstate with individual states broken down along hive lines.
Economy: Former oligopoly / slave economy, reformed into a regulated ordoliberal model by the Kel'Cyre.
Military: Defence orientated due to terms imposed by the Kel'Cyre.
Racial Speciality: Genetic engineering, tarydium*

*Tarydium is an unusual formation of carbon and trace elements, forming a blueish crystal with hardness and thermal properties several times superior to diamond. It is abundant in the region of the Skaarj garden worlds and the key to several Skaarj technological breakthroughs, providing a material hardy enough to line fusion reactors, construct rails for EM weapons, and focus military grade laser weaponry.

The Skaarj are a race of reptilian aliens with an unusual two-stage lifecycle and an almost hive-like social structure. Highly intelligent and expansionistic, after discovering FTL they rapidly carved out an empire among the nearby worlds and enslaved several other sapient species. However, two hundred years ago they bit off more than they could chew when they attempted to attack the Kel'Cyre, not realising that their enemies were an established power who not only held a significant technological edge, but also outnumbered them approximately 10 to 1. A humiliating defeat and occupation quickly followed; although this proved to be a blessing in disguise for the Skaarj as the Kel'Cyre brought with them massive injections of aid money, and a liberalisation of the Skaarj social system (however, due to their unique hive structure, they did not think it practical to impose a democratic model on the Skaarj as they had with their former slave-races). Alongside the political reforms, the Kel'Cyre broke up large concentrations of industrial power, redistributed land, and empowered organised labour. Large amounts of slave-land were confiscated and sold back to the slave races at minimal prices, thus ending the Skaarj-dominated oligopoly.

The occupation of the last Skaarj planet formally ended 46 years after the surrender, and the Skaarj have since proved a productive and relatively placid client race, even extending some of their strong honour code to their Kel'Cyre allies. Indeed, it was largely a sense that Kel'Cyre honour had been grievously slighted by the Lyran attack which caused the Skaarj to contact vice admiral Yinlynn, and lobby hard to be allowed to participate in the joint Concert response. As a minor power (and one whose military redevelopment is still legally restricted), the Skaarj cannot field the same kind of force as the Concert heavyweights; nevertheless they have sent one of their most powerful flagships to augment the Kel'Cyre contingent of the allied fleet.

Physiology: Frequent ice ages in the distant past of the Skaarj homeworld seem to have created strong evolutionary pressure for metamorphic lifecycles, where larvae and adults do not compete for the same scarce food sources. This tendency is strongly conserved across all phyla on the Skaarj planet, from insects to reptiles and even mammals. At some point, the ice ages gave way to higher temperatures and increased atmospheric oxygen, which allowed some of these metamorphic species to grow extremely large. The most successful of these species was the Skaarj, which outcompeted most of their natural predators to extinction (although they remain vulnerable to diseases carried by biting insects and parasites passed on through prey species).

Scaly and humanoid in profile, adult Skaarj resemble Terran lizards but cannot truly be classified as such. They are warm-blooded, and tend towards high metabolisms and heavy musculature rather than a more energy-conserving body profile. Formerly arboreal, they retain claws and short, vestigial tails which are less necessary for balance now they have evolved to stand upright. Skaarj senses are extremely well developed, including tapeta lucida in the eyes which give them excellent night vision (and incidentally, make them glow when reflecting light, much like a cat's). They also have a vestigial network of electroreceptors across their skin, which at close quarters can double as an extra hunting sense (although it is often saturated in industrial environments). Their scale colours vary through green, yellow and blue, and are often conserved within hives. Visually, there is little to distinguish Skaarj males from non-queen females, though the dreadlock-like display spines that grow from a male Skaarj's head (similar to the proto-feathers found on some Terran dinosaurs) are usually absent in females.

https://forums.unrealtournament.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4062&d=1401400433

Lifecycle: Skaarj have a two distinct life stages, larval and adult, and organise in a system that resembles Terran hive insects, though the analogy isn't perfect. All Skaarj in a particular "hive" will be spawned from a specific female, whose title is usually translated as queen. A queen Skaarj is significantly larger than a normal adult female and has several morphological differences such as a bony frill around the head and an elongated tail. Approximately once every 18 months, a queen is capable of being fertilised by one or more male Skaarj, after which the sperm is stored internally and used to produce up to 200 eggs. In the modern day, Skaarj queens chemically suppress their egg cycles until a convenient time, while elaborate honours and trials determine a male Skaarj's right to act as consort for a particular spawning and to have the honour of his name being borne by all children of that brood.

Fertilised eggs produced by the queen hatch into larvae after a short incubation period. Skaarj larvae are markedly different from their adult forms; apart from being significantly smaller, they are quadrupedal, non-sapient and omnivorous (whereas adult Skaarj are obligate carnivores). They feed using large mandibles, which are retained as vestigial tusks on almost all adult Skaarj. After growing to approximately 1.5 metres in length over the course of about 12 months, the larvae undergo an extended pupation lasting up to 5 years before emerging as adult Skaarj. Newly pupated adults grow quickly to their full size and require a lot of food to do so. In the absence of certain pheromones exuded by a Skaarj hive queen, a pupating female larva may spontaneously develop into a queen itself. However, most females will develop into sterile adults physiologically similar to Skaarj males, and while they can be mated, will not produce any offspring.

Nowadays, Skaarj larvae are reared in industrial creches and fed with specially-tailored nutrient drips, which also include substitutes for a queen's suppression pheromones to prevent the development of any new queens unless required. Since the Skaarj appear to lack the ethical hang-ups of some other races regarding modifications to their genetic baseline, they still practice manipulation of their young during the pupa phase to optimise some of them for military roles. The most famous of these are the Skaarj warrior caste with their hightened agility, optimised senses and longer tails for superior balance, though the hulking Brutes which they use as shock troops run a close second.

http://orig09.deviantart.net/2b06/f/2015/304/5/9/sly_quadj130pupaepaintover_by_sly_mk3-d9f0shd.jpg

Psychology: Once pupated, Skaarj adolescents are fast learners and naturally excellent problem solvers. There appears to be a statistically significant bias towards Thinking / Judging personality types in Skaarj, and their hive-like social structure can often lead to a somewhat tribal mindset. It is theorised that this psychological tendency (along with the pressure of a rapidly-expanding population) was what allowed the Skaarj to advance from the bronze age to a spacefaring imperial power in the relatively short timespan of 2000 years. Because of this same cognitive bias, art and religion are relatively alien concepts to many Skaarj. A high proportion of Skaarj also display strong senses of loyalty and tribal honour, which perhaps unsurprisingly often takes the form of strong loyalty to the hive queen. Many of the oldest recorded Skaarj laws reflect this fact, with attempted regicide being consistently the harshest punished crime throughout Skaarj history. The day-to-day running of Skaarj industry and government is controlled by normal adults, and the queens' autocratic power has been somewhat ameliorated by Kel'Cyre reforms to the (previously very stratified) Skaarj hierarchy. Still, the instinctive loyalty that a queen evokes often leads her to develop narcissistic or even megalomaniac tendencies.

Society: The reforms mandated by the Kel'Cyre occupation significantly liberalised the Skaarj economy, freeing their former slave races and smashing the monopolies owned by many large Skaarj conglomerates. With the aid of development money and limited access to advanced Kel'Cyre technology, the Skaarj economy enjoyed a rapid return to pre-war production levels and significant normalisation of living standards between the rich and the poor. Laws enshrined by the Kel'Cyre permit the former slave races free travel throughout the Skaarj planets and forbid any form of discrimination against them, though in practice old prejudices are taking some time to die away and true equality remains elusive. Some former slave races opted to entrench in their own enclaves rather than integrate (and remain generally hostile to any Skaarj who do immigrate to their worlds), though others such as the Krall are almost ubiquitous across Skaarj space.

Though still not at the tech-level of their Kel'Cyre occupiers - now allies since the formal end of the occupation 150 years ago - the Skaarj industrial base is a powerhouse for its size and shows a particular aptitude for bio-technology (possibly due to Kel'Cyre influence, although Skaarj genetic engineering was well established even before the Kel'Cyre war). Though they do engage in trade beyond their own garden worlds, the Skaarj remain very protectionist of their own industries. A frequent point of contention to the Kel'Cyre are the high import tariffs that the Skaarj use to limit the presence of Kel'Cyre supercompanies on their planets (or, as the Skaarj put it, preventing the Kel'Cyre economic juggernaut from flooding and outcompeting all of their own market players).

Krall: A species of warm-blooded reptiles, similar to Terran dinosaurs or birds. They are characterised by a humanoid body profile, with four-fingered hands and powerful digitigrade legs (two-toed, with vestigal third and fourth dew claws). Their heads are spade-shaped and vaguely snake-like, and their skin is brown but gradually loses this pigmentation with age, eventually fading to pale grey. Krall are omnivores whose plains origins led them to develop long running legs, good body-temperature control and excellent eyesight. Their social groups were originally structured around communal nests in which eggs and juveniles were supervised by designated caretakers, freeing up more of the mothers for hunting. Krall reproductive cycles occur approximately twice a year and are centred around a single egg, which is fertilised internally and then gestated for around 90 days before hatching. Like most sapient species, Krall brains have evolved with few natural instincts but a large capacity for learning, which allows faster egg growth but a significantly longer juvenile dependency period. The Krall lifespan is approximately 50 years, and after going through a human-style adolescent growth spurt they are sexually viable from the ages of about 10-45. Krall culture has been irreversibly affected by the Skaarj, who conquered their home world when they were still in the equivalent of the early bronze age. However, the Kel'Cyre emancipation brought an explosion of Krall influence, both on their now heavily-industrialised homeworld and on the other garden worlds where they were employed as the Skaarj's premier assistant race. Although the Krall have been officially emancipated for nearly 200 years, significant passive discrimination against them still exists within Skaarj society.

Nali: A species of four-armed, tan-skinned humanoids, originally of primate descent. Their homeworld of Na Pali is rich in tarydium, which made it a prime target for the Skaarj. The Skaarj occupation was made easier by the fact that the Nali world had previously been plagued by several devastating rounds of war and disease, which not only retarded the development of their medieval society but gave rise to a highly pacifistic religious cult, which put up little resistance to the brutal Skaarj rule. Despite several isolated uprisings and a mysterious incident involving rogue Terran elements (http://m.imgur.com/HSlgO6E?r), the Nali were not fully emancipated until the Skaarj were defeated by the Kel'Cyre. Possibly due to the deep scars of the occupation, or perhaps as a side effect of the Kel'Cyre encouraging their pacifist, introverted religion, the Nali surprised the galaxy by electing not to utilise the resources now under their control for interstellar trade. Instead, they opted for a policy of planetary isolationism, much to the irritation of Skaarj and Kel'Cyre trading cartels.

Izarians: A species of blue-skinned, blue-blooded simians with four clawed arms and a hunched body profile. Similar to the Nali, they are thought to have evolved from arboreal primates, where their extra limbs provided a climbing advantage. They have an unfortunate psychological tendency towards sadistic behaviour, but are not unintelligent, and after successfully achieving interstellar travel they enslaved two inhabited garden worlds before being conquered themselves by the Skaarj. In contrast to the successful rehabilitation of the Skaarj and Krall races, the emancipation of the Izarian enclaves has proven problematic for the Kel'Cyre, with violence constantly flaring up and a permanent security presence required even after nearly 200 years. A variety of complex economic and social problems have prevented the Izarians from being widely represented in the reformed Skaarj empire.

http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/sinsofasolarempire/images/1/1c/Antorak_Marauder.jpg
(Ship is shown with turrets and cooling vanes retracted - note that the radiator strips which can be seen glowing)

Ship Name: Vigilance
Ship Class: Vigilance class war cruiser
Role: While it is the largest warship the Skaarj have produced to date, in galactic terms it is classified as a heavy cruiser. The Skaarj have plans for an even bigger ship which will replace the traditional railguns and missiles with nuclear powered casaba howitzers. This would truly elevate the Skaarj's military place on the galactic playing field, but the design is currently stalled at concept stage due to an ongoing debate among the Kel'Cyre as to its legality.

Primary armament: One dorsal and one ventral turret, each mounting two 13 MW railguns. The turrets are retracted within the hull outside of combat (taking approximately 60 seconds to deploy) and have a 360 degree firing arc with 90 degrees vertical traverse. Thus they can be brought to bear in any direction, though the preferred tactic is to align on a plane with the target to allow both turrets to shoot simultaneously. Each railgun accelerates a 10 kg penetrator to 3.43 km per second. Given standard starship manoeuvring speeds, this limits its effective range to approximately 100 km, but a single hit is capable of blasting through over 60 m of tungsten - sufficient to core out a frigate or to do significant damage to a ship of a similar size and class to itself.

Secondary armament: Four flank missile tubes, firing long-range anti-ship missiles. The missiles have an optimum range of 75 km or less, and are designed to defeat the CIWS-heavy defences of enemy ships by breaking into 12 separate warheads as they approach the target. Each warhead has its own guidance system and manoeuvring thrusters, and carries a shaped charge equivalent to 500 kg of TNT. These missiles pack a fierce punch, but are statistically less likely to hit the target than a railgun round, hence their relegation to secondary weapons. The Vigilance carries 40 of these missiles and can fire a volley every 20 s.

Defences: Boron carbide armour playing, an aggressive ECM / ECCM and jamming suite (although this is used judiciously, usually against fighter-heavy enemy fleets, as ECM beaming presents an excellent target lock to a capital ship's passive sensors).

Vulnerabilities: The preference for missiles over conventional autocannon renders the Vigilance susceptible to fires and explosions if a magazine is targeted.

Craft: As a rule, the Skaarj don't field void fighters or mechs, electing instead to bypass the fuel, life support and range issues by equipping missiles. However, the Vigilance does carry a number of shuttles for crew transfer, EVA rigs for outer hull repairs, and unmanned sensor drones which it deploys to increase its AEWAC net before and during combat. The drones are vulnerable to attack, but are rarely considered priority targets. It also carries 240 orbit-to-surface lifeboats.

Power plant: Two tarydium-lined fusion cores, one of which is generally idle outside of combat. The core plasma provides direct thrust for the ship's engines, as well as producing power for the ship through a number of steam turbines.

Engine: Core plasma can be ejected through the main vents at the back of the vessel, or routed through a series of jets running down either flank. As well as allowing fast "sidestep" evasive manoeuvres, this also provides a somewhat effective close-in defence, washing any missiles or fighter craft within a 3km radius with several GW of nuclear fire.

Manoeuvring: Chemical retro rockets.

Cooling: During normal flight, the ship can extend radiator vanes to manage its energy output more or less indefinitely. In combat these vanes must be retracted to prevent damage to the large, fragile arrays, and in these cases the ship relies on radiative hull stripes and heat sinks containing aluminium-tarydium composite. These heat sinks are generally good for about 3 hours of combat level energy output before the ship must disengage or suffer damage, although in extremis the overheating composite can be vented overboard, buying a little more time at the cost of permanently affecting the ship's performance.

Crew: 5,100 - large for a ship of its size. This is partially down to a Skaarj aversion to large, centralised computer control, and partially due to a significant marine complement consisting of Skaarj, Krall and Brute warriors.

Notable characters: Queen Es'Rakei (ambassador), First Eye Susja'Rath (captain), First Talon Taji'Jaar (marine commander)

Notes: Railgun calc from http://www.5596.org/cgi-bin/kinetic.php - assumes 10 cm radius, 1 s burst and 1 shot in 20 s.

http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/sinsofasolarempire/images/5/53/Skarovas_Enforcer.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20080606060223

Ship Name: Dominator, Vindicator
Ship Class: Enforcer class missile frigate
Role: With the new Vigilance class optimised for direct combat with enemy capital ships, Skaarj fleet commanders have recognised its lack of smaller point defence missiles to deal with incoming enemy ordnance. To cover this weakness, the Vigilance is to be escorted by a pair of space superiority frigates.

Primary armament: Four long range missile tubes, capable of launching long-range scatterpack missiles. When approaching the target, the missiles break into four independently targeting warheads before engaging enemy fighters and missile waves. Target lock is achieved by the Enforcer's advanced scanner array, although due to the leisurely warning period for most space combats (and the massively increased target profile of active over passive scanners) these arrays are only activated in combat. Total missile complement is 36 scatterpacks, with an optimum launch range up to 75 km and a refire rate of approximately 10 s.

Secondary armament: Four turreted point defence missile launchers, capable of launching up to eight missiles per volley with a 10 second reload delay. Total missile complement is 72. The missiles are heat and radar dual-sensor AAMs with an optimum launch range of approximately 20 km. While the missiles include a vectored thruster and correctional air jets, their limited fuel supply means that the chance of re-aquiring and intercepting a target after missing a first pass is only around 20% (on the other hand, in most recent combat scenarios, a first pass kill was achieved for more than 85% of missiles).

Defences: Boron-carbide armour plating, multi-spectral ECM and ECCM.

Vulnerabilities: Like the larger Vigilance, the missile stores are a potential explosion risk. Due to its reliance on a powerful active-scanning suite, it also has a massive sensor profile for its size - while its own missiles make it relatively proof against missile and fighter attack, it relies on the Vigilance's jamming fields to foil the targeting of direct fire weapons, and of course has no way of spoofing passive sensors.

Craft: Two orbital shuttles, 40 orbit-to-surface lifeboats, repair EVAs, sensor drones.

Power plant: Single tarydium-lined fusion core, which provides engine thrust and main power.

Engine: Vectored torch drive, which like the larger Vigilance class can be directed aft, port or starboard, but also through dorsal and ventral ports for significantly improved evasive manoeuvres.

Manoeuvring: Chemical retro rockets.

Cooling: Radiator fins (retracted in combat), radiator strips, aluminium-tarydium heat sinks (due to the missile-based armament and lower power requirements, the Enforcer can last in combat for 5 hours compared to the Vigilance's 3).

Crew: 850.

Notable characters: First Lesser Eye Essa'Rath (captain, Dominator), First Lesser Eye Ferak col TorHrang (captain, Vindicator).

Notes: None.

[Jarms48]

I was also thinking of joining Dakka's new RP. I'm really intrigued that you were going to play the Skaarj from Unreal. I'd probably just join as some human faction, because hey, that's me. :P

[Azazeal849]

So this was originally in a PM, but I thought I would make it public since it's another character test request!


I genuinely feel terrible for everything that's happened / going to happen to Sapphira, and I shudder to think how poorly she'd do on that female character assessment, as she's become something of a punching bag this game.

1. Shaping her destiny is subject to the caveat you pointed out that many people in 40K don’t have that luxury. She stays on with Javid and then with Alia out of duty, similar to Ella, so I will give Sapphira the same half point that I gave her. 0.5/1

2. Sapphira’s beliefs are well showcased. We don’t see her off duty much, although we know that she spends private time with Glabrio and social time with Kelly and Kally (and although the latter mostly dictate what the three of them do, this is consistent with Sapphira’s personality). 1/1

3. Sapphira “mellows out” across the stories, but the compassion and the hatred of heretics that make up her core personality do not change. 1/1

4. A compassionate but uncompromising healer, who nevertheless struggles to reconcile her duty to her sisterhood with her duty to her friends. 1/1

5. Her love life doesn’t particularly influence her beliefs – more the opposite. And while Glabrio is obviously important to her, she’s hardly thinking about him 24/7 (and, from Penitence IC post #9, she considers helping Kelly to be more important than her own relaxation). 1/1

6. We definitely see her grow – in Replicants she is friendly but professional; in Prophet she is more relaxed; and in Penitence she is trying to deal with what has happened to her friends along with all the other shit that is rapidly going down. A definte “mellowing out” arc, without (yet) losing her sororita steel. 1/1

7. Her weakness is probably her occasional tendency to go into sororitas “rage mode”, which sometimes works in her favour (Replicants) and sometimes doesn’t (Prophet). 0.5/1

8. Like Kally she’s usually front-and-centre in driving the plot forward (although the “spying on the team” subplot in Replicants was something that probably could have been executed better, that was more my fault than yours because I only gave it one scene, at the end of which Kally basically tells Marc and Vince to stop being stupid). She does get briefly taken hostage in Prophet, but I won’t dock a point for that because it’s a product of her own mistake rather than a simple plot driver. 1/1

9. I suppose you could argue that “compassionate healer” and “defrosting ice queen” are somewhat stereotypical roles in principle, but both are handled sensitively so I will award half a point. 0.5/1

10. If anything, most of her interactions are now with other female cast members. Yes, some of her chats with Kally and Kelly are boy talk – but a girl’s allowed a sex drive, and there are plenty of other, deeper interactions between them as well. Sapphira is a very important support pillar for Kally (pre-Replicants) and Kelly (Penitence) at incredibly vulnerable stages of their lives. 1/1

Total: 8.5/10. PASS! What were you so worried about?

[Azazeal849]

PRISONER 849

"I've been fighting all my life. But now I think I've finally found something worth fighting for."

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/unreal-1998-remake/images/5/50/HSlgO6E-1-.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150222042646

Featured in: Expendable: Gamma Moon (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=83051)

This is a bit of an odd one, being the first character I've posted here before they had actually been in a RP. However, it was RPA Rumble time again - and although once again I didn't have anything like the spare time to take part, I thought I would put together a profile anyway. For next year. Just in case.

I have been somewhat lazy here, as going one step further from the Unreal-inspired Shrk'Jaar (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&p=1325044&viewfull=1#post1325044), this one is literally the player character from that game (maybe the two will meet one day...). I named her Gina after the default character skin, although she is of course not to be confused with my other Gina (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=3&p=1393607&viewfull=1#post1393607). Gina 849 is one of the more stereotypical characters I've written, and although this is partially the constraints of the game she's from, I can only hope that she doesn't come off as just a discount Kally Sonder (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=54933&p=1939700&viewfull=1#post1939700) (an already highly effective deployment of the resourceful, haunted ex-ganger archetype by my writing-buddy Dakkagor). Still, we can only know if and when she is brought to life by some actual RP writing.

Since I may one year submit this character for the annual RPA Rumble, any comments that people can give (particularly regarding her "character abilities") will be gratefully received.

Thanks to Enigma (who previously helmed Scorpio, the series where I debuted the devilishly British agent Doverton-Hawke (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&p=1313530&viewfull=1#post1313530)), I was actually able to utilise this concept as a normal RP character too. By fusing Suicide Squad with Alien, Enigma created a story about a bunch of convicts sent to investigate some alien ruins with trouble written all over them, and I found an excuse to wheel this character out sooner than intended. I have toned down the Unreal references considerably (although she retains the 849 number, and the name of one of the other default character skins), but the core of the character remains the same - if anything, it should help to crystallise her for any speculative upcoming Rumbles!

I also need to thank Karma for her feedback on the Rumble version of this character, and I have edited her accordingly.

Trivia: As far as influences go (both in character creation and how I plan to write her), she's one part Arya Stark, one part Ciro from the Gomorrah TV series, and one part my personal research into the sad realities of gang culture.

Name: Prisoner 849, first name Gina, surname unknown

Age: 35

Gender: Female

Race: Human. She is of Hispanic descent, although her accent is American

Appearance: Gina is a lean, imposing woman, with a hard, diamond-shaped face and a stone-cold glare that would stop most challengers in their tracks. She has dark brown eyes and a broad nose, set above a narrow mouth and chin. Her short brown hair is unkempt, and beginning to grow out. Her fawn-toned skin is darkened by dust and dirt, and shiny with old sweat. She sports distinctive gang tattoos on her face and upper arms, which take the form of jagged swirls.

Outfit: Gina escaped her crashed prison vessel with little more than a grubby convict's tank top and cargo trousers, both in faded grey. Since then however she has scavenged dead bodies and other sources to secure herself some improvised carrier-webbing as well as climbing gloves and thick-soled combat boots.

Personality: A hard life has built up many walls in Gina's mind - probably too many to fully break down again. She is taciturn and slow to trust, and has an ingrained hatred for most authority figures. She does however prize loyalty and community, even though - or perhaps because - she herself is so seldom accepted into one. Initially ambivalent towards the Nali slave race on Na Pali, their unsolicited kindness towards her has slowly gained them a degree of her empathy.

Background: Fast learning, naturally athletic and with a keen eye for practical problem solving, Gina would have had all the makings of a successful woman if she had been born anywhere but the chronically underfunded ghettoes of New Detroit. In an area where youth unemployment ran close to 50%, and a brutally discriminatory justice system funnelled many youngsters straight from school into prison, the most attractive option for many was to run with the narco-gangs that dominated the ghetto streets. At least they offered a wage, and some semblance of belonging. Gina committed her first theft at 14, and her first murder at 17, when almost without meaning to she fired a stub revolver into a street fight and claimed the life of a teenage boy from a rival gang. Over the years she gained prominence - too introverted to ever lead, but clever and cold enough to become one of the gang's premier fixers and hitmen. Her luck ran out when she was sent to assassinate a local politician, who had long been in the gang's pocket but was no longer toeing the desired line. Captured instead by the politician's bodyguards, it was of course Gina and not the gang boss who took the fall for the attempted murder.

Gina was sentenced to exile on the prison moon of Colditz, though her transport never arrived there. Instead, it found itself pulled out of hyperdrive by the unique properties of a tarydium-saturated planet named Na Pali, and subsequently crash landed. Though many of the crew and prisoners survived the crash, most were subsequently captured or killed by the deadly alien Skaarj who had recently conquered the planet and subjugated its native sapients, the Nali. Awakening mere hours after the main camp outside the ship had been overrun by alien forces, Gina used her hard-won talents to fight her way across the planet's surface in search of some means of escape. Even so, she would have likely been killed without the help of the native Nali, who despite their oppressed state treated fugitive humans with kindness. Some Nali believe that a wounded angel fallen from the stars will liberate them from Skaarj domination. Gina's first priority is simple survival, but she is beginning to sympathise with the natives and their plight, which has awakened a long-dormant sense of justice in her.

Equipment:
ASMD - Gina first discovered this weapon in the armoury of another crashed starship, and it has been her weapon of choice ever since. Short for Atomic Shock Matter Disruptor (or, informally, And Suck My D***) this particle weapon has both beam and pulse fire modes. If the unstable energy core within the weapon was ever detonated at full charge, the resulting compressed energy release would bring down a reasonably sized building. Active ability: Both beam and pulse shots from the ASMD constitute a "standard" attack. If the shot connects, it will maim and / or knock back a human-sized target. Beam shots cause greater knockback, whereas pulse shots explode on contact with a damage radius of about 2 metres.
Universal Translator - Picked up from a dead guard as she escaped her ship's cellblock, this unassuming little device has indirectly saved Gina's life numerous times by giving her valuable insight into her surroundings, letting her eavesdrop on hostile conversations, and letting her communicate with the alien Nali. Passive ability: Automatically decodes written or spoken text into English so that Gina can understand it, provided she has a moment spare to glance at the screen.
Flares - Scavenged from various former crewmen, Gina currently has three of these simple chemical torches in her possession. They have found use as illumination, distraction and - once or twice - something to shove in an opponent's face to get them away from her. Active ability, instant effect, limited use (3): A flare can be struck in one action, after which it will produce light, smoke and localised heat until the start of Gina's next round.

Abilities:
ASMD Burst - Field tests of the ASMD have shown an unexpected side-effect: prematurely detonating a pulse shot with a beam one initiates a chain reaction, far more powerful than an individual shot. Given the speed of the projectile, almost all incidences of this in standard combat are accidental. Gina, however, has gotten rather good at producing these trick shots on demand. She uses it sparingly, as multiple uses can quickly deplete the weapon's power core. Active ability, instant effect, 1 turn cooldown. If the shot connects, it has enough power to destroy a small vehicle, or equivalent. The blast radius of the explosion is approximately 5 metres.
Fated - The Nali aliens that inhabit Na Pali claim that a messiah is destined to rid their world of the Skaarj "sky demons". Gina herself maintains that she is just extremely lucky. Active ability, instant effect, once per battle. Through some quirk of fate or the surrounding environment, Gina can evade the consequences of an opponent's action.

Attributes:
Improvise - Gina's survival has often rested on turning the local environment to her advantage, and making use of any resource she can scavenge. She is adept at picking up and using any weapons that might be lying around, or crafting random items into offensive tools on the fly.
Athletic - Gina is very fit by human standards, and is adept at running and climbing. A dangerous life has also honed her hair-trigger reactions, and while some good solid cover is always welcome, she has an instinctive knack for evading enemy fire. She doesn't dodge bullets - that would be silly - but she is uncannily good at predicting where a weapon is pointing and not being in the line of fire when it goes off. Anything that does hit her will affect her much as it would any other baseline human.
Survivor - In her long trek across Na Pali, Gina has experienced climates ranging from icy glaciers to volcanic mining complexes. Extreme environments no longer particularly faze her psychologically (though she is still subject to physical effects such as heat, cold or thin atmosphere).
Close Combat Weakness - While Gina could probably deck the average person in a street fight, experience has taught her that almost every other creature in the universe is far better at it than her. She therefore avoids up-close fights like the plague, and may panic if she gets caught up in one with an obviously superior opponent. The first action Gina takes after a hand-to-hand "response" action will be less strategic or effective than normal.
Night Terrors - A brutal upbringing and an even more brutal marooning on Na Pali tend to leave scars on the mind. As far as Gina is concerned, the Rumble itself is a particularly violent dream. Things that remind her of especially harrowing events on Na Pali can make her temporarily freeze up. Certain triggers will force Gina to forfeit one of her actions for that turn. A list of these triggers will be PM'd to the judge prior to the match.
Prisoner number: 49-0849

Prisoner name: Sonia Martinez

Race: Human (mixed Caucasian / Hispanic ethnicity)

Sex: Female

Age: 38

Favorite Food: Anything, as long as it's home cooked. Her mother was rather militant about this, and it stuck

Augments: None

Description: Sonia is a lean, imposing woman, with a hard, diamond-shaped face and a stone-cold glare that would stop most challengers in their tracks. She has dark brown eyes and a broad nose, set above a narrow mouth and chin. Her short brown hair is unkempt, and beginning to grow out. Her skin is fawn-toned and she sports distinctive gang tattoos on her face and upper arms, which take the form of jagged swirls.

Conviction: Attempted murder, and a whole load of unproven ones

Sentence: Life Imprisonment

Speciality: Former gang hitman

Prisoner History: Fast learning, naturally athletic and with a keen eye for practical problem solving, Sonia would have had all the makings of a successful woman if she had been born anywhere but the chronically underfunded ghettoes of New Detroit. In an area where youth unemployment ran close to 50%, and a brutally discriminatory justice system funnelled many youngsters straight from school into prison, the most attractive option for many was to run with the narco-gangs that dominated the ghetto streets. At least they offered a wage, and some semblance of belonging.

Sonia committed her first theft at 14, and her first murder at 17, when almost without meaning to she fired a stub revolver into a street fight and claimed the life of a teenage boy from a rival gang. Over the years she gained prominence - too introverted to ever lead, but clever and cold enough to become one of the gang's premier fixers and hitmen.

Her luck ran out when she was sent to assassinate a local politician, who had long been in the gang's pocket but was no longer toeing the desired line. Captured instead by the politician's bodyguards, it was of course Sonia and not the gang boss who took the fall for the attempted murder.

Mental Status: Sane, although a hard life has built up many walls in her mind - probably too many to fully break down again. She is taciturn and slow to trust, and has an ingrained hatred for most authority figures. She does however prize loyalty and community, even though - or perhaps because - she herself is so seldom accepted into one.

Weapons: Experienced with semi-automatic pistols, pump action shotguns, light automatics and hand grenades. She'll take what she can get from the offered armoury.

Personal Gear: Prison Omni (which she rarely uses), a couple of old war novels, lighter and cigarettes, and clothes.

[Azazeal849]

SNEAK PREVIEW

For my reference and your amusement, here are the main NPC characters who will be appearing in my future RP Reckoning. It’s probably not too much of an exaggeration to call this the Infinity War of my group’s 40K saga, as almost every character we’ve written throughout the series will be appearing somewhere.

This will (probably) be the concluding chapter of the series, and will feature plot threads for ground forces, space fleets, and the cloak-and-dagger operatives working away in the background. It is entirely possible that I will need to run it as several threads in the Persistent World forum.

Reckoning recruitment will launch after PaintSerf and I have had a chance to finish some additional scenes for past RPs.

"I fokked the Tyranids, I think I can handle one flesh-lump in a governor’s sash.”

https://lh6.ggpht.com/-IKiTzCM0rcg/Uelku8HFsBI/AAAAAAAA0C0/SMM1C3kY95M/MacheteKillsShe3_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=8 00

Featured in: Reckoning (pending)

Age: 130 Ichabarr years, 93 Terran standard (juvenat assisted)
Rank: Crusade warmaster
Profile: Caiser is a short woman, but no-one has ever succeeded in making her look small. Her bombastic personality easily fills a room, and in her hands the silver walking cane that she carries almost takes on the aspect of a deadly weapon. She has a fervent, merciless belief in the Imperial cause, and has marshalled two successful inter-system campaigns in the Ixaniad sector.

"See warmaster! This is living history!"

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/totalwar-ar/images/7/72/Orsino_Orsini.png/revision/latest?cb=20171111174835

Featured in: Reckoning (pending)

Age: 67 Aurelian years, 75 Terran standard
Rank: Ecclesiarchy representative
Profile: The reigning pontifex of Aurelias Prime, Albinius was the figurehead for imperial resistance when the shrine world came under heavy Chaos attack, although many would argue that the real action was undertaken by his deputy, lord cardinal Tarpeian. Albinius is considered outspoken but moderate in most Imperial circles, and he has leveraged support from his flock by such populist gestures as eschewing juvenat treatments despite his advanced age.

"You wear a commissar's uniform, and I expect you not to dishonour it."

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mT00GTADpJo/VR83rcfcvrI/AAAAAAAAnEc/PclnWiSIVEM/s1600/the_imitation_game_alan_turing_charles_dance.JPG

Featured in: Reckoning (pending)

Age: 74 Strygos years, 68 Terran standard
Rank: Lord commissar
Profile: Havelock Tyne is the steely eye of the Munitorum on the highest echelons of the crusade leadership. Although many have noted his preference to observe from the background rather than to outright dictate, this just makes the crusade generals nervous of what he is really thinking and noting down for future prosecutions. He is far more direct in handling his subordinate commissars, and has a reputation among many of them as an onerous taskmaster.

“If one of you listens to that maniac and shoots a civilian who isn't already pointing a gun at you, you'll be getting a bullet in the head from me.”
https://www.scifimoviezone.com/imagehorrorscifi/residentevil028.jpg

Featured in: It's Just A Short Run (https://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?238592-It-s-Just-a-Short-Run!-RPG-Main-Thread), Reckoning (pending)

Age: 29 Terran standard
Rank: Commissar
Profile: Despite his young age, Schenke carries himself with a natural confidence and authority, secured by an early baptism of fire where he rallied the passengers of an Imperial transport against an unexpected pirate attack. At his side since that event has been Janie Ephese, a hot-blooded young mutant who fought as hard as any puregene human. This frequently causes raised eyebrows from the Guardsmen he is assigned to, but Schenke keeps her around for her practical mindset and - privately - for her sarcastic banter that closely matches his own offbeat sense of humour. Schenke is also a former associate of Ella Seren, having acted as her handler before and during the pirate attack. He is shocked and saddened to learn that she has joined the Adrantian rebels, but a traitor is a traitor - even if they used to be friends.

"Deploy for broadside firepower. Equal speed turn, two points sunward, maintain cloud formation."

https://www.indiannavy.nic.in/sites/default/files/news/VCNS_VADM_Lanba_5.jpg

Featured in: Reckoning (pending)

Age: 82 Ichabarr years, 58 Terran standard
Rank: Crusade fleet commander
Profile: A veteran of nearly 40 years in the Navy, Bravick has risen to command through a critical eye, a firm hand and the right political backing. He is viewed as a cautious and by-the-book commander, perhaps overly so by more aggressively-minded void admirals. However, his conservative command style stems from a belief that the Navy is the only branch of the Imperial war machine that can doom the entire course of a war in a single day. He leads the crusade fleet from the Dictator-class battle carrier Damnatus.

"Well, you know what it says on our christening plaque, gentlemen - qui tangit frangitur. Let 'em come."

https://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/2/23/Kor_Sella_CT.png/revision/latest?cb=20160122210542

Featured in: Reckoning (pending)

Age: 55 Ichabarr years, 39 Terran standard
Rank: Commander, 5th cruiser squadron
Profile: Serving in battlefleet Ixaniad's RRF before being promoted in the wake of the Coreltis crusade, Tehrani is diplomatic about the sometimes heated rivalry between Guard and Navy. In combat she is an aggressive and decisive commander, eager to exploit opportunities and take the fight to the enemy.

Thurlow: “So what’s the plan, Eppie?”
Von Scharn: “To win, naturally.”

https://fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/228/8/9/895927a07a95a020470a22d59931d563.jpg

Featured in: Hearts of Darkness (https://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?217962-Hearts-of-Darkness-IC), Penitence (https://role-player.net/foum/showthread.php?t=74089), Reckoning (pending)

Age: 57 Ichabarr years, 40 Terran standard
Rank: Captain, HDMS Impiger
Profile: Eppie von Scharn commands with a carefully affected air of indifference, no matter how dire the situation; an attitude perhaps best evoked by her signature 'victory lho'. Formerly the commander of the 5th cruiser squadron, she was demoted and replaced by commodore Tehrani following the debacle of the Coreltis crusade - a debacle which she lays squarely on the shoulders of the deceased inquisitor Drake. She does not make a secret of her continuing animosity towards the inquisition, although whatever views she holds of her own situation are kept carefully private.

"Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to represent the entire Imperial Navy at the buffet."

https://www.bostonherald.com/sites/default/files/styles/gallery/public/media/2012/07/19/67dc18_071712trishna4.jpg?itok=_gXAOj2S

Featured in: Penitence (https://role-player.net/foum/showthread.php?t=74089), Reckoning (pending)

Age: 29 Axinite years, 35 Terran standard
Rank: Executive officer, HDMS Impiger
Profile: Born on the pleasure world of Axinite and with the somewhat carefree attitude and flamboyant mannerisms of such people, Thurlow is an easy man to underestimate. However, he has proved both talented and enthusiastic in a command role, and has turned the Impiger's marine complement in particular into a ruthless, well-drilled force.

"So our options are for you to submit to a complete mind scan, or I barge my way in anyway and leave you a vegetable, or worse."

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/DBaBU5v4vU4/maxresdefault.jpg

Featured in: The Silent Forge (https://role-player.net/foum/showthread.php?t=71660), Reckoning (pending)

Age: 88 Terran standard (juvenat assisted)
Rank: Inquisitor
Profile: Yannick is everything you might expect from an inquisitor - cunning, politically savvy, and relentless in the pursuit of heretics. He has made enemies in the mechanicus through numerous incidents of meddling in their affairs, and has recently begun to establish a similar reputation with the Telepathica through his relentless pursuit of the Ampoliros incident. The involvement of major Martin Crenshaw in the incident inevitably led him towards conflict with the major’s patron, inquisitor Alia Machairi.

"If you find something heretical, annihilate it."

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/6c/39/a3/6c39a3053536284ac6db5e088dfd6168.jpg

Featured in: The Silent Forge (https://role-player.net/foum/showthread.php?t=71660), Reckoning (pending)

Age: 26 Terran standard
Rank: Interrogator
Profile: Borden is very adept at affecting a friendly and garrulous personality, but under it all she is as cold as her master, if not colder. Having undergone extensive (and expensive) reconstructive surgery after her close call with an arco-flagellant on Anatolia, she has been working tirelessly with inquisitor Yannick to bring down his enemies.

"It's a shame. That boy had a lot of potential."

https://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/absolutehorror/images/a/a1/Christie.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120921170815

Featured in: He's A Dead Man (https://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?251903-Lucius-pembroke-is-a-dead-man), Reckoning (pending)

Age: 30 Cantus years, 46 Terran standard
Rank: Inquisitor
Profile: An inquisitor originally based in the Markayn Marches of Calixis, DeShilo investigated the cult uprising on Solomon and, later, the well-publicised Pembroke Incident, although during the latter he was forced to withdraw by the superior authority of lord inquisitor Sidonis. After the incident concluded with Sidonis burning Makita Hive with over a billion souls still inside, DeShilo developed a deep suspicion of the inquisitor lord. After his duty securing the Makita quarantine site was discharged, DeShilo made it his personal mission to oppose any Imperial operative who sought to accumulate Sidonis' kind of overreaching power.

"I trust the Tarot. I don't trust the psyker reading it."

https://media.melty.fr/article-1890619-ajust_930-f1384180082/stephen-dillane.jpg

Featured in: Penitence (https://www.role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=74089), Shades of Grey (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=80860&p=2766847#post2766847), Reckoning (pending)

Age: 59 Terran standard
Rank: Inquisitor
Profile: An inquisitor of some notoriety, Lucullis is known to be cold and enigmatic but also scrupulously fair. He was one of the three inquisitors called upon to judge the rogue agents who fought against a daemon and a C’tan shard at the Saros Station incident, right on the doorstep of Holy Terra. He has a gift for detecting lies, causing some to whisper that he is a hidden psyker. After thwarting a daemon manifestation on Vaxanide, a victory that came at great cost to his retinue, he received inquisitor Machairi’s report on the Nebula conspiracy and immediately set out to rendezvous with her.

“Don’t let me down. I’ll be seeing you again.”
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/6d/34/12/6d3412e6eb2702c76791e0708e8f2b2b.jpg

Featured in: The Prophet In Silver (https://www.role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=57718), Penitence (https://www.role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=74089), Reckoning (pending)

Age: 43 Terran standard
Rank: Inquisitor
Profile: Until recently, Alia was a rising star of the ordos, with a close-knit retinue, a talent for diplomacy, and contacts across the Calixis and Ixaniad sectors. This changed when her former mentor Sidonis was revealed as a daemonhost, and she inherited the poisoned chalice of the Saros Incident survivors who had previously served in his personnel. While spending significant political capital to keep various imperial institutions off her wards’ backs, Alia leveraged all of her assets to bring the heretic DeRei to ground, culminating in a battle aboard Cocordia orbital and the unmasking of the Adrantis conspiracy. Although their actions forced the Adrantean Patriots to act months before they were ready, they could not stop the rebellion from going ahead, and Alia herself had her neck broken by a daemon in thrall to the traitor Alicia Tarran. She is now confined to a hospital bed, protected by her few remaining allies.

”He isn’t dead until I see his frakking corpse!”
https://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/smallville/images/7/79/Smallville-penikett77.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20110329172337

Featured in: He's A Dead Man (https://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?251903-Lucius-pembroke-is-a-dead-man), The Replicants (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40923), The Prophet In Silver (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=57718), Drowning for the Cure (https://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?285687-Drowning-for-the-Cure), A Wash of Black (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?p=688793#post688793), Kaleidoscope (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19424), Penitence (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=74089), Reckoning (pending)

Age: 8 Solomon years, 32 Terran standard
Rank: Former inquisitorial agent (investigator)
Profile: Like the rest of the Saros survivors, Marc was assigned the penance of hunting down the heretic Arcolin DeRei by the Terran tribunal. Although ostensibly absolved by Machairi’s confessor Bellanor, he remains under judgement as far as the wider inquisition is concerned. That said, he requires little encouragement, having a long and bitter history with DeRei. After losing an eye fighting DeRei and the Nebula Corps on Concordia orbital, he has recovered and returned to active duty, though at a more lasting cost. Having burned bridges with almost all of his friends, including his sister Kelly, he has become a private, cold and ruthless individual.

“We can all sink really, really low. But we have to believe that we can bring each other back.”
https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/landscape_928x523/2013/05/rb-s4prem.jpg

Featured in: He's A Dead Man (https://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?251903-Lucius-pembroke-is-a-dead-man), The Replicants (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40923), The Prophet In Silver (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=57718), Drowning for the Cure (https://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?285687-Drowning-for-the-Cure), A Wash of Black (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?p=688793#post688793), Kaleidoscope (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19424), Penitence (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=74089), Reckoning (pending)

Age: 7 Solomon years, 31 Terran standard
Rank: Former inquisitorial agent (verispex)
Profile: Kelly has been through hell in the last year, suffering judgement from the ordos and losing a number of friends to death and betrayal - even her brother Marc, whose blind wrath she can no longer tolerate. The greatest toll on her physically has been the brief possession by the DeRei daemon on Baraspine, for which she still bears a protective (and accusatory) pentagrammic ward. However, she still possesses her skills and her logical mind, and perhaps more importantly her empathy. She has used the latter to support the broken psyker Gavin Jenkins, as well as her friends Kally and Sapphira who are some of the few remaining survivors of recent events.

“Amazing what the Navy will do to get the church’s blessing.”
https://realiran.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/87920_872.jpg

Featured in: Penitence (https://www.role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=74089), Reckoning (pending)

Age: 43 Coseflame years, 55 Terran standard
Rank: Canoness
Profile: Sister Kiana is the dry-witted canoness of the Order of the Silent Vigil, a sororitas order based on the feudal planet of Coseflame. Founded based on Tarot readings of a grave future threat to the sector, it was quickly realised that maintaining a full order under arms without a concrete opponent to face was not strategically or economically viable. The Vigil therefore adapted and began to operate as a highly-efficient spy network throughout the Adrantis sub, watching and waiting for the prophesied threat. Kiana has assisted inquisitor Machairi on several occasions, and mobilised all of her combat-trained sisters for Machairi’s endgame on Concordia orbital. When the Adrantis revolution began, the Vigil’s convent was destroyed by a treacherous orbital strike, killing all of the order’s novices and incinerating their main communications hub. However, the Vigil’s agents and astropaths remain in the field, and a thousand battle sisters stand ready to exact revenge.

“I would prefer for it to be dealt with...internally.”
https://i.stack.imgur.com/bZkzf.jpg

Featured in: Penitence (https://www.role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=74089), Reckoning (pending)

Age: 136 Perinetus years, 105 Terran standard
Rank: Weaponsmith
Profile: Jasmin Ankari is a highly influential magos on the Adrantis forge world of Perinetus, second only to the reclusive archmagos Lazarine Krupp. She is a fearsome and enigmatic figure, managing the output of the forge world's armament factories with uncompromising efficiency. As well as frequent liaisons with the Imperial Navy who berth in the shipyards above Perinetus, she has also insinuated herself with the shadowy Lords Dragon who police the mechanicus from within. She has a long-standing working relationship with secutor Vizkop, although that relationship is not always harmonious. After Perinetus erupted into civil war following the Adrantis revolution, she took command of the loyalist mechanicus forces.

“Hostile crane neutralised. There goes a sentence I am unlikely to speak again.”
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/6b/6c/20/6b6c205dd987c6ecd6b9c04ca2bb0a32.jpg

Featured In: To Cleanse The Stars (www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?264360-To-Cleanse-the-Stars-Gameplay), Sins of Ambition (www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?289458-The-Sins-of-Ambition-Warhammer-40K-Space-Hulk-RPG-IC-Thread) (retconned), The Silent Forge (part 1) (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=56288), The Silent Forge (part 2) (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=71660), Penitence (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=74089), Reckoning (pending)

Age: 15 Vostian years, 30 Terran standard
Rank: Lords Dragon Ocularis
Profile: A pious, but personable (and occasionally even playful) tech priestess, Raechel worked in a manufactorum on Vost before getting roped into an inquisition investigation which ended with her being forced to kill her corrupted former overseer, magos Sollisto. Raechel went through a phase of unhealthy paranoia following these events, even going so far as to keep forbidden inquisition access codes. Following events on the cursed forgeworld of Anatolia, she was inducted into the Lords Dragon - the shadowy mechanicus secret police whom most in the Imperium believe to be just a myth. She focuses on MIU linking to physical assets, be that commandeering machinery or providing the muscle for an operation through a retinue of servitors. She and her partner Nikolai Oppen were dispatched to investigate the legality of the Adrantis Nebula programme - an objective that initially put them at odds with inquisitor Machairi's team, but they found common ground in the threat posed by Arcolin DeRei. When the Adrantis conspiracy was uncovered on Concordia orbital, Nikolai was killed protecting Raechel and several of Machairi’s agents from a data-daemon. Raechel remains with the surviving agents, determined to assist them in taking down the Nebula hereteks as the reclamation crusade mobilises.

“They have defined us as traitors and heretics. We must conquer or we must die.”
https://www.dsei.co.uk/__resource/peopleProfiles/4A1CCD19-5056-B731-4CA884F188F9387C-profileimgupload.jpg

Featured in: Penitence (https://www.role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=74089), Reckoning (pending)

Age: 59 Baraspine years, 65 Terran standard
Rank: Governor of the Adrantis Nebula subsector
Profile: Although he rules from the subsector capital of Tephaine, Tierce grew up on its rival hive world Baraspine. Born to midhiver parents, he found himself press-ganged into the Imperial Navy, but was saved from a deck-slave’s life by his parents, who sold everything to buy him a midshipman’s commission. Tierce proved talented, eventually rising to command and winning several high profile naval battles. This earned him a high position when he retired from the Navy to enter politics, setting the stage for his eventual governorship. His leadership was marked by many drives towards greater efficiency and self-sufficiency among the Adrantean institutions. A compassionate man, he believed in the Adrantean people above all and became increasingly disillusioned with the demands of the wider imperium, a disillusionment which became complete with his attempted kidnapping by the rogue inquisitor Nalaran. Several years later, his plans for independence were forced forward by the meddling of another inquisitor, Alia Machairi.

“We just want peace. A chance to use our own resources to shape our own destiny.”
https://www.celebritywotnot.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Josh-Brolin-Cable-Behind-The-Scenes-Deadpool-2-Scar-011.jpg

Featured in: Penitence (https://www.role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=74089), Reckoning (pending)

Age: 61 Tephaine years, 56 Terran standard
Rank: Commander of the Nebula Corps
Profile: The Nebula Corps are governor Tierce’s life guards and rapid reaction force, elite soldiers utilising bionics and armour crafted by tech-priests more interested in protecting the subsector than adhering rigidly to mechanicus procedures. Tarquinius is a hero of the Dominion Crisis and one of Adrantis' longest-serving officers. When the Adrantis military leadership was decapitated by the Chaos assault, Tarquinius and his stormtrooper company were doing boarding combat drills on then-commodore Tierce's ship. He and his soldiers formed the core of Tierce's insurgent force during the crisis. He and Tierce worked in close tandem throughout that time, and after Tierce's appointment as Lord Governor, he handpicked Tarquinius to command his bodyguard detail and eventually to command the Nebula Corps.

“Such primitive weaponry.”
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/a6/6c/52/a66c523c13d36906104864ffe868556d.jpg
Featured in: Reckoning (pending)

Age: 275 Perinetus years, 212 Terran standard
Rank: Tech priest magos
Profile: Formerly third in line to the archmagos’ throne on Perinetus, Delzharian now leads the mechanicus faction sympathetic to the Adrantean cause. He has always had an aesthetic mind, preferring to grace machine spirits with elegant bodies that sometimes seem at odds with the solid power of most mechanicus designs. He gained fame for his work on MIU technology (including a neurofeedback generator that he used to devastating effect on the first day of the Adrantis uprising), although his greatest work is no doubt the implants used by the vaunted Nebula Corps. Constructed in necessary secrecy with the help of shady characters such as the now-dead rogue trader Nibenay, he combined power armour interfaces, communal datafeed links and combat drug injectors to create what he hoped would be the ultimate soldier. Delzharian has extensive frontline experience as an enginseer, although nowadays he prefers to protect his vastly expanded Knowledge by being where the Titans aren’t. He is meticulously careful, and some say that he transferred his human brain into his combat servitor bodyguards several years ago, and now uses his own original body as a decoy.

“There’s always a choice.”
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/24/99/4f/24994f97221a7a107a9ad18f698861c1.jpg

Featured in: He's A Dead Man (https://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?251903-Lucius-pembroke-is-a-dead-man), Drowning for the Cure (https://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?285687-Drowning-for-the-Cure), A Wash of Black (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?p=688793#post688793), Kaleidoscope (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19424), Penitence (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=74089), Reckoning (pending)

Age: 10 Solomon years, 41 Terran standard
Rank: Executor to the Subsector Governor
Profile: Once a loyal arbitrator, Arcolin’s mind snapped when he was forced to purge his own heretic family. The only survivor was his sister Ailil, who he would not see again until many years later, living under the name of Alicia Tarran. Falling in with a Tzeentchian cult, Arcolin committed many terrible deeds: being involved in two uprisings on Solomon, assisting in another on Marioch, and acting as a hired gun for the possessed rogue trader Emerald. He planned to throw the entire Adrantis subsector into civil war, only to pull back from the brink when the daemon Táin engineered a revelation, at the expense of his old foes Marcus and Kelly Black. Something of his old honour seemingly resurrected, Arcolin sought to salvage what he could and turn the now-inevitable Adrantis uprising into a force for positive change. While attempting to convince his former enemies of his motives, he was struck with a poisoned needle and left in a critical condition. He remains on life support on the Adrantian capital of Tephaine.

“This time I choose my family. Both of them.”
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-14bXgck94JI/T5SMPASAxHI/AAAAAAAADIs/MEP5d5YCylQ/s1600/number_6_battlestar_galactica_tricia_helfer.jpg

Featured in: Drowning for the Cure (https://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?285687-Drowning-for-the-Cure), A Wash of Black (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?p=688793#post688793), Kaleidoscope (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19424), Penitence (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=74089), Reckoning (pending)

Age: 34 Marioch, 35 Terran standard
Rank: Captain
Profile: Alicia grew up on Marioch and served in the newly-formed Adrantis Nebula Corps, rising to interplanetary prominence after she took command and extricated the Nebulas from a deadly ambush, rescuing the captured governor Tierce in the process. Unfortunately, fame drove a wedge between her and her former comrades, and she retired back to Marioch - only to be caught up in a heretic uprising. Making a dark pact to destroy her enemies, Alicia barely survived and was hauled in by the inquisition for monitoring. She served with them until the Saros Station incident, after which she disappeared and took up the disguise of a rogue trader, searching for a new cause she could truly believe in. After being reunited with her former colleagues, she discovered that the erstwhile cultist Arcolin DeRei was her brother, and the daemon she had allowed to possess her was a long-standing ally of the DeRei family. Caught between Arcolin and Tarquinius’ seemingly sincere desire for a better, freer Adrantis on one hand, and the unyielding hatred of her former colleagues on the other, she allowed the daemon to possess her a second time and defected to the Adrantean cause.

Alicia: “Did you see it in your cards?”
Ella: “No. I see you.”
https://keyassets-p2.timeincuk.net/wp/prod/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/2009/12/LYDIAKELLY02.jpg

Featured in: It's Just A Short Run (https://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?238592-It-s-Just-a-Short-Run!-RPG-Main-Thread), Gibbous (https://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?307341-Gibbous-IC-Thread), A Wash Of Black (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?p=688793), Kaleidoscope (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19424), Penitence (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=74089), Reckoning (pending)

Age: 23 Terran standard
Rank: Astropath
Profile: Ella was originally intended to be just another astropath, slowly wearing herself out in the messenger eyries of Aurelias Prime. Instead, she found herself caught up in a pirate raid en route to her posting, and together with the hospitaller sisters Rose and Jennifen she succeeded in sending the distress signal that brought the inquisition to their rescue. Impressed by her tenacity, inquisitor Suffolk immediately snapped her up for his retinue, but after his unfortunate death she found herself instead working with the agents of inquisitor lord Sidonis. As well as the typical astropath skills of signalling and scrying the future, she demonstrated unexpected skills such as offensive telepathy and the ability to control her former inquisitor’s force sword. She served with her friends through every trial until Concordia orbital, where, tortured by her recent Tarot readings, she made the fateful decision to join Alicia Tarran in defecting. Although she is unflinchingly hard-working, Ella’s greatest strength and her biggest flaw is how much she cares. She kept secrets for her friends that ultimately did more harm than good, and many of her former allies believe that it was caring too much for Alicia Tarran that led her to abandon them for the Adrantean cause.

[Azazeal849]

MATTY BEDINGER

"Hey...um, ambulance, I need an ambulance!"

https://iancommunity.org/sites/default/files/galleries/stockphotos/Teen_Hoodie.jpg

Featured in: Grip Grop Drae (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=86700)

This character is a departure for me in a couple of ways. For one thing, I'm very rarely enthused by RPs where the main characters are a bunch of teenagers. Etmoc's Grip Grop Drae, however, promised to be every bit as bizarre and creepy as the title suggests - which was a bonus when I'd challenged myself to RP something completely different, and the first few character ideas that were pitched by the other players sold it. Secondly, this was the first character where I let chance decide their core personality, courtesy of Minkasha and her home-made NPC generator (which I have attached for reader interest at the bottom of this post). Struggling a little for character concepts beyond somebody quiet who likes taking photos, I used the first section of Mink's generator and duly rolled up "perceptive eye, self-aware of thoughts / feelings, finds it easy to lie". Surprisingly enough, the first person to pop into my mind was my youngest sister (not the same sister who inspired Kelly (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=3&p=1943180&viewfull=1#post1943180)) who not only likes taking photos (and artsy things in general), but is indeed very perceptive and one of the most emotionally intelligent people I know. It became fairly easy to conceptualise the character after making that breakthrough. In the end, I decided to flip the character from female to male to explore something a little off-archetype.

As an ordinary kid thrown into an extraordinary situation, he shares some common ground with my resident ghost hunter (and part time quantum leaper) Gina (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=3&p=1393607&viewfull=1#post1393607). In fact, since the GGD story explicitly features people jumping between universes, I'm far from ruling out some sort of meeting between the two. But whereas Gina has had time to adjust to her calling (sort of...) and has the advantage of a natural well of determination, Matty is much more the type to flee or freeze when confronting an unknown danger for the first time. Since so few of us are born heroes, I hope that wanting to see him grow from this shaky start will be the reader's investment in the character.

Or maybe I'll take another leaf out of Minkasha's Guide to Merciless RPing, and simply have him implode. I haven't decided.

Trivia: Finding "ordinary"-looking character photos on an internet full of models was surprisingly difficult, though eventually I settled for the one you see above. It's actually off an Aspergers awareness website, though I didn't consciously design Matt as being on the spectrum (he does have one fairly stereotypical aspie trait, which is having a lot of deep thoughts and empathy that he has trouble articulating, though I see that as more a product of his shyness and immaturity).

Name: Matthew Bedinger (Matt or Matty to most people)
Age: 16
High School Grade: Junior / 11th grade

Appearance: Matthew is an unremarkable boy to look at - brown eyes; brown hair that tends to curl as it grows out (and which he has long given up on trying to make look cool); pale skin that tans well in summer. He was hit pretty hard with acne when he was 12, and though it has since cleared up, he still has faint scars on his forehead that he hides with his fringe.

He is 5'8 but still has some growing to do (or so he hopes, at least). He grazes rather than eats big meals, and so is fairly skinny. Incidentally, he's also hilariously bad at sports.

Clothes-wise you're more likely to see him in simple jeans and hoodie rather than anything that's had actual thought put into it. This is in contrast to his personal hygiene, about which he'll often be paranoid enough to take two showers in a day, with a liberal spraying of Lynx in between.

Personality: Matthew is an introverted, observant and emotionally-aware boy. He feels more comfortable in small groups of people he trusts, rather than big parties, though even then he'll mostly listen, perhaps interjecting with the occasional joke. One-on-one he can be a lot more engaged, and has had deep conversations with all the other members of the group at some point or other.

He laughs easily, though sometimes it's just nerves, and doesn't deal well with conflict - making excuses to avoid it where he can even if it's not the best option. He would also much rather lie than hurt somebody's feelings.

Bio: Matthew is the eldest of three siblings, with two years separating him from his middle sister Jessie and three from his youngest Danielle. Jessie is a sensitive girl who is recently enjoying the social benefits of winning the puberty lottery, whereas Danielle is easily the most grounded and practical of the three and is probably going to be a policewoman or a paramedic some day. Matthew readily takes advantage of the fact that they fight with each other rather than him ("Dani stole my top again!") and mostly leaves them to their own devices unless they specifically come to him. That said, he sometime feels guilty for not taking on the "protective big brother" role more.

Whether it's growing up with two sisters or just not having many stereotypically male interests, Matthew has always felt more comfortable around girls than boys. He was good friends with Violet all through elementary and middle school (she would generally take the lead with whatever they were going to do, and he would follow along) and has done his best to be there for her since the accident - though nowadays, they generally don't talk about it. Aside from his close friends he mostly sits on the periphery at school - generally neither bullied nor invited to people's house parties.

Matthew has a good eye for pictures, and ever since he got a camera phone he has a habit of stopping to take photos of everything. He has thought a few times about asking for a professional camera for his next birthday, but feels too bad for the amount of money it would cost. He has an extensive library of landscapes and slice-of-life photos backed up on his laptop, and quite a few more of his close friends that often find their way onto their Facebook and Instagram pages.

High School Activities/Groups: Thinks about joining the photographic society every semester, never quite gets round to it.

Favorite Time of Day: "Evening, I guess. I'm a bit of a night owl. I don't do mornings." *Laughs*

Favorite Hobbies/Things to Do: "Uh...I like reading, listening to music...taking photos, editing photos..." *Laughs* "Okay, maybe playing about with 'em on my phone doesn't count as editing."

Favorite Places to Go/Be in the City: *Shrugs* "The other guys make the plans and I'll usually tag along for whatever. They get annoyed at me always stopping to take photos." *Laughs*

Sunrise or Sunset: "Yeah, I've got loads of pics of sunsets. I'd love a sunrise one but good luck getting me outta bed..."

Joke/comment on the character posted above you: "Violet? I've never won an argument with her in my life." *Laughs* "I dunno, you feel like it might help to talk to her about some things...but sometimes you just gotta let her work through it herself, y'know?"

The Other: Evie. Short for whatever kind of name fits the Others' setting.

Personality Traits:
1.
Hopeless romantic
2.
Jock/Athletic/Kinetic thinker
3.
Critical Intellect (quick to learn, sharp mind)
4.
Brooder
5.
Shy
6.
Family Person
7.
Pleasure Seeker (1. Sexual 2. Alcoholic 3. Domination (in battle or in general etc) 4. In fun 5. Submission)
8.
Extrovert (needy of people)
9.
Artistic
10.
Ditzy
11.
Silent Type
12.
Nurturing
13.
Vindictive
14.
Introvert
15.
Iron Will
16.
Commitment Oriented
17.
Fabulous
18.
Hygienic
19.
Green Thumb
20.
Animal Lover
21.
Addiction Prone/ Escapist
22.
Non-Committal
23.
Compulsive Liar
24.
Arrogant
25.
Manipulator
26.
Religious
27.
Rebellious/Counter culture
28.
Nerd
29.
Comedic
30.
Bookworm
31.
Encouraging
32.
Helper
33.
Sharp eye sight/perceptive
34.
Self-confident/self-loving
35.
Slob
36.
Rambler
37.
Special Snowflake/ self-righteous /egocentric
38.
Sadist
39.
By the book
40.
Morally Ambiguous
41.
Humble/Able to take criticism
42.
Well-spoken/Smooth voice
43.
Self-aware of thoughts and feelings
44.
Charismatic presence
45.
Lucky
46.
Low self-esteem
47.
Violent/Brutal
48.
Child at heart
49.
Hates children/loud noises/wild behavior
50.
Party Animal/loud
51.
Nimble bodily movement/Graceful (bodily motion and control)
52.
Selfless
53.
Desires to learn
54.
Willingness to educate others
55.
Brave
56.
Stubborn
57.
Stuck up
58.
Attention seeking
59.
Selfish/possessive
60.
Abusive/Confrontational
61.
Socially retarded
62.
Masochist (Emotionally and/or physically)
63.
Follows personal sense of morality
64.
Empathy to the disempowered
65.
Patient
66.
Pervert/deviant (Roll 2 fetishes)
67.
Can’t keep a secret/bad liar
68.
Vain
69.
Prone to obsession
70.
Seeks to understand other’s perspectives
71.
Loyal
72.
Lack of emotional expression
73.
Paranoid
74.
Skeptic
75.
Klutzy
76.
Shrouded in Mystery/Secretive
77.
Heart on Sleeve
78.
Physically appears young for age/Ages exceptionally well
79.
Relishes in even sportsmanship/Dislikes or hates underhandedness
80.
Good hearted
81.
Sensitive to auras or emotions of others
82.
Adrenaline Junkie
83.
Controlling
84.
Planner
85.
Disorganized
86.
Clingy to people (and/or things)
87.
Sentimental seeker/stuck in the past
88.
Hoarder
89.
Chivalrous/Bitch to specific gender (1. Male 2.Female 3. Traps 4. Everyone)
90.
Kleptomaniac
91.
Sailor Mouth
92.
Patriotic
93.
Playful
94.
Behaves younger than actual age
95.
Behaves older than actual age
96.
Respectful
97.
Likes to please others
98.
Mean spirit/likes to tease others
99.
Shameless
100.
Unlucky
101.
Well gifted liar
102.
Impulsive [Violently/Whimsically & Spontaneous] (Character rolls d6 in stressful or distracting situations, DC 4 to not act out)
103.
Coward (In frightful situations roll a d6 with a DC of 4 or higher. If failed, character is instinctually compelled to run or hide from frightful situation)
104.
Cunning/Ruthless
105.
Intimidating
106.
Touchy Feely
107.
Forgetful (Retain information roll a d100 with a variable DC. (Roll a 1d5 in character creation to determine DC. 1 = DC 30, 2 = DC 35, 3 = DC 40, 4 = DC 45, 5 = 50
108.
Warped or Twisted sense of reality
109.
Hyperactive/Energetic
110.
Easy to please
111.
Daydreamer
112.
Emotionally evasive (1. Sexuality 2. Anger 3. Sadness 4. Moments of empathy to/from others 5. Vulnerability/Defeat in a situation 6. Responsibility 7. Group interaction)
113.
Mild Mannered
114.
Inquisitive/Curious
115.
Gossip
116.
Blunt/Straightforward
117.
Neurotic
118.
Materialistic
119.
Stutterer
120.
Narcissistic

Disabilities:
1.
No
2.
No
3.
No
4.
No
5.
No
6.
No
7.
Mental
8.
No
9.
No
10.
No
11.
No
12.
No
13.
No
14.
No
15.
No
16.
No
17.
No
18.
Physical
19.
No
20.
No

Mental Disabilities:
Category of Disability Roll:
1.
Anxiety Disorder
2.
Mood Disorder
3.
Schizophrenia/Psychotic Disorder
4.
Dementia
5.
Eating Disorders

Mood Disorders:
Major depressive disorder, Melacnholic Depression, Psychotic Major Depression, Seasonal Affective Disorder, Recurrent brief depression, Minor Depressive Disorder, Dysthymic Disorder, Cyclothymic Disorder (For each: Roll 1. No, 2. Suspected, 3. Suspected, 4. Suspected, 5. Yes, 6. Yes)

Schizophrenic/Psychotic Disorder:
1.
Schizophrenia
2.
Schizoid Personality Disorder
3.
Schizoaffective Disorder
Dementia:
1.
Alzheimer
2.
Vascular
3.
Dementia Lewy Body
4.
Mixed Dementia
5.
Parkinson's Disease
6.
Frontotemporal Disease
7.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
8.
Normal pressure hydrocephalus
9.
Huntington's Disease
10.
Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome
Anxiety:
1.
General Anxiety Disorder
2.
Panic Disorder
3.
Social Anxiety Disorder

Eating Disorder:
1.
Anorexia
2.
Bulimia
3.
Binge Eating Disorder

Physical Disabilities:
1.
Musculo Skeletal Disability
2.
Neuro Musculo Disability
Musculo Skeletal Disability:
1.
Loss or deformity to the limbs
2.
Osteogensis Imperfecta,
3.
Muscular Dystrophy
Neuro Musculo Disability:
1.
Cerebral Palsy Spina Bifida
2.
Poliomyelitis
3.
Stroke
4.
Head Injury
5.
Spinal Cord Injury [roll a D2 for what type, 1 Paraplegia, 2 Tetraplegia]

Intelligence:
1.
+14
2.
+15
3.
+16
4.
+17
5.
+18
6.
+19

Innate Talents/Interest:
1.
Arts (1.Music .2 Writing 3. Dancing. 4. Sculpting. 5.Painting/Drawing 6. Makeup 7. Photography 9. Latte Art 8. Very gifted (pick three of your choice))
2.
Sports (Jocks get this)
3.
Martial practices
4.
Occult
5.
History (1. Earth history 2. Species history 3. Alien history 4. Historical figures 5. Historical wars 6. Player’s choice)
6.
Cooking
7.
Sex
8.
Religion
9.
Science
10.
Animals
11.
Healing Arts
12.
Technology
13.
Nature
14.
Fantasy/Sci-fi
15.
Entertainment
16.
Multi-faceted (Pick three of choice)

Relationship with X:
1.
Irreplaceable
2.
Best friend
3.
Close
4.
Neutral
5.
Finds irritating
6.
Dislikes
7.
Hates
8.
Completely avoids

Gender identity:
1.
Comfortably cisgender
2.
(Same as 1)
3.
(Same as 1)
4.
(Same as 1)
5.
(Same as 1)
6.
(Same as 1)
7.
(Same as 1)
8.
Demi gender
9.
Gender neutral
10.
Bi-gendered
11.
Trans gender (evens for needs surgery odds for not)
12.
Player’s choice

Sexual Identity:
1.
Strictly Heterosexual
2.
(Same as 1 but can go for transgender people)
3.
(Same as 1, Androphilia and Gynephilia)
4.
Heteroflexible (Minus 20 on attractions rolls with the same sex. Negative results mean neutral/no interest, not repulsion, and an 80 jumps to a re roll (roll a d 1d6 for soulmate roll, 6=soulmate 1-5 = Great interest)
5.
Homosexual
6.
Homoflexible (Minus 20 on attractions rolls with the opposite sex. Negative results mean neutral/no interest, not repulsion, and an 80 jumps to a re roll (roll a d 6 for soulmate roll, 6=soulmate 1-5 =Great interest)
7.
Bi-sexual
8.
Pan sexual
9.
Asexual (Re-roll d8 to determine what gendered partner that would choose)
10.
Questioning (re-roll d8 to figure out what sexuality)
11.
Demi sexual (re-roll d8 to figure out what type)
12.
Sapiosexual (re-roll d8 to figure out what type)
13.
Has fetish (Roll 2 fetishes) (re-roll to see what type of sexuality)
14.
Has an aversion to sex (Reroll for sexual orientation)
15.
Player’s choice

Attraction:
1-25 = Repulsion/Not their type (Future people with similar type get negatives to their rolls)
26-45= Neutral or disinterested to person
46-65= Neutral to slight interest or appreciation of person
66-80= Some like/interest or appreciation of person
81-95 = Attraction to person or instant ‘click’ to them
96-97 = Heavy attraction or powerful ‘click’ with person
98-99= Belief to be their soulmate
100= Soulmate


Fetishes
1.
Water sports
2.
Group sex
3.
Cross-dressing
4.
Foot worship
5.
Spanking
6.
Exhibitionism
7.
Voyeurism
8.
Latex/Leather
9.
Sexual role-play
10.
S&M
11.
Food play
12.
Tentacles
13.
Massaging
14.
Clothed sex/slow tease strip
15.
Innocence
16.
Swearing
17.
Prolonged eye contact
18.
Sex in the taboo places
19.
Natural body hair (pubic area no shave)
20.
Bondage
21.
Navel fetish
22.
Pictofillia
23.
Loves a phat ass
24.
Loves breasts
25.
Love tattoos or piercings
26.
Loves trannies
27.
Pregnancy
28.
Technology

Religion:
1.
Greek Gods
2.
Christianity
3.
Nature
4.
Slavic gods (like Thor or Odin)
5.
Satan
6.
Imagined up god
7.
Some random Minority God(s)
8.
Player’s choice


Height:
1.
Very tall (6’2’’+)
2.
Tall (5’’11-6’1’’)
3.
Above average height (5’8’’-5’10’’)
4.
Same as 3
5.
Same as 6
6.
Average height (5’5’’-5’7’’)
7.
Shorter (5’3’’-5’4’’)
8.
Player’s choice

Ethnic Background.
1.
Caucasian (1. British 2. Norwegian 3. Russian 4. French)
2.
Black (1. Northern African 2. Southern African 3. Northern white African 4. Southern white African 5. Northern mixed race African 6. Southern mix race African)
3.
Asian (1. Pilipino/Dark Skinned 2. Chinese 3. Japanese 4.Korean)
4.
Indian
5.
Native American
6.
Hispanic
7.
Mixed
8.
Player’s choice

Body Type:
1.
Very muscular
2.
Athletic
3.
Lightly lean
4.
Average
5.
Curvaceous (Weight distributed well)
6.
Overweight (Weight unevenly disquieted)
7.
Fat
8.
Obese


Hair Color:
1.
Black
2.
Brown
3.
Blonde
4.
Auburn
5.
Chestnut
6.
Red
7.
Gray/White (Optional 1d6 reroll to see what the fading color is/was)
8.
Other (If possible, for example, purple in a fay setting. Otherwise reroll)

Hair Texture:
1.
Very thin and straight
2.
Straight
3.
Wavy
4.
Wavy and thick
5.
Straight and thick
6.
Curly
7.
Coils
8.
Balding (If applicable)

Hair Length:
1.
None/Bald
2.
Buzz cut/Crew cut
3.
To ears
4.
To jaw
5.
To shoulders
6.
To shoulder blades
7.
To mid back
8.
To low back
9.
Lower (Player’s choice)


Eye color:
1.
Brown
2.
Brown
3.
Brown
4.
Brown
5.
Blue
6.
Blue
7.
Green
8.
Green
9.
Blue/Green
10.
Hazel
11.
Gray
12.
Heterochromia (Reroll for each eye)
13.
Crystal clear (reroll 1d8)
14.
Alien/Fey colors (1. Purple 2.Orange 3.Red 4. White 5. Multi colored eyes 6.Lime Green)


Attractive level:
1.
Ugly
2.
Unattractive (two or three features off)
3.
Unattractive
4.
Unkept
5.
Unkept
6.
Unkept
7.
Average
8.
Average
9.
Average
10.
Average
11.
Attractive (one or two good-looking features)
12.
Attractive
13.
Attractive
14.
Beautiful (Two or three good-look features)
15.
Beautiful
16.
Gorgeous




Power scale roll:
1.
1
2.
1
3.
1
4.
1
5.
1
6.
2
7.
2
8.
2
9.
2
10.
3
11.
3
12.
3
13.
3
14.
4
15.
4
16.
4
17.
4
18.
5
19.
5
20.
5
21.
6
22.
6
23.
6
24.
7
25.
7
26.
7
27.
8
28.
8
29.
9
30.
10+

For 10+:
1.
10
2.
10
3.
10
4.
11
5.
11
6.
12

[Crazywolf]

Hey dude, I just wanna say I really love your archive thing you have going here. It's actually the thing that inspired me to start my own.

[Azazeal849]

Thanks, Crazywolf! C: I'll take a look at yours when it appears.

[Crazywolf]

Actually I posted it up already, I just haven't added to it for a while except for this afternoon when I did a few edits. I think right now it's been pushed down onto the 2nd page.

[Azazeal849]

THE REIA-HAL

Today I'm going to focus on some of the characters I've written whose stories unfortunately never got off the ground, although I'm more than willing to pick them up again if the right RP presents itself. Given their sparser history it makes sense to group a few of them together, and today's theme is going to be: Eldar.

Featured In: The Mar Sara Incident (https://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?102464-Webway-campaign-discussion), The Phantom of the Fire (https://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?138049-The-story-continues), The Lesser Evil (https://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?308270-For-The-Lesser-Evil-IC), Blocking Out The Sun (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=48594&p=1651390&viewfull=1#post1651390), Treasures In The Void (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=80117&p=2737903#post2737903).

Yes, we're back once again in the realm of 40K. Eldar were my first and lasting favourite race from the universe - largely because, until my understanding of the human Imperium evolved somewhat, they seemed like the only guys who did some occasional unambiguous good. Indeed, the characters from my homebrew craftworld of Reia-Hal were the first guys I actually attempted writing short stories about, and a lot of those characters are still kicking about in some form or another, such as the rangers Fenix and Laara who appeared in Higurashi's Blocking Out The Sun, or the warlock Kiotyr who made a sneaky cameo in the epilogue of The Lesser Evil. Hell, one of my farseers even MST'd the spoof story Primarchs (https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5645987/1/PRIMARCHS), and at one point managed to immigrate into the official plot.

I've set aside my Eldar for quite a while - partially because few RP opportunities have presented themselves, and partially because most of them are soldiers based on tabletop models, and therefore don't actually have that much depth. However, I was presented with one decent opportunity for character study in Atrum Daemon's Treasures In The Void, an offbeat romp about a gang of misfits on an intergalactic treasure hunt (and of course getting caught up in the plans of much more dangerous players than themselves!). And that's where Rhienn and Teriel came in.

I initially chose to write a character around the Eldar "warrior mask", since the concept of splitting your personality to create a merciless killer without giving yourself PTSD seemed like such a goldmine for character study. I also set myself a couple of challenges based on things I felt I hadn't done well in the past. My Eldar was shaping up to be quite a sensitive, emotionally vulnerable character, and I think that too often in the past I have defaulted such characters to being female. Hence Rhienn ended up as male despite belonging to a warrior aspect that draws its inspiration from a female spirit (specifically, the banshee). If anything though this was an advantage, because making his cold, fearless warrior mask female (and switching Rhienn's pronouns mid-post) helped to underscore the divide with his "baseline" personality. My planned character arc for Rhienn would have had him literally at war with himself, with his normal personality becoming increasingly friendly with his human allies, but the very warrior mask he used to protect them (and himself) viewing them as targets whom he would kill in a heartbeat if ordered to.

My second self-imposed challenge was to write a main character who was genuinely bad. Hence, I also volunteered to take over the main force of Eldar whom Atrum planned to oppose (or at least threateningly obstruct) the PCs at several points. For this I created Teriel, who is much closer to what you might call stereotypically Eldar - that is to say, arrogant, self-righteous and rather racist. While I was hardly looking to make her likeable with her self-justifying inner monologues and snobbish refusal to listen to opposing viewpoints, I did hope that a clear motive and a certain humanising insecurity would come across along with it: she fears failing in her responsibilities - and not just for her own reputation but for the lives of her fellow Eldar. This wasn't actually all that hard to write, since I somewhat agreed with her stance that an ancient weapon was probably safer in Reia-Hal's hands than with some gallivanting humans or the sinister robot Necrons (although I did find it refreshing that Atrum was penning a story where for once the Eldar don't always know best). No doubt Teriel would have had a luckless story arc remaining perpetually one step behind the PCs, although who knows what might have happened if at the end she had ordered Rhienn's war mask to kill the humans and secure the artefact...

Sadly, none of this came to pass, as Treasures went dead just a few pages in. Hopefully something else will crop up in future that will allow me to bring these characters back into the writing spotlight.

For completeness I have also attached the profile for Blotting Out The Sun, in which Reia-Hal craftworld stepped up for a more traditional "military campaign" RP. I will freely admit that I focused more on strategic plans (including a trick on the other players that had the potential to be somewhat amusing) than on character, and as such the protagonists I worked with were little more than archetypes. I don't have much of an excuse for this, since three of them (Fenix, Laara and Surei) have a relatively detailed backstory from Mar Sara and Phantom. I did hope to flesh some of them out on the fly, but again it was not to be as the RP collapsed pretty soon after starting. Maybe next time.

Trivia: Reia-Hal craftworld is actually now semi-canon, having featured in the write up of the Medusa V worldwide event. Booyah!


https://img11.deviantart.net/0bb1/i/2004/242/b/d/black_elf.jpg

"I have many names, cresis-tau'ead. But Rhienn will suffice."

Name: Rhiavan Sersenn (common name: "Rhienn", pronounced REE-un)
Age: 325, Terran standard conversion
Race: Eldar, Reia-Hal craftworld
Gender: Male (war mask is female)

Occupation: Warrior, Suin Mure aspect. Rhienn has previously walked the paths of the historian, the biologist and the crystallographer.

Appearance: While many of the Eldar crown worlds had their suns or orbits altered to achieve climates suiting their inhabitants' tastes, Rhienn's long-lost homeworld was not among them. Some of the Reia-Hal still bear the genetic markers of hotter climates and Rhienn is one such individual, with tawny-brown skin and glossy black hair which he wears braided. He sports the narrow features typical of the Eldar, and his eyes are dark grey. When not wearing his Banshee armour, he carries his red spirit stone on a pendant around his neck. He stands at 6'2, average for a male Eldar, and has the wiry musculature of a gymnast. His LamEldannar is spoken in the lilting dialect of Reia-Hal, with the slightly sibilant accent of the craftworld's second dorsal level.

Personality: Back on Reia-Hal, some know Rhienn as Rhiavan-sistau'kourn, or Rhiavan Wisdom Seeker. He is relentlessly curious about the world around him, and sufficiently intricate systems of both natural and man-made origin give him great pleasure to examine and understand. He has a tolerant and sometimes idealistic view of others, and is usually open and frank in conversation. He has a great fear of losing people that he cares about, which ultimately led him to the Banshee aspect of the warrior path, where he hopes to learn to accept fear and fate by embodying them. His war mask, which goes by the name Rhienna-ishpeth-caihe (Rhienna Bringer of the Cold), has all of Rhienn's analytical mind but none of his warmth, and would kill without a moment's warning if she judged it to be for the good of Reia-Hal.

Equipment/Gear:
Blades Magenta shrine armour, which includes most of the systems normally associated with Howling Banshee aspect armour such as optical enhancers, threat detector sensors, reactive environmental systems, water reclaimers, heat dampeners, biofoam dispensers and of course the trademark sonic amplifier mask. When the suit's outer camouflage layer is inactive, the armour is white over a dark blue mesh-suit.
Shuriken pistol (2 1/2 cores remaining)
Power sabre - true to his shrine's name, the weapon glows faintly purple when its disruptor field is active.

Bio: Odstrava's team found Rhienn wounded at the site of a Necron ambush, the sole survivor of a small Reia-Hal scouting force.


https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/9d/f5/e5/9df5e5ff60c5efafafcba2c6c7526927.jpg

"Again and again you refuse to listen. Is it hard to understand why some of my kind call for your species' extermination?"

Name: Telshae Variel (common name: "Teriel")
Age: 286, Terran standard conversion
Race: Eldar, Reia-Hal craftworld
Gender: Female

Occupation: Junior seer

Appearance: Teriel has what might be called "classical" Eldar features: milk-pale skin, blue eyes and honey blonde hair that she wears long. She stands at a willowy 6', and carries herself with haughty authority. She wears a mesh bodysuit that doubles as armour and environment suit, and over that a dark robe and a white hooded cloak. Like Rhienn she speaks the Reia-Hal dialect of LamEldannar, though hers is the clipped, slightly cold accent of the prow-ward spires. Like many female Reia-Hal, she wears her pale blue spirit stone implanted into her forehead, in echo of the dreamweave urna worn by the goddess Lileath.

Personality: Teriel is a fiery, self assured and above all driven Eldar. Back on Reia-Hal she is known as Telshae-Dath-Kiam, or "Telshae Between Fires"; it is not entirely a compliment, because it alludes not just to her passionate nature but also to the fine line she walks. She takes her duty to the craftworld very seriously, with all other concerns being secondary, and is apt to react with anger when questioned or insulted. She is no fighter however, and indeed remains intimidated by the violence of the Warrior Path.

Equipment/Gear:
Seer runes
Mesh bodysuit incorporating environmental systems, signature dampeners and a runic shimmershield generator.
Teriel is unarmed and does not use her psychic powers offensively. However, the twin Dire Avenger exarches Karhaedron and Eilonwé who serve as her bodyguards more than compensate for this fact.

Bio: After the unexpected ambush of her scout force on Mu Theta 2, Teriel is even more desperate to find the mysterious artefact first, something that puts her at odds with Odstrava Thermidor and his men.

Force: Craftworld Reia-Hal strike force

Commander: Autarch Suriyana Allemrei

Age: 233 passes (Reia-Hal calender), 420 (Terran standard)

Appearance: At 6', autarch Allemrei is slightly short for an Eldar but still tall by human standards. She is lean to the point of being austere, and the softening effect of her wide cheekbones and small mouth is countered by hard brown eyes. Her black hair is layered in a simple bob, cut short around her tapered ears.

Rank: Strike force commander

Advisers: Daian Nimué (seer), Saloryen (wraithlord)

Colours: Reia-Hal heraldry is dark blue (the ritual colour of the Brotherhood of Endobai) although in combat this is usually hidden behind active camouflage. Common devices include the Star Hawk, after which their craftworld is named, and the craftworld rune, which comprises Isha's chalice (the Biel-Tann rune, minus the heart) joined to the top of the soulstone rune.

Type: The contingent on Ventiliar X is mostly scout, harassment and rapid reaction units, and so will suffer in pitched battle scenarios. The task force on Ventiliar XII is considerably tougher, comprising mostly mechanised units and aircraft.

Resources: Imperial forces on Ventiliar X have confirmed sightings of rangers, guardians and various classes of jetbike, working across the planet in small, seemingly-independent groups that cannot number more than a few thousand men in total. The Eldar side of the neutral zone on Ventiliar XII is patrolled by war walkers and overflown by Nightwing and Nightshade-pattern aircraft, with significant aspect warrior forces in support behind the front lines. No evidence of wraithknights or titan-class assets have been sighted. The Eldar also do not appear to have fleet support in-system at this time, although hidden theatre shields and ground-to-orbit weapons on Ventiliar XII are theorised. Assuming the Eldar are following their normal tactic of hiding the bulk of their forces in the webway, their total strength is estimated at 40-50,000 plus armour and air support. Imperial command notes that even the most conservative estimate seems too low to defend more than a couple of warzones, never mind the whole planet - either the Eldar do not intend to hold Ventiliar XII, or they have an ace up their sleeve.

More info on Reia-Hal is here (https://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?90109-(Too-much)-background-on-my-Eldar-Craftworld-please-rate-)).

[Azazeal849]

DR SAYORI WARRICK

"Aren't you embarrassed by how limited we are? No way do I want to die a baseline human."

https://0.soompi.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/30140702/Bae-Doona-XPN.jpg

Featured In: Galactic Empires II

So it was a toss-up whether I did this one next or Doc from Sojourn, and Sayori is who I happen to have inspiration to write about right now.

With my writing on RPA going through an extended slow patch, thanks to most of my regular buddies feeling the crunch at uni or work (or in one case, expecting a baby!), Dakkagor has been one of the more consistently active writers. I have previously used two iterations of my character Vespa (https://role-player.net/foru/showthread.php?t=40254&page=5&p=2446175&viewfull=1#post2446175) for his Wreckage series, and narrowly missed out on joining his and J'Von's first Galactic Empires project due to not having any cool Skaarj character ideas to go with my cool Skaarj starship designs. The Skaarj eventually went on to become the Sectine in LBM's story Civilisation, but I ended up sitting out Galactic Empires. However, I continued to follow the posts in that first anarchic space opera with interest, and by the time it finished I had decided that I didn't want to miss out on the sequel. However, I quickly ran into a couple of roadblocks.

First off, the sequel was to be more character-driven, focusing on the crew of a single ship rather than the sprawling fleet actions of the original. This was a bad thing, since I still didn't have any interesting character concepts in mind for the Skaarj that hadn't already been played out in Civilisation. I was also wary of trying to shoehorn a whole new race into the universe and give them character without pulling the story off on tangents - particularly when the series already had a bunch of big, scary lizard-men in the form of J'Von's dragonoids. Dakkagor mentioned a couple of times that he'd like to see Vespa back, but as well as timeline issues (Vespa's Harmony hive-mind would have to have popped up in the ten years between GE1 and GE2), I couldn't get around the fact that Vespa would be spending most of the story in another galaxy, presumably out of range and contact with her collective. What would be the point of creating a hive-mind character, only for them to spend most of the story severed from it? I couldn't figure out a way to make it interesting, at least not without some previous establishment of the Harmony in the story that would give the severance context and emotional weight.

Rather than rewrite Vespa for a third time with her hive-mind connection scrapped, I decided to go back to the drawing board and create a new character - albeit one that kept Vespa’s robot-piloting gimmick and her general sense of wonder, which seemed appropriate for someone volunteering to explore a whole new galaxy. I used a few methods for designing Sayori - my usual Myers-Briggs check for her core personality, a couple of random quirks and habits from people I know, and (something I’ve not tried before) a character questionnaire. It was a bit tougher than simply retooling Vespa, but she’s a bit more solid in my head now as a result - I’ll have to see if this translates into any decent writing!

Trivia: She is named for cybernetics professor Kevin Warwick (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Warwick), who I was lucky enough to see at a guest lecture at SSS. As far as I know, she is not related to Sayori Ishizuka, or to Sayori from Doki Doki Literature Club.

Name: Sayori Warrick

Species: Terran (born Western Free State, PPC, Earth)

Age: 36

Appearance: Sayori is 5'6 and spare-framed, with pale skin and thin black hair cut in a simple, low-maintenance bob. He round faces centres on thin lips, a broad nose and dark, animated eyes, and tends to scrunch up when she's concentrating

Department: Research

Role: Remote operations (EVA / hazardous environment)

Personal equipment: Muscle Memory Interface (patented); five modified ES-7 androids, including two with Iron Man (her terminology) thruster rigs for EVA; portable computer (somewhat battered); gadgets and gizmos

Character strengths: Practical minded, original thinker, an eye for small changes

Character weaknesses: Averse to long-term planning and rigid routines, impatient, occasionally risk-prone

Hopes to find: Isn't being one of the first people to explore a whole 'nother galaxy enough?

Hopes to achieve: Additional exposure and future funding for her MMI system (she hopes to develop it into a tech for human-human interface)

Bio: Born on Earth, Sayori is the only child of two researchers living in the Western Free State, one of the splinter countries of the old USA which went on to form part of the Pan Pacific Coalition. Her concerns growing up were decidedly middle class, although she was never particularly lazy, and she very much earned her offworld scholarship to study at the prestigious Musk university on neighbouring Mars.

Sayori proved to be a good student, and a natural fit for robotics engineering - she never minded discussing Big Ideas, but they had to have a practical application, and she also never minded shutting herself away in a lab to figure out exactly how that practical end could be achieved. For Sayori, hunger and fatigue are distractions to be gotten rid of as quickly as possible, and numerous people have commented that she eats terribly (indeed, the only reason she isn’t fat is that she has a relatively small appetite). Her usual comeback is to state that she’ll just replace her organs in ten years.

She wrote her thesis on the future of cerebral implants, a relatively undeveloped field of Terran cybernetics; while replacement limbs and organs are commonplace in the Terran Federation, cultural and ethical concerns mean there has been comparatively little research into upgrading the human mind - Sayori has never seen any reason why this should be so.

Graduating with first class honours, she went to work for several small companies before joining the cybernetics giant Phayder Corporation, which has profited greatly in the last decade from new tech flow from the Sentinax (although this trade deal has not been without controversy, given the past genocide of the Sentinos species, and violent wars that the long-lived Kel’Cyre and Charibidians are slower to forget than the Federation is).

At Phayder, Sayori headed up the team that developed the Muscle Memory Interface, a breakthrough in remote integration that allowed a single operator to “sleeve” two (and theoretically more) robotic androids at the same time. This had massive cost-saving potential for the drone-heavy emergency services and other automated, high-risk industries. However, the technology has yet to receive major backing from investors, and by organising a pilot-scale operation on the highly publicised Elcano mission, Phayder hopes to bring some spotlight to the technology. Sayori volunteered to showcase her pet project and threw all of her energy into making the venture a success - maybe then Phayder will greenlight one of the other concepts she is very keen on developing.

Sayori is a sociable woman, although to some she may come across as demanding or insensitive. She has no immediate family, having never been particularly interested in children. She did have a long-term partner until five years ago, and the fact that they were married for only a year before getting divorced is something that she still hates to talk about.

[Azazeal849]

The full NPC list for Reckoning has been revealed (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&page=7&p=2841046&viewfull=1#post2841046)!

[PaintSerf]

Good. This is good.

However, I cannot help but wonder where the Night Lords and their vassals are.

*cough* HINT! *cough* HINT! *cough* *cough*

[Azazeal849]

I believe that at this time they are busy with a Heist.

Although there are other reasons why I have not included them as yet, such as a lack of decent plot ideas on my part, and (having just read Dak’s new character sheets) feeling that a badass assassin and an angry psyker might be stepping on Sarna and Alyss’ toes a bit.

[Azazeal849]

THE SHADOW WALKERS

Technically, the above title refers to the entire Night Lords 17th company - my personal band of evil, time-displaced super-soldiers, who used to tear up our local 40K games on a semi-regular basis. However, what I’m actually going to write about today is the two of them who have featured in other stories, and so have something resembling a personality: Kira Loque and Azazeal.

Yes, he is a reference to the same character as is featured in my username and avatar. In fact, his entire squad are named after Hex characters (the various fallen angels, specifically)

Featured In: Hearts of Darkness (https://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?217962-Hearts-of-Darkness-IC), Ampoliros Adrift (thread no longer available; PM for copy), Heist (pending)

Az and Kira’s first step towards characterhood came when I decided to give the 17th a showing in the 40K spin-off game Inquisitor. Because many 40K-equivalent characters are hilariously overpowered in that game (space marines, for example, literally break the game system) I thought the best way to dial it back would be to feature the characters earlier in their careers. So Azazeal the chaos marine became Azazeal the aspiring recruit, Kira the primaris psyker became Kira the psyker-in-training, and Dregor the obliterator became Dregor the tech-priest with an obsession with the obliterator virus. Their justification for being out in the field was simple - thrown far into the future, the 17th needed information, supplies and recruits, and those recruits needed to be tested to determine their worth. Their human auxiliaries could kill two birds with one stone, being subtle and devious in a way that regular space marines aren’t normally qualified for.

Sadly, I didn’t write up my Inquisitor campaign featuring them in the same way I did for the two featuring my Eldar rangers. However, it made me want to write about them, and soon enough they started appearing in RPs. Hearts of Darkness was a test run, and as time went on I found myself focusing more on Az and Kira, with Dregor and their space marine handler Comorant taking more of a support role. After Ampoliros, however, there was a long period where I set them aside. As I noted in a previous post, this was partly to do with a lack of suitable plots, but it was also because I was struggling to fully visualise the characters. As I gained more experience in writing, I wanted to move away from the teenage staple of “characters who do cool stuff” and towards “characters who are cool in themselves”. Developing Az and Kira beyond their basic premises proved surprisingly difficult, even after re-reading all their old material.

Luckily, PaintSerf was around to provide inspiration and motivation with an upcoming RP concept called Heist, which is shaping up to be 40K’s answer to Ocean’s 11. I eventually went back to basics and thought about Az and Kira’s childhood, rather than them simply leaping into existence as young adults with a bit of occasionally-referenced backstory. Az managed to manipulate his way to the top of a feral tribe before the Night Lords arrived and picked him - how? Clearly, he is both charismatic and has absolutely no compunctions about screwing with other people. A competent fighter yes, but above all a manipulative bastard who is making plans to kill everyone he meets. Kira got stuck with an incredibly obvious psychic familiar in a society that rounds up all psychics to be either trained or killed. Clearly, she’ll have had to go into hiding in some way. Even worse, her planet has a significant mutant underclass that she’s been taught all her life to hate, and what is a psychic but a form of mutant? How does she come to terms with that? How does her own family feel about all this? Kira’s story quickly became both desperately sad and almost an allegory for an LGBT+ person coming out to an unsupportive family.

Anyway, I finally feel confident enough to write them some actual character profiles, so here you go.

Trivia: The Azazeal reference was previously even more blatant, as his appearance was modelled on Michael Fassbender. But since he’s already busy playing Danny Hawke (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40254&p=1313530&viewfull=1#post1313530), I switched to James McAvoy, who has portrayed enough cheerfully manic and dangerous characters (Filth, Split, Atomic Blonde...) to be a good inspiration.


https://i.pinimg.com/736x/46/06/1a/46061a6e9705e0b18e1da293d5693e5b.jpg

“I fired first. I also fired second and third.”

Name: Azazeal
Age: 19
Occupation: Aspiring Night Lord

Physical Description: Although he stands at an unassuming 5’7, Az is solidly built - a fact he often likes to hide under loose clothing. He is boyishly handsome, with animated blue eyes and a broad, inviting face, seemingly made for smiles (false though they may be). His skin is pale but tans easily, and although his hair is dark his beard comes through almost entirely ginger. He carries himself with easy confidence, often slouching but never slovenly, and has adapted well to life outside his feral-world home. Most of the time, he affects a middle-class Scintillan accent.

Personality: Az inspires confidence in the people he charms, and occasionally seething dislike from the people who know his true colours, with very rarely any middle ground. He is a man of grandiose ambitions and is ruthless in realising them - he doesn’t hate his targets (or indeed the imperium) on any personal level; they are merely in his way. A laid-back charisma allows him to manipulate people towards his ends, and when he’s bored he has been known to push other people’s buttons simply for the fun of it.

Background: Az grew up on the feral world of Grigori, a former astartes recruitment world, but long out of contact with the Imperium since their overlord chapter was destroyed in the early 300s of M40. The law of his home Aesyri tribe dictated that boys and girls should start forging their own careers from age 12 - as soon as he discovered he was good at persuading people, he started setting up webs and pitting rivals against each other. Once he paid off a critic to loudly condemn him and to lend his sword to every plot against him...plots which were immediately reported back to him.

Az might have become a tribal chieftain, had the Shadow Walkers not arrived. Still grappling with ten thousand years of time displacement, the Night Lords 17th company had a full apothecarion at their disposal but no new recruits to replace battle losses. Initially they planned to recruit young teenagers as all astartes do, but with an insufficient number of promising candidates they were eventually forced to cast their net wider. Older humans could be augmented by cybernetics and limited gene-forging, though they would never stand quite equal to true chaos marines. Az cared little for this when the offer was made; what he saw was a chance to become something greater than his fellow humans, and to rule over far more than a simple patch of steppe.

Killing two birds with one stone, the Shadow Walkers split their aspirants up among a number of infiltrator teams - each commanded by an astartes handler and accompanied by heretic crewmen, tech-priests and other Night Lord auxiliaries. They were tasked with proving themselves through obtaining the information and supplies the Night Lords needed to survive, without drawing the attention that would be gathered by the deployment of full astartes. Az has sought allies for the Shadow Walkers on Coreltis, undermined imperial power on Dargaard, and now a new mission has caught his handler’s baleful eye.


https://eaglesongbook.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/screaming_rage_by_silvietepes-dnhvjy.jpg?w=584

“It was the first thing their codicier said to me. Don’t fear your enemies. Make them fear you.”

Name: Kira Loque
Age: 19
Occupation: Rogue psyker

Physical Description: Kira is an unassuming young woman, with pallid skin and wispy black hair. She has a broad nose and thin lips that seldom smile. The most notable thing about her is a small green snake that is always somewhere about her person - most commonly coiled around her left arm. Unless an undercover mission requires otherwise, she will generally make the absolute minimum effort required to be presentable, and her most common attire is crewman’s overalls, often with the left sleeve rolled up or cut away. The nails on her right hand are habitually ripped and bloody, from biting. Pointing this out to her is liable to piss her off.

Personality: Kira is pessimistic, guarded, and sometimes impulsively angry. Sure ways to irritate her are to bring up the subjects of religion and family or (Emperor help you) the inquisition. She prefers to keep to herself, and attempts to connect usually make her suspicious; even her fellow Night Lords are more co-workers than friends. If you were to ask Kira what she wants out of her job, she would say revenge - though the truth is rather more simple. She wants security, and for all their faults the Night Lords provide that. Is it really better anywhere else?

Background: Kira comes from Dargaard, a hive world with frequent unrest caused by a large mutant population. She was born in a dirty little corner of the midhive, to a conservative single mother, and attended scholem with the other hiver juvies, listening to the local preacher hammer on about their duty to work for the emperor, and to hate mutants (they even had a catchy little school song about smashing the mutie underhivers). All that changed when she realised that she was a mutant herself.

First it was the astral dreams - always involving snakes. Either one followed her as she drifted away from her own body, or she was the snake, gliding silently through the hive ventilation ducts. Then she realised that she could make small objects move, and twists of waste paper catch fire. One night, after a particularly vivid snake-dream, she woke up to find a real snake curled around her arm. The lie that she had “found it” lasted about an hour; when her mum tried to pull the familiar off her, she went into a seizure and started vomiting blood.

Kira was painfully aware that her mother never quite looked at her the same way again - and whenever she got really angry, she would call her “twist” - though she still did her best to protect her daughter regardless; pulling her out of scholem on the pretext of a long-term illness and teaching her her own manufactorum trade in the evenings, even though it wore her down. Still, confined mostly to the hab, Kira spent her days feeling bored, unhappy and isolated, caught between anxiety of other people finding out and self-doubt at being the one thing everyone knew was wrong. Sometimes she would experiment with her warp gifts, only to stop guiltily. Other times she felt so unclean that she tried to prise the familiar off herself, but only succeeded in nearly incapacitating herself with pain.

The ruse fell apart during a particularly bad mutant riot, which spilled over into the midhive. Using her powers in self-defence, Kira revealed her psyker nature in front of a dozen witnesses and arbites riot police. Both she and her mother were imprisoned, pending judgement by the inquisition. And then the Shadow Walkers intervened. Though their original aim was to free a prominent mutant leader and create chaos to cover for their future operations, Azazeal’s team stumbled across Kira and saw potential - a fast-developing psyker with a reason to hate the imperium and nowhere else to go.

[Azazeal849]

VACUUM CROWS

Mechs. They don’t make much sense, scientifically speaking, but they are awesome. I have kicked about a few half-formed ideas previously, most recently a pilot for the IMS (the bad guys in Titanfall), but since Dakkagor is now threatening to launch a new mech-based RP I should probably step up.

While my profile for the pilot(s) is still under construction, pending more details on the story universe, I did have a fairly clear idea for what kind of mech I wanted to field. Since I’m trusting other players to bring the heavy hitters, I decided to create a kind of support mech that is essentially a futuristic AEWAC platform. Hopefully it will fit in with what Dak has planned, and no doubt there will be edits to this post to follow!

The guide I used to construct this mech was Vietmyke’s impressively detailed homebrew system from the RP Falling Skies, which can be found here (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=63418).

Pending
An STX-042 Horus (https://m.imgur.com/YBIpNaI) with standard loadout of jammer arm and external targeting suite

SPECIFICATIONS

Designation: STX-042 Horus Mk III M (mass produced)

Type: Mobile Armour Suit (MAS)

Affiliation: United Earth Empire (UEE)

Role: Following in the footsteps of the Mk 1 Odin and Mk 2 Sky Eagle AEWAC suits, the Horus provides early warning and control capability to a MAS battle squadron. It is designed to operate both in space and in atmosphere.

Chassis: Light. On the standard classification scale of ultra-light to ultra-heavy, light MAS are viewed by some as the smallest "true" class of MAS. Standing at up to ten metres in height, these MAS typically use a tri-core power system and are the heaviest types capable of sustained flight. Mobility was essential to the Horus’ role, and thus the smaller, lighter chassis was selected despite generating significant technical headaches for the engineers who were tasked with squeezing all the requisite equipment into the reduced frame.

Engine: Triple core chem-nuclear reactor, with an additional dual core power plant mounted externally on the Horus' back

Operating Time: 10 Hours. A common weakness of UEE units is their low operational endurance compared to Coalition MAS. This has been specifically addressed on the Horus due to its command and control role, albeit by the expedient of mounting vulnerable external power cells.

WEAPON SYSTEMS

Trident Missile System: A scaled-down version of the Claymore launcher mounted on the PTX-071 Sentry, the Trident is fitted to the lower legs of the Horus. Both launchers carry three Trident scatterpack missiles, each of which mounts four independently targeting warheads. The carrier missile designates its target(s) before launch and utilises semi-active radar homing guided by the Horus’ own systems. The Trident warheads themselves are heat-seeking and mount Sidestep course-correction systems. Missile range is approximately 200 km in atmosphere, and can be significantly extended in space using a pre-selected “pulse” function. Four warheads striking together will generally shatter a Class 1 shield, or cripple a Light or Ultra-Light MAS.

Countermeasures System: The Horus mounts modular countermeasure pods in each shoulder to foil incoming missiles. A chaff launcher with three charges is used to spoof radar guidance, while two single-shot flare packs divert heat seekers.

ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS

External ERS: The distinctive spheroid dish mounted above the Horus' chassis houses its Enhanced Radar Suite, which effectively doubles its radar range compared to standard combat MAS. Its modular construction and integrated energy source minimise drain on the Horus' own power cores. As it is an external system, it is more prone to damage than an internal one.

Integrated Smart-Target AI: The Horus’ internal processor contains an augmented targeting system which can track, identify and acquire up to 40 targets, including missiles and other MAS, instead of the standard 5. Targeting solutions can then be fed to allied MAS, or to the Horus’ own missile system. Synergising with the Horus’ long range radar, the targeting system provides powerful AEWAC capability to a UEE battle squadron.

External Targeting Suite: The Horus' left arm is a modular mount, most often equipped with a distinctive vaned targeting system that is used to co-ordinate the fire of allied MAS, improving their range and accuracy. This system is occasionally replaced with additional defensive armament, particularly in atmospheric missions where the variety of non-MAS threats is increased. The most common switch-out is a 30mm gatling gun which provide autonomous and automatic defence against incoming missiles, aircraft and other fast-manoeuvring threats. Each gun system is fully modular, containing its own loading, traversing and dual-radar targeting systems. Once activated the system automatically undertakes the entire air-defence process from surveillance and detection to destruction, including selection of the next priority target. The cannon has a firing rate of 4200 rounds per minute and carries 1000 rounds in an internal magazine. The effective range of the weapon is 100-4500 m.

Integrated Radar Jammer: While the advanced Stealth Drives utilised by the Coalition remain unavailable to most Empire MAS, the Horus’ secondary purpose is to deploy the powerful radar jamming system in its right arm to cripple the long-range targeting systems of enemy MAS. Combined with the Horus’ Smart Target AI, the jamming can be directed at multiple targets simultaneously. This is a powerful force-multiplier that has brought UEE MAS teams victory against superior Coalition forces on numerous occasions.

DEFENCES

Class 2 Shield Generator: This energy shield is a fast-recharging barrier of energy that coats the exterior of the MAS, dissipating laser weapons and deflecting ballistic projectiles away from the hull. Energy absorbed is channelled to the radiator vanes flaring from the Horus' shoulders, or else drained into an impregnated aluminium heat sink. As long as it receives power, the shield can drain and recharge almost indefinitely. Large individual impacts will force the shield to trip out to avoid damage to the generator, leaving the MAS temporarily defenceless, and sustained fire may overload the heat sink and force the shield to shut down permanently. The Class 2 generator mounted on the Horus is standard for a Light chassis MAS, providing defence against high-calibre infantry weapons, lightly armed vehicles, and shrapnel from proximity-burst missiles. However, it is not designed to stand up in MAS-to-MAS combat, and will shatter when hit with sustained artillery fire or a heavy plasma weapon.

Armour: The Horus’ airborne operation and non-combat role preclude the use of additional heavy armour, and its hull is the standard ceramic alloy construction as other Light-chassis MAS. It is proof against small arms and shrapnel, but most larger weapons pose a threat, particularly to its delicate external systems.

[Azazeal849]

READING THE RUNES

So I’ve been thinking for a while now that Runes (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=90995) has been my most challenging project, and now that it’s finished I wanted to unpack some of the learning points from this. For those that are reading it, feel free to leave comments - I love feedback.

Before anything else, I want to thank all the site members who took part in the project: Kris, Scottie, Kiro Akira, Splat, Price, Derpnaster, Minkasha, Underblank and Katrina. Additional thanks go to Minkasha (for plot help and ready-made excuses to have more Leveler scenes) and Scottie (for subplot ideas, character insights and the occasional pointing out of logical progressions that I had missed). And I also want to add that despite Runes being “challenging”, I have very much enjoyed writing it with you all.

So where did it all start? It’s usual for me to have two or three unwritten RP ideas rattling around in my head at any given time - sometimes fully pre-plotted sequels to whatever I’m currently writing, sometimes half-baked concepts that never really get developed. Often, they come from a book, film or game I’ve just experienced that makes me want to write something similar. For example, the basic premise of Eclipsis came to me after watching Event Horizon, and the Replicants were inspired by the CGI remake of Captain Scarlet, which I watched a couple of episodes of because I’m a neeeeeerd.

The foundation for Runes came out of replaying Myth: The Fallen Lords, a dark fantasy game in which the living struggle against the twisted shades of their world’s greatest heroes. The concept didn’t go anywhere for a long time, because I’ve always been more comfortable writing sci fi than fantasy, and I also worried that my typically serious and gritty style was more at risk of seeming cheesy in such a world.

And then Karma roped me into Sojourn (https://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=88548), a cookie-cutter fantasy adventure that I normally wouldn’t have touched with a barge pole, but with the twist that it was supposed to be a parody (something that I missed in my initial skim-read). I decided to take one of the characters from my Runes concept and play up his egotistical and snarky attributes to the point of comedy. Sojourn folded disappointingly early, but it was still quite fun to write an overtly comedic character for once.

By chance, Kris contacted me not long after this to ask about co-GMing a story, and armed with my new appreciation for silliness, I pitched Runes to her. Kris was able to fill in a few of the story gaps that I had been struggling with, as well as flesh out the world (the Mer and the anti-magic Risemen were both her idea). The runes themselves, with their ability to instantly grant magic to anyone who touched them, remained central as a metaphor for power - essentially standing in for money, oil, WMDs...any form of power that can be hoarded and used to coerce or dominate others. Power being a force that reveals true motives was very much the message behind the various rulers of the three cities - as well as corrupting in a more literal sense, with extended rune use damaging and degrading people’s bodies.

With my new confidence for light as well as serious writing, I felt that Runes could possibly work as either, and so I put the decision to the players in an interest thread. They seemed to prefer something more light-hearted. Having just finished watching Final Space, I wanted to craft a similar story - one which at its core was rather silly, but had room to delve into emotional or dark territory. Balancing these two was probably the biggest problem I ran into with this RP, although it wasn’t the first one.

The first issue I hit was with the story’s NPC characters. With a theme of power being a blade without a hilt, I wanted to show a range of ways in which people could use it: from the PCs using it for good, to various minor characters using it for evil, to the grey areas in between like the egocentric Immortal who hoards power but isn’t explicitly out to dominate anyone, and the main antagonist Leveler who seeks a theoretically noble goal by extreme means. I also created a squad of lieutenants for the Leveler with the intention of letting their different personalities play off the PCs as well as each other, and to offer some varied perspectives on the major plot developments. In practical terms, they were also there to make sure that the Leveler didn’t have to do everything herself, and wouldn’t diminish her sense of power and threat by putting the players through multiple narrow escapes from her. So far, so good.

One of these “lieutenant” characters, Redmoor, was the creation of Splat to serve as a personal antagonist for her character. I then hit on the idea of doing this for everyone, with all the PCs getting their own personal nemesis secondary to the overarching villain. I hoped that this would give players additional investment in the story, but it turned into a complete disaster because I forgot one of the fundamental constants of GMing on RPA: player attrition. Two players bowed out after a single post, and two more for personal reasons by the end of the second act, leaving many of these 1x1 rivalries unbuilt or hanging. Redmoor probably had the worst luck, being set up against the PC Raven, then Solar, then Red, all of whom eventually dropped from the RP. With the “personal nemesis” plot truncated for a lot of characters, I belatedly started treating the lieutenants as more of a unit instead of pairing them off with individual PCs. This was probably something that I should have done from the beginning, as letting the players fight as a united group (forging their own bonds and picking their own nemeses) would have been better for their own character development too.

At the start of the RP, I PM’d everyone to ask if they wanted a particular subplot or character arc written in. I was doing this to mentally sort the players into the ones who had a particular idea in mind, and those who would just flow along with the plot, reacting to events with no particular character development or relationship building in mind. Of course, I forgot about a third group - those who have no plan at the beginning but still want to develop some kind of arc as they go. I did schedule a few “down time” scenes where the PCs were left to their own devices to do character scenes among themselves, but this wasn’t really enough with the reduced pool of players available by act 3.

Balancing the down time between writing NPC interactions and encouraging the PCs to talk to each other was something that I struggled to get right in this RP. In an attempt to keep the pace of the story moving forward, I also wrote a lot of conversations out in full, between NPCs and inactive PCs - I’m not sure if this gave the remaining PCs enough opportunity to speak. Although it ensured that important plot and character beats were covered, I might have given the players too little room to maneuver, out of fear that they might not ask the right questions to prompt exposition out of the right characters.

I also feel that I could have paid more attention to the players’ plans beyond the initial subplot offer. I made assumptions about which inactive PCs could be easily retooled or which ones the players still cared about. As an example of the former, I killed Raven early and brought a swift end to his rivalry with Redmoor - something that I could have made more of if I wasn’t being lazy. As an example of the latter, I made the effort to develop Solar but then made him a shock death based on process of elimination (Illusion had a subplot still to play out, and Wraith I was holding in case of Price’s return). Unfortunately by doing this I also robbed my remaining PCs of a budding friend, which I might not have done if paying proper attention to my remaining players.

The biggest problem for me and my players though was one that I mentioned previously: tone. The original rules that I made for myself were something akin to those of Final Space - silly except when emotion or combat was required, and generally turning dead serious when the main villain shows up. This can be seen in the rather dark prologue featuring the Leveler, compared to the grim but humour-dusted opening scene where the PCs arrive in the Enlightened City. Unfortunately, I didn’t explicitly communicate this blueprint to my players, which led to PCs running the gamut from almost totally serious (Wraith) to almost totally loopy (Hole). The latter, incidentally, also made me break my own rule of keeping the Leveler’s presentation non-comedic. Adding to the potential for player confusion was a mostly serious first act being followed by a mostly silly second one (due to the introduction of the crazy Hole and the highly snarky Immortal), and then flipping again to a mostly serious third (featuring sinister and creepy Mer that somewhat clashed with the one the players had been previously introduced to). As my first attempt at juxtaposing tones, I don’t think I succeeded all that well.

Because of trying to fix these mistakes - the evolving tone, the evolving miniboss dynamic, trying to juggle inactive PCs - on the fly, I ended up with a messy plot and many setups without payoffs. If I ever want to do my usual thing and novelise the finished RP, there is definitely going to be some amount of rewriting needed. But a bigger sin than the incoherent story was an RP that was sometimes not particularly fun for players, with them playing catch up even more than I was. I could definitely have done more here to make a better RP and there are some lessons which I will try and take forward to future projects.

[dakkagor]

I should have made time for Runes. I should really make time to go and read it now its finished. Balancing tone is hard.

[Azazeal849]

It is indeed. You’re quite welcome to read through - let me know what works and what doesn’t...and if you can follow what’s going on!

I don’t think I’ll have time for rewrites anytime soon, but one of the clearest cut changes would probably be the ending - narratively speaking it makes far more sense to have the Leveler die in front of the PCs, so that everyone sees the godlike being proved mortal, and the PCs aren’t implicitly looking over their shoulders for the rest of their lives. The Hole presumably still ends up in space, albeit teleporting there in a mad fit of grief this time.

[Azazeal849]

VACUUM CROWS II

I considered simply editing the post above, but the eventual Vacuum Crows story ended up diverging somewhat from what I planned above. This is not, of course, a knock towards the game’s creator Dakkagor, who’s fertile imagination and punchy writing style continue to be an inspiration; merely a thought that a significantly different character (and mech!) deserved their own post.

The mechs in Vacuum Crows - known as “cores” - are not the sleek, mass-produced technology of Gundam sci fi. Rather, they are mysterious relics in a wild-west of a future, that call to their pilots in an almost spiritual way. Further, the fact that each core “grows” either a sword or a shield as their first weapon attachment suggested a focus on epic, face-to-face duelling that didn’t really mesh with my original idea to create a back-line AEWAC machine. I overhauled the design accordingly, although you can still see a couple of nods to the original “Horus” mech and its emphasis on electronic warfare.

Picking whether mine was going to be a sword core or a shield core informed both the fighting style and the pilot - I liked the idea of pilots matching with cores that mirrored their personality, fitting in with the spiritual, extension-of-the-pilot vibe that the Crows machines seemed to exude. A shield core naturally leant itself to a pilot with a desire to protect and defend; the kind of character who might also be drawn to the honour code that some pilots in this universe aspire to. Normally I’m too pessimistic about war and what it does to people to play such an idealistic character straight, although after many months working on the bleak Reckoning I was ready for something a bit lighter. It also would be fair to argue that while war often brings out the worst in human nature, sometimes, in some people, it also brings out the best. Why not write a story about a warrior who sees his code of ethics sorely tested but, instead of collapsing, shows why it’s so important to uphold those ethics in the first place? Thus Arjen (that’s “Ar-yen” by the way, not “Ar-gen”) Zaraki was born.

I fleshed out Arjen with some rather simple inspirations. A work-hard-play-hard type, as many soldiers are (and who can blame them?). A protector of the “little guys” fighting alongside him, drawn from an idea I’ve had since watching games of Titanfall for a pilot from the (nominally villainous) IMC who nevertheless does his best to protect the poor grunts running around his mech’s feet. And lastly, part of a brotherly trio inspired by the three vampire sisters from Resident Evil: Village, whose personalities can be summed up as “the serious one”, “the egomaniac hunter”, and “the loopy one” respectively. Their cores are, of course, named for the three Gorgon sisters, with a nod to what each of their names mean in their battlefield function. For the record, I 100% subscribe to the interpretation of Medusa as a warding talisman and / or a pre-Greek goddess of wisdom, rather than just a monster for Perseus to fight.

Vacuum Crows is currently on hold due to work commitments, something that seems to be hammering us all as the world attempts to come out of COVID lockdown, but now with a solid concept and (finally!) a pilot, Arjen and his mech stand ready to slam down and absorb an enemy missile strike (character establishing moment, and all that) as soon as they are needed.

Trivia: Arjen’s brothers take their surnames from two members of The Agonist, my favourite metal band.


https://wallpapershome.com/images/wallpapers/pacific-rim-uprising-1440x2560-john-boyega-5k-15932.jpg

Name: Arjen Zaraki (callsign: Guardian)
Age: Just under 1 Cronite year (28 Cradle years)
Gender: Cis male
Nation of Birth: Titan, Cronus sub-system

Background:
Born on Titan, Arjen was a restless youth like most Crows. Still, he tried to do his expected duty, and trained as an electrician in order to complete a tour of the Xanadu solar farms. He couldn’t stand the monotony of the job and, on an impulse, travelled to the starport to book passage offworld. The one pilot who didn’t reject his request was Ishana Varsi, who unbeknownst to him was a Crow recruiter who knew what he was before he himself did. During the months-long journey to Titan, which involved several stops and one unfortunate encounter with Exile pirates, he began to fit in with the others, especially two fellow Cronites: Darian and Gavrail - they have stuck together ever since and become almost as close now as brothers. Arjen has often meant to contact his real family, but the shame of abandoning them and failing to complete the Cronite rite of passage always stops him at the last minute.

Beginning again on Titan, he fully embraced his Crow training under Varsi’s instruction. Unlike his brothers, he also fully embraced the fast-paced Zuessian culture, leading to a lot of hangovers. Through training, a pattern began to emerge between Arjen and his two “brothers” - Darian was the aggressive hunter of the group, Gavrail the watchful lookout, while Arjen, older than the other two by a year, often took on a protective role. They were assigned accordingly, to a trio of sister Cores geared towards attack, surveillance and defence respectively. Although Crow contracts often separate them, the three brothers always manage to meet up at least once per solar year at the rookery on Ganymede.

Arjen has a Cronite’s respect for family, a word which he now extends to anyone under his Core’s aegis, and this naturally drew him towards the Ravens. Despite this protective instinct, he is not exactly cool and calculating (that was always more Gavrail’s thing); the two most important things Varsi ever taught him were the Raven’s honour code, and that while the savage thrill of destroying an enemy is unavoidable, one should be careful not to become ruled by it.

Skills:
Intercept - competent in using jet bursts to interpose between allies and hostile fire
Shield Offence - while Medusa’s energy shield is primarily defensive, can also use it effectively for shoving and edge-bashing
Insightful - good at reading people and his instincts about strangers are usually (though not always) accurate

Flaws:
Fights Fair - can artificially handicap himself in fights, for example using Medusa’s jammer to thwart enemy attacks, but never to blind their defence
Addictive Personality - a bit of an adrenaline junkie, and if there’s food, alcohol or narcotics available, he’s probably going to consume too much of them

Links:
Darian Merino, Crow - pilots the core Stheno. One of Arjen’s two “brothers” from Titan, his approach to warfare is that of a big game hunter, with an enthusiasm that can sometimes border on the sadistic. This may yet lead to arguments between them. Tall and wiry with a graceful, economical way of moving.

Gavrail Kell, Crow - pilots the core Eurayle. Arjen’s other “brother”, he is a spiritual man (some might say eccentric) who elects to spend more time than necessary bonded to his Core, often even sleeping inside it. He is, however, almost impossible to surprise, and has preternatural instincts about the ebb and flow of a battle. Small, curly haired and slightly built.

Arakeen Toth, engineer - ‘Lift cephalopod, one of the few people Arjen trusts to work on his Core. Has a tendency to jump between thoughts or conversational beats quicker than most people can easily follow. Darkly coloured with distinctive blue rings that flush when excited.

Ishana Varsi, mentor - invalided early in their career thanks to an unfortunate accident, they now act as a recruiter and mentor for fledgeling crows. Arjen still considers them an almost parental figure. An androgynously pretty human with wispy hair.

Story beats:
As mentioned above, losing an unnecessary honour duel and being pressured by events to decide how much a code of ethics actually matters during wartime.
A recurring enemy who could be either an amoral contrast or a sympathetic character who just happens to fight for the other side.


https://safebooru.org/images/765/bda2b27aaa8089c64c191d70bba01031f37aae1e.jpg?77115 2

Name: Medusa
Weight class: Medium
Motive system: Plantigrade
Left arm weapon: Energy shield
Right arm weapon: Smoothbore cannon (heavy projectile), with shot selector for thermobaric explosive, kinetic penetrator, and nanite smoke cloud
Left shoulder weapon: Laser CIWS (medium energy) for close defence and anti-missile
Right shoulder system: EW pod (directional jammer), can eject shriekers in the event of a home-on-jam attack
Head system: Standard active / passive sensor suite