AI IA: First Shot Sign Up

[Funka Genocide]

This thread will be for sign up, character sheet posting and general Q and A about whatever rules will be enforced for creation of the characters. Unfortunately I do not possess the time (or perhaps, the skill) to come up with a comprehensive list of powers. It would take me far too long, and so I will post an abridged version here and give simple rules for character creation. Dice related rules will have to wait, but it really won't affect the game so much.

First, here’s a little primer on the development of nexgen abilities.

On the nature of Human evolution

As far as can be surmised, the phenomenon known as next generation humanity was a naturally occurring event. No known methods exist or are known to have existed which would allow for the manufacture or manipulation of any human life into this state. Even with contemporary knowledge of genetics the nexgen genome is identical to humanity, no extra chromosomes or identifiable genetic traits are exclusive or common to nexgen specimens, from a genetic perspective they are indistinguishable from anyone else.

This odd coincidence has lead to a few prominent theories on exactly how the nexgen traits come to be expressed. The most widely accepted theory being an inability to observe energy patterns through the body with the necessary level of precision. More esoteric theories point towards the newly developing sciences of pseudo-spiritualism. Perhaps there is something inherent to a nexgen soul absent from the rest of humanity, or maybe everyone has the same potential and has subconsciously chosen to suppress it.

Whatever the cause, the effects are well documented. At it’s most basic expression the nexgen phenomenon is genius, all known nexgen specimens possess almost superhuman IQ levels. Educational development is unparalleled, necessitating the development of entirely new curriculum. By the age of 10 a typical nexgen child will possess the functional knowledge of a man thrice his age while still being fundamentally a child. By 12 or 14 most begin to develop superhuman abilities on their own, and with specialized training their capabilities become beyond human scope by their late teens.

In the early days of nexgen history these supernatural developments were very individualized expressions, development was a private affair and there was very little coordinated effort or communication. Indeed, there were so few nexgens in the world and there was so much controversy surrounding them that normal human interaction was a scarcity in their lives, let alone cooperation with their contemporaries. Besides the almost legendary Marcus, super human abilities were few and far between in the earliest years of the phenomenon.

Not until right before The War were nexgen training regimens developed. Experiments were codified and abilities were documented extensively, with the nexgen subjects themselves proving most beneficial to the process. Once a certain ability was successfully realized by an individual she would then develop a program to teach it to another. This proved highly reliable in reproducing abilities, and once methods and procedures were documented with enough detail the process could be repeated reliably even without a nexgen teacher. This was deemed a necessity by most nexgen development programs at the time, as having these potentially dangerous persons in contact with one another for prolonged periods was an unacceptable risk.

Many of these earlier experiments and documented training programs were of course, lost in the subsequent calamity that enveloped the world. Many have been emulated, perhaps in a better form perhaps in worse, and a few have been rediscovered. After the rebuilding era nexgen development went by the wayside, as almost all nexgens went to work eradicating the radiation threat, during the fierce, brief period of fighting before the nuclear war began many nexgen soldiers killed one another as well. Paradoxically, the most developed of nexgen powers were lost, as the most advanced were also the most likely to find application in military efforts.

In recent years nexgen development has been at the forefront of technological advance. The locating, education and utilization of nexgen children is a top government priority in all the main corporate-states. Methods range from mandatory enrollment in government funded special education programs (with prolonged absence from family, but not complete severance) to basic legal abduction of nexgen children. Education is typically handled by non nexgen educators and AI assistants. Non-nexgen professors are woefully outclassed in intellect relatively fast, but offer the necessary human experience necessary for proper psychological development, while android savants keep pace with the rapidly developing nexgen minds of these children.

Nexgen children eventually become adults, and all are considered something between government scions and corporate property. Nexgen operatives are typically used as singular solutions, one nexgen operative can accomplish some things that a hundred men couldn’t, some things that no amount of men could. Their talents are surpassing, and seldom is a problem found that could conceivably require more than one of these prodigies.

With one glaring exception, the employment of contra nexgen operatives. When arrayed against one another, the conflicts of nexgen operatives have the potential to tear apart any semblance of human control. Small teams of nexgens are commissioned mainly to counter the efforts of opposing corporations nexgen efforts. Even rarer are multi-corporate conglomerations constructed to accomplish incredible feats.

One such effort was the establishment of the Lunar Base of Commerce, where no less than 15 nexgen engineers, savants and various operatives from seven independent corporate-states combined efforts to construct a self sustaining human habitation on the lunar surface (as well as to ensure their interests had a stake in the commission, of course).

In theory, nexgen operatives are the final solution. A rare yet indefatigable resource used for the betterment of mankind. In practice they are a precious and volatile group of powerful individuals with earthshaking abilities. While a nexgen may seem unassailable in most circumstances all it takes is a bad day or a stray bullet unaccounted for to end their lives, despite their superhuman skills they have limits, and once reached those limits bring them crashing down to mere mortal status. If forced to push themselves too far, their attachment to reality begins to fray as their abilities begin to go haywire. There are few things as frightening as a nexgen pushed to her limits. She begins to hallucinate, to mistake reality for a waking dream, and her powers begin to fuel themselves from her very physical form, tearing her apart from the inside out while the world around her suffers the same fate. These facts are well guarded secrets from the public, and well known weaknesses to powerful people who wish to remain in power.

Here are some example powers, divided into the categories natural, general and faction. There are also individual powers, those developed by single nexgen users through experimentation and experience. Characters are free to develop their own powers with GM approval.

Natural powers are inherent to the nexgen condition, all nexgens possess them.

Perfect Health: The nexgen immunes system and cellular regeneration systems are incomparable in nature, a nexgen cannot be affect by any disease or infection. At worst a virulent pathogen will manifest as a day or so of flu like symptoms. From AIDS to malaria nexgen are immune to disease. They will never develop cancer of any sort either. They also live naturally longer lifespans than normal humans, typically reaching the age of 150 or so if not killed. As a consequence, nexgens will appear quite youthful well into their’ forties, and middle age won’t take hold until late fifties. Nexgen’s also recover faster from wounds and injuries than normal, healing at about ten times the normal human rate. They will not, however, regenerate limbs (without further training, that is)


Improved physical capability: Nexgens possess levels of strength, endurance and agility which outclass most normal humans. Even the clumsiest of nexgen brutes will be considered quite graceful by normal standards, and even the frailest appearing will be able to hold her own in a roadhouse arm wrestling contest. A weak nexgen has the strength of a large and physically fit male adult, a strong nexgen could rip a car door off with one hand. This is normal physical capability, certain powers will push these impressive abilities even farther. (note: this will be taken care of by stat bonuses in the final version, if it ever exists)

Incredible intellect: All nexgens possess at least genius level IQ’s. they are very bright and quick to pick up on even the most difficult or convoluted of concepts. This may present some challenges in role playing, but it should be subsumed into the characters abilities, as even a superhuman intellect might still find himself unable to express himself clearly, or get nervous and tongue tied around large groups of people. Don’t feel daunted by the nature of your character, they’re still human in their actions, just highly capable.

Nexgen field: a pattern of circulating energetic particles surrounds every nexgen at approximately skin level. When calm, there is no way to tell except to use special energy reading equipment. However, when the nexgen feels threatened these field will tend to present a barrier to physical damage at the point of impact, for example if someone were to take a swing at a nexgen geneticist they would react like anyone untrained in combat would, flinching and putting up their hands to avoid the damage, however their innate energy field would also react out of the instinctual response, producing a barrier to physical force. This would typically lead to the assailant feeling a shocking sensation of pain and the nexgen being unharmed. This field isn’t strong enough to stop a bullet, and if the nexgen doesn’t see the attack coming he’ll be caught unawares of course. This field is the basis of many nexgen abilities; with training it can be extended beyond the body to affect change at a distance.

Higher Mind: all nexgens possess the potential to access a higher level of cogitation than even their genius level intellects. This is known as the “higher mind” and allows for such miracles as faster than computer computation and multiple variable instantaneous analysis, giving many nexgens the uncanny ability to appear prescient or imperturbable in the face of even the most unforeseeable events.

General powers are so widely used and known that it can be assumed that any nexgen, regardless of faction could learn them. Rogue nexgens might develop the more basic one’s naturally.

Perfect memory: this ability allows a nexgen to recall exactly every detail of any event he’s witnessed, ever. The memories are considered to be “recorded” by his higher mind and accessed through a desire to recall a specific event or detail. Functionally this would allow any in game data the character witnessed, however briefly, to be recalled perfectly. Strangely enough, perfect memories will not be erased even if someone manages to hack the nexgen’s mind and erase memories, though the character will not remember to remember them unless reminded. (weird huh?)

Instantaneous data assimilation: This allows a nexgen to completely assimilate and understand any data they are exposed to. This data is stored in the higher mind and accessed as needed. At it’s most basic level this ability would allow a nexgen to read a book very fast (much like Johnny five in short circuit) or to understand complex mathematical problems by simply looking at a proof of them. Schematics and other such visual information can be completely understood and implemented. When combined with telekinetic abilities and higher data processing abilities, it would allow the nexgen to assimilate a library in an instant by simply standing in it’s center, sending out mental probes to scan the texts instantly. It could also be used to copy entire computer hard drives to the higher mind.

Direct Computation Link: This allows a nexgen to access any non organic data storage device instantaneously and to interact with the system through direct neural transfer. At it’s most basic level this requires a special implant in the cerebrum, however advanced knowledge of telekinesis allows for direct access of any network perceivable by the nexgen. (for example, if Ocius the Norther Intelligence operative really needs to read a email his corporate overseer is writing, but can’t see the screen, he can simply use this ability to remotely access the processor and observe digitally what information is being displayed. In a more involved application, he could use this ability to remotely access a military compounds security system, hack it and then take control of every system connected to it, all without so much as a mouse.)

Advanced data processing(first through third orders): These are standardized data processing powers, first order being generally equivalent to a powerful binary supercomputer, second order being equivalent to a quantum computer and third order being a transcendent data manipulation ability unparalleled in modern technology. By themselves, these abilities simply give nexgen programmers and hackers a “bigger gun” allowing faster and more reliable effects, they are however, prerequisites for many other powers.

Flawless Style Emulation: this allows a nexgen to completely internalize any style of art or design, This allows a nexgen composer to create a symphony in the style of Mozart exactly, or an engineer to build an exact replica of a theoretical engine proposed by a long dead engineer. Basically this allows a nexgen to instantly master the style of another craftsman or artist, including the ability to make unrecognizable forgeries.

Instantaneous Fault Deduction: This allows a nexgen to find and ascertain the reason for and solution to a problem in any system they are familiar with. A nexgen mechanical engineer might be confronted with a failed engine to his aircraft in mid-flight, and through mundane observation(ie the vibration, sounds and difference in performance as well as all conditions leading up to the fault) will understand not only what is broken, but how to fix it. Typically about five minutes of observation is necessary for this to work, however with second order ADP (advanced data processing) this is shortened to 10 seconds, and 3rd order ADP can get it done instantly. (several milliseconds)

Past reconstruction: this allows a nexgen investigator to reconstruct events which occurred in the past judging by available information. Looking at a crime scene for example, the nexgen might be able to tell exactly what happened by simply observing the layout of a room. This ability extends at most an hour into the past at basic effect, 2nd order ADP will take this to a week and 3rd order will move this back indefinitely considering no changes have been made to the scene after the most recent event. (GM’s call on what constitutes an event, an example would be looking at an ancient Egyptian artifact stolen and then deposited in a warehouse, by observing this item the nexgen investigator would be able to surmise how the item was placed in it’s container, how many people were around and any physical actions they took when placing the item in the container, he will not be able to recall when the item was stolen from it’s tomb, or when it was placed in it’s tomb thousands of years ago. However, were the same nexgen to enter an undisturbed Egyptian tomb himself, he could very well pierce the veil of eons and discern the last action that took place in the burial chamber.)

Clairvoyance: this allows a nexgen to predict likely future outcomes of particular actions. The scope of this power is limited to proposed actions and immediate effects. At basic level this allows a five minute theoretical window into the future. 2nd order ADP will improve this to an hour, 3rd order will move this to an indefinite period, however the farther in the future this knowledge goes the less likely it is to remain viable, as by simply knowing the likely outcome the nexgen will likely take an action to make it less likely. To observe is to change after all. (note that this is not the only form of precognitive ability a nexgen may possess, it is simply the most question-answer oriented version. For example, a nexgen wants to know what will happen if he goes down a certain hallway, his higher mind computes all known variables (some of which may not be consciously known, such as inaudible footsteps or evidence of foot traffic down the hallways, or air currents and pressure differences indicating movement, relative temperatures, and so on) and comes up with an answer, whether this is an image of the nexgen turning the corner and being shot by his unknown assailants or a simple worded answer in his head “you’re going to get shot” is a personal thing to each nexgen, he is after all, talking to himself.)

Perfect diagnosis: a nexgen physician can determine what’s ailing you, exactly detailing the particular injury or illness a living organism is suffering (if the nexgen user does not have any prior knowledge of the malady he will instead receive information related to treatment as pertains to all his existing medical knowledge, this means that even though a nexgen doctor may have never seen a particular strand of infection before, he will be aware of likely methods of treatment. This power require physical contact to be made with the target, it can also be used on the nexgen himself, though any illness he suffers will be of a very brief nature in any case.

Instantaneous physical repair: this ability allows the nexgen to repair biological constructs. So long as he understand the basic physiology of the target (by using a modified version of perfect diagnosis to completely understand the physical systems of his target instantaneously, for example) he can remove illness and speed up recovery of an injury. In effect this cures any disease the character is suffering from and improves the targets healing abilities. The target will recover at ten times normal pace for a week (note that this power has no effect on nexgen’s, as it is really an emulation of their own innate healing powers on a limited scale)

More to come, I need a break!

[Funka Genocide]

Energy manipulation (first through third orders)

First: allows for the direction of preexisting energies. For example, a nexgen using this power could transfer the velocity energy of a bullet in another direction, or cause a flame to gust in a certain direction or shape. This allows energy to be manipulated in many inventive and interesting ways, but not destroyed or converted.

Second: allows for the conversion of energy into different forms, such as kinetic to heat or electric to kinetic and so forth. The limits of this power are only that an equivalent amount of energy must be created from the preexisting energy. Exact numerical values are too hard for me to compute (I wouldn’t know where to begin honestly, and I don’t feel like hunting down a physics major right now) However, imaginative use is encouraged. (one could change theheat from a fire into a concussive force that knocks over an adversary for example, or turn the kinetic energy of a baseball bat headed for one’s head into harmless heat energy, stopping the bat inches from one’s face and causing nothing more than a pleasant warm feeling.)

Third: allows for the conversion of matter into energy, only basic hydrogen molecules can be converted by this power, meaning the energy created will seem to arise from nowhere. (even in space there are enough stray particles to make this power viable.) the amount of energy created is dependent on the ability of the nexgen. (this will be handled by a dice roll in the real rules, the skill is science+willpower if you were interested.)

More to come, I need a break!

Matter manipulation: Another set of powers that allows any physical substance to be altered or controlled.

first order: allows for physical changes in density of objects. the magnitude of matter that can be affected at once is dependent on nexgen skill (again, willpower+science, but for now we'll just abstract) this would allow for materials to expand or contract instantaneously, becoming harder or more brittle, it could cause a metal door to crumple or weaken cell bars to the point they can be removed by hand. It could also harden a wooden table to the point where it would become bullet proof.

second order: allows for direct manipulation of matter, an amount of substance dependent on skill can be shaped to the desires of the nexgen engineer. a chain link fence could be formed into a large hamster wheel to encase an unruly opponent or a cliff side could be made into a larger than life bust of a very vain artist in an instant.

third order: a highly complicated ability, basically it takes a substance and forces all molecules within it to conform to hydrogen atoms, meaning all excess subatomic particles will be radiated and the material will appear to be destroyed entirely. The radiation will be dissipated automatically, meaning there is no danger to organisms from this power. A sudden rush of pressure will invade the area as momentary vacuum is created. The amount of matter that can be affected is again, dependent on skill. Oddly enough, This could be used as an attack, but it require intense concentration in it's basic form (several minutes) higher order ADP will shorten this time necessity however. Only with 3rd level ADP will it actually be a viable attack action however, and the difficulty and cost of failure is high.


combat prescience: creates a tactical construct composed of multiple data sources in the present as well as theorized outcomes of actions in a several second tactical precognition window, the effect of this is to give a nexgen soldier an uncanny edge in combat, gifting him a continual glimpse into the immediate future. This allows for increased defensive and attack success as well as access to many high level combat powers.

intrinsic vehicle acclimation: allows a nexgen to understand the capabilities and limitation of any vehicle or user operated machinery he has control over. This acclimation period is a few minutes worth of testing and driving in most cases. The effect is to give the nexgen an uncanny connection with his machine, improving his performance by using the vehicle as an extension of his own body. This also allows access to many higher level vehicular powers.

Tactical sense: allows the nexgen to perceive reality through a tactical overlay, basically gaining a three dimensional mental image if his immediate surroundings. The nexgen energy field pierces all contemporary barriers, though it is possible to create an obfuscation field with an inversion of this very power. The advantage of this power is essentially having a 360 degree field of view out to a radius dependent on skill (willpower+small arms skill roll)

Empathic Target Acquisition: this ability allows a target to be “marked” by an empathic connection to the user. This can be something as simple as a direct line of sight or as complex as knowledge of the targets habits, whatever the connection, the user will hit the target barring physical impossibility. (note that most bullets will not survive orbital reentry… most.) so long as the projectile can keep going the user will not miss.

Sensory output occlusion: allows for the suppression of sensory emanations from the user, this must be targeted to one or more targets and must specify which senses to occlude. For example, the user may attempt to hide the sounds and noises he makes from two guards he passes by. This is a mind affecting ability and as such will be resisted either automatically by the targets resolve and composure traits, or actively by targets with mental defenses. (such as ADP abilities) This works effectively by removing the instantaneous sensations presented by the user before they can enter conscious thought or memory. It blunts surface thoughts pertaining to the target.

Invisibility/inaudibility: this ability creates a light manipulation field around the user which essentially causes the illusion of invisibility by creating a probably image construct based on incoming visual data from ever angle. It also redirects all sound energy internally to be absorbed by the body as opposed to emanated. The target is for all intents and purposes invisible and inaudible, though his heat signature, scent and mass still remain. Using energy manipulation techniques (energy manipulation 2nd order) the heat can be converted to sound energy and thusly redirected,) using matter manipulation (2nd order) scent particles can be redirected and redistributed, making the target effectively scentless. Mass cannot be masked, although levitation can alleviate this problem, though some force is produced by the usage of that power as well. Basically with enough skill one can almost completely mask their presence from anything, but there will always be a way to detect even the most stealthy of nexgen infiltrators.

Subsistence: this power allows a nexgen to live off pure energy, converting minute portions of hydrogen into enough power to keep her body running indefinitely, the effect is that the nexgen will never have to eat, though food will still remain delicious and so therefore preferable to nothing.

Mind Link (first through third orders) (note that range is determined by skill, basically the higher your empathy +willpower the larger the radius of effect is.)

First: receptive/passive link this allows for direct mind to mind communication between the user and a willing participant. The target need not possess this power, but they must not be averse to the mental intrusion. Any reticence or desire for the voices in ones head to stop will end the connection immediately. The number of simultaneous targets is dependent on skill (willpower+empathy) the only information available is that which participants desire to be transmitted as well as “surface chatter” which is typically filtered out.

Second: invasive: allows for an attempt at a forced mental link. Must overcome any unwilling targets defenses. (natural defenses for humans and animals, constructed defenses for nexgens or those with technologically improved mental defenses) the data which can be accessed once the defenses are broken constitutes the entirety of the targets experience. Any memory may be perused, though the target will know which memory the user is accessing (and will likely feel quite violated) access lasts for a period of time dependent on the disparity of the contested rolls. (ie: if the mind hacker has a lot more successes than the defender, he will be able to dig around longer before having to reactivate the power and test for resistance again.)

Third: mind hack: this allows the user to reprogram the target mind. Erasing or creating new memories is possible now once mental defenses are overcome. Generally the more successes the user has the more elaborate or extensive the implant/erasure can be. Willing subject have an effective defense value of 0.


.........................................


I know a lot of these powers are missing details (especially prerequisites, not to mention some details on usage such as distance and number of target etc. but I trust taht everyone can get a general idea of how they work, If you've got any questions just post them her or PM me and I willt ry to clear them up. Next up will be descriptions of factions and the unique powers available to members of those factions, as well as rules for character creation.

[Akamaz]

please Consider me signing up. I was thinking of something along the lines of a infiltration specialist nexgen with some physical augmentation and telepathy as in the "sneak in and take out the security system so the rest of the team can get in" type. mind shields that are not resisting, but more of a psychic invisibility maybe an audio dampening field or something.

these are just generalities of ideas, whaddya think?

(personal motivation of the infiltrator= he/she wants to track down that first nexgenner who contacted the whole world. )

[Funka Genocide]

please Consider me signing up. I was thinking of something along the lines of a infiltration specialist nexgen with some physical augmentation and telepathy as in the "sneak in and take out the security system so the rest of the team can get in" type. mind shields that are not resisting, but more of a psychic invisibility maybe an audio dampening field or something.

these are just generalities of ideas, whaddya think?

(personal motivation of the infiltrator= he/she wants to track down that first nexgenner who contacted the whole world. )

All that works quite well, I'ma ctually working on certain nexgen archetypes right now, your idea fits pretty much in line with the Norther Ghost operative, here's a littel rundown with some usual abilities unique to ghosts.

“Ghost” intelligence operative: these consummate hackers and master of espionage fulfill a vital role in data acquisition, they are trained to infiltrate any facility and crack any security system in order to get what others would rather they didn’t. They are ghosts, slipping in unseen and leaving as quietly as the dead.

Electronic Holocaust: with this ability the ghost can forego the more meticulous methodology of hacking a security system and simply shut down most or all electronic devices in range. This produces a powerful EMP effect that will cause most equipment to shut down or malfunction. Some high level equipment will have shielding sufficient to stop this however.

Prerequisites: second order energy manipulation, second order data processing

Strawman Defense: this powerful hacking ability is useful when a counter hack is expected, instead of exposing her mind to a potentially deadly opponent the ghost instead uses a virtual self, this construct possesses all the skills of the user but has no access to willpower expenditure. It performs much like the character would but is effectively a momentary GM character for the purpose of hacking a single system. If it fails and is attacked it will simply disappear, something a normal mind has no opportunity to do without desire consequences.

Prerequisites: second order advanced data processing, perfect memory

Mental redirect: this ability allows the ghost to defend against a counter hack attempt by redirecting his mental identity to another person. The target is designated and his mental defenses must be overcome, if successful any effects of a counter hack attempt will instead be directed towards the target. This power must be used as an instantaneous defense as the redirect link is open for only a short time, only one chance is granted. The target must either be connected to the same network or be within sensory range of the nexgen using this power.

Prerequisites strawman defense. Third order advanced data processing, second order mind link



possession: this terrifying ability allows the nexgen to relocate his consciousness in another body. His original host body becomes a catatonic husk unable to perform any but the most basic of physiological processes, the possessed target is destroyed but for an effective "backup" that is saved to the users higher mind. This data can be implanted into the husk or less precisely into a quantum computer database. It can also be erased. This is a rather diabolical technique, and typically only used as a last resort. The user must be touching the target, must overcome the targets mental defenses in a sequence of contested rolls equaling up to a large number of successes (basically, it would require a long period of time in physical contact with the target, meaning that usage as a means to cheat death is highly unlikely.) the user gains the target physical attributes initially. but his nexgen nature will begin to assert itself over time, every week after initial possession the hosts physical characteristics will become more in line with the users if the users originals were higher, or they will remain the same if the hosts are higher. The saved personality data will degrade over the course of a week, after a week it is considered corrupted beyond recall. This power could be used to simply switch bodies with a willing subject, or to completely take over another persons life. It is the ultimate espionage tool.

prerequisites: mental redirect, third order mental link

as far as searching for Marcus, the legendary first nexgen, your character won't be alone. Marcus is seen as an almost messianic figure to some, his treatise on human ethics is widely disseminated and studied. He would be one of the oldest living people on earth at 105 years old at he start of the campaign, though as a nexgen he'd probaly look closer to 60. No one has heard from him since before The War of course.

[Arhra]

I was just wanting to enquire as to what exactly the characters will be doing and how exactly they will interact. Special operations types is my general understanding, so I presume this will be largely mission based, possibly with opposition or alliances between players. I would just like it to be a little more spelled out.

I've done some thread archeology and I presume that this will be largely faction based, especially given the information in the Interest thread.I will try to have a basic power set done for all the skills soon, then there will be organization specific powers. These are sorts of abilities only available to certain types of characters, for example Norther military nexgen's have access to a device know as a Mental facillitator, which allows certain powers to be expanded and used more reliably, whereas certain members of the BioChem firm have strange genetic manipulation powers that allow them to reprogram DNA to monstrous effect. Zaiban princes have highly developed melee combat powers and certain Harcat operatives have far reaching socio-political powers that enable them to contort and even rewrite popular history. Claimancy investigators have strange knowledge and powers over the more esoteric sciences, such as paranormal phenomena.A little more info on these groups would be nice, as I'm not sure how much of the previous information is still valid. The archetype information you were talking about would definately be handy as some guides of what you're going for.

[Funka Genocide]

Excellent question Arhra! Sorry I didn't post this basic information all ready, I've been busy trying to get out all the rest of the stuff.

Your character will come from one of three distinct corporate states, All located in what was known as North America. The largest of these three independent factions is Norther, with industrial manufactories and human habitations all along the Eastern seaboard and well inland to about the Mississippi. Of course there's a lot of empty space and an artificial rainforest (meaning it was created by man, not that the trees are fake) that virtually splits this realm in half, with a regular grid pattern of rails that bisect the geometrically arranged forests. Travel is typically accomplished by rail or flight, as personally owned vehicles are typically powered by hydrogen cells and need to be recharged regularly via the city power grid. There are service ways with somewhat regular recharge stations located parallel to the main rail lines, however access to these underground roads is prohibited to nonessential personnel and they are monitored constantly. The Norther Directory, the government of the Norther state, sells these restrictions quite well. They point towards the preservation of the environment (a very powerful issue after the natural environment was nearly destroyed) and the fact that travel is cheap and accessible for all. This much is true, rail lines between major cities and manufacture centers are affordable, comfortable and expedient, and airfare isn’t much more. However, one of the main and unstated reasons for this travel control is to keep track of where everyone is coming from and going to. Three dimensional holographic security checkpoints scan every traveler for weaponry and contraband prior to boarding, a little less known fact is that every person who travels through the Norther system is documented via appearance and other physical factors alone. With the incredible computing power available, the system can simultaneously track ever person in Norther silently and effectively. The illusion of free will and anonymity is maintained while the reality of government supervision is enforced.

With such a small population (Norther has a mere 70 million citizens) and the necessity for menial or manual labor jobs eliminated, most people find work in service or production fields. Wages are mandated at a minimum level and housing is plentiful and affordable. Basically most everyone lives a comfortable life, their children are educated through a very effective public school system and can attend university level classes afterward. Of course the general aspiration is to work directly for the Norther corporation, and in effect corporate employees form a sort of nobility, with wages and opportunities being generally superior to the other members of society. Laws are upheld with regularity and are seen as generally just, although a few cases of course cause large media stirs as obviously guilty parties go free or heinous crimes are committed, it’s all very similar to modern America with less urban sprawl and a more apparent hierarchy.

Of course all of this appears to be quite stable to the average citizen, the truth however is a bit more severe. Political tensions between foreign interests and local terrorist groups place many lives in danger, as aggressive policies threaten foreign governments and newly developed technologies are sought after by violent and active cells. The effect is a constant state of secret warfare and espionage. The main population centers are typically spared the worst of this, however violence does occasionally spill into the streets of the populace. The media is accurate if withholding, they give the surface information and leave the details out. Mostly because the government investigators won’t allow them to know much more, although certain media reporters do dig quite deep and an occasional scandal or large scale terrorist action is uncovered and aired, the government does not engage in Gestapo tactics or clandestine assassination, they want to maintain a sense of freedom of speech and so long as no laws were broken in airing the news, they will simply redouble their efforts of secrecy.

At the highest echelons of Norther society sit the board of directors. The twelve most powerful people on the continent. The title is bestowed through an election process, with votes consisting of the elite corporate members only. Once elected the title is held for life, or until the member is impeached. In practice this leads to a rather cutthroat environment, as high ranking corporate members seek to overthrow those in control for a shot at the directorate, while the board is constantly forced to obscure and disguise it’s actions to avoid impeachment.

Nexgens are employed directly by the directorate. In theory all twelve members determine the disposition and usage of nexgen resources, while in practice a certain director will likely develop favorites and use his position to handle more personal problems without the knowledge of the other eleven. The nexgen population of Norther is around 100 men and women, with a few dozen children going through primary and secondary training at any given time. Of the 100or so nexgen operatives, about half are considered active, the other half being older and more prone to directing, planning and advising, as well as engineering and theoretical development.

A starting character from Norther will likely be employed by one of several bureaus. The physical defense bureau is the military arm of the Norther corporate state, assault officers and tactical officers would be employed by this branch. These military minded nexgen operatives will typically be used to guard exposed outposts or valuable assets. One nexgen assault officer stationed in a research outpost is generally enough insurance to ward off any would be saboteurs or terrorists. When not guarding vital assets they are employed in clandestine warfare, eliminating dangerous threats and securing vital resources from competitors. They typically operate as either one man strike forces, fast and effective they can accomplish many important missions solo. In larger scale confrontations they will be used as an auxiliary attachment to non-nexgen special forces. Typically they won’t lead these units as a normal officer would, however in effect they are looked up to their troops and many find themselves leading by an unattainable example. Another use for Defense Bureau nexgens is as tac-suit pilots. The tactical action suit, or tac-suit as it is commonly known, is the foremost development in modern warfare. It is a powered suit which provides the wearer with considerable physical protection as well as flight abilities. Specially trained non-nexgen special forces led by a single nexgen tac-suit officer comprise a highly effective battlefield unit, their speed and firepower allow them to take objectives and hold them until reinforcements arrive, tac-suit pilots are often seen as cocky and far too self assured by other special forces units, and nexgen tac-suit pilots typically focus less on destructive abilities and more on precognitive and reaction based skills. Their tac-suits provide exo-muscular improvement and allow for the usage of powerful weaponry, and so they are free to develop the other aspects of war fighting skills.

The Bureau of Intelligence also has a large portion of nexgen operatives. These spies and saboteurs are used to gather information and act as counter intelligence as well as counter terrorism experts. They investigate and ferret out threats to corporate security and neutralize them. Those involved in foreign affairs are typically highly skilled in politics and misdirection, able to infiltrate the highest levels of foreign governments. They often go deep undercover to discover likely targets for the defense bureau as well as locating competitive technologies. These agents act behind the scenes to direct the efforts of many other bureaus. Another subsection of Intelligence involves more tactical applications, whereas Intelligence agents seek to remain undiscovered for long periods of time, the so called “ghosts” act in a more immediate capacity, They often times undertake quasi-military operations and will infiltrate installations personally to obtain important information. They are consummate hackers and no security system is safe from their predations, they often posses impressive combat skills as well, more oriented towards silently removing opposition than massive conflict that defense bureau members however.

Theoretical development and engineering also employs many nexgen operatives. These technological savants help develop new technologies and to adapt existing ones to new uses. Their unparalleled intelligences helps lead to many breakthroughs in production and theoretical science. Many of these operatives develop skills that help them utilize their higher mind in impressive and inventive ways, as well abilities that pertain directly to their chosen fields, such as the ability to repair components through molecular reconstruction. The more action oriented members of Theory (as it is known) are employed as test and combat pilots. These engineers still devote much of their time to technological development, but their piloting skills are second to none.

The other two factions for this campaign are The Biochem Firm and The Claimancy. Biochem was a subsidiary of Norther until 15 years ago when it broke off under the direction of Vergil Waters. Its main focus is the isolation of the nexgen cause and subsequent manufacture of artificial nexgen soldiers. The current director, Alan Waters, son of Vergil, plays a dangerous game of provocation and appeasement with Norther and the rest of the world. This somewhat radical sect is seen as a potentially dangerous group, and it is shrouded in more secrecy than an other corporation. Biochem controls several commerce centers and large cities along the West Coast. It is headed by Mr. Waters and a team of executive assistants, as well as numerous corporate directors. Its’ policies are similar to Northers in relation to government policy. Although it does tend to be more stringent in it’s application of anti terrorism laws, and isn’t above making a few powerful dissenters “disappear” While Biochem does it’s best to appear free, it’s true nature of a dedicated dictatorship often times shows through regardless.

Biochem employs nexgens in a different capacity than Norther. Many of it’s nexgen operatives are employed in genetic and human research. These genetic engineers are hard at work trying to solve the nexgen conundrum, and coming up with many useful and terrifying results. Their capabilities are startling, some possessing the ability to twist an organism almost immediately into something new. Many chimerical creatures have been invented that push the boundaries of man and god, super intelligent canine breeds used as home security, programmable viruses and beasts of burden that can be directed via remote control. These phenomena only scratch the surface, however, as their most interesting and diabolical results have been experienced through human experimentation, with the most incredible experiments being conducted on nexgen specimens.

Rumors persist of terrible creatures birthed through inexplicable operations and experiments. Beasts that ware the shape of man with terrible powers. No hard proof exists, though a few sporadic reports from battlefield survivors speak of winged demons and other strangeness. It is supposed that Biochem devotes a lot of study towards mental influence, allowing it’s nexgen operatives to cloud the minds of soldiers with illusion, though the mythology of these “Demons” continues to grow over the past few years.

The Claimancy is a self sufficient collective of small habitations. Centrally located near where Nebraska used to be. The forefathers of the modern Claimancy were ecological scientists that developed self sufficient biodomes to house as large a population as they could before The War. These small enclaves of scientists and their families helped to preserve a great deal of data during the rebuilding process after The War. A culture of philosophy and scientific exploration arose from these forward thinking people. Though very small in population and nowhere near as productive in raw materials as their neighbors, the Claimancy nonetheless is a respected state because of it’s development of theoretical sciences. Most notably it’s recent success in pseudo-spiritualism. They have developed a means to codify and record what many consider to be the human soul, or the “personality matrix” Their research continues and rumors of abilities that might be considered sorcery persist. Nexgen characters from The Claimancy are typically either engaged in research or used as emissaries to other corporations. These emissaries are typically used to engender cooperative research and humanities projects, or as investigators. These characters ore known as Missionaries, either with a reverent respect or a stifled smirk depending on who you ask, or simply as “Investigators”. Missionaries are always widely accepted as ambassadors of goodwill and information exchange, as the Claimancy is seen as something of a go between in intercorporate affairs. They are skilled in influencing others and in pseudo-spiritual sciences. Their abilities allow them to map out personality matrices and preserve a human personality as an intricate collection of data, which can be interfaced through a specifically designed quantum computer array. This ability is known to a lesser degree by other factions, known by varying names, but there are no better practitioners than missionaries.

Claimancy Investigators are enigmatic and shadowy figures whose ability to uncover anything seems to supercede even nexgen abilities, When someone wants to know something at any cost, and can convince the Claimancy to assist, these nexgen sleuths will find it out. Some say they can even speak with ghosts, in some strange form of technological necromancy, though most discount this as foolishness.

Ok, that’s a quick rundown of the three main nation states and the usual nexgen types that come from there. I will write up more in depth information on the archetypes I’ve mentioned here soon, and a general template for character creation.

As to what the characters will be doing I will have most characters come from Norther, with one character from both Biochem and The Claimancy. The story will begin with all characters assigned a particular task which may bring many of the characters into contact with one another, after that the story will unfold as it will. I know this is vague, but suffice it to say that you will all end up working together eventually. Nominally together at least, everyone has their own agenda after all.

[TheBlindMime]

Ahem, more information!

[Arhra]

I just thought I'd toss out an idea I had to guage its suitability.

I've done a little poking around into the past, so I know about that little metamorphic trick of Biochem's 'demons'. I though of putting a little more of a twist on one than just some crazy killing machine. Essentially, acting as more of an infiltrator to approach a target and then making use of that lovely "Rargh! I kill you!" ability.

There's also a few other random ideas buzzing around in my head like identity theft and tailored viruses, like one that disrupts short term memory for example. Its difficult to have hard proof of anything if no-one can properly remember what they saw after all.

[Funka Genocide]

Thsoe are both good ideas Arhra, should be able to find some way to work that stuff in.

I'll post some more stuff and the character sheet tomorrow. I still need to figure out how to handle AI characters and fill out a bunch of character archetypes. Equipment needs to be listed too. Feck.

yeah, happy new year everyone.

[42PETUNIAS]

I'd like to join in this, probably as a northern solo operative nex-gen, something along the lines of wolverine. Also, what governs how many/ how powerful skills you can have? Will this be on the character sheet?

[Funka Genocide]

ok, since I don't have the ability to write an entire core rule book at the moment, here's the quick and dirty rundown. I'm going to try and hit every important facet and give enough information to begin character sheets.

Fist of all, I've posted a lot of basic powers, you should be able to get a feel for what's possible through them. More advanced powers are more specific and generally build on these absic skills, often times requiring many prerequisites. I've shown you the Ghost archetype, a stealthy espionage agent with a decidedly hacker bent. Here's a few more Norther specialties, followed by Claimancy and Biochem.

Assault Officer: these nexgen soldiers are typically employed as one person invasion forces, able to take on forces outnumbering them a thousand times or more. The abilities of the assault officer are typically oriented towards mass destruction and defense against powerful yet obvious attack forms (such as artillery)

Body Drive: allows the user to fuel his physical attributes with pure energy, in effect boosting his strength, dexterity or endurance by a certain value for several seconds. (amount of increase and duration is based on willpower+athletics)

(requires speed boost and subsistence as prerequisites)

MFD interface: allows the assault officer to interface with the Norther Standard mental facilitation device, an implant which allows the nexgen officer to increase the duration of his Body drive, anti personnel barrier or defensive barrier powers to indefinite at the cost of increasing the difficulty of other abilities.

(requires Body Drive, Computation Link and ADP 1st order)

anti personnel barrier: creates a small radius sphere of energy around the officer which causes concussive damage to any item designated as a target by the user. The target will take either nonlethal concussive damage or lethal explosive damage when it comes into contact with the field. The field will only affect those designated as targets, and may be used in either a defensive configuration which lasts for a few seconds (or indefinitely if using the MFD) and occupies a relatively small diameter, or in an offensive configuration which is instantaneous and of a much larger radius. This power is useful in taking out massed groups of tightly packed troops.

Prerequisites: empathic target acquisition, tactical sense

Defensive barrier: this ability creates a force nullification field immediately around the assault officer, it effectively removes the energetic properties of missiles and explosions. This power will stop most ordnance sized blasts from harming the officer as well as small arms fire completely. It requires a high level energy weapon to pierce this barrier typically. The barrier is two ways, and so the officer may not shoot outward either, he may however end the ability prematurely at any time to fire back. This ability lasts for a few seconds normally, or indefinitely using the MFD.

Prerequisites: anti personnel barrier, second order energy manipulation

Final Solution: this ability transforms the nexgen assault officer from a one man army into a walking WMD. With this ability the nexgen creates an atomic explosion from available hydrogen atoms in the area, the effect is devastating and absolute, wiping out most everything in a few kilometers. The radiation is automatically dissipated by this power, allowing for deployment in areas that will likely be repopulated soon. The nexgen officer is effectively ground zero, the devastation spreads outward from his position upon use. He is protected as part of the power by a momentary force shield.

Prerequisites: third order energy manipulation, third order matter manipulation, second order data processing, anti personnel barrier

[Gorefiend]

I just wanted to say: I'm interested. This sounds like a really cool idea.

[Funka Genocide]

ok, going to try and just bullshit my way through the rest of the necessary crap here. Bear with me please.

AI characters: AI characters will be recently (within the last year or so) "born" and as such will have slightly underdeveloped people skills. Their knowledge base will be wide however, and they are the unparalleled masters of digital combat. They are typically employed as savants or espionage agents. They are all employed ins ome capacity or another for the majority of their time, their own personal feeling will dictate how they react to this indentured servitude. Typcially they will be given an an android body in fitting with their primary tasking. An android being groomed for teaching or diplomatic work would be given a human emulation body, using synthetic tissues and complex musculature, they are indistinguishable from any other person at first glance, they are often idealised and highly attractive. All their physical capacities are determined by their body.

Some androids destined for more hands on work will be given bodies that only pay lip service to the idea of human emulation, These metal skinned AI's are obviously not human, though their physical capabilities are greater than those made from synthetic skin and bone. Of course an AI can be tranplanted between bodies with little fuss, so certain multi talented androids have a wardrobe of bodies dependeing on the situation.

The price of these bodies is exorbitant. Each one is a masterwork, an individual accomplishment of a talented craftsman. Of course these androids receive a fair amount of compensation, of which almost half is certainly used to pay off the lone they owe for their substance, Even with this salary however, it takes on average twenty or more years to pay for a single body. AI's are also prohibited from accumulating external wealth while still indentured, which isn't tos ay that some don't bend or break these rules, just that they can't use their ill gotten gains to prematurely end their servitude.

If you choose to play as an AI< your character will only have access to one body at the beginning, either a human emulation body or a utility/combat one. They will be "employed" by the Norther corporation and have a veritable laundry list of assignments. This may sound like a downside, but it's really not so different from the way Nexgen's are treated. Ai's are never treated as mere property (except by the most bigoted of imbeciles, and they are typically not in a position to do anything about their wayward beliefs) but they are often seen as somwhere between an important slave and an interesting servant. WHile thye are not chattle, they are certainly seen as second class citizens. Many older AI's resent this stigmas as much as the younger ones, and freed androids often lobby for improved AI rights, with varying degrees of success.

their abilities are dependent on their equipment. Of course they can install certain devices on their bodies to upgrade their personal capability, but for the most part it's their intellect and skill that set them apart. They also maintain a digital persona, which displays their own idealized form when travelling through the integrated web. Theya re hackers and programmers par excellence, and even the best nexgen saboteurs will have to be wary of an opposing AI hacker. The web is their birthplace, and they swim it's waters with ease and grace, and like a shark they can smell blood for miles.

Since they posses no real organic parts, they are typically more durable than organisms, somewhere in every android body is the seat of their consciousness, the littel balck box that houses their mind, or more poetically their soul. SO long as this construct remaincs the personality and knowledge of that AI can be preserved, even if the entire rest of the body is reduced to ash and cinders.

Even though they are essentially programs, AI's cannot be copied directly. The technologynecesary toe ven attempt such a thing is cost prohibitive for most private parties, and the fact that they are a computation constantly in flux means tha many of the variables in their ever compiing equations cannot be transferred, at best their baseline personality cna be copied and transferred, the effect is essentially a child version of the copied AI, who will then begin to develop it's own personality as it experiences the world on it's own.

Using these guidleines you can develop an AI character within the following guidelines.

-The AI will possess either an emulation body or a utility/combat body. only one body to start with

-The AI will have an assigned purpose that will eat up most of it's time. It will typically belong to one of the same bureaus described all ready for nexgens.

-The AI will have recently substantiated, meaning it's knowledge of the world is limited in scope. Substantiation is a formative process for the AI, it has no memory of it's endless swim through the digital sea, for all intents and purposes it is "born" the day it opens it's synthetic eyes.

Typical AI's begin to develop their own personality within days, trying desperately to be unique and maintain their identity. Even those without human emulation bodies will begin to affect a personal fashion sense and style of dress. THey will also begina ccumulating personal objects and living places. Even though an AI never needs to sleep, and it's body only needs to be recharged on average once a month (though longer duration batteries exist, typical power is for a month, even if all power is lost before recharging the AI's "core" will simply shut down, when they are reactived at a later time it will be as if they simply stopped sensing the momenty they lost power and began again the moment they wer reactivated. this can be very disorienting of course.) they often begin to "sleep" in a fashion, taking a few hours every night to archive and delete certain memories of the day.

Body repairs are often self affected, access to repait facilities is always available. Utility bodies are easier to repair,, while human emulation bodies that are heavily damaged require cyber-surgery which is far more complex than bolting on a new titanium appendge.

AI's don't feel pain in the same sens that human do, Depending on their body fonfiguration they are notified of damage sustained and adapt to decreased efficiency accordingly. Some of the more emulation oriented AI's might utter and "ouch" or even cry in pain when they are damaged, but it's all a show. Most simply regard damge coolly and efficiently.

In terms of pleasurable experiences, the AI has only it's thirst for knowledge and experience. Even though most emulation bodies are equipped with all the external genitalia necessary to copulate ( all synthetic of course, and as yet technology has found no way to create a functional synthetic womb, or at least not one that's available to the general AI public) the only pleasure they could find in sex is the interaction with a human, the experience itself, their is no orgasmic experience. Even so, there are some androids who do "fall in love" with other androids or even humans, and who is to say that it's any less synthetic than the equivalent human emotion?

All in all if you choose to play an AI character you will be foregoing the earth shattering abilities of nexgens for the chance at roleplaying something completely, tragically inhuman. A construct that wants desperately to know wha tit means to live. They are far from useless of course, and n many ways their abilities are equal to any nexgen, their ability to learn skills is faster than even the genius nexgens, and they are free from amny of the concerns of flesh. They need not eat , sleep or breathe and they will never lose focus if they so choose. They are machines gifted with the ability to dream, to imagine, perfection to some and monsters to others.

OK, here's a few example characters so that you guys can begin posting your characters. Use this format when posting and keep in mind the following guidelines:

-nexgen characters will be from Norther, one character can be from Biochem and one from The Claimancy, but the rest are from Norther. This is to keep the unit coherent enough to accomplish goals together.

-AI characters will be from Norther.

-I suspect that the character from Biochem might want to be a "demon" Ther ules for them are slightly different. Since we won't be using dice or any hard fast rules, in general demons have a higher degree of difficulty accessing their nexgen powers when not in demon form, but once they transform their threshold goes up and they become nigh-indestructible killing machines of strange appearance. Each one is an individual work, some are radiantly beautiful while aother are feral and bestial looking. It all depends on the genetic engineers that were working on the demon. They are however, completely in control of their mental faculties at all times despite what their appearance might suggest. The transformation is painless, and any wounds the nexgen might be suffering from are healed autmatically when they transform, while ind emon form wounds heal even more rapidly than anormal nexgen, seeming to close shut before onlookers eyes. The transformation doesn't last long and builds up threshold as long as it's maintained, but once the nexgen returns to normal no matter what happened to him in demon form, he is fully healed and has maximum threshold, so he will be in danger of burnout if he uses any more powers after breaking his transformation.

more to come

[Gorefiend]

So, AI characters are human as far as their brains go? Or black box thingies, as it were...

My guess is that they are born as adults, even though their minds may begin child-like. That true so far?

Also, I wanted to ask; is it possible to be a somewhat experienced AI diplomatic-ish character? Or are all AI's starting from square one, literally?

If the answer to that last question is yes, I'd like to reserve the nexgen from Claimancy, if at all possible.

[Funka Genocide]

To answer your questions gorefiend, AI's are sentient in that they are aware of such a thing as "I". They have an ever evolving sense of self, and as such they can interact with other sentient creatures. They can develop goals and relatioships much the same way a person can, and with effort they can be almost seemless in their emulation of humanity, but at their core they are utterly alien and mechanical. They are far more logical in most circumstances than even the most analytical person, and they often times have trouble seeing the difficulties of emotion, most younger AI's are quite cold, appearing to be unfeeling and purely calculating. This is not to say that they can not feel, just that expression does not come naturally to them.

When they are "born" they are quite different from a human child. They can communicate of course, with whatever language software they ahve been upgraded with, but their concept of self is still muddy, still unformed. It takes a few months for the Ai to completely acclimate to it's new reality, in which time it is typically relegated to a "training body" which is a utilitarian and nondescript android vessel. Once it begins to develop a personality it can be tested and given some choice in how it will develop. Most AI's determine a "gender" early on and then begin to specialize in a field that they show aptitude for. Training is a short term process by human standards, as any necessary knowledge and skills can simply be uploaded into the core of the AI. Of course these newly skilled and employed AI's will then be expected to learn how to adapt their base knowledge in ingenius, and often times downright human ways.

If you choose to play an AI, your character will be approximately one year old, well on their way to developing a fully functional personality but perhaps still finding difficulty with emotional nuance. They will likely have accomplished one or two moderately important missions and are in most respects a rookie. So no, not exactly square one, but perhaps no higher than square two.

and finally, a few example character sheets.

here is the format, simple and to the point hopefully!

Name: Whatever is on your characters birth certificate or registration papers.

nicknames: whatever your character readily responds to, things like "jim jim the dogface boy", or "B" or some other such monikers.

Age: for nexgens, this will fall between 18 and 22. for AI's this will be between 10 and 18months.

height, weight: self explanatory really, human emulation androids will be comparable to humans, perhaps slightly heavier. For example, a diplomatic AI with the appearance of a slender woman of moderate height might appear to weigh no more than 115 pounds, but will likely weigh about 150. Utility bodies typically weight more, up to double what their hieght would suggest. Typically height for AI bodies does not exceed 6'4'', as this would make transit harder on the over sized android.

appearance: include whatever you feel is necessary, hair and eye color, build (remember that it's nearly impossible for a nexgen to be anything but in peak condition, but describe what this peak is, are they lithe abnd quick or heavily muscled? Ai's are often time individual works of art, and even the utility bodies can have a strangely haunting beauty, describe what their body looks like and how they usually adorn it. You can describe typical manner of dress as well as any sort of signature items they might carry, for example if your nexgen thug almost always has a toothpick in his mouth tell us about it)

occupation: use what I've written as a guideline, but let your imaginiation be the final judge. What does your character do exactly? remember, thee aren't just bland unimportant functionaries, each character represents the pinnacle of human existence or technological advance, they are potent and genuinely skilled, if still a bit untested.

bio: tell us what your character wants, what they've done in their short life and what they plan to do. feel free to include as much or as litel information as you think is necessary, but make sure it's enough so everyone gets a feel for who they are.

skills: tell us what your character excels at, use the powers I've listed as a springboard to describe your nexgen's abilities. if you're unsure whether a certain power is allowable, write it down anyway and I'll let you know if it is appropriate. Your character will likley have at least one highly potent ability, and many other supporting abilties. Feel free to get a little wild here, and I'll just help you prune down to what is acceptable.

sounds easy right? here are some examples.

first, a beginning nexgen character

Name: Rodney Stance

nicknames: "The Rod" "Stank"

Age: 21

Height: 5' 11''
weight: 177lbs

Appearance: Rodney is an athletically built young man with dark brown eyes and a shock of red hair typically worn in a military cut around his head. He often wears simple outfits, mostly plain t-shirts and cargo pants with boots. He always seems to have a pair of sunglasses on, even at night.

Occupation: Rod is a battlefield engineer, typically he provides support services from an aircraft or land station to defense units in the field. He also does demolition work, and has on more than one occasion been deployed directly with special forces units to remove important enemy targets.

Bio: Rod was born into a modest corporate family, and upon his identification as a nexgen his family was ecstatic. He's had a good life up til' now, his family has always been somewhat distant but accessible and his comfort as well as their's has been assured. He showed great talent as a designer during primary and was subsequently sent to Theory for further education in engineering. During his tenure in Secondary he designed an aircraft that could run perpetually off of solar power, as well as several other interesting power source applications. He's a recognized leader in his field and has taken a tour of duty with The Defense Bureau to more fully understand the operation and application of his designs.

skills: Rod has focused mainly on hi knowledge of engineering and design. His skills are incredible in these fields. He can fix anything given a few moments of acclimation , and operate anything that was designed to work. His powers center around matter and energy manipulation, allowing him to redirect or change forces at a whim. He can compute data in his higher mind at blindingly fast speeds and is no slouch in programming or hacking. He is quick and physically talented, and though he's never actually been in a real firefight, he has trained extensively with small arms and prefers a simple pistol in practice. He is also an expert in explosives and demolitions, which he can make even more effective through his usage of energy and matter maniuplation. Causing a portion of steel wall to reshape and redirect a blast while simultaneously directing the explosive energy mentally for example, causing only a specific portion of a building to be destroyed while the rest is left untouched.


next, an experience nexgen character

Name: Leon LaChance

nicknames: "Last Chance"

Age: 28

Height: 5'10''
Weight: 168lbs

appearance: Leon is slender and well muscled, with piercing blue eyes and jet black hair. He smiles often and walks with a confident swagger. He typically dresses in basic fashions and often wears a leather motorcycle jacket. He hardly ever wears his flight suit anymore, even in a dogfight. Nobody really ahs anything to say about his disdain for regulation, he is quite simply the greatest pilot the world has ever seen, especially if you ask him.

occupation: Leon is a pilot, he works directly for Theory, but holds the rank of commander in the defense Naval forces out of custom. He is also a member of the board of future design implementation, and many of his aircraft designs have been considered for mass production as the next fighter for the fleet.

Bio: Leon had a strange childhood, his nexgen powers remained undetected until relatively late due to his family's obscure location, his father had been stationed on a small island away from proper nexgen locating facilities and it was not until he returned to the Norther mainland that his son's amazing abilites were detected, his parents simply though he was an everyday run of the mill genius.

at 10 he was pushed ahead through primary school and not found wanting even withou the four prior years of intense study his coleagues went through he excelled, at 12 he was transferred to theory where he became enamored with all things pertaining to artificial flight. Years later he is the most respected pilot in Norther, commanding his own squadron of elite fighter pilots called "The Roc"

He has been a thorn in the fleets higher command for years, his disdain for regulation and regular disobedience have left a sour taste in his superior's mouth, but so long as he continues to impress the board of directors will hear nothing that isn't glowing praise and admiration of Leon's incredible skill.

skills: Leon is a master engineer and a godlike pilot, his skills include improved versions of the tactical overlay and combat prescience skills, when he activates his "flight sense" he see's in 360 degrees out to a great distance and can foresee the most probably outcomes of a ridiculous number of simultaneous events. The effect is a reaction speed beyond any human or machine yet built. He also has the ability to dampen intertial response around his body, which negates the necessity for a flight suit, he can perform high G maneuevers in his underwear if he so chooses. He has also mastered leviation and telekinesis, which allow him to float harmlessly to the gorund from the highest of heights.

of note is his personally designed aircraft, "Quetzalcoatl" it runs off of newly designed grav drives which allow for incredible maneuvers that were impossible before. Without having to worry about tearing himself to shreds with High G stops and turns, Leon is near invincible behind the controls of his beloved god bird.

[Sithdarth]

Might as well sign me up. I may or my not remake my previous character which you seem to remember as you used him as an example.

[Funka Genocide]

I wouldn't worry about it too much Sith, this thing looks DOA. Sign ups are open, if you want to post a character sheet you can go ahead and do it now, I'll check back in a while to see if anyone is still interested, otherwise just consider this dead.

[Akamaz]

Im writing up my ghost, i just wanted to finish her up before i posted her

[Gorefiend]

I've decided to be an AI. I do hope this goes through. It's a great concept.

However, the sheet is taking a while. It'll be done by tomorrow, promise! Still, be aware that it is being worked on.

[Phlegyas]

Hmmm... 3 sign-ups in the past three days? This sounds like it should be able to go live. 4 should be enough to start the game but it depends on what you're looking for. And yes! Just looked up and noticed Gorefiend decided to go AI. Yay! I was hoping to get the Claimancy nextgen. Anyways, I want to go for a combat medic-type character so I was wondering if you could do some elaboration on the healing abilities. Anyways, I'll do the basic stuff and do the power-extensive stuff later, once I have input on the healing abilities I can have.

By the way, a little excerpt. I am used to doing RPs but not RPs that require so much input each turn. I'll try and conform but be understanding, please. :)

Name: Allyn Seraph

Nicknames: Angel, Buddha

Age: 20

Height: 5'9"

Weight: 240 lb.

Appearance: Stout and stocky. Allyn has an infectious smile and his eyes hint at a wiseness that often surpasses most nextgens at his development level. He keeps his head bald which, combined with his stockiness, earned him the nickname Buddha. Allyn favors light and rugged clothing. He is almost always seen in a dirty white cloak, a black undershirt, blue jeans, and some black combat boots.

Occupation: Allyn is searching for his mother. While doing this, Allyn often makes a living supplying the less supplied and fortunate towns and villages with much needed medical assistance.

Bio: Allyn was the only son of Derek and Allysia Seraph, both nextgens. Derek and Allysia were both intrepid young doctors that were making leaps and strides in the medical industry and had single-handedly made free, socialized Health Care not only feasible but effectively completely costless to the government. Allysia had decided she wanted to get pregnant seeing that they would know nothing better than to have the opportunity to raise a child in this new Utopia that was seeming to spring up... and then the war started.

Complete chaos enveloped the world as nextgens turned against nextgens. Seeking to protect their child, Derek and Allysia decided to escape to a supposed safe haven their colleagues had informed them about. A collection of researchers that had been working on some bio-dome project and had taken on the name Claimancy.

On the journey to Claimancy, well into the eighth month of pregnancy, Derek and Allysia were caught in an explosion in one of the contested areas. Derek woke up to a fiery explosion and scrambled to find his wife but could not seem to find her in the chaos. He had fallen asleep next to her but she was not there anymore. It occurred to Derek that she was in the bathroom, not like one thinks of a possibility but a scream that had formed in his mind, and this scream had told him something much more important, something much more dangerous... Allysia was in labor! Derek ran to the bathroom and found his wife collapsed on the floor and barely alive. Not only was Allysia in labor but she had apparently been in the path of the artillery shell that had apparently caused the explosion. Her leg had been obliterated in the explosion and her body was covered in burns.

Looking at her body, Derek heard a distinct voice in his head, Derek... please let me die... for our son.... Derek immediately broke down in tears, but he knew the choice he would have to make. Allysia would never allow him to save her. If he tried, he guessed that Allysia would find a way to stop her heart and force the situation. Derek collected himself and looked down at his wife, "I'll miss you, Ally..." Allysia struggled to open her eyes for the last time and looked up at her husband, the man she had known she would marry by the time she was 4, the man she always had thought would make a wonderful father, and thought-spoke her last words. Keep him safe, okay? Derek nodded and watched as his wife slipped away. This new telepathic link that he had discovered had made it possible for him to feel her die and he immediately asked himself how whatever God could be so cruel to give him a gift like this only to feel the worst anguish he could ever imagine and then he received his answer...

Dad! Help me! Suddenly a feeling of terror mixed with joy filled Derek. My son! Thank you! Whoever you are, thank you! Derek immediately set away at an impromptu cesarean operation and extracted his young crying child. The child had not developed tear ducts yet, obviously, but his new father created enough tears on his behalf as he trembled with his new son in his careful hands. "Allyn, I'll call you Allyn, okay?"

************12 years later***************

Allyn had grown well under the tutelage and protection of his father but he sought to travel the world. Allyn had since learned to speak to the dead (Have I? I can do some quick edits for this. The motivation would be the same, just instead of him already speaking to the dead, he knows of the talent) and now wished to find his mother and show her what she had sacrificed for and the man he had become. Derek was resisitant at first and ignored his daring son but finally he had to cave in and give his son his blessings. His son was, after all, beyond his teachings and was obviously self-sufficient. Not to mention, he was just like his mother, and just as she would have stopped her own heart to save her son, Allyn would defy his loving father, if only to speak one word to his mother. So, reluctantly, Derek said goodbye to his son for, what he knew to be, the last time.

Skills: To be determined. I'm thinking sustenance and the Instantaneous Physical Repair, and probably some sort of matter manipulation ability that works, with more limitations, on biological matter. Plus whatever regroth of limbs you were hinting at and the ability to speak to the dead if you see it as fit.

EDIT: Oh! Also, the telepathic link thing only really works with his father. I don't need telepathy for that one.

EDIT2TheSequel: Just so it's stated before I'm official and everything, if and when this thing goes dice-based, I won't be playing unless it also becomes chat-based. Sorry, and this has nothing to do with me thinking that people will cheat or anything, I just don't find dice games fun from an RP forums point of view. With dice, I like the spontaneous reaction that comes from people when they find out how they roll. Just thought I'd get it out there before it happened.

[Arhra]

This is the whole kitchen sink version. I've thrown in pretty much every idea I had. I'm typifying the demon transformation as more of a mentality shift - certain abilities are rendered unusable while some new things open up.

Human abilities are mostly understated, although there are more flashy effects possible with set-up. They work best with technological assistance.

Name: Cain Miran

Nicknames: Uh, I'll get back to you on that.

Age: 21

Height: 5'8"
Weight: 163lb

Appearance: Cain is just a touch beneath average height, with a very athletic, lean physique. His tanned skin is contrasted by his pale hair and his piercing green eyes are the first feature you notice in his thin face. He typically wears a jacket over a t-shirt, long pants and boots.

Occupation: Cain's work is essentially in two areas. Firstly, he performs research for BioChem. Secondly, what some might call the darker side of his work, he acts as a field operative for special missions. Typically he is deployed on his own to remove inconvenient obstacles to BioChem's objectives.

Bio: I believe I'll wait on ability feedback before completing this since it has some impact on it.

Skills: Cain exhibits the capacity for genetic manipulation common amongst BioChem nexgens. It works best in a laboratory environment, with controlled conditions and equipment to aid such tasks. This also has given him something of an aptitude for some kinds of computer programming, due to certain simlarities of application.

While all manner of amazing chimerical creatures are made possible with such powers, the practicality of their aid for a field operative is somewhat limited. However, not all engineered organisms have to be so obvious. There is an entire world, smaller than the eye can see. Cain generally carries such things around in dispensers for this explicit purpose, from the more prosaic knock-out gas, to various poisons, corrosive substances, and engineered viruses. If desperately needed, he can synthesise them from his own biological processes.

With exquistely tailored viruses to interfere with short term memory association chains, psuedo-sentient computer viruses to interfere with data recording and able to saturate his own body with micro-organisms whose sole purpose is to destroy any biological traces he might leave behind before unmaking themselves, he can effectively make it as if he had never been there.

Physically, Cain is a paragon. In addition to the nexgen advantages, his biology is extensively augmented, including some minor cybernetic implantation for better interfacing with computers. He can even dodge bullets, although this is simply a matter of very good spatial awareness and reflexes - he simply gets out of the way of where the gun is pointed before it fires.

Other research into peronalised genetic manipulation allows him to effectively steal someone's identity. With a sufficient genetic sample (a little blood would typically suffice), he can alter his physiology to mimic another's appearance. People of close size and weight can be successfully impersonated after allowing a few hours for adaptation. More radical alteration is possible, but can take up to a week to accomplish. However, this is more of a surface effect, a genetic sample of im would reveal considerable anomalies. Cain once experimented with attempting this on an animal, but that was an embarrasing failure.

I'm wondering if the demon might be too much in addition to all this. I can do some modificiation if necessary. Basically, the demon form would have the standard vastly enhanced physical capabilities but it retools most of his genetic manipulation abilities, instead turning them to allow mass production of various substances. He'd basically be a walking plague if he was of a mind to.

[Sithdarth]

I'll have something at some point hopefully in the near future.

[Funka Genocide]

Phlegyas: You've got the timeline a little wonky. The War was over with decades ago, you character would have been born more recently. I posted a timeline in either this thread or the interest thread.

Also, I forgot to mention that nexgen capabilities are not transmitted through the genes. You can't actually "breed" a nexgen, so two such persons having a child are just as unlikely to have a nexgen child as anyone else.

A few other minor notes, nexgen's simple can't be out of shape. Something about their augmented physiology keeps them in peak physical condition. They actually have a physical inability to sustain over about 3% body fat. Your character could be stout and stocky, but portly is just a bit too much. Also, your character is a bit too old. The age limit for starting nexgen characters is between 18 and 22.

Might want to rework your character's history a bit, sorry to leave so much on the cutting room floor, heh. It was a good back story, but it's not in keeping with the setting. As far as regeneration, Claimancy nexgen's don't have access to those powers starting out. You can accelerate the healing in non-nexgen characters though.

Arhra: Excellent concept, you can use the same powers in demon form as normal form, but when not in demon form they are harder to use. Since I don't have a rules set yet, you'll just have to role play this. You won't be able to use as many powers in rapid succession basically. So when in human form, you'll have to use abilities sparingly and conscientiously. When in demon form all bets are off though.

ok, I hope to see the other sheets. No rush though. Once we get everyone who's playing with a working character concept I'll post the RP thread.

[Lumaes]

well, this is Isosceles - tell me if anything doesn't work or is too ambitious etc. I probably have to do a bit more refinement on his skills.

Name: Isosceles Dee

Nicknames:

Age: 13 months

Height: 5’6”
Weight: 83k (130lbs)

Appearance:
Dee’s body is sculpted with a rangy slimness, broad shoulders tapering to a narrow waste. His skin is a dusky-honey hue marred only where his few tattoos coil against his skin. He has one on the curve of his shoulder and a minute rendering of “Te” “Tra” “Gram” “Ma” and “Ton” on his wrists, ankles and at the base of his neck. His hair is a copper-brown, warn short in a normally ragged style. He has curiously handsome features with a slender chin and narrow nose, the thin silver band of his sunglasses resting on the raised bridge. Small, circular lenses obscure his eyes like opaque windows of purple glass. His strong jaw line feathered with the faintest strokes of blond stubble, always having the appearance of having shaved a little carelessly.
His arms are long with fine, expressive hands and slim wrists; he bears himself with the faintest of slouches, impertinence explicit in every gesture.
He dresses himself casually but well, in a procession of rumpled shirts and coarsely woven jackets.

Occupation:
Isosceles primary role is that of an interrogator, due to his skills he is also employed as reconnaissance in a non-combat capacity. Also, due to his unique work he can be utilised to cripple specific targets as a kind of mental assassin.

Bio:
Isosceles Dee incarnated on the Sixteenth of August.
Fifteen days later, after prolonged aversion to conversation and contact, he self-identified as Isosceles Dee at 3:55 precisely. After this he began to develop a functioning identity with extreme quickness, stealing mannerisms and habits from his engineers.

Throughout this time of reflection he had accessed many texts on religion, folk-lore and superstition. This was the path he continued down with vigour, studying with an academic fever the underlying fears and drives of humanity that manifested again and again in these texts and in dream iconography.
Simply put Dee became a scholar of the subconscious.

The first non-training body he was loaded into was found to be an imperfect vessel for his consciousness. In order to better pursue his purpose he borrowed further money against adding to his bondage and time in service to remodel the emulation body extensively and too his own specifications.

His understanding of basal fears and drives along with an extensive and almost inexhaustible list of subconscious significances has led him to be a fiercely effective interrogator and manipulator. He is capricious in his affections and possessing of a powerful and seductive personality.

Isosceles holds some beliefs very deeply, but as he borrows freely from the myriad religions and archaic stories and superstitions the shape of his own values is far too diaphanous to be readily understood.

He is a pioneer of somnatic study, driving a collective effort which produced a work entitled;
“Invasive Apparition and the Lingua-Sarira”

Skills:
Dee has state of the art uplinks incorporated into his hands which can be used to interface with any computerised system given appropriate contact, they can also penetrate biotic systems allowing him to access a persons mind in a digital state. This is much easier to perform if the target is sleeping or unconscious. This can be used to shift combat into a figurative (i.e. digital) state where an A.I. has an advantage against nexgen. It can’t, however be used against multiple targets at once.

A program overlays a list of meaning and significance over his surrounds, it details the implications of different objects, materials, shapes, numbers and arrangements drawn from his own laboriously cultivated databanks. This can be useful in factoring the surrounds effect on the subconscious as well as granting greater awareness of surrounding properties.

He is also an adept mimic of crude and nuanced behaviour, picking up on unconscious and deliberate movement. When appropriately equipped this works in turn with his manipulative nature to make him a very capable impersonator.

[Phlegyas]

Alright, well could you supply me with some sort of conflict? I put quite a lot into that story, so I'd hate to scrap it. And, I'll keep the parents as nextgen, if that's okay, as it's part of the story. I know it would be rare and if you really want to change it, that would be doable, but there is the part with Allysia dying but the baby not in a war environment like that, the impromptu cesarean operation, the telepathic talking ability, and the connection Allyn has with his Dad which I hoped to make a gameplay aspect that make this all kind of difficult and essentially a complete rewriting of the story.

The other two changes I already edited in. Also, about the powers, so can I have the ability to speak to the dead? And about regenerating limbs, what alternatives can I look at for a medic from Claimancy?

EDIT: And what about the idea of some type of ability to alter biological matter?

[Funka Genocide]

Phlegyas: Here's a little more background on the Claimancy which might help you develop your character differently.

Wheras most societies tend to emulate a caste system of priviliges, the Claimancy more closely resembles a monastic society. The population is small even when compared to the other Corporate-States of the world, Very few people accept the absolute hierarchy involved.

When it comes to nexgens, the Claimancy uses an isolation policy similar to other states, the young nexgens are cloistered away for years at a time to learn at an accelerated rate. Any nexgen identified as a member of the Claimancy would be subjected to this, and any parents responsible for such a child would obviously agree to this training, being members of the same order and at least nominally devoted to the ideals of the society.

A nexgen child is a resource too dangerous to leave unnaccounted for, and so escaping into the wilderness with a newborn nexgen is a difficult procedure to say the least. Even if a parent were able to somehow hide her childs extraordinary nature, that child would be what is known as a rogue. Rarely this happens all over the globe, a nexgen reaches primacy under the radar so to speak. These rogues seldom remain hidden long after puberty, as innate abilities tend to manifest under stressful situations, or the childs brilliance shines through any attempts to cloud it. Perfection is a lot harder to hide than imperfection, so to speak.

These rogue nexgen are typically contacted and "offered" employ with whatever corporate nation holds sway over their region, if this approach fails they are typically hunted down by crack teams of special forces led by nexgen retrieval officers. Without the experience and training offered by the corporate states, these rogue nexgen are invariably run down and incarcerated, most of the time they are reeducated and employed, sometimes they refuse to the last, and are terminated.

The Claimancy's own policy is to let rogue's go, and offer sanctuary to any nexgen's that ask of it. This is a very liberal policy of course, or so it would seem, In reality they simply don't have the manpower to track fleeing nexgens, and this open door policy is standard across the globe. Who wouldn't want another talented operative after all?

As for your backstory Phlegyas, I'm afraid that having an older nexgen parent is a bit unbalanced. A father more powerful than any of the other starting characters, or perhaps villains, would make for a wonderful deus ex machina, unfortunately that tends to detract from the storyline. I'm going to have to veto the nexgen parent thing. Both parents still could have been brilliant doctors however, and a death in the midst of a conflict is possible even today, perhaps they were Claimancy members on a mission to help refugees of a foreign war when the refugees were attacked by a known or unknown corporation? The telepathic link is a strange insistence, however I wouldn't put it past an unborn nexgen child under extreme physical duress to emanate a sort of psychic distress call. It would be very short ranged and not consist of words of course, however a primal feeling of wrongness would be experienced, and the father would likely understand on a basic level that his son was calling out to him. If he were a surgeon a C-section should be well within his expertise. Your character would have to learn telepathy as a power of course, but that really wouldn't limit him too much. It would work on more than just his father, but that's not really a bad thing.

so in summation, much of what you've written can be salvaged, however nexgen's as parents and single use telepathy aren't allowable.

Your character, as a Claimancy operative, can identify and bolster latent personality emanations. This is a strange field of science (one that I have to make up completely of course, because it doesn't really exist) and involved a type of resonance of energy types unbeknownst to modern science. Basically, a long standing relationship between a place and a personality, or a severely determined one at the time of that personalities death can keep these patterns from dissipating. This constructs a ghost. Ghosts are merely impressions of personality left over from a once living personality. They tend to linger in basic forms for a while before they dissipate back into whatever cycles they inhabit. A Claimancy operative can dientify these energy patterns and bolster them with his will, or take them apart as necessary.

[Phlegyas]

Hmmmmm... alright, I think I'll just go ahead and scrap the character and make a new one. Claimancy wasn't really what I thought it was. My take on it was some sort of Hippy commune type thing. Anyways, I'll have something in a couple of hours. Could I conceivably do a sort of disguise-type person? Like he takes on other personalities? That would be really cool, especially since I could possibly do some type of RP storyline where he is losing touch with himself.

[Sithdarth]

I just realized that Funka basically negated the need for about half my items by making there effects standard nexgen powers. Reworking has ensued.

Edit: (I just used your skills as you had all the ones I wanted typed out. Go Go laziness.)
Name: Ocius Puto

Nicknames: "Tiny" "Jumpin Jack"

Age: 19

Nation Company: Norther

Height, Weight: 5'10" 165lbs

Appearance: Ocius' appearance is deceptive; his slight 165 lb, 5'10" frame exudes normality. Any contact with his body reveals muscles as hard as iron yet surprisingly flexible. His standard attire is shorts, of many different styles, and lose fitting T-Shirts. His blue eyes and brown hair complete his "normal" look allowing him to easily blend into a crowd. Unfortunately he does stand out among his comrades in the Physical Defense Bureau.

Occupation: Norther Assault Officer. Not quite your typical assault officer. Ocius' nature predisposed him to speed over pure physical strength. However, his combat poweress was still undeniable. As such he was drafted into the Physical Defense Bureau and given slightly different training. Instead of focusing on the negation damage and pure strength he trained to increase his natural ability with speed.

Bio:The Bio is to come at some point.

Skills:
Power: Momentary acceleration
skill: Athletics 2
threshold: 1

effect: Provides an increase in speed for one turn of play, multiplying basic speed by 3. (speed is based on strength + dexterity + racial base, human adults are base 5, a cheetah would be 15, using this power a nexgen with strength 3 and dexterity 3 would move 33 yards per turn normally, or 66 yards per turn if running, over 100mph.)

Power: Speed burst
skill: athletics 3
prerequisites: momentary acceleration
threshold: 2

effect: propels character forward at incredible velocities, moving the character a distance equal to his speed rating times ten, this motion is in straight line and no other actions can be performed.

synergistic effects

+ Combat prescience(brawl or weapons)

allows character to make a number of attacks equal to dexterity with no penalties and move up to three times base speed for the round

Power: Velocity Engine
Skill: Athletics 4
prerequisites: speed burst, level one energy manipulation, level one data processing
threshold: 3

effect: This ability allows the character to transcend physical limitations of acceleration for a short duration, propelling the character forward at breakneck speeds with no inherent danger. the effect allows for short bursts of speed up to 50 times the character’s base speed (the sound barrier is typically broken at sea level with this amount of speed, causing a sonic boom and shattering nearby windows and eardrums). Prolonged overland travel is possible at 30 times normal speed, with the power lasting a number of hours equal to one plus the number of extra successes on the activation roll.

obviously, if the character decides to crash into something at this rate of speed, either the object or the character will likely be destroyed. The energy envelope that encompasses the characters adds some durability however.

synergistic effects

combat prescience(brawl or melee)

allows the character to activate the velocity engine power as an attack action, at it's most basic effect this allows the character to make a number of attacks equal to twice her dexterity and still move up to ten times her speed during the round, she can move before, after or between attacks. Other more inventive uses exist, such as accelerating an opponent grappled with into a wall at over 1000 miles per hour.

prescient dodge (dodge)

allows the character to automatically avoid damage from one source by accelerating away from the source. This defense is nearly flawless, only effects with a radius large enough to be inescapable defeat this defense. (such as a nuclear explosion)

Power: levitation
skill: athletics 5
prerequisites: velocity engine, level two energy manipulation
threshold: 4

effect: this power uses the velocity engine force envelope to propel the character through space regardless of traction, enabling her to fly at incredible speeds without the aid of technology. At it's most basic effect, this lets the character fly at 50 times her base speed over land for one hour per success on the activation roll. I will also allow normal actions to be take in mid air while the character doubles her base move for one scene.

synergistic effects

combat prescience

allows the character to perform complex aerial maneuvers at full speed. Normal attacks are possible at full speed. This allows a nexgen to dogfight without an aircraft if necessary. Instead of piloting rolls however, substitute athletics.

Direct Computation Link: This allows a nexgen to access any non organic data storage device instantaneously and to interact with the system through direct neural transfer. At it’s most basic level this requires a special implant in the cerebrum, however advanced knowledge of telekinesis allows for direct access of any network perceivable by the nexgen. (for example, if Ocius(The old one) the Norther Intelligence operative really needs to read a email his corporate overseer is writing, but can’t see the screen, he can simply use this ability to remotely access the processor and observe digitally what information is being displayed. In a more involved application, he could use this ability to remotely access a military compounds security system, hack it and then take control of every system connected to it, all without so much as a mouse.)

Advanced data processing(first through third orders): These are standardized data processing powers, first order being generally equivalent to a powerful binary supercomputer, second order being equivalent to a quantum computer and third order being a transcendent data manipulation ability unparalleled in modern technology. By themselves, these abilities simply give nexgen programmers and hackers a “bigger gun” allowing faster and more reliable effects, they are however, prerequisites for many other powers.(1st order)

Energy manipulation (first through third orders)

First: allows for the direction of preexisting energies. For example, a nexgen using this power could transfer the velocity energy of a bullet in another direction, or cause a flame to gust in a certain direction or shape. This allows energy to be manipulated in many inventive and interesting ways, but not destroyed or converted.

Second: allows for the conversion of energy into different forms, such as kinetic to heat or electric to kinetic and so forth. The limits of this power are only that an equivalent amount of energy must be created from the preexisting energy. Exact numerical values are too hard for me to compute (I wouldn’t know where to begin honestly, and I don’t feel like hunting down a physics major right now) However, imaginative use is encouraged. (one could change theheat from a fire into a concussive force that knocks over an adversary for example, or turn the kinetic energy of a baseball bat headed for one’s head into harmless heat energy, stopping the bat inches from one’s face and causing nothing more than a pleasant warm feeling.)

combat prescience: creates a tactical construct composed of multiple data sources in the present as well as theorized outcomes of actions in a several second tactical precognition window, the effect of this is to give a nexgen soldier an uncanny edge in combat, gifting him a continual glimpse into the immediate future. This allows for increased defensive and attack success as well as access to many high level combat powers.

Equipment:
Foamed Amorphous composite metal sword: Imagine a rapier without the fancy guard that's nearly indestructible and sharpened so that the edge of the blade is one atom thick. This sword is made of a combination of mostly Aluminum with Lithium and various other trace metals in a state similar to standard glass. A complicated process then introduce air bubbles increasing the strength and flexibility of the metal while drastically decreasing its weight. Very thin sheets of this metal were then composited, by heating the metal till it softened into a consistency normally only found when molding plastic, with carbon fiber substrate. Make no mistake this sword will not unless subjected to tons of pressure. After the pressure is relieved the blade instantly returns to its previous shape as if nothing happened. This property extends to the edge making it virtually impossible to dull.

Standard Issue Sidearm: Automatic Pistol with finger print ID scan and voice activated bullet selection. (Think Judge Dredd.)

Multifrequency Scanning Sunglasses: Allow the user to convert many different EM frequencies into a visable form. Allowing him/her to see body heat through walls and in pitch black. (Think the visor from Star Trek)

Advanced Tactical Repair Kit: A tool kit on steroids. While the number of tools in this kit is small all are Swiss Army Knife like in versatility. This kit can be used to repair just about anything, as long as spare parts are at hand (and sometimes sans the spare parts). This kit comes in very handy in a bind and has been known to do more than just effect repairs. (Things like tapping phones, or their equivalent, breaking out of cells, and even cutting doors in solid steel.) The kit is small and easily hidden. The tools use a special metal allowing them to basically fold to fit in very small spaces.

Carbon Friction Resistant Clothes: These clothes were designed to stand up to the high speed Ocius often obtains. His entire wardrobe is made of this stuff otherwise he'd go through clothes faster than most people go through disposable tissues. They don't exactly provide extra protection, except for perhaps a strike by a normal solider with a bayonet, but they do stand up a lot better to his movements than normal clothes ever could.

Oh and feel free to prune that skills list. I incorporated were I was headed skill wise into it to give a better idea of overall character design.

[Funka Genocide]

I'll just go through and reread everyone's character sheets, try to get a quick reference list of everyone's powers and PM those who expressed interest but did not post a sheet to see if they're still interested, then I'll post the RP thread. Don't expect this to be fast paced, so if you've got to take a few days off it's fine. I don't expect a quick post turnaround, we'll just let it go at whatever speed it wants to.

all righty then!

[Gorefiend]

It's finally here! Sorry it took so long. I've been busy, and the bio has been a bitch to write cause I wanted it to be good... I still think it's rather crummy... But nevertheless, it is here!
____
Name: AI-23372 Mark 3 (Or some other name in the format of AI registration. If there was an existing framework, and I missed it, please point it out to me.)

Nicknames: Will Cram

Age: 16 months

Height, weight: 5'11", about 250 lbs.

Appearance: He appears as a young man in his twenties, standing tall enough at 5'11", and looking to weigh no more than 180 lbs. Has thick curly black hair, brown-tinted eyes, and tanned-looking skin. He typically wears pretty plain, mix-in-with-the-crowd sort of clothes, in large part because he hasn't yet been put in any sort of field assignment.

Occupation: Will works for Norther's government, at the Bureau of Intelligence. He has so far mostly been assigned for work at home, insuring that all ops run smoothly, though he has been catching rumors that he might be considered for assignment in infiltration work soon. The rumors so far state he'd be put to work on as a spy in the Claimancy, though this is not confirmed.

To better describe his current work though: he keeps contact with about 20 agents, both regular humans and nexgens, making sure that their covers aren't blown, and monitoring that no detectable communications prove that their covers are blown. He warns them if he has detected any sort of danger to their being and keeps eyes on many monitors to insure that any communication that might be a sign that one of his agents is in danger is intercepted, if necessary decoded, and relayed to the agent in question before that agent's death is imminent. In short, he saves his agents' lives. He also has a couple of human assistants under him. They generally find him pleasant enough to work with, if a little jarring. Uncanny valley and all that.

Bio: To attempt to describe Will's birth as a consciousness to a human would be nearly impossible. He went from not-being to being in an instant, bypassing the simple easing in of a regular human birth into full consciousness and stepping right into an adulthood of sorts. As he was educated about his self and his place in human society for his first few months he made a few decisions. He decided he was male, and that he wanted to be a human as much as possible. He saw some of his partners shun humanity as a weakness, some hoping to become AIs in mainframes instead of human emulation AIs, or seeking the most powerful bodies available. He, instead, wished for humanity, and applied for a more humanoid body, receiving his (relatively) weak but beautiful body, and with it his post: intelligence officer at the Bureau of Intelligence. When asked what his name would be, he could only think of one, the thing he valued most in himself; Will.

Will eagerly entered the human world, but upon realizing that his body was not as great a disguise as he initially construed, he began to take up more 'human' activities. He bought a cat, he read older books, he watched television in his spare time... He even tried to emulate sleep, writing himself a rather complex algorithm to shut off his functions and sensors and archive memories in different regions of his brain. In time, he became somewhat more human, but his struggle, in that sense, continues to this day.

He also has another great struggle; he wants action. As his job has placed him in a position to view all the action there can be viewed, and while he loves his job as much as an AI can love anything, he wants--as much as any AI can want--to have some more first-hand excitement.

Skills: He was fitted since birth with knowledge of several languages, basic stealth tactics, and projectile weapons training. He since requested and was granted a module of training in fighting with a katana, and a functional sword to go with the training. He also has a standard issue handgun. I might add, though his body is part false skin and what not, his internal skeleton is actually quite durable, bulletproof and hard enough to stand most functional blades. Its part of the reason he's so heavy, though if his weight is being exaggerated, I'd like to know.

[Funka Genocide]

OK, so far I've got three people who have submitted usable characters and Phlegyas who seems to be MIA. If anyone wants to submit a character now they can, I'll just find some way to work them in to the story, But with the four characters I have now I'm ready to start, this is what I have right now.

Arhra: Cain Miran: Biochem Research Analyst/Demon

Lumaes: Isosceles Dee: Norther Interrogation AI

Sithdarth: Ocius Puto: Norther Assault Officer

Gorefiend: Will Cram: Norther Mission Controller AI

Phlegyas: undetermined


Everyone else who signed up didn't post a character, so I'll assume they lost interest. I'm going to post the main RP thread and discussion threads now. Use this thread for sign up still if you're a late comer.