The Earthheart - OOC

Oh poop I missed the chatparty D: If ya

Okay, I'll add the Lizardfolk and Vrana to the species list :3

In that case go with cybernetics then, it seems to work well for the character :D I'm liking this science vs. magic debate though. Maybe it'll continue between our IC characters, hehehe...

Anyway we probably won't be able to start until the realms are fleshed out. I'll work on that this weekend! And of course after that we'll give everyone plenty of time to make characters :D

Oh and also! We were talking bout this in the chatbox, but would y'all prefer if I adopted more of a Dungeon Master-type role here, where I would steer your characters on the plot by controlling Mrorgain and other plot important NPCs, and then throw monsters and puzzles and situations at y'all but without actually having a character in the party myself? Cause I'm totally cool with that. It'd mean like I'd also control major monsters in boss battles and stuff. What would y'all prefer? o:

I'm interested in creating a realm, I'm not sure what to call it yet but I'm thinking of stylizing it based off of York. Keep that old aesthetic, but with New fangled widgets and gizmos.
Also a princess.

To help answer the social units for the Vrana, or at least the social units for them in the kingdom I'm working on, assuming the entire race is similar seems kinda silly, I'm currently going off of the idea of "dynasties" or "houses", with large extended families pooling resources for mutual benefit. This goes from the lowliest bands of commoners (though their groups tend to splinter as they get too large) to the Five Great Houses, who determine the course of their kingdom as a whole.

Alright. I got everything except for the Backstory in my sheet done. I didn't really think much about his history, so I kinda have to wing it.

Sweet! Don't fret if you can't think of anything though, I made that section optional for a reason. The sheetkiller, I call it. Ah, but it saddens my heart to think of the countless sheets which might've been done, but for the bio...

Hey, I made a 12 page sheet where the history was about 7 pages, so it isn't a super problem. I just didn't give this one any forethought outside of "let's punch things with magic".

Oh dang, what was that sheet for? XD

It was for a knight captain named Kane, who led a failed coup against a corrupt government.

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Name(s): Glenn M. (Mardigras) Gopunk
Race: Orc
Pronouns: He identifies as he/him/himself, but doesn't actually care what you call him as long as you aren't insulting him.
Age: 30
Occupation: Mortician and part-time street fighter.
Skills, talents, and useful knowledge/abilities/possessions: As a mortician, Mr. Gopunk has a great deal of understanding of mortal anatomy and biology. Additionally, he can also brew up the proper concoction and properly apply embalming fluid to preserve bodies, and knows a variety of rituals prior to the deceased's burial. As such, he is well-versed in a number of religions and spiritual practices, regardless of whether or not he believes in such rituals and beliefs – and while not often requested, or even in line with his work area, is certified to perform autopsies and can employ forensic applications to determine the cause of death. Less formally, he is also an adept unarmed fighter, and conjoins western and eastern martial arts with a wild and barbaric twist to his methodology.

His immense strength coupled with innate ferocity also allows him to overpower opponents easily that are otherwise unequipped to defend themselves against a raging and magically imbued berserking titan that may as well resemble the manifestation of your worst nightmare. Speaking of which, he is magically gifted, although with it, he does little more than to bolster his own strength and endurance, permitted by his years of experience with mortal bodies. He is also an expert at cooking meats specifically, and his prime ribs are legendary, but he compulsively requires himself to don a chef's hat in order to do so. He stubbornly refuses otherwise. Can also braid hair.

Hobbies and interests: He loves trains and, while claims to be an expert on them and old school mechanics, can do little more than hit it with a wrench in hopes it somehow fixes itself. He also enjoys sparring and star gazing, and appreciates vintage items. He ain't much of dancer or music guy, but it will still put him in a partying mood.

Greatest strength: His, uh, well... strength. And endurance, too, as he can take quite the beating. He has something of an admirable willpower judging by his pouty stubbornness, and his immensely loyal to his allies. Perhaps blindly so. Moderately cultured.

Greatest challenge: He is smart at what he's good at, but put him anywhere else, and it'll be like putting a confused child in a maze. Sometimes he lacks what appears to be basic common sense, and while insightful, often doesn't follow his own advice. Also, putting him into any situation that requires delicacy is a laughable endeavor and everyone involved would probably be killed  in a freak accident somehow. Has a terrible sense of direction.
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Appearance and personality: At 5'10”, perhaps shorter than you would expect an orc of Glenn's personality, stature, and muscular girth. He is quite stocky with a wrestler's build, and should he ever flex his arms, pecs, back, and stomach all at once, you would expect someone in the background to be yelling “ripped” and dragging it out for a couple seconds to encourage the ballyhoo of rallying cheers – he's quite the presence, and seems to take up a lot more space than he really does. His olive green skin doesn't oil a whole lot, unlike his black hair, though is often beaded with sweat from hard labor. His aforementioned black hair is undercut, somewhat long, and reaches down to the bottom of his neck. He often deals with his hair simply by putting it into a top-knot, or by putting it into a French braid down the center of his head. Sometimes he'll even braid it and then put the end of it into a bun or topknot.

He has little in the ways of facial hair, but it is there for certain. There's no full-blown mustache, but he has hair on his upper lip. He doesn't have a goatee, but he has something of a soul patch just under his lip. Finally, we then have facial hair from below his attached ear lobes, which then stretches along either side of his jawline and meets at his chin. He also has a few accessories, among them is a septum half-ring under his Nubian nose. He has a thick, strong set of jaws, and two rows of sharp and jagged teeth. Where the canines would normally be are large tusks, the bottom of which protrude just a half-inch out of his mouth. He bears large and meaty arms, the forearms of which grows a plentiful amount of body hair, much like his chest and back. His knuckles are all scarred to hell and back.

Glenn wears a very retro fashion, emulative of some time period between the early and mid 1900s. He wears a sleeveless white shirt, tucked into a pair of brown wool jodhpurs, that which is supporting by red suspenders that strap over his chest and cross over each other like an “x” on his back. The buckles themselves are steel, but appear to be made of brass. Further adorning him his a black flapcap on his head, where the inside rim is stained with sweat. The bottom of his jodhpurs are often half tucked into, half not – which in itself looks to be something of a lazy habit – into a pair of steel-toed, black leather combat boots. Other jewelry he wears aside from the septum half-ring is a chain mail bracelet around his left wrist, and a brass torc around his neck. The wires themselves are weaved and braided expertly, and either end stops at a certain point above his collar bones. These heads are engraved with what appears to be the faces of screaming people.

As an individual, Glenn happens to be very excitable and gungho, and gets along with most people for the most part. His temper is curious, as his oblivious nature can lead him to believe that a person's intent is to not to insult or harm him – a sure sign of his security in himself and self-assurance – but at the same time, somehow handles a short-fused temper. So while it may be difficult to find what exactly pisses him off outside of life-threatening decisions such as punching him in the face or keeping him from doing what he wants to do, it doesn't take long for him to angry once you find it. This can lead to false sense of security when talking to the sociable orc, which in turn can cause the conversation to turn on its heels and have him angry at you for what appears to be no reason until you reflect upon it further. Which, during the time of getting yelled at by a large and angry orc, can be absurdly difficult to do.

He is tolerant and accepting of people. Regardless of your gender, race, sexuality, religion, or political orientation, he is something of a go-with-the-flow type of person, and even being referred to incorrectly doesn't bother him. He simply takes it in stride. As mentioned, Glenn is smart at what he is good at. While having encyclopedic knowledge of mortal bodies and anatomy, understand bodily functions, is well cultured in religious and spiritual traditions (particularly death rituals), and so on,  he is something below average in almost all other fields. He knows enough math and reading for a position of a mortician, but doesn't necessarily excel in those fields. It'd be erroneous to mistake him for a doctor – while he is skilled in anatomy, isn't suited for bedside regulation, medication, or high-risk surgery. While he goes by the book in his mortician jobs, he'll just as quickly wing it in anything he doesn't have experience in. He unfortunately lacks the restraint that should keep him from doing anything he has no experience in. Piloting? Aw, hell, surely he'd figure it out...

Back story: His dad was an attourney and his mom a funeral director, so the household Glenn grew up in was definitely one of strict discipline and intellectual pursuit. However, the only child of the Gopunk family was a wild thing, and very difficult to control. He always has been, and while it has been tempered, he was never fully or successfully indoctrinated into a life of civilty and stoic poise. He was pushed and urged into devoting more time to his studies by his family, especially his mother, who urged him particularly into working in her funeral home private business, so biology was a biggy. It took quite a bit of struggle to sit him down and keep him there, but over time he was able to absorb the information adequately enough.

The money for the family came from many sides. His father was an attourney, allowing him to help families sue offenders, and specialized in affairs that concerned death. Those family could then turn towards his wife who would prepare a funeral service for them, and then eventually there'd be Glenn, who could prepare the body and perform whatever rites the grieving family wished as an embalmer. The family could make quite a good deal of money that way when everyone was working together. Add in another family member that can carve out gravestones, and then everything would go full circle. However, the family's plan didn't take that one step forward as they would have hoped, and instead, took one or two steps back.

Without even consultation, Glenn moved out, preferring to live on his own terms. This was something he felt his folks should have saw coming. He has always been a free spirit and has always had something of a rebellious streak. To think he would stay in the nest was absurd. He still kept a close relationship with his folks, though, and always has been something of a mama's boy despite everything. At least he's independent enough to go out and live his own life, and work in the family business with a professional relationship. Still, life gets boring. That's why when around 19 years of age, he found the perfect outlet. He entered street-fighting, unbeknownst to his family. He continued doing that for the next 11 years up to now, and his mother still thinks he works night shifts at an animal shelter the next city over.

Despite his apparent lack of wisdom in his decisions, there is at least one more testiment to his capacity for learning and intelligence other than biology, anatomy, and embalming duties: magic. Indeed, throughout his education and even the years of street fighting, he has been practicing magic, but specifically on the body. This is because in order to use magic, you must understand the part of the world you are attempting to manipulate. Because the only laws of the world he truly understood was one of mortal bodies, the only type of magic he could really use was magic that affect himself and others. And since manipulating the bodies of other people is considered to be a huge frowned-upon taboo, he did it to himself. Naturally, whatever mistakes he had made during that time was immensely painful. Only through patience was he able to repair himself.

Needless to say, he made use of that power. Namely in the application of system-bolstering effects to give him an edge in fight circles, catching his opponents unaware and leaving them in the dark as to where he derived his newfound strength and endurance. His main applications of this magic is to make his skin and hide tougher, make his body faster, and increasing his strength and carrying capacity. He managed to unconsciously develop a style of biomancy that is geared toward close combat. By using the energy developed by the swing of each punch, it is used to activate the magic that enchants the muscles and bones in his arms and bolsters his strength. When the swing stops, so does the magic. However, it's only been useful for short-term engagements. In dragged out fights, it's better to just put the magic on and fight until its gone.

Whether it was the fighting or his knowledge of bodies, or whatever, Glenn didn't know, but he recently received a letter from some weird person whose name M-Mer...M-mur... Mmm-roar-grain? More grain? More Grain the Rock, or something weird like that. But the letter said something about going on a great adventure and exploring the world! Hell yeah! Sounds a lot more exciting than squatting down in one place forever. Sure, the letter also mentioned trite nonsense like “treasure” and “glory” and “for the good of the world”. Really, Glenn was just down with it and decides to go for the fun of it. Before he left, however, he had a goodbye present from his mother: a promotion and leave! From embalmer to undertaker – or more officially, mortician (funeral director being a much nicer word for it) – letting him take an extended vacation. This was another way of saying she was retiring, which he didn't really pick up on. When, or if, he returns, Glenn will be trained on management duties and take over.

Other:

Putting me the shame once again Patches. Though I'm realizing I didn't talk much about Raizerr's personality. Not that it has much of one.

Also I like that he's good at braiding hair. :P He could get along well with my second character if I make her.

What are you talking about? It felt pretty short to me.

What self respecting orc doesn't know how to braid hair? Any true warrior would keep their hair out of their face! And would do so in the fashion of tradition!

What is this other character you have in mind?

I dunno. I was kind of thinking of doing a Valkyrie/Lancer Princess. The fact she's a Princess wouldn't be that important. Like it wouldn't give her any strict advantages over anything. She'd be a predominantly speed and attack person, but also really squishy. I haven't really put much thought into it yet.

Ah! The glass cannon. Then there's me, the bulldozer. Broom broom.

Imagine this character just sitting on your shoulders while you run into combat and my character is just skewering the people behind you or behind the people you're currently punching in the face.

Races

Cyclops
Physical attributes: Large, thick-skinned, slow, strong, variable intelligence, have a single eye. Skin comes in tones of yellow. Humanoid.
Scientific attributes: Depends on the values of their culture. At best, they are organized and intelligent, fond of metalworking, honor, and culture. At worst, they are barbaric, stupid and impulsive, fond of demons, ritual, and death.
Magical attributes: All cyclops know a single spell. They can use it only once, but they sacrifice their eye in the process.

Triclops
Physical attributes: Large, thin-skinned, slow, strong, powerfully intelligent, have a third eye. They are born with their third eye closed. Humanoid.
Scientific attributes: Intelligent, though mystical. They are fond of magic, culture, and logic. They have a deep-seated desire to form a society of philosopher-kings.
Magical attributes: Their magical power increases as their third eye opens. This is best accomplished by eating the brains of a mage of another race.

Skrae
Physical attributes: Large, strong, agile, their stamina is nearly endless, can only survive in cold or cool environments, or they will hemorrhage to death as they overheat. Wounds nearly instantly scab over with an ice-like substance. Heal slowly. Metabolism slows and they enter a state of hibernation when starving. Pale skin. Humanoid. They are a genetically engineered warrior-race from an age past.
Scientific attributes: Abhor progress, unless it supports a warrior lifestyle, which they are devoted to the perfection of. They have a powerful urge to create society where power is given to the greatest warrior.
Magical attributes: Incapable of performing magic.

Fishmen
Physical attributes: Somewhere between humans and dwarves in height. They can survive for a period on land, but need to moisten their skin or they will suffocate. The sun irritates their eyes. Look like a cross between a fish and a man. They are the cousins of merfolk, but are still fond of forming a society.
Scientific attributes: Talented craftsmen and bonesculpters. They have many great engineers, though their constructs are largely organo-mechanic, and employ no electronics.
Magical attributes: Poor magicians.

I think we're getting too many races. It's cool that we can kind of personalize the rp some, but it's getting a little ridiculous. That's just my opinion, though.

I'm just going to leave this link here, along with the comment: "the world is a pretty big place."

http://dnd-wiki.org/wiki/3.5e_Races

Like, replace the cultures of Earth with different races, and you'll see that the planet is pretty diverse. Something that'd be cool to see in the RP is a race that evolved from a strain of microbes from an asteroid, aka, alien race.

Patches, sometimes you amaze me. xD Accepted! Can only imagine what Glenn musta gone through when he was just learning to practice on his body, lol. Yikes! At least now the party has a chef... Provided someone can procure a proper chef's hat. :P

@Omni: Ooooh a Valkyrie princess eh? Tell us more! <u<

And nobody worry about not being too descriptive on personality, I didn't want to make too big a deal about that cause it really comes out in the RP anyway, lol! I'm loving our lineup so far!

@Gnd: Wooah cool! I love your ideas about the Cyclops knowing only one spell, and the Triclops getting increased magical ability as they grow older :D Reminds me of Despero, if anyone here reads DC comics...

I'm guessing the Cyclops and Triclops would be related to Giants, right? Would you object to combining them into a single race? o: Like, mixing their traits together a bit? Having multiple subspecies is cool, though, like with the Lizardfolk!

And those Fishmen are a must. Can't wait to get all Lovecraftian in here. *u* I take it, though, that since they use magic rather than electricity to build, they're skilled in at least the constructive applications of magic?

Tell me more about the Skrae though! Genetically engineered warriors from long ago, eh? They seem a bit OP in the physical section, but I guess that's balanced by their lack of magic and technology, as well as the fact that they only live in cold environments. Tell us more about them though :D What do they look like? Who built them?

@GreatSocrates: Yeah, I see what you're sayin, we do have quite a lot :P I'm guilty of that, too, lol, with the whole hoard I started with. But Patches got a point that a lotta variety would make sense.

If it becomes a problem in the RP, like, that there are too many races to manage, then we can cut it down some, like, remove the ones that we don't use; my intention is that humans, dwarves, elves, and the more "traditional" races from high-fantasy fiction and folklore will be by far the most common, with the others being less common but having their own little corners of the earth and cultures and stuff.

Hey, that alien race is an idea! o: A species completely alien to this world. Hang on, might have to work that into the plot somehow...

Szemetlada wrote:

Patches, sometimes you amaze me. xD Accepted! Can only imagine what Glenn musta gone through when he was just learning to practice on his body, lol. Yikes! At least now the party has a chef... Provided someone can procure a proper chef's hat. :P

Sometimes? Pssshhh. Thanks Mata-man. And, yeah, I don't even like thinking about it. Imagine the bones and muscles in your hand twisting around in all the wrong places. It's more painful imagery than Father Cornello's rebound accident.

Szemetlada wrote:

Hey, that alien race is an idea! o: A species completely alien to this world. Hang on, might have to work that into the plot somehow...

My thoughts: Their bodies appear and feel like latex/rubber, has something of a pinkish hue to their skin, and their noses are replaced with nostril slits. Hairless. Their arms are two pairs of three tentacles that taper off at the end, and when coiled together, forms the shape of human arms and hands. They're not terribly strong or durable, but have mind-blowing regenerative abilities. A hand would grow back in hours, since much of their bodies would be made of some kind of stem-cell material. However, they have built very little resistance to the planet's bacteria and diseases. Their powerful systems are constantly fighting invaders, but expose them to too much health hazards, and they'll easily shut down. Technologically, they have zero presence. They have no innate understanding of "Earth's" chemistry, and their minds simply cannot grasp digital workings. Their bodies aren't really built for the hard labor that comes with mechanics. However, their magical aptitude is prodigal. They seem to understand magic like we do science.

@Gnd: Okay, I'll add them in! And that link's broken a bit, did you mean to link this image?

Aight, I'm sold on the Skrae :3 Ice warrior races are always cool! Feel free to add them in to the Google Drive document! (And that goes to anyone who creates a race :D)

@Patches: Duuuude, sick. Do you think they'd have their own kingdoms, or be hunted into obscurity so they hide underground? o.O

Ji's point about races not being culturally homegenous is a good one. If we end up focusing on one nation per species (the better to fit all of 'em in), there is potential for confusion.

That said, Patches' 'races / sapient species as different cultures' is a good excuse for having so many of them. Hrm.

Patches' sheet, oh my gosh. He loves trains, but is not good with them. He's close with his folks, yet kinda oblivious to their concerns (and somehow I doubt he told them about the biomancy, either).

And the simplicity of that song choice is super-fitting.

Re: aliens, how key is their pseudohuman characteristic? Faces / arms / hips / etc. are... important to vertebrates, but less so to living bubble gum masses of weakly differentiated cells. I'm thinking of a sort of biofilm, but networked into a communal organism. Their 'bodies' are actually their ships and stations, their earthcraft.

They're trying to terraform themselves a foothold, i.e., growing a Zone in which Bad Things happen to native flora and fauna and such (microbial life fares better, maybe). They arrived recently enough that nobody's figured out how to stop this quite yet.

Szemetlada wrote:

@Gnd: Okay, I'll add them in! And that link's broken a bit, did you mean to link this image?

Aight, I'm sold on the Skrae :3 Ice warrior races are always cool! Feel free to add them in to the Google Drive document! (And that goes to anyone who creates a race :D)

@Patches: Duuuude, sick. Do you think they'd have their own kingdoms, or be hunted into obscurity so they hide underground? o.O

http://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery-25/tw3wh-ice-giant.html

This one.

Szemetlada wrote:

@Patches: Duuuude, sick. Do you think they'd have their own kingdoms, or be hunted into obscurity so they hide underground? o.O

I was thinking they'd be too few in numbers to form an actual kingdom, and seeing one would be a feat in itself, so I was thinking no kingdom or hunted away. I suppose they're mostly living alone in secluded areas or travel as cloaked wanderers.

JazzTap wrote:

Re: aliens, how key is their pseudohuman characteristic? Faces / arms / hips / etc. are... important to vertebrates, but less so to living bubble gum masses of weakly differentiated cells. I'm thinking of a sort of biofilm, but networked into a communal organism. Their 'bodies' are actually their ships and stations, their earthcraft.

They're trying to terraform themselves a foothold, i.e., growing a Zone in which Bad Things happen to native flora and fauna and such (microbial life fares better, maybe). They arrived recently enough that nobody's figured out how to stop this quite yet.

The idea I threw out was basically working on a human template. They'd have bones, blood vessels, and whatnot, but their upper limbs were drastically different, and the look and texture of their skin was very different from human skin. As for their shapes, I was probably thinking a very hourglass figure. Very wide hips, super thin waist, and somewhat of a blocky chest. The rib cage being less of a rib cage than it is a box, with a plate of bone across the chest - endoskeleton, to make sure that's specified. Less flexibility of course, so a lot of pivoting and moving around would rely less on ankle movement and more on waist movement to rotate and maneuver the chest better.

However, your idea is also very cool. In this case, it's individual lifeforms vs hiveminds/colony inside biomechs. The latter sounds super cool and I would love to implement that in a game, but it just seems a self-conscious individual would be better suited to working in the kind of group we'll be in. Regardless, the terraforming could apply to either kinds of alien. Perhaps it's done through some advanced form of biomancy where they actually change the elements and compounds in the environment via chemical reactions? Speaking of magic, I was thinking that biomancy, plasma control, and mentalism are all forms they are especially proficient in.

Out of curiosity, what's going on with the human races. I see 3 nations. Who is currently doing them?

I love all of these alien ideas :D

@Omni: You mean developing them? Those are GreatSocrates's contributions. But there can be more if you have ideas for some :P I think humans, elves, dwarves, and the other "staple" races can have more nations than the more obscure ones would