Magical Teacher Professor Landry! - Sign-Ups

[Teal Mage]

Well, after a long time spent in selection and preparation, the game is almost ready to begin! All that's left to survive is seven pages of information, and design a character in a (moderately) complicated system!

Scared yet? You probably should be. So, without further adieu~!


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Welcome to Magical Teacher Professor Landry! In this game, players will be students attending the prestigious Amaranth Institute for the Gifted. Assigned to the loving care of Professor Rebecca Landry, players will quickly find that any stories about the woman are far from exaggerations; crazy things really do follow the mysterious auburn haired Professor of Love and Fightiology.

You might even be one of them.

But we'll get back to you in a bit. Firstly, we let's look at some setting information.

Setting, In a nutshell, Magical Teacher Professor Landry takes place on Earth, with magic. The earth is mainly populated by humans, but other races – basically anything that has ever existed in myth – is probably real. However, most creatures of myth prefer keep a low profile in an effort to blend into human society, or take an isolationist approach and remove themselves entirely. Consequently, the average human would scoff at the idea that vampires or werewolves exist; which serves the vampires just fine. This ignorance isn't limited to humans either, just because you might be a werewolf doesn't mean you believe in ninja and fairies. Some things really are just stories.

Otherwise, the world's pretty much the same as the one you live in now.

Ansidor, located ambiguously in North America, Ansidor is a bustling city that's best known for its beautiful scenery, mild weather, and the prestigious Amaranth Institute for the Gifted, or Amaranth High. Built in a hilly area not far from the ocean and within walking distance of a variety of old-growth forests, the city is a common tourist destination, even if it does rain a lot. Players might be residents of the city itself, or students from abroad staying in one of the academy's dorms.

It's a very pretty city!

But players will probably be spending most of their time in:

Amaranth Institute for the Gifted, a private high school dedicated to the pursuit of excellence through experimental methods of education. Amaranth High's campus is a spawning collection of stone buildings, well kept gardens, fountains, shallow streams and decorative bridges, seemingly designed more as a high class resort than a school. Along with a reputation for turning out highly skilled students, the Institute is also famous for its exceedingly wide variety of extra curricular clubs; the majority of which have state of the art facilities. As a rule, every student is required to join at least one.

But otherwise, it's just a normal school.

That's the basics of the setting. Now, getting back to you!

Players, may be human or non-human, but either way will need to look human. Even in a school that's known (in certain circles) to use education methods that favor the paranormally inclined, Supernatural Creatures don't want to advertise their presence - not even to each other. But, human students don't need to worry about that kind of thing! They'll probably just think the school is nice and normal. Because it actually (mostly) is!

Let's break down the general groups of characters:

Humans: Characters who are human won't know about the Paranormal but, unlike most people, will have supernatural powers. However, because they aren't trained, their powers will manifest subtly; if you don't believe it can happen, it can't! Some examples of this are: a swordsman who always finds a sword whenever he gets into trouble, or a cooking student throwing curry powder that somehow turns into a stinging cyclone around them. The powers humans develop will often be related to subjects that interest them, and are often used without a second thought. After all, they don't know they're supposed to hide these things!

Parahumans: Are humans who, somehow, have entered the world of the paranormal; while remaining human. Wizards, Witches, Ninja, Demon Slayers, Mikos and users of more magical martial arts are all common examples of parahumans. Their abilities are more overt than regular Human applications of the Paranormal (if with some thematic limitations) but still more diverse than Non-Humans. Ninja means a lot of things! However, because they know the rules about keeping their powers hidden, they aren't allowed to use them in public; even in competition with someone who is. Parahuman Oragizations are, in many ways, humanity's own secret police force, established to protect them against malicious use of the supernatural.

It should be noted that no human, no matter their training, remains human if they become immortal. Not technically at least. However, in practice, paranormally aware humans heavily blur the line between human and non-human. In many ways, learning about the supernatural causes a natural drift from being a human toward being a non-human.

Non-Humans: While human manifestations of the paranormal are unpredictable and extremely varied, non-humans are limited to a small pool of race-specific abilities. However because they aren't human, they have access to certain skills that humans aren't able to perform, like shapeshifting, and may also be immortal. Non-Humans can learn how to use skills that aren't typical for their species, however, they need to receive special training in a (typically) human style to do so. Suffice to say, this is uncommon.

Though rare, a handful of Non-Humans may not know that they aren't human. They may have been adopted by unsuspecting human parents, been born with a genetic abnormality, or been created by a human who wanted an heir, but couldn't have children. Either way, it's a fair bet that they won't know what they are exactly, but will be aware that they aren't normal. Whether or not they know about other supernatural creatures is another matter entirely. Any abilities they have will have been developed naturally and likely in secret.

After all, if their abilities became known, a supernatural group would probably have picked them up by now.

The Laws of Secrecy: A set of rules governing human and non-human interaction which can be summed up as, "If something isn't supposed to exist, don't do it in public." Neither Paranormal Human Organizations or Non-Human ones have anything to gain from the general public learning that fairytales and legends are real. The more people who know about the paranormal, the better the chance that someone will try to harness it for less-than-noble reasons, putting both humans and non-humans in danger. In addition, despite being outnumbered (by a large extent) by humans, there are still collectively more non-humans who can manifest paranormal phenomena than humans and, should it come to war, that's the only advantage they have. However, so long as humans believe magic a myth, they also (probably) think Vampires are myths – which keeps them even safer.

Whether or not you think these reasons are good is up to you, however, punishments for exposing people to magic are generally harsh. Human organizations are usually more lenient in their punishments, assuming the exposure and damage is contained and the person in question had good reasons for what they did. Non-Human groups are typically less forgiving, as a situation where it is deemed permissible to expose your own presence is harder to come by; humans are generally considered less valuable than non-humans. Some of the more common punishments for exposure include power sealing, being turned into a frog, and, if you happen to be immortal, sentencing you to several years of mind numbing boredom.

Your attendance of Amaranth High might be the test to decide if your organization can trust you in mainstream society again.

Paranormal Organizations: Though it has already been implied, it is highly likely that anyone who knows about the paranormal is affiliated (even if it is only loosely) with some kind of larger paranormal organization. A mutual agreement exists among these organizations to allow them to police themselves and their own kind, so long as whatever happens does not threaten another group. Comparatively, non-human groups, like the Undead (Vampires and other clinically dead beings) or Fairy (Fae, Dryads, Nymphs and Pixies, for instance) Association(s) of America, tend to be more homogenous, while human organizations are often more eclectic combinations of the paranormally talented, usually with some form of ideological goal. It should be noted that the rule of thumb in a Non-Human Paranormal organization is to let a race deal with its own problems, before asking for help outside itself (even if that other race is part of the same paranormal organization).

Though they rarely consider themselves as such, religions are an example of a human paranormal organization. Interestingly, they are one of the few supernatural groups that contain only an extremely small percentage of people who know about supernatural creatures, while still maintaining a fair amount of humans with paranormal abilities.

I don't expect these groups to play a large part in the game, but players should consider them when designing their characters.

That should cover the main points about the game itself.

Onto the magic system!

Magic, such as it is, is basically just energy that the paranormally aware can harness, like light bulbs with a flow of electricity. The way this energy is channeled varies from discipline to discipline, though most non-humans draw from inside themselves, while humans generally manipulate the fields around themselves. Terms like magic, spiritual power, ki and anything else you can think of are all really just different ways of viewing that energy. In the end, they're all just power.

Auras: When channeling supernatural power, a thin halo of colored light will appear around the edges of the caster's body, though only to those who are looking for it. The strength of the ability determines how obvious and bright this light is, while the color is determined by the kinds of powers available to the user. Red light denotes eastern mythology influences, blue western mythos, while more bestial, natural or powers that focus on the body are yellow. Brighter, paler, colors relate to more refined, civilized powers and, by that same token, the darker the shade, the more instinctual the channeling. Pure white auras are generally reserved for divine beings. Few auras are purely one color however; most are some combination of them. Objects created or enchanted with supernatural powers will carry the aura of the one who created them.

As a general guideline, most humans have shades of red or blue powers, while most non-humans have varying shades of orange, yellow and green.

Auras also appear when someone, human or otherwise, is performing at the best of their abilities; be it writing a test, running a race, or playing a video game; basically, whenever a person enters 'the zone' an aura will appear. This is a natural effect, and only noticeable if someone happens to be looking - compared to conscious (or even unconscious) use of the supernatural, the effect is minimal. In other words, the Laws of Secrecy don't appeal to it.

Barrier Fields: When the Supernatural is meant to be a secret, out-and-out battles become difficult to manage. Barrier Fields were designed to counter this sort of thing. Typically erected by via magic circle, or through creating a closed boundary with paper seals, trees or some other set of marks, Barrier Fields separate everyone within their border from everything outside it. The most common style of Barrier Field shifts everything with a set amount of supernatural powers to half a dimension away from the sealed area; in effect, turning them into ghosts. However, there are other kinds of Barrier Fields; the kind used often depends entirely on the situation.

In order to counter the main downsides of all Barrier Fields - that they require time to set up and are often (but not always) single use - Supernatural groups have developed devices that expand Barrier Fields into the area around them at the push of a button. But the only ones that can do so repeatedly, thus far, are impractically large. The portable ones on the other hand suffer from non-uniform range and can, potentially, drag bystanders into the battlezone. In addition to only being single use, of course.

Some humans have developed techniques that allow them to expand Barrier Fields on their own. However, most of them suffer from the unfortunate downside that, if broken or damaged, the backlash often flows directly back to the creator. At best, it knocks them out. But at worst, it destroys their ego and drives them insane; making this style of Barrier Field unpopular, despite its practical benefits.

Similarly, techniques and devices that generate personal Barrier Fields also exist. They're effective for spying and setting ambushes but little else, since to interact with something outside the barrier the user needs to deactivate the Barrier - something most spiritually aware people can sense easily.

Regardless of their practicality issues, Barrier Fields remain an important component to battles with paranormal entities today.

Special Abilities, Case Studies:

In an effort to avoid some questions, and to offer some examples the kind of starting powers players will be looking at, here's a small list. I tried to include powers that are more common in games as examples as well, to show how they'd be different in the game. Though it'll be explained in the bio section, players will have three starting skills, which can be improved as the game progresses. Keep that in mind while you read this.

Anyway, onto the game info!

Instinctive Human Powers: Though I've already given a vague guideline for human ability design, I thought it would be best to offer further detail. Any supernatural abilities that humans use will always be Instinctive, which means most are reactionary or passive and can not be triggered consciously. Human abilities often seek to keep themselves hidden, or maintain a logical explanation to their presence and are, consequently, often tied to objects or are very subtle; like a gust of wind which causes thrown objects to just miss their target. Either way, learning to use these powers at will isn't terribly difficult, but does require the human to become a parahuman, adding some limitations to the directions their development can take. Normally, human abilities have some relation to their user's interests, personality, motives, or talents.

Summon: Weapon, allows the user to always have a weapon if they need it. For humans, that usually means conveniently finding their weapon of choice when they're in trouble, like having one fall out of a window when they get jumped in an alley, or alternatively, just having one appear in their hand (they usually don't notice). Parahumans and non-humans typically have more obviously magical summoning abilities, and the weapons called by non-humans usually reflect their race somehow; a sword summoned by a vampire probably have a bat-wing shaded guard. Regardless of the differences, this sort of ability is one of the more common applications of paranormal power, since carrying weapons around in this day and age can have unfortunate consequences. It should be noted that just because you can summon a weapon doesn't mean you can use it well, your background determines that.

Summoned Creatures: Just because a player may be able to summon a demon, doesn't mean the demon has a host of magical powers at its disposal. They may start with a single power, but, every additional ability requires another skill slot/skill level to use. The same rule applies to enchanted items and weapons. It should be noted that, if the summoner is knocked out, the summon is dismissed.

Guns: Since this is an RP set in modern times, modern weapons like guns and grenades are, theoretically, available for summoning and/or use. I won't go into much detail regarding these, however, suffice to say that they will be balanced with weapons like swords and bows and will be much less lethal than they are in real life. In addition, summoned firearms (this does include bows) won't have bullets automatically at this stage, and will be require and additional skill point to obtain. Fireballs are really much simpler.

Elemental Manipulation is a pretty common ability in RPs like this. At this early stage in the game however, a skill like 'can create and control fire' is too strong and too vague to be allowed without some heavy limitations. To use elemental manipulation, a character would need a skill to generate the element (and it would only be in small amounts at first) and a separate ability to control it (which would have range limitations). In addition, a comment about Psionics (they'd be non-humans, by the way), if a player wants to use an ability like pyrokinesis, their character's personality should somehow reflect it. More obscure skills like control of magnetism, gravity or blood will be harder to receive approval for as a Psionic character, since they don't have the same personality connotations that the more traditional ones do. I'd have less objection to a parahuman (like a wizard) with those powers though.

Instant Movement, in Magical Teacher Professor Landry comes in three (main) forms. Flash Step, a straight-line long distance move, which leaves the user vulnerable for a moment after using it (its very disorienting to move that fast!), limiting its battle potential. Since it isn't teleportation, so it can't go through walls. Flash Move on the other hand, is teleportation, but a very short range one; it only moves one person-length in any direction once triggered. It should be noted that motion carries through the Flash Move, so if an attack is started before activating the ability, the attack will continue after the Flash Move is complete. Regardless of their differences, both abilities are difficult to use in rapid succession – at this point anyway.

The third ability, Flash Action, makes a single movement (like drawing a sword) instantaneously quick. However, each Flash Action requires a lot of practice to perform, making the motions themselves set-in-stone during battle (a horizontal slash Flash Action will always be a horizontal slash, and can't be changed to a vertical one), consequently, the ability is rarely fatal because how difficult it is to aim. When preparing (which takes a few moments), or casting, a Flash Action, the user's aura glows brightly; making the ability easy to avoid if you know its coming.

These three abilities are, for the most part, available to every character. Flash Actions are one of the few skills that humans can use at will (though they need to go through incredible amounts of training first), while Flash Move is almost exclusive to Parahumans and Non-Humans.

Curses, abilities that do things like boil blood, turn people to stone, rip flesh from bones or kill from a distance are all curses. While these have reasonable success rates on things without any magical abilities, they generally only have limited effects on beings with any degree of magical power. Curse-like abilities appear as blasts of invisible light (color coded to the caster's aura) which often hang around their target for a few moments while the curses take effect.

Illusions, are hard to make! A character who can 'create illusions' will have trouble making them believable at the drop of a hat. In order to create good illusions, the caster usually needs to practice the particular illusory form beforehand. Illusions that move (or worse, can cause real damage) tend to require their creator's full attention and guidance, though there are some short cuts; like creating an illusion that acts like a mirror to its caster's motions.

Invisibility works fine when dealing with people who can't see auras, but is pretty ineffective at dealing with the paranormal. While certain skills may be able to mask an aura, doing so while moving is very difficult and, when the power lapses, there is typically an aura surge effect; announcing the user's location. In short, not the most useful thing at low levels.

As you can see, the key words for abilities are low power, specific and subdued.

Growth: Though the abilities list implied it, the abilities you start with and obtain as the game progresses can be improved (I call it leveling up!). After certain events in-game, players will receive skill points that can be used to add a new skill to their list, or improve one of their existing abilities. For instance, improving Flash Move or Flash Step might allow the character to use them more than twice in rapid succession without becoming exhausted, or increase the distance that can be traveled with each skill. Either way, abilities will improve slowly and gradually.


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Now, finally, to the bios. I hope my long, complicated, rule heavy set-up didn't scare off too many of you.

Name: Try to keep it realistic; this is still planet earth. Try to keep the character's cultural background in mind when you select it too.

Gender: It matters!

Aura: What color is your aura? Refer to the small write-up about aura colors if you've forgotten how they mix and what they mean.

Appearance: Characters should all appear, roughly, between the ages of sixteen and twenty, even if they're actually much, much older. Talk about what they look like physically, hair, eyes, skin, height, build, typical clothes, that kind of thing. No, the school doesn't have official uniforms. It does have jackets and stuff like that you can buy, but they're tacky, so why would you?

Race: If you're just a human, say human. If you're a parahuman mention your main role (Ninja, Demon Slayer, Wizard, etc) and put humans in brackets. If you're a non-human, unless you've been trained as a Ninja or something, just say your race. If you're a Vampire Wizard though, make sure you say that. There's no racial abilities by the way, just weaknesses.

Abilities: Ah, the ability section where I'm sure I will fail several bios. Players get three abilities (they can be special items, like a suspiciously accurate textbook on the paranormal, too), make sure you include a short description of what they do and any drawbacks they may have. I may request that you revise some of them if they're too strong, not strong enough, or not thematically appropriate. If players are willing to start with less than three abilities, they can sacrifice one to increase one of the other's levels. Most level one abilities only do one thing (and may have some limitations on top of that), by the way.

Background: I don't need your life's story, just tell me a bit about where your character came from, how they picked up their practical skills, a little about why they're coming to the school, and that sort of thing. A little about the character's personality and views wouldn't hurt either.

Clubs: While the school might be home to a disturbingly large amount of supernatural creatures, you'd be surprised at how many enjoy photography and painting. Clubs in this school are pretty normal, really. You need to have at least one club here. Sports teams, as it happens, do count as clubs. This section is a good way to demonstrate a character's interests.

Notes: If you haven't already explained how your non-human blends in with society, put it here. Mad make-up skills? A really good perfume? That sort of thing. Anything else that you think is worth mentioning about your character should go here too, like if they carry a hidden silver dagger around because, uh, never know who's a were-creature, right? Most equipment of note should really go into the ability section though, unless it really is something incredibly mundane.

Relationships: While you don't strictly need these, isn't having friends nice? There's not much to say here, just give me the names of some characters (who will become NPCs, probably), what they look like, a bit about them (especially if they aren't human), and how they relate to your characters. Even though this is a new school for you, that doesn't mean your old neighborhood rival won't show up! Be creative, there's a lot of different relationships.

So, there you have it. A lot of information just to write such a short profile, right? You might notice there's nothing about Professor Landry in here too. There's a good reason for that. The only thing players might know about her is that she's eccentric, whatever that means.

Anyway, good luck. I'm available on IM and via PM if you've any questions.

[Arhra]

I WILL JOIN YOUR GAME.

I shall resolve a hazy cloud of ideas into something more concrete in the near future.

[Dracorion]

I will not make an "unwilling sex-magnet" character.
I will not make an "unwilling sex-magnet" character.
I will not make an "unwilling sex-magnet" character.
I will not make an "unwilling sex-magnet" character.
I will not make an "unwilling sex-magnet" character.
I will not make an "unwilling sex-magnet" character.
I will not make an "unwilling sex-magnet" character.

Anyway, placeholder.

[DanteFalcon]

Placeholder.

[krogothwolf]

Wow, gonna have to read a book!

[Steel Shadow]

I shall also put a placeholder here untill I can mine that there mountain of text.

[Menarker]

Placeholder because Teal flunked a bunch of my character suggestions (Overpowered-shit and all ^,^) when I was chatting on IM and I need to think of more possible ideas.

[phil_]

Placeholder because I haven't learned my lesson regarding the disconnect between my love of making characters and my unwillingness to write RP posts.

[Bard The 5th LW]

Hell yes put me down as a placeholder.

[Overcast]

Name: Jay Miles

Gender: Male

Aura: Dark Blue

Appearance: Looks roughly 16. He is a bit on the short side standing 5'5" but not unrealistically so. He has jet black hair that typically does what it wants to, but he doesn't mind since he usually has it smashed under a baseball cap. His eyes are a dark brown that borders on the black and his skin has been called golden, but he calls it brown. He is keen to button up tee's particularly baseball jerseys and for any odd reason Hawaiian themed shirts. Either with shorts or jeans depending on if it is hot or cold out.

Race: Human

Abilities:
~Summon Baseball Bat: He always seems to have one when he needs it.

~Ty Cobb Swing: Ever been hit by a baseball? It hurts. As a response, when something like that comes for Jay he tends to hit it with unreasonable speed and accuracy. It isn't something that he can pull out when he is being pitched at regularly, it needs to be fast and threatening or he won't be shocked enough to react.

~Heavy hitter: Jay hits things way harder than usual. It is a mental thing tied to how well he thinks he hit the ball. When he hears it hit the sweet spot of the bat his confidence charges it up and sends it flying.

Background: Jay hasn't had a great life so far. He was born in San Diego, CA and his mother died giving birth to him. He guesses that is why his dad is so abusive, he blames Jay for her dying. He spent a lot of his early childhood in that kind of bad environment, coming home to nothing but pain and misery.

His first power was born out of that. When he just didn't want to be hit anymore, he wished real hard and he stopped feeling the blows. The old man was too drunk to notice, and Jay was always in too much pain to remember.

In middle school he got into baseball, and noticed that it gave him some time away from home for his dad to drink himself useless so when he got home it wasn't so bad. It became his escape, and it came with friends and a future in both sports scholarships and the possibility of going pro.

It became a huge part of his life, even to the point that he developed abilities around it, both instinctively getting a bat to hit the ball with and hitting it harder than it should be possible for someone his size. He wanted nothing else but to show some talent scout he was amazing, so he could get away from all of this and be truly happy for once in his life.

And he got his wish.

He recently got an offer to go to Amaranth School of the Gifted for his stellar grades, and they even offered to pay thanks to his baseball skill. So he forged his dad's handwriting and didn't look back.

He lives at one of the dorms on campus now, and gets along pretty well with the other boys in the building a personal few pulling him into their clubs. He is on the baseball team, and still practices a lot so that they keep paying for him to stay here.

Clubs:

Baseball team
Psychology Club
Drama Club
Choir


Relationships:
John Helsinki: His current roommate at the dorm. He is the head of the psychology club and he asks a lot about Jay's past. He's really helped him get a grip on the whole abuse thing and ended up convincing him to join the psychology club.

Daniel Akins: His next door neighbor at the dorm and a total queer, he is part of the Drama Club and somehow talked Jay into joining. Jay is pretty sure that Daniel has some kind of crush on him, but he isn't sure whether that is just him typecasting Daniel for being gay.

Allen Clark: Daniel's room mate, leader of the bass section of the school choir. He also sings in his own band and his music isn't half bad. He convinced Jay to try out for the Choir since, "A little musical expression is good for everyone." and it turns out he is a pretty good tenor.

[IHateMakingNames]

Name: Michael Jones

Gender: Male

Aura: Dark green

Appearance: Michael looks sixteen years old. He stands at 5'7", and still growing. He's a decent looker, nothing fancy but nothing to look over. Spending quite a bit of time outside, the sun has given his brown hair lighted highlights and his skin a good tan. He has a good build from tennis and general working out. Normally he wears darker colors, and fancies button-up shirts.

Race: Human

Abilities:

Summon Creature: Mountain Lion - There is a mountain lion that Michael regularly feeds outside his house; it is actually a summoned creature.

Illusion: Building Parts - When alone in his room, Michael often thinks about parts of a building or how he would construct something. Unconsciously he creates an illusion of parts of the building, which he writes off as good imagination.

Summon Item: Tennis Ball - Michael always seems to have another tennis ball in his pocket while playing.

Background: As a child Michael lived in Colorado. He would often go on nature walks with his parents, and one time near some mountains he happened to stumble across a mountain lion. He was too young to be aware that he should be afraid of it, and instead just wanted to pet the big kitty. Before anything bad happened, his mother scared off the mountain lion, but the encounter gave a great interest in mountain lions, eventually turning into interest in all animals.

After the mountain lion incident, Michael's parents decided to move to Ansidor. His father got a good job in the area and his mother grew up there and loved the area, so they bought a nice house in a good neighborhood. Since they moved Michael away from his friends, he ended up spending much more time indoors. He spent a good bit of time with his father. This is when Michael grew a love for drawing, since his father would show him his blueprints, which to Michael were just fancy drawings. At this point Michael's dream was to be an architect like his dad.

To get Michael back outside and meet new friends, his mother taught him how to play tennis. He quickly took a liking to the sport, and entered some tennis classes and eventually a club. This is where he met Doug, and soon Doug's friend Byrce. The three became close friends since they also went to the same school. It was around this time that his little sister, Janice, was born.

During school Michael got good grades, because of the heavy hints his mother placed on him to do well. She wanted Michael to go to the Amaranth Institute for the Gifted just like she did. Michael did get into the school, though none of his friends did.

Most of his free time is spent playing tennis with team members or friends, hanging out at a friend's house, or sitting at home. His little sister currently idolizes him, and while he plays with her when he is at home, she wants to go out with him, and which he does not. He has combated this is to get his sister into painting and drawing, so he can draw up buildings and animals at his own leisure while she is quietly painting some fruit, yet they are still hanging out.

Recently, he has found a mountain lion hanging around his house. No one believes him, since it only seems to come out when he's alone, and will run when others approach. Michael has started to feed it, hoping to somehow catch it.

Michael's mother decided it would be best for Michael to move into the dorms at Amaranth. Most of the students there transfer in from out of country or state, thus live in the dorms. To get the full Amaranth experience Michael should live in the dorms too. Plus he could come home at any time. His father agreed, thinking it would be good for Michael to get out of the house. His sister protested but she was outnumbered in votes, so Michael moved to the dorms. The cougar he was feeding seems to have followed him.

Clubs:
Tennis team
He'll try out various art clubs

Notes: Due to his interest, he has a very good eye and memory for forms of buildings and animals.

Relationships:

Justin Crawford – A guy Michael met when trying out for the tennis team. He immediately challenged Michael to see who hit a can first off a serve, and won. Then lost a challenge to see who can hit a ball further. He has brown hair and is fairly pale outside of summer tennis season. He's a bit of a showoff, mainly with his tennis serve, and likes to one-up people when he can. He can quickly laugh it off when his attempts to outdo others fail.

Doug Fowler and Byrce Welch - They have been Michael's main friends since middle school. Doug was a friend from tennis and he just met Byrce at school. They do not go to Amaranth. Doug is a good looking blond boy, and Bryce is a tad on the husky side with black hair and brown eyes. Both are laid back, like to hang out and play video games, and talk about girls.

Thomas and Marina Jones - Michael's parents. Thomas is a successful architect and Marina is a stock broker. His mother is a former student of Amaranth Institute for the Gifted, a witch, and part of the Witch's Association of America. Thomas is rather serious recently, having gotten an important project, and spends a lot of time at home doing work. He tries to make time for Janice, and doesn't bother Michael since as he explains it "he's a big boy now." His mother is rather doting on the two, and seems to be getting worried about Michael for reasons he can't figure out.

Janice Jones - Michael's six year old sister. She always wants to do things with Michael, while he doesn't. He makes sure to spend time with her when at home so she won't complain when he leaves without her. He is currently getting her into painting. She looks like your traditional cute younger sister, complete with brown pigtails, big hazel eyes, and currently losing baby teeth.

Theodore McFluffy - The newer family dog, an Alaskan Husky, currently one year old. Named by his sister. Still a puppy and very active, spends most of it's time with Janice or bothering George.

George - The older family dog, a Boston Terrier, currently eleven years old. Worn out and spends most of his time lying around.




On Relationships, do you care if all our friends are non-human, or parents are part of a paranormal organization? What's the limitation on magicing up relationships, and background? Additionally, what is the percentage of magicy (non)people in the school? Are all staff members wizards or something? I was under the impression that this is like Hogwarts, where if you have magic you go here. Seems more like the Professor Landry may be the only magical thing, and all the PC stuff is just coincidentally centered here.

[Bard The 5th LW]

Unfinished for right now. I'll complete later.

Name: Nicholai Barbarove AKA The idiot

Gender: Male

Aura: dark red

Appearance: Nicholai stands at about 6 ft, and about 180 lbs. He looks a bit older than he is. He has blue eyes, and his hair is a dark shade of brown. His bangs go pretty far down, to his eyebrows, and also touch his collar in the back. He usually wheres a gray jacket and a red t-shirt below it. Hie eyesight isn't great, so he wears a small pair of glasses. He can go without the glasses, but things get blurry.

Race: Parahuman Fighter

Abilities


Nothing right now. Can he summon a motorcycle?


Elemental Magic: Fire. It's not much for right now, but he is capable of creating small amounts of flame and heat. He likes to form it around his hand to add more oomph to a punch.


Flash Move: Short Range Teleportation.


Background: Nicholai grew up in a city off to the Northeast. It was a very crowded Urban area, and Nicholai was the middle child of about 6 kids. It wasn't awful, but he was neglected a fair bit. So he would constantly be out and hanging out with the mostly wrong crowd.

Nicholai wasn't quite a member of a gang, but they weren't friends from Sunday School. They would vandalize, part like hedonists, and drag race. The last one was what he liked the most. License or not, he loves driving, motorcycle or car.

Fights were also rather common. That's how Nicholai discovered his abilities. He soon became aware he had powers that went beyond that of a normal human, and he used this awareness to his advantage. No one would mess with him, lest they get burns across their face.

His position as king didn't last long though. His status as a parahuman was discovered due to his blatant use of it. Before he could totally blow his cover, he got shipped off to Amaranth Institute so his stupidity wouldn't screw anyone over.

Clubs

Karate Club
Mechanics club
Riding Club


Notes: He has a tendency to carry a small switchblade with him, although he prefers a fist fight. Although he doesn't smoke anymore, he still carries his lighter. He also has some flame resistant gloves lying around, so he doesn't burn his own hand off.

Relationships: Probably none.

[Naqel]

Color me interested, PM'ing questions.

[Dracorion]

Name: Jackson Hall

Gender: Male

Aura: Pale blue

Appearance: At eighteen, Jack stands at 5’10’’, decently built, if perhaps a little slender. He has green eyes and messy black hair. He wears jeans, sneakers, a blue shirt and a brown leather duster.

Race: Wizard (Parahuman)

Abilities:

- Elemental Manipulation (Air): Just light manipulation of air. At most, Jack can create a stiff breeze that could maybe knock somebody down if they’re already wildly off-balance. Jack's range is about a spear-length in any direction. He can manipulate wind to blow away most ranged attacks.

Jack can also wrap air bubbles around his hands, provided he takes some time to focus on it. The bubbles burst on impact, adding some extra "oomph" to one hit. Because they take so much focus, Jackson can't manipulate air in any other way while the air bubbles last. If something distracts him (like being hit hard) the bubbles would burst automatically.

- Instant Movement: Flash Move.

- Enhanced Aura Reading: Lvl. 1, White Elemental.
When an opponent's aura flares, Jackson's able to read information about their powers by looking at their aura. If the flare is too brief, or the power set is too diverse, the information he can attain is more limited.


Background: Eighteen years ago, a baby was found in a basket outside an orphanage, with a silver locket and a note that said “Jackson Hall”. Since there was no one in the orphanage by that name, it was assumed that it was the baby’s name.

For all his life, Jack was bounced from foster home to foster home, never staying with one family for more than eight months. He was always, for the most part, allowed to pursue various things, though he never settled on any one interest. At fifteen, he was introduced to the family that would stick with him for the rest of his life (though he didn't know it at the time), Nathaniel and Kendra Carter. They were both members of a Paranormal organization, though they kept that and everything else related to magic hidden from their adoptive son.

During a schoolyard fight, Jack's magic manifested when he knocked a bully back with a gust of wind without actually touching him. Jack didn't notice, though, and his parents merely thought it was strange. His powers kept manifesting more and more until his parents finally saw them for themselves. They immediately told Jack about magic and began to train him in using his powers.

At sixteen, they allowed Jack to learn taekwondo, just in case he'd need it when they sent him to Amaranth High. As they continued training, Jack gained some control over his air magic, discovered his Aura Reading ability (which was a rather interesting find for Kendra and Nathan), and, shortly before turning eighteen, finally mastered Flash Move. When he turned eighteen, his parents decided that he was ready to go out into the world without getting in trouble, so they sent him to Amaranth to further his magical education.

Because of his upbringing, Jack has grown up rather distanced from others. He's not particularly good at talking to other people. It's not that he turns into a nervous wreck, he just doesn't know how. He doesn't particularly like to fight, though when he's forced to, he prefers to use evasion and then strike to disable or intimidate when he sees an opening rather than cause actual harm.

Clubs: The Social Club.

Notes: Jack is trained in taekwondo. He is by no means a master, or even good enough to teach others, but he is pretty advanced.

Since he was found outside the orphanage, Jack has had a silver locket. Inside is a picture of a smiling green-eyed, raven-haired woman he assumes to be his mother.

Relationships:

- Nathaniel Carter: Jack's latest and longest-lasting adoptive parent. Nathaniel is a human and a member of a Paranormal Organization. He can be somewhat stiff, but is still kind to his adoptive son. He and his wife trained Jack in being a Wizard before shipping him off to Amaranth.

- Kendra Carter: Nathan's wife Kendra is Parahuman and a member of the same Paranormal Organization as her husband. She's a kind woman who is more lax than her husband. She genuinely loves her husband and son.



You know, I'm actually worried I may have underpowered his wind powers a bit. I mean, unlike other elements you don't really need to spend a skill point just to be able to make some of it on the spot (like fire and water) and then another just to control it. So maybe it's fine as it is.

[Krylo]

Name: Dalbhach Nuada

Gender: Male.

Aura: Gold.

Appearance: A pretty boy with raven black hair, strangely pale skin (particularly with the dark hair), and sparkling green eyes. He normally dresses rather impeccably, especially for a high school student. Though he dislikes suit jackets or ties.

Race: Tuatha De Danann, the fair folk.

Ablities:

-Ability: Glamour
Element: White
Level: 2
Effect: Though his full powers remain sealed, Dal is still able to use powerful illusions on himself. He's able to completely hide his non-human traits from any of a living being's five senses, and pose as a human. He's also obtained the ability to subtly manipulate these illusions, and appear to be different people, or just change its color to allow him to blend in with his surrounding. However, the larger the change, the more time it takes. Making convincing fakes is not simple!

-Ability: Flight
Element: Yellow
Level: 2
Effect: Though his full powers remain sealed, Dal's managed to weaken the restrictions on his wings. They can be used to allow him to fly, though no faster than he can walk. If used while he's running, Dal's able to substantially increase his movement speed - though repetitive speed bursts will quickly exhaust him.

-Summon Weapon: Rapier: Summons a highly ornate silver rapier. Self-explanatory.

Background: There weren't always laws of secrecy, and there was a time when the fair folk toyed with mortals freely. Sometimes malevolently, sometimes less so. Dalbhach was around then, and when the laws of secrecy started springing up, there were some fae folk who didn't particularly like the idea of changing how they did things. He was amongst them.

Unfortunately, they were considered a 'problem' by other groups, and he has to take a bit of a time out. He's currently being let out on a 'test run' with most of his powers sealed to see if he's ready to accept the new way of things.

Clubs: Fencing, A/V.

Notes: N/A at this time.

Relationships:

Morrigan: A powerful fae, his distant cousin, and his overseer. She watches him to make certain he doesn't cause too much trouble with the mortals. She generally takes the form of a crow for this duty, as it makes it easy for her to follow him about, though sometimes she appears as a student with hair as black as midnight and with oddly pale skin and bright green eyes--much like Dalbhach--though her personality is much more... terse, than his. Her powers are also FAR less limited.

Robin: A mischievous boy that Dalbhach sometimes associates with. He generally appears to be a student, but doesn't actually attend any classes that anyone knows of.

[krogothwolf]

Name: Dean William Hunter

Gender: Male

Aura: Emerald Green

Appearance: Dean stands 5'11" He generally wears a t-shirt and blue jeans, the t-shirt almost always has a dragon or a knight on it and is generally blue, red or black. He occasionally wears a jacket if it's cold enough outside. He wears shades when he's walking around outside and is considered to be decently handsome. He has brown hair and hazel eyes. Is 16 years old. He is also fairly strong as he keeps himself fit.

Race: Dragon Rider (Human)

Abilities:

Summon Creature: Dragon, He can summon a dragon, a baby dragon, but a dragon nonetheless. It generally doesn’t do anything right now besides giving little tiny squeaks of a roar and breath fire, usually at Dean. The Dragons named Filia and is a Golden coloured Dragon. Is about the size of a Great Dane right now.

Summon Weapon: 2 Handed Sword. Has a dragon Head hilt and is made of Obsidian.

ShapeShift: Draconic Wings: Dean can have Dragon Wings burst from his back, though they are fairly delicate right now and he isn't all that fast with them yet, it does help him in some of the things he does.

Background: Dean is from the highlands of Scotland in a isolated area that is generally not visited very often. He comes from a clan that has lived that way for centuries, only venturing out when needed and to keep in touch with the outside world. The reason for this is because they are probably the last of a dieing breed, Dragon Riders, they live and train with dragons and learn to ride them as they grow older. Usually partnered with a dragon at a young age so that they can develop a bond of trust with each other.

The town isn't out of touch with reality though, and maintains a level of technology generally on par with the world, though. It's also a fairly small community as their numbers are slowly dwindling, to the point where there is roughly 100 people still living there. Dean is one of the younger members of the place so he is a bit sheltered in that aspect and is a little short on friends, but he makes do with what he has. He already has a fairly strong bond with Ruby already.

Dean was sent to the Institute because he is generally a little reckless with his powers. He hasn't been spotted yet, but his family fears that he will and will prematurely end what remaining peace they have in their little community. So he was shipped out to the Institute told to listen, learn and behave. He's done the learning part, though behaving and listening are slow for him to master.

Clubs:

Hockey Club
Riding Club
Anime Club
Fencing Club

Relationships:

Sam Stuart (Human): Member of the Hockey Club with Dean, plays right wing on the same line as him, he's very quick on his feet. Has black hair and is mall and wirey, he's sort of quiet but when he gets talking he can ramble on endlessly. He's got a good heart though, but does tend to try to pull pranks on others.

James Hartman (Human): Member of the Hockey Club with Dean, Plays Center on the same line as him. Has brown hair and is stocky, has a very boisterous attitude. He'll brag about anything and everything even if he's never done that activity before, he doesn't really get involved in any of Sam's pranks. He also tends to give everyone a nickname. He calls Sam Dash and Dean Sparky.

[Wizardcat]

:raise: Goddamnit, Krogo. I was going to use that as my char's last name.

[krogothwolf]

Hunter?

We could be long lost cousins!

[Astral Harmony]

Here goes nothin'.

Name: Astarte Whitewrap (not a real last name, but she didn't come with one)
Gender: Female
Aura: Solid, shaded amber
Appearance (Undead): Astarte stands at around five feet, four inches. She's covered in mummy wrappings, but there are numerous openings on her body that show her surprisingly healthy flesh. Only her left eye is uncovered, with a green iris. Her bright orange hair flows out of the wrappings and hangs roughly two feet from the base of her thin neck. Her wrappings are white and are usually always fresh and clean. She has a voluptuous body and the wrappings do little to conceal this.
Appearance (Alive): Astarte's skin tone becomes warmer than usual, complete with blush stickers. Her body fleshes out, resulting in sexier curves and livelier hair. Her eyes become ever clearer than before. Her mummy wrappings shift around on her body and wrap around her elbows, hands, knees, feet, and even goes as far as to form a big, poofy hairbow complete with long ribbons. Basically, Astarte's cuteness increases by up to 200%.
Race: Mummy
Abilities (Undead)
- Ashes to Ashes ~ A touch-activated curse that very slowly rots living flesh, causing it to disintegrate and fall off (plants are not exempt). It would take several minutes of constant contact for this skill to eat all the way to the bone of ones' arm.
- Enchanted Wrappings ~ Astarte's mummy wrappings are enchanted. They resist the effects of weather and remain clean and odorless, and offer some niggling defense, but that is the extent of the standard enchantment.
- Astarte Drill ~ A skill that reinforces the enchanted wrappings and forms a drill that extends roughly a foot in front of Astarte's outstretched fingers. The drill can sort of be used like a lance when not spinning, but spinning it is much more effective and very tiring.
- Wrap Shot ~ Astarte gathers her wrappings into one arm and fires it like a hookshot, only no hook. Wraps around thin objects at a distance and can either be pulled to Astarte or perhaps keep her from falling to death.
Abilities (Alive)
- Touch of Friendship! ~ A supportive ability that replaces Astarte Ashes to Ashes. When Astarte makes contact with another, she is able to send her own energy into their body, giving them the power of two people for as long as she wishes it. While they are under this effect, their wounds heal quicker, and the energy drain from their abilities is lessened slightly. Astarte will be extremely tired, and feel weak, while lending her energy to another.
- Enchanted Wrappings ~ Special bandages, given to Astarte by her deceased mother. The bandages are stronger than they ought to be, and harder to rip than normal cloth. They are also resistant to the weather (water, mostly) and always appear to be fresh and clean, though don't seem to do much else.
- Astarte Strike! ~ This ability surrounds Astarte's hand (when punching) with a corona of spiritual power, causing it to glow to the eyes of the supernatually sensitive. The damage from this attack is directly tied to her emotional state, and pierces through armor and barriers. She may also use this as a projectile. Normally, it doesn't leave any marks on those it hits - the pain it causes is as spiritual as it is.
- Charming Gaze ~ Astarte's eyes sparkle and their color deepens. If she catches the eyes of anyone while this ability is active, they will be overcome with feelings of trust and affection - which lingers even after eye contact is broken, making them reluctant to oppose Astarte. This ability typically activates whenever Astarte tries to be, well, charming - though it may not work if she tries too hard (in other words, relying too heavily on it may backfire, treating it as a passive effect is best). Incidentally, the ability's effects are less pronounced when she's attacking its target.
Background: Astarte was discovered in a deep underground Egyptian tomb. Apparently, she was a young girl who was mummified by her parents because she played too many video games, stayed out way beyond curfew, and ate all the ice cream. She reanimated not many years afterwards, her parents having mummified themselves since it was actually a murder/suicide thing (how does one mummify himself? Astarte wants to know!). Apparently their parents decided that mummification was kind of a mean thing to do to young girl going through her rebellious phase, so they repented with their own lives.
Despite her mummification, Astarte came back to life, or rather unlife, looking like a sexy young woman who just happened to be cloaked in mummy wrappings. With weak powers spawned from her time in the spiritual realm, Astarte began her new life, trying to figure just what the hell she could do with herself. Well, going to school seemed like the best bet, and fortunately there was a school she could turn to, at least until she figured out what she wanted to do. So, with the help of the school staff and some new friends, Astarte hauled her sarcophagus into a storage shed (where she sleeps at night) and begins her strange adventures.
Astarte is a kind girl, and is actually quite charming, but can be naive sometimes. Many people would claim her to be an airhead, and this is true. After all, the process of mummification does require removal of the brain. She's outgoing, fun, and cares for her friends. It's easy to get to know her, and difficult to make her angry.
Clubs
- Cooking
- Cheerleading
- Pottery
- Drawing/Painting
- Wrestling
Notes: In order to blend in with society, Astarte removes her mummy wrappings. Her body is still healthy and even very attractive, so she can pass for a normal girl with some normal clothes.
Relationships
- Vanilla ~ A bombshell, blonde naga maiden who hangs out with Astarte. Both girls are cheerleaders. Vanillas possesses a shapeshifting skill that transforms the serpent portion of her body into perfectly functional human legs to blend in. She's also possesses an enchanted trident. She'll probably never get used to human legs, and tends to stumble and fall at least once or twice an hour. Her aura is a bright orange.
- Linda Mickens ~ A zombie girl who is usually Astarte's wrestling partner. Astarte is about the only one she turns to when she needs to locate a body part that fell off, since Astarte has never turned her down or got angry. Linda has a joke that she and Astarte will be best friends forever because Linda would never kill Astarte for her brains. After all, Astarte has no brains to eat. Get it? Linda's aura is dark green, and shows most brilliantly whenever Linda flexes her surprising physical strength.
- Gorgeous ~ A very handsome blond human who offers his muscular form as a model for drawing and painting. He's attracted to Astarte, and finds her mummy wrappings as part of what makes her irresistable to him. Astarte hangs around with him often, and hasn't yet turned him down when he wants to do something. Gorgeous's aura is a dark green, and only seems to show when he's absorbed in his favorite activity: dancing.
- Miam Welsh ~ Astarte's first friend. A human girl with short pigtails who attends the Cooking Club with Astarte. Just like Astarte, she loves cooking and dreams of being a loving wife and doting mother. She has already decided that Astarte would be her best lady. Astarte has never seen Miam's aura, but is certain the girl has some kind of martial arts skills that she is hiding. Miam isn't in the Wrestling Club, so it's gotta be something else. Miam is the one who gave Astarte a last name.
- Nephthys Whitewrap ~ The disembodied spirit of Astarte's mother. Occasionally shows up when the night encroaches and Astarte is alone for idle chatter. She's adopted Astarte's last name as her own. Because of what happened when they were alive, Nephthys tries very hard not to interfere with her daughter's new life.

[Teal Mage]

Right, I hadn't expected so many bios to be up less than 24 hours after I got this thread up. I'll try to catch up on them now.

Firstly, I've noticed that three of the bios all have the same problem; they have human characters learning about their powers on their own.

That doesn't work.

Humans can go their entire lives without realizing they have special powers because of how subtle they usually are. Even if you happened to have an experience you couldn't explain, you really shouldn't jump to the conclusion "OMG I have magic!" In this world, magic is a myth, and is often used as a plot device to avoid explaining how things work in too much detail. Saying that you punched the guy out because you have magic is like saying the hyper drive works because of magic. It really ought to sound like a cop out.

To learn about your powers as a human, you need to join a supernatural society. End point. You can figure out how on your own, but being part of a group (however loosely) is non-negotitable.

Now then.

Overcast, what I just said applies to you. Your powers are also far too overt for a human. So, rejected because of that, mainly.

However, your individual abilities don't work for other reasons. Shapeshifting is an ability almost exclusive to Non-Humans because humans usually can't physically survive those changes (there are some parahumans who can do so with training, however). Regardless, no human could do it instinctively. The power itself is also too variable, any morphing powers need a preset form to change into. You think rearranging your body structure is easy? It isn't.

Incidentally, to add a small point about shapeshifting, any new form should have some kind of secondary ability as well (Ex: crab claws are covered in a thick shell which can block things), in addition to the aesthetic change. Otherwise the thing is kinda useless, no?

I meant to mention Shapeshifting in the Sign-Up, but it appears I forgot.

Your phasing skill seems useless to me; it takes too much concenration for it to have any practical applications, and using it to pull objects out of boxes without opening them just doesn't make sense. Similarly, bad illusions aren't misshapen and deformed, they're vague, non-detailed and ethereal. Like a picture in your head when you try to examine it closely without putting much thought into it before.

While I'm reviewing your character, I'll also add that I don't see how it has anything to do with Western Mythos. The darker color is right, since none of his powers seem particularly refined. However since most of the powers focus on his body, I think a dark yellow aura would be better than a blue one.


Moving on, IHateMakingNames, I'm actually pretty happy with your character (ignoring the backstory, which, as you said, is terribly written. What the words mean is fine though). Not going to approve it yet though. I'm worried about two of your abilities, the Summon: Racoon and Illusion: Blueprint powers don't seem to have any practical use. You should add some sort of secondary ability to them, or tell me what you plan to use them for, because right now, they're pretty much wastes of space.

But they're exactly the kind of abilities a human should have, for what that's worth. Very well matched to the character too. Just, not quite strong enough. He'll need to fight with those powers before long.

I'd also like to see a little more information about your relationships, and I wonder about your aura. It should probably be darker, since your powers are mostly instinctive. Might be a little green-ish too, since your racoon would probably be a yellow power on its own.

Now, to answer your questions.

1) Relations can be made entirely of non-humans or parahumans, that's entirely up to you. However, if they are, I'll need to know in your bio so I can put them into the game correctly. Same goes for your parents; they might be effective methods to enter a parahuman society, as it happens.

2) About 30% of students in Amaranth are Non-Human. The numbers of parahumans aren't confirmed, but there are some normal humans mixed in as well. Teachers generally are at least low grade parahumans, but some are humans or non-human; having magic isn't a requirement to come here. The school really is mostly normal!

Professor Landry, as it happens, is a human and isn't affiliated with any organizations as far as any one knows either.

Suppose I'll mention that Sophia Amaranth, the school's head, is immortal and has been in her position since the school was founded. Make of this what you will. Your character may know, or they may not. Didn't seem important before, so I didn't mention it.


BardTheFif...I'm just calling you Bard. Yes, you can summon a motorcycle, but prolonged use will make you tired since it uses your energy, not fuel. However, you have the same problem that Overcast did; humans can't learn about their powers on their own. So, character rejected for that.

Might as well say a few things about your powers while I'm at it. Fire Magic would be limited to creating bursts of fire around his body, making it pretty much limited to melee use. A simple Fireball spell would probably work better. Given the current background, Flash Move wouldn't work either because teleporting is really hard to self-teach.

Don't get how his aura is dark red, by the way. It seems like it would be a pale blue, if anything. He seems to have it fairly well refined, and elemental control and motorcycles are things I typiclaly associate with the west. Since I've no idea how you arrived at that color though, I'm willing to listen to your reasons for it.

Also gonna add that I'm a little surprised that Nicholai has no relationships, you'd think there'd at least be someone out to get revenge on him. Not to mention someone watching to make sure he stays in line.


Same story as Overcast and Bard's characters with your's Dracorion, rejected because human powers don't manifest that obviously.

But onto your powers, they're decent, I do like the information gathering piece that your Enhanced Aura Reading gives you, but it won't trigger unless someone's using a fair amount of paranormal power and you consciously look for it. As in, it'll reveal a skill that your opponents can use while you fight them (but only if you've time to stare at them creepily for a few moments). Like Bard's character, self-learning Flash Move is pretty unlikely, so that doesn't really work. Your Air Magic skill won't work that well right now either, because of range limitations (a little more than a spear's length's distance from your character is the limit of his control) and it wouldn't be very strong either. If you want to put power behind your punches, I recommend just taking an ability that does that specifically.

Aura works though, grats.

Ah, one more thing, even though you're new to the school, you should have signed up for a club in advance. You might have visited the campus before as well, so you might have meant someone there too.

Anyway.


Krylo, your character is actually fine. I'm curious though, is the summoned Rapier made of silver, a non-descript magic metal or something else? Can't be iron, Fae hate that.

Either way, character approved.

As a small note though, because of how subdued his Glamour ability is, I'll let you add another small effect to his wings or sword, maybe they can glow or be used to soften a fall from a great height? Either way, the small boost should be something minor.

Congrats though, first approved character! You should feel special.


Moving right along, Krogothwolf, I'm curious about your sword's metal, what's it made of? Otherwise, your power set is fine. I may periodically take control of your little dragon, if only because you've said it doesn't always listen to your character, but for the most part, it'll be under your control. Be nice to have a little more information about your character's friends though.

Until I get a bit more, I don't think I can approve him. But he's pretty close!

Oh, and by the way, his aura should probably have a bit of yellow in it, since one of his powers deals with body morphing. He might technically be a non-human as well, because of that. But, given his background his training allows him to blur the line just enough to manage that without becoming entirely non-human.

Anyway, that should get me up to dat-Oh! So close.


Armored Bishoujo the first thing that jumps out at me is that Astarte dresses as a mummy in public. While there's no rule against dressing eccentrically, you'd probably get called to the principle's office for it eventually. The idea is to blend in! The burn victim thing is a good excuse, but it still draws attention to you. Same goes for her friends - especially the succubus. There are some normal people in this school.

As it happens, supernatural creatures aren't supposed to tell each other about their conditions, so I wonder about why Astarte would know so much about her friends. The Zombie I can understand, since her limbs apparently fall off a lot (this would probably get the principle's attention too), but the Succubus? Oh, Vanilla would probably be getting into trouble with her organization if she's going out a draining twelve men a night, that's advertising her powers to a dangerous extent. She'll probably get expelled if she keeps that up - sure you don't want to change that piece?

Aura-wise, you seemed to have entirely missed the section in that seven page essay I wrote. The colors are supposed to reflect the powers they have access to, not their personalities. For instance, Gorgeous's aura (as a human) should probably be a dark blue or green, since he was probably born in the 'West' part of the world (blue), he'd only have instinctive powers at best (black) and seems to like physical stuff (yellow). All of your character's proposed auras don't seem right to me.

You can try to justify them if you like? If the reasons are good, I'll let you keep the colors. But, all auras are actually solid colors (Krylo fixed his), so you'll need to change some of them anyway.

Anyway, I also need to say a few things about your characters powers in general. As far as curses go, they're actually pretty well balanced already, however, I feel I should say that if someone focuses on 'resisting' (and not moving away) the curse, the effects will be downgraded. So, for Ashes to Ashes, that means they'd just lose energy until they fell unconscious - then the curse would start working. The Rust to Rust effect would be similar; assuming the object can resist it somehow, like an enchanted item.

Consequently, I recommend only keeping one of those two abilities and getting a more generic offensive skill.

In addition, I'm afraid the innate strength boost ability doesn't work, but that's really my fault. I forgot to talk about physical enhancement abilities in the first post. They work similarly to Flash Step and Move, acting as short bursts of improved performance. Using this power in rapidly is exhausting, especially at low levels though. One casting leaves the user tired, while two used rapidly leaves them unable to move for a few moments.

But, when it lets you throw things that are a lot larger than you, and punch down stone walls, that might be worth it!

Anyway, until you can clean up the areas I highlighted there (powers and aura) I won't approve you. You don't strictly need to change any of the other stuff, but I felt you should know about the risks your characters are running.

So, any questions?

[Krylo]

Krylo, your character is actually fine. I'm curious though, is the summoned Rapier made of silver, a non-descript magic metal or something else? Can't be iron, Fae hate that.Was always intended to be silver. Just forgot to mention it. Edited into sheet.
As a small note though, because of how subdued his Glamour ability is, I'll let you add another small effect to his wings or sword, maybe they can glow or be used to soften a fall from a great height? Either way, the small boost should be something minor.Added the softening the fall thing to his wings. Edited into sheet as well.

Congrats though, first approved character! You should feel special.I always feel special.

[IHateMakingNames]

I didn't really make the magic for battle, figured the first batch was supposed to just be bases for further magic. Turned the raccoon into a mountain lion and changed the illusions to being parts of buildings. Mountain lion is obvious for combat, and being able to make fake pillars appear can be good distractions. Not sure why the tennis ball wasn't underpowered, but I guess he can throw them at people.

Fixed the back story, threw in some more for relationships (Bigger note on mother being a witch and in paranormal organization now), and changed the aura color. I wasn't quite sure about the aura, was just planning to have you tell me the correct color. Apparently I made the wrong guess.

I might turn Justin into something paranormal.

Missed being first accepted due to being to weak. A rare thing for RP sign-ups.

[Astral Harmony]

Right, let's see if I've corrected everything:

- I've changed Astarte's aura to solid yellow with twinges of red.
- Rust to Rust was replaced by Enchanted Wrappings. Astarte's mummy wrappings are enchanted. They resist the effects of weather and remain clean and odorless, and offer some niggling defense, but that is the extent of the standard enchantment.
- Strength of the Undead is replaced by Astarte Drill. A skill that reinforces the enchanted wrappings and forms a drill that extends roughly a foot in front of Astarte's outstretched fingers. The drill can sort of be used like a lance when not spinning, but spinning it is much more effective and very tiring.
- Vanilla is now a Naga with a skill that changes her serpentine parts into working human legs to blend in public. Her aura is bright red.
- Linda the Zombie's aura is dark blue.
- Gorgeous the Human's aura is a dark yellowish blue.

Right, time to pray.

[Naqel]

Name: Charles Sasaki

Gender: A boy aged 16.

Aura: Light Brown

Appearance: He has beautiful green eyes and a smile that makes others feel peaceful. His brown hair is kept in a typical short cut style. His body is rather slim thanks to a firm musculature. He's just an inch short of six feet vertical.

Race: Ninja(para-human)

Abilities:
Summon Weapon: Kunai- When he's not found carrying his gardening tool with him, Charles can always pull it out of thin air. It's a real kunai, not a cartoon one. It's used for digging, climbing, gardening, stabbing people, ect. not throwing.

Elemental Manipulation: Flora(*2)- While not exactly a combat utility, Charles can already use it to have trees aid his long jumps and grass soften his falls.

Background: With both of his parents being assassins, there really wasn't much of a career choice for Charles to make. Ninja sounded more awesome when he was 11, and he decided to stick with it later on, since he already picked up the skills necessary. He has taken a life in defense of an old lady being robbed in the past, and now he's in Amaranth Institute for the Gifted, hoping to refine his skills so that next time he won't just stab his enemy in the face with a small shovel. He dose not regret the incident though.

Clubs: Gardening & Botany club. Essentially, he takes care of the schools gardens and learns about plants as a hobby and training.

Notes: He is always seen carrying kunai, as in a small japanese gardening shovel, with him. Even though he can summon more, he still carries them around.
Additionally, for a while now he was fighting with the pervert gene that his father passed upon him...

...and he's beginning to lose.

Relationships:
Katsuro Sasaki: Father, also a ninja, also a botany enthusiast. Excellent cook.
Stereotypically short, stereotypically perverted.
Eva White-Sasaki: Mother, a demon slayer. She went completely dere-dere after she became a mother, so now she spends most of her time being playful and silly. You don't want to get her angry though.

[Dracorion]

Right, so.

I added Teal's observation on Aura Reading to Jack's profile. That was pretty much what I had in mind, though.

I also added some justification for Jack knowing Flash Move. Honestly, I can't believe I didn't see that opening before. And it also works as the reason he finds out about magic in the first place.

The air magic... eh, I'm going to leave it as it is, and take away the "making hits stronger" bit. Sure, it won't be much useful right at the start, but hell, it'll grow into a powerful weapon and until that happens, he can still kick ass and take names without it.

As for his relationships. Aside from his adoptive parents, none. Well, he's officially already joined the social club, but he didn't really meet anyone. Jack would rather get lost in a big-assed school rather than walk up to a stranger and go all "Umm..." and then be supremely embarrassed about not being able to talk to people. Not to mention it's more fun that way.

Not that he's a wangsty lonely guy by any means, God no. But he's joining the social club specifically to try and get past that little character flaw.

[phil_]

Could you clear something up for me, Teal? Is the difference between a human and a parahuman that the parahuman has already had training in magic and such? Is that the only difference?

Edit: Oh, and is this institute a replacement for high school, or some sort of post-high school technical school? 'Cause some of us are seeing it each way.

[DanteFalcon]

Name: Bartholomew Andrews IV (Usually goes by Andy or Andrew due to a strong dislike of his first name.)

Gender: Male

Aura: (I really have no idea which mythos this would fit into but the coloration would be dark either way. If I had to guess this would be Dark Blue)

Age: 18

Appearance: Andy tends to blend in well with crowds. His hair is neat, dark brown and kept fairly short. Eyes are pale blue and appear unfocused most of the time. He keeps his face clean shaven revealing his facial structure to be very rounded, a small nose, lower cheekbones and subdued jawline making him almost seem sad or shy though neither are true most of the time. He stands at about 5' 8", making him smaller than most other males his age. His clothing is usually a loose white t-shirt and dark blue jeans. He's almost always wearing tennis shoes and his build is that of someone who keeps himself in shape by distance running (thus toned but not bulging on muscle) almost daily should weather permit. His skin is well tanned due to this physical training. His gait is slow and he doesn't take up a lot of room as he walks, letting his weight rest on the balls of his feet making his stride extremely quiet for no real reason.

Race: Human

Abilities:

Card Reading: Andy has the capability to read peoples minds to an extremely limited degree. Only their outermost thoughts (what they are currently thinking of) and not with any degree of expediency or any range, having to be within a few steps of the person in question.

Bluff: Should Andy ever strike someone in anger or fear the amount of force generated isn't shown in the speed of his hit and most any hit will hurt far more than it has any right to. Something that looks like a light jab could hurt just as much as a full force punch.

Forced Hand: Anything that is thrown by Andy tends to swerve towards the area that it would be most effective depending on his intent. Should he be trying to escape without major harm and he throws a rock behind him it would swerve under someone's foot to try and slip them. If he's willing to cause the pursuer some harm it may instead swerve towards their eye. It's far from infallible and requires he has some knowledge of where his target currently is.

Background: Born and raised in the south with one younger sister Andy loved card games more than most things. To the extent that he carried a standard deck with him almost everywhere he went. And because he played most of his life (and the abilities he's unaware of help) he's quite good at it. He rarely plays for any stakes but every time he has he's won, earning him the reputation as a bit of a card shark among his friends. His parents were initially worried he'd develop a gambling habit but have recently realized his aversion to gambling and dismissed it as just his hobby. In school he was a fairly average student earning C's and B's throughout his education. Upon graduating from high school in the southern central U.S. he was enrolled in the Amaranth Institute for the Gifted though as to why he's completely clueless, not seeing himself as particularly gifted at anything but cards. Even so he takes it without complaint, intending to make the best of it and maybe make more friends.

Clubs: Cross Country Runners
Chess Club
Card Game Enthusiasts

Notes: He carries a deck of cards with him everywhere as noted in the background.

Relationships:
Bartholomew Andrews III: His father and the man who insisted on passing down the family name to his only son, cursing his son with a horrible name (In Andy's eyes at least). A much taller man than his son and an engineer at a nuclear power plant he is occasionally frustrated by his sons lack of interest in any of the usual career's and looks to his daughter as a more apt prodigy in the educational field.

Maria Andrews: A loving mother and closer to Andy than his father. She taught him to expand his interest to board games like Chess but they never replaced his love of cards.

Sophia Andrews: His 16 year old younger sister and his superior in intelligence. Still they get along quite well and while they have a rivalry its only ever evident through board and childrens card games (Like....YuGiOh. God I'm watching too much of the abridged series). She has an undertone of arrogance due to her intelligence but tends to avoid lording it over people.

[IHateMakingNames]

Edit: Oh, and is this institute a replacement for high school, or some sort of post-high school technical school? 'Cause some of us are seeing it each way.
I'm under the impression that it's a high school. What with the age range being 16-20 (20 being a bit high but quick maturers or non-humans). Plus this
Amaranth Institute for the Gifted, a private high school
and the several times mentioned that the school is mostly normal makes it just a normal highschool to most. However, seems there are circles within the school that are magic oriented, and unwily magic teen-like beings are sent there (krylo and krog's characters).

[DanteFalcon]

I'm treating it as post high school currently. If otherwise I can change my background and age easily enough.

[krogothwolf]

Teal says age 16-20 so it could be he graduated from a normal school then got sent to this one for "further" education or something else. But the age does fit.

[Bard The 5th LW]

BardTheFif...I'm just calling you Bard. Yes, you can summon a motorcycle, but prolonged use will make you tired since it uses your energy, not fuel. However, you have the same problem that Overcast did; humans can't learn about their powers on their own. So, character rejected for that.

Might as well say a few things about your powers while I'm at it. Fire Magic would be limited to creating bursts of fire around his body, making it pretty much limited to melee use. A simple Fireball spell would probably work better. Given the current background, Flash Move wouldn't work either because teleporting is really hard to self-teach.

Don't get how his aura is dark red, by the way. It seems like it would be a pale blue, if anything. He seems to have it fairly well refined, and elemental control and motorcycles are things I typiclaly associate with the west. Since I've no idea how you arrived at that color though, I'm willing to listen to your reasons for it.

Also gonna add that I'm a little surprised that Nicholai has no relationships, you'd think there'd at least be someone out to get revenge on him. Not to mention someone watching to make sure he stays in line.

I would change my username, but I find the effect of the info-box much too fun.

I included that he was a parahuman, but I'll change it around. He'll probably be a nonhuman in that case.

Alright I'll revise the fire magic stuff.

I misinterepreted the aura thing. I figured Red just because he was more crazy with his powers. Blue probably would fit better.

I just hadn't included anything on relations. I was going to say something about fellow delinquent, but I simply was low on time.

I'm probably going to rewrite him Maybe make a new character. I have something in mind.

Edit: Would a half-demon character be acceptable?

[Arcanum]

Definitely interested in this, though I was busy with SC2 all yesterday so I didn't notice this until today. Regardless! I read the opening post and will read the rest of the thread before I write up a character.

[Menarker]

If I made any mistakes or such, I apologize. Past midnight and been feeling exhausted. Parts of it is somewhat rushed, since I got work in the morning.
-----------------

Name: Jin Ifrit (Gin being an affectionate pun on Jinns or Djinns, a class of genies)

Gender: Male

Aura: Light Purple

Age: 19

Appearance: A rather tanned skinned male standing at 5'10 tall with dirty red brown-red hair. Wears loose clothings on a regular basis. Has a slightly wirey build but still fairly strong. Has hazel eyes closer to yellow than most.

Race: Genie

Abilities:

Wish: Summon Car (Item Creation: As a genie, there is a considerable degree of customization open as to the design of the car summoned. Can only summon 1 car for himself at a time, although no real limit on cars summoned via wishing from another person. Cars summoned via wish do not drain energy constantly like most summons do.)

Element Attack: Fireball

Clairvoyance: Answer any question asked by another person as per a "wish". Cannot ask himself questions and thus requires that person to be holding onto the lamp, thus risking being subject to this person. If the answer cannot be reasonably discovered by certain means the ability fails. (If it's possible to find the information somehow in print or something like that, chances of success are higher. GM moderated ability)

Background: Jin just woke up one day, spawning into creation, his body a billowing cloud that quickly formed into the human form that he maintains to this day. Dazed from sudden birth, he gazed down and saw at his feet an exquisite but damnable shackle of his kind: a lamp, made of silver and steel, although he did not know this yet. He himself was standing on a paved slope, the surroundings were mostly grass turf of a football field to the distance and several very large buildings. Not far from where he stood, just down the slope, was a chubby and scruffy looking mid-aged man,

"Incredible! I did it! I harnessed the knowledge of the old tomes I spent ages just trying to find the means to discover whether Djinns actually existed!" Make me a car!"
"... what?" Jin gazed to the aged academic with a perplexed and confused expression.
"A car! Grant me my wish!" The chubby man grabbed the lamp as he repeated. "Give me a fancy car!"

Suddenly, Jin's body gave a little jerk as the lamp seemed to act with the power of an arcane focus, and a car was summoned, much to the glee of the chubby man... until the wheel started to shift and roll down the slope which they stood, heading speedily downhill toward the terribly obese scientist, who could do naught but run his pathetic heart out until it impacted his back and cause him to tumble and his head to the pavement, the lamp caught under his glut. Shortly later, the genie was taken under custody by the principal, Miss Amaranth who discovered the lamp and confisicated it before reporting the incident. The fat teacher had suffered a significant head injury and lost all memory of the incident and his ambition over the past several months, practically erasing genies and wishes from his mind. The principal then drilled the basics of the world's state into Jin along with basic education, who spent most of the days inside his lamp, which he grew to detest more and more out of sheer boredom. On occasions, he would be taken out on trips outside the campus, learning more about the outside world and the contents it held. What else he did not know, he learned from books, but this only serve to make him grow increasingly restless, eager to explore at his own violition.

Years later, around when Jin became 19, he was "released" from the lamp, under a sort of probation, allowed to live as a student, although the lamp would never be terribly far from him.

Clubs:
Riding club

Notes: Has a few "Genie Rules".
1: If someone rubs on the lamp 3 times, Jin is summoned to the lamp. Three times again will summon him by the lamp and subject to wish obedience (not much options aside from fireballs, cars and clairvoyance) and inability to harm the possesser of the lamp, although if the owner isn't paying attention, Jin can attempt to steal back the lamp and free himself from this influence.
2: If summoned inside the lamp and not recalled, it will take about 24 hours maximum before Jin can free himself from the lamp without any outside influence. (This help protects me from someone locking him inside the lamp and hiding it or dumping it someplace forever without anyone able to find the lamp, thus removing me from the game.)
3: Jin can be quite a fair distance from the lamp, but still needs to be within a set radius. (Teal gave example that as long as both the lamp and Jin are on school grounds, it's ok.)
4: The lamp is steel/silver crafted to high quality. But if the lamp is destroyed, Jin dies slowly. >_<
5: Genies are immortal, so they have immunity to diseases. (According to Teal)

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSoeWOPcbcjGoTAvok4RMan4jIa0aEk9 H5SXDjtPHiGnk2PmHE&t=1&usg=__jEi_Njjy-GiA38Yr61IW9bB-4nE=


Relationships:

Principal Miss. Sophia Amaranth.: As principal and thus "owner" of the school which Jin is born in, she is effectively the landlord, and another prison guard to him, even if well-meaning. The relationship is mostly impersonal to him, barely acknowledging each other's presence, although it was due to her that Jin became aware of the rules that govern the paranormals and the expected conducts to avoid casting spells as well as basic human education.

[Teal Mage]

Is the difference between a human and a parahuman that the parahuman has already had training in magic and such? Is that the only difference?

That's the main one, but because of their training, parahumans also have thematic power limitations. For instance, a wizard's abilities would be primarily magical, not technological. Humans have different limitations.

Oh, and is this institute a replacement for high school, or some sort of post-high school technical school?

Its some kind of high school, which is mostly normal. It doesn't use traditional grades, so ages vary a little, and so do entrance methods (high marks are prefered for humans, but since Supernatural Creatures don't usually have a transcript, there are other ways). The content of classes is also pretty different from normal stuff (there'll be a handful of lectures in the game itself; you'll see what I mean), but a diploma from Amaranth is equal to one from another high school, technically at least.

People can still go to improve their supernatural skills, of course. Opportunities would (probably) arise.

I suppose I should have made some note of this before, but clubs are something like electives in a normal school. So, there's work to be done in the class and maybe outside it too (a book club needs to read books for the meetings), which is why having an interest in the subject is important. Immortals are hard to teach unless they like what they're learning, as it happens, which is why a lot of them end up here.

Incidentally, Professor Landry is listed as your homeroom teacher; they're the ones who cover the mandatory subjects.

While I'm talking about the school, I'm going to modify the premise a little. Originally, players were going to be new students, but I'll say that they may have visited the campus before, or hung around the school in the summer (some clubs operate then, and most of the facilities are still accessible) so players may know the area/students prior to coming. They are still first year students though.

Moving onto more player specific things. I still recommend that everyone read this stuff, by the way.

Turned the raccoon into a mountain lion and changed the illusions to being parts of buildings. Mountain lion is obvious for combat, and being able to make fake pillars appear can be good distractions. Not sure why the tennis ball wasn't underpowered, but I guess he can throw them at people.

Mountain Lion's fine since the abilities aren't strong. I'm a little fuzzy on what his illusions are supposed to do though, are they just distractions? Because the power isn't specific (well, it is specific, just not specific enough), they'd look fuzzy up close, unless your character happens to be just sitting there and focusing on making them realistic.

Might be easier just to have an "Illusion: Pillar" ability, really. Small details like color and material can be modified with some thought/focus, and it would look more realistic. Less variability, but unless someone touched it, no one would say it was fake.

Auras are one color, created by mixing the respective colors of your powers. So, your aura would be a dark green.

If you change Justin into something else, please tell me? Otherwise, if you're sure you're fine with the illusion limitations and make the aura change, then you're approved. If not, you'll need to submit the new power.

- I've changed Astarte's aura to solid yellow with twinges of red.
- Rust to Rust was replaced by Enchanted Wrappings. Astarte's mummy wrappings are enchanted. They resist the effects of weather and remain clean and odorless, and offer some niggling defense, but that is the extent of the standard enchantment.
- Strength of the Undead is replaced by Astarte Drill. A skill that reinforces the enchanted wrappings and forms a drill that extends roughly a foot in front of Astarte's outstretched fingers. The drill can sort of be used like a lance when not spinning, but spinning it is much more effective and very tiring.
- Vanilla is now a Naga with a skill that changes her serpentine parts into working human legs to blend in public. Her aura is bright red.
- Linda the Zombie's aura is dark blue.
- Gorgeous the Human's aura is a dark yellowish blue.

Astarte's aura would be orange (an Amber shade, specifically) and Gorgeous would be dark green (yellow+blue = green). Since Linda's powers focus on her body (I think), her aura would probably be dark green, Vanilla might have an orange aura too (shapeshifting is a yellow power). But since I don't know all their powers, that's debatable enough that it would be up to you.

Astarte's Drill is fine. I'd like to just double check Enchanted Wrapping's powers, they'd be water proof and resist heat and cold (not fire and ice), clothing alteration spells and offer as much padding as (slightly) strong cloth bandages can. If that's all correct/you're fine with it and you modify the auras, you'll be approved.



Let's see, Overcast updated his bio.

~Ty Cobb Swing: Ever been hit by a baseball? It hurts. As a response, when something like that comes for Jay he tends to hit it with unreasonable speed and accuracy. It isn't something that he can pull out when he is being pitched at regularly, it needs to be fast and threatening or he won't be shocked enough to react.

I've talked to him about this ability; it's something like an untrained instinctive Flash Action. It only works on things that move at nearly instant speed - like a bullet or another Flash technique.

It's still a tiring move. But, long as you understand that using it repeatedly will leave your character unable to move, you're approved. Assuming you're good with all the other conditions we've talked about.

Appearance: He has beautiful green eyes and a smile that makes others feel peaceful.

Just a small reminder Naqel, a trait like that smile won't actually force them to feel peaceful. Appearances only do so much.

Anyway, to more GMy matters.

Elemental Manipulation: Flora(*2)- While not exactly a combat utility, Charles can already use it to have trees aid his long jumps and grass soften his falls.

First point, as a ninja, he'd need to do some kind of physical gesture to activate a magic-esque ability. Ninja are less magical than Wizards.

Next point is that your ability is a bit too magical for a manipulation skill. Unless grass was really tall, it wouldn't be able to cushion a fall, for example. A level two manipulation skill would still have a low range and/or be pretty slow to make changes, so, manipulating the trees as you jump through them won’t work either.

So, it really isn't viable for the purposes you described. You'd have better luck with more specific skills if you're after effects like that.

Should probably have a pink or light purple aura, by the way. I don't know how you arrived at brown.

But, I feel I need to ask, are you sure you have time for a game like this? I remember other RPs you've played in, and more often than not, you vanish for long periods of time, only to show up again. While I don't have problems, in principle, with this, practically speaking, it makes it very difficult to GM you.

So, is there anything you can say to convince me to let you into the game, knowing the risks? I hope you can come up with something really convincing, because your record does speak for itself. It isn't just vanishing either.

The air magic... eh, I'm going to leave it as it is, and take away the "making hits stronger" bit. Sure, it won't be much useful right at the start, but hell, it'll grow into a powerful weapon and until that happens, he can still kick ass and take names without it.

Alright Drac, as long as you understand that finer control will be really hard to manage and that the most he can do with it right now is stir up a wind strong enough to blow clothes and hair around (which gets weaker after it goes a few feet away from him). Then there's nothing more I'll say about that skill. Well, except that manipulation will always be pretty basic - making needles of air won't ever be easy.

Gonna remind you that Flash Move is tiring at low levels. Using it once will leave you winded and if you use it again without resting, you'll be unable to move for a bit.

Exhaustion is bad!

If you're cool with all that, say so and you're approved.

Oh, and it sounds like he'd be more comfortable in a martial arts club, or a book club, maybe you should think about adding that? Just a suggestion.


Now then, Dante. First thing I'll say is the same thing I did to Naqel, appearances can imply things, but players will need to react to them. Otherwise, I'm not really sure what most of your powers are meant to do. Is Card Reading, supposed to be something like Ex-Ray vision, but limited to cards? Doesn't sound very useful. Bluff is basically a standard strength boost skill, but with an instinctive trigger, right? Means it would be really draining to use over and over, just so you know. What kind of effect did you have in mind for Forced Hand? Is it just supposed to be a lucky throw with something?

And since you asked, aura's fine.

Edit: Would a half-demon character be acceptable?

That depends on what you mean by demon, there are some genetic walls. In general, I'd prefer to avoid half-bloods because of how blurry their mythos is, but, I won’t reject it out of hand until you tell me what kind of half-blood you're thinking of.

It just isn't something I'd recommend setting your heart on.


Right, now for the latest bio, Menarker's Genie character. There's actually nothing that needs to be changed, but there's a few cautionary points I should make.

The Fireball ability is just a generation skill, you can't control them after you make 'em, which takes a few moments (just long enough for them to form). They're about twice the size of an apple, only one can be made at a time and they can only be form about an arm's length from your body, max. Otherwise, the only limit on the number you can have active at one time is that using the skill too much will make you tired - but as long as you're not spamming them like crazy, you should be fine.

I'd also say that, unless you want your main weakness (the lamp) known, avoid advertising your powers, even to PCs. You're not supposed to tell people that you're supernatural anyway.

Oh, and before I forget, all immortals (like Astarte and Dalbhach) have a disease immunity, but it doesn't work on magical illnesses, just mundane ones.


Now, finally, the last thing, Krogothwolf, I'll say your character's approved (that's two, yay!), but his aura should be green. They're solid colors you know.

Right, that’s done. I need to talk less or something.

[Dracorion]

Alright Drac, as long as you understand that finer control will be really hard to manage and that the most he can do with it right now is stir up a wind strong enough to blow clothes and hair around (which gets weaker after it goes a few feet away from him). Then there's nothing more I'll say about that skill. Well, except that manipulation will always be pretty basic - making needles of air won't ever be easy.

Yeah, I'm okay with it.

Although it does kinda bug me that the only useful thing I can do with it right now is look up someone's skirt, because Jack wouldn't do that. But I'm okay with it.

Gonna remind you that Flash Move is tiring at low levels. Using it once will leave you winded and if you use it again without resting, you'll be unable to move for a bit.

Exhaustion is bad!

If you're cool with all that, say so and you're approved.

Yep, I'm cool with this too.

Oh, and it sounds like he'd be more comfortable in a martial arts club, or a book club, maybe you should think about adding that? Just a suggestion.

See, the thing about Jack is that, while he can do a lot of things, they don't really count as interests. I mean, because of his upbringing he probably reads a lot, and he already does taekwondo, and he probably knows a couple of sports, and he can do two dozen other things.

But none of them are really interests, y'know?

[Arhra]

Hmm, my toolkit of stuff is a little more complex to pin down than I'd thought.

Sign-up tomorrow!

[Naqel]

stuff

Know what, forget it. You have successfully drove me off.

[DanteFalcon]

Card reading is for anything written down. So if someone obviously hides something on a piece of paper in front of him he can still read it if he focuses on it long enough (and has reason to sit there and stare at a piece of paper for a bit. More likely to be used on cards but still possible for regular paper and other objects that are written on). Really its the ability to read something no matter if the text is hidden or not. Its more than anything just a "flavor" ability if you will.

Bluff is exactly as you put it.

Forced Hand is a lucky throw. Except he gets a lucky throw every time. So....not sure if that's luck or skill anymore.

As for appearance I am aware. Its not a necessity that anyone reacts to it for anything. Merely threw out a detailed description because I could.

[krogothwolf]

Alright, changed what you asked, aura is tinged with yellow, Sword is made of Obsidian(unless it's the bane of dragons then it'll be changed.) And Friends have been expanded.

[Bard The 5th LW]

That depends on what you mean by demon, there are some genetic walls. In general, I'd prefer to avoid half-bloods because of how blurry their mythos is, but, I won’t reject it out of hand until you tell me what kind of half-blood you're thinking of.

Not really a half-demon half-human, but a person of Demonic origins. The idea is that he is just a human-like demon or the other half will be very vague and unknown. He will have purposefully vague origins.

[Menarker]

Right, now for the latest bio, Menarker's Genie character. There's actually nothing that needs to be changed, but there's a few cautionary points I should make.

The Fireball ability is just a generation skill, you can't control them after you make 'em, which takes a few moments (just long enough for them to form). They're about twice the size of an apple, only one can be made at a time and they can only be form about an arm's length from your body, max. Otherwise, the only limit on the number you can have active at one time is that using the skill too much will make you tired - but as long as you're not spamming them like crazy, you should be fine.

I'd also say that, unless you want your main weakness (the lamp) known, avoid advertising your powers, even to PCs. You're not supposed to tell people that you're supernatural anyway.


Fine with that.

[krogothwolf]

I know nothing of Colours! NOTHING!!

Emerald Green alright?

[IHateMakingNames]

Changed the aura, kept the current illusion. It fit the created and subtle usage better, and for combat I thought of it more as throwing down a quick pillar or wall to throw people off for a moment so the cougar could jump them.

Also changed him to being a new student and killed off the two Amaranth relations since he doesn't know them yet.

[Overcast]

I am aware of all the things we talked about and will make them happen.

[Teal Mage]

Yep, I'm cool with this too.

Alright then, Jackson's approved.

Really its the ability to read something no matter if the text is hidden or not. Its more than anything just a "flavor" ability if you will.

Is there really any point to having an ability with such narrow use? Because it sounds useless right now. However, since its only one of his three powers, and his other two have practical applications, I won't reject you on that basis. Still, having a pointless power is a waste of a skill slot.

Would probably be better if you change it, but I won't force you.

Forced Hand is a lucky throw. Except he gets a lucky throw every time.

Its an instinctive power so it wouldn't work every time unless he really feels like it has to. Either way, the ability will be more draining the luckier the throw is. I'd guess that throws with 'low' luck rates would get draining after like, the fifith one.

Just sayin'.

Sword is made of Obsidian(unless it's the bane of dragons then it'll be changed.)

The only thing I can find out about Obsidian was that it has associations with fire, and that it cuts cleaner than metal, but is a little brittle. So, that's fine.

Emerald Green alright?

Yes. Dean's approved.

Not really a half-demon half-human, but a person of Demonic origins. The idea is that he is just a human-like demon or the other half will be very vague and unknown.

So, basically, he'd be a demon who looks human? Assuming whatever he's a demon of isn't too obscure, it should be fine if that's the case. A lot of demons look human at first glance anyway.

Fine with that.

Kay, Jin's approved.

Also changed him to being a new student and killed off the two Amaranth relations since he doesn't know them yet.

Well that's a pity, you could leave them in as 'people he'd like' if you want. But either way, since you know the risks, Michael's approved. Just tell me if you modify anything.

I am aware of all the things we talked about and will make them happen.

Right then, under the conditions that I'm able to read your posts, Jay's approved.

So many approvals at once!

Still, it took a while to get them. Getting into this game is obviously very difficult!

[Astral Harmony]

Okay, aura colors are updated as per your specifications, and I'm confirmed that what you assume those Enchanted Wrappings do are indeed what they actually do.

Everything's good on my end.

[Teal Mage]

Right, everything looks good then, Astarte and her cadre of freaks is approved. With my blessing, of course.

So let's see, Dante, Arcanum, Bard, Steel, Arhra and Phil have all expressed interest and still need to be definately approved. There were a couple other people who did the same in the interest thread, so, the game won't start for a while.

Are there any more questions while we wait?

[IHateMakingNames]

How can we expect abilities to scale? Based on how you've been handling sign ups seems like it might be a little slow or mundane. Do abilities ever become broad range as well? Thus far everything seems to have to be very specific. For instance, will Michael's summon always be a cougar, or will he be able to summon other things without starting over with a new skill.

[Dracorion]

There's still the most important question and I'm apalled no one's thought to ask it before.


Are the teachers hot?

[Bard The 5th LW]

Alright, I'm writing the character up now. Thinking an ice type demon dude.

[Teal Mage]

Thinking an ice type demon dude.

I'll wait to see what you have in mind, but, as far as I'm aware, Ice Demons aren't very common in myth. I suppose if its anything, it might be an Eastern thing (since they tend to have creatures like Water Demons running around) but I'm a little worried about it being too fantasy mythos and not enough real world mythos. Especially since you said it would look pretty much like a normal human.

I mean, if you just want someone who can control ice, play a Cyrokinetic or something like that.

Come to think of it, your old character might have worked as a Pyrokinetic - for what it's worth.

How can we expect abilities to scale? Based on how you've been handling sign ups seems like it might be a little slow or mundane. Do abilities ever become broad range as well? Thus far everything seems to have to be very specific. For instance, will Michael's summon always be a cougar, or will he be able to summon other things without starting over with a new skill.

I've been trying to avoid broad range things, to be perfectly honest. They take a lot of difficulty out of RPs. So, even late in the game, there's a good chance players won't get powers with really broad applications.

To use summons as an example, Micheal would still need to learn his new summons as individual skills. Summoning an Elephant is different from summoning a cougar, and so on. Every new summon ability would allow him to summon something new to the fight though, so, a second summon would give him two minions. Which is nice. They also have seperate abilities - unless you do something like use a level to let you summon two cougars. Then they'd have identical abilities while still being two creatures. There's a lot of ways to level up skills! I'll try to offer suggestions in PM form when the time comes to improve your abilities. But, try to be creative.

In other words, yeah, ability growth will be slow. Or at least will be gradual. As the game progresses it might also get easier to learn higher level skills, but that depends on how I feel the current system's working out; I really do want to preserve the difficulty in the game. If players start taking really strong skills left and right, I'd worry the game would get easy. Just like having a skill that lets you make walls of fire and giant explosions at the same time.

Still, if your character turns into a dedicated summoner, they'd probably have an easier time learning strong summons than learning to throw columns of magical light at people.

Just sayin'.

Does that answer the question? I'm not sure if it does.

Are the teachers hot?

Yes.

But I picture the characters I create in an anime style. So you might not think so.

[Bard The 5th LW]

Here he is. This took longer than it should have, and I am leaving some things blank for now. I will fill them out a bit later.

I know there will be some issues, so point them out to me and I will fix them. Probaby doesn't tie in with mythology much. May switch Ice out for water. BE RELENTLESS! TEACH ME A LESSON!

---


Name: Sean Castevet

Gender: Male

Aura: Orange

Appearance: Sean stands at 6ft. He weighs probably around 200lbs and has quite a muscular frame. He has black hair cut in a buzz. He has a pretty clear face, no acme or anything, and he is astoundingly pale. His facial features are also rather rounded. His hair is black and cut into a neat buzz cut and he has brown eyes. He is half Japanese, his father being Caucasian. He typically wears a light blue polo shirt and gray pants.

Race: The son of a Yuki-onna.

Abilities:

-Lesser Blizzard: Sean is capable of conjuring ice and using it as a projectile. Right now it is just a flurry of ice shards and some snow. But hey, Ice can mess a person up pretty bad sometimes.

-Flash Step: Sean's dad, being a parahuman, is very capable of flash moving. After a while Sean managed to convince the old man to teach him how to. Hightened running speed.

-Regeneration: Its nothing intense, but Sean does heal rather quickly. There is a logical limit though. If he was sliced across the arm, the bleeding will usually stop itself rather quickly and the wound would seal faster than a usual persons but if he lost a finger it would be gone. Really deep wounds take longer as well.

-Greater Blizzard: With this newer and improved version of the older blizzard ability, Sean is now capable of dealing a more noticeable impact upon his target then the snowball that was the original attack. At level two, it is basically an overall upgrade. The range and width of attack is slightly longer and larger, and the effect carries a stronger impact overall. The shards of ice are sharper and thicker, capable of leaving marks without taking as much time to charge. It has drawbacks though. The more powerful nature of it requires Sean to hold steady ground, meaning that there is no running and gunning to be done. It takes a stronger physical toll as well, fatiguing Sean psychically and some of the attack even recoils, leaving a weak sheet of ice and snow on Sean's hands.

Background: Sean was raised with his father and step mother in Canada. He was born in Japan, but his parents split up for some reason not long after his birth. Sean has asked his father questions about his mother before, and he's inquired why they split up, but his father has dodged the question for quite a while. He's promised Sean that he will answer the questions someday, and Sean hopes that is soon.

While he doesn't know his particular origins, Sean is aware of the supernatural and he knows quite a bit more about the world around him than most people his age. He comes from a line of para humans who have a career involving the 'otherworldly.' His father even went to Amaranth.

In keeping with the family tradition of supernatural careers, Paul has decided to send his son to Amaranth for the continuation of his education. Sean trusts his father's judgement and he's willing to give this new experience a try. At his old school, he didn't have very many close friends, so he figures maybe he can use the chance to get to know more people.

Clubs:

-Swim Team
-Hockey Team

Notes: Sean has a natural preference for the cold and cold areas. His blood and body temperature are colder than a normal person's as well. Overall, he just functions much better in the cold, his regeneration working better there as well. Heat and Sunlight has a tendency to bother him more than it would a normal person, but it isn't deadly. While his father has never let him in on the details regarding his mother, Sean knows very well that she was probably not a human. However, he simply doesn't have the initiative to go and research her. He mostly figures that if his Dad will tell him sometime in the future when he thinks he is ready, then he can wait. He is also a pretty big Hockey Fan, and he has most of his gear lying around his room.

Relationships:

Paul Castevet: Sean's father. Sean looks up to his dad and sees him as a positive influence. Too Sean's slight irritation though, Paul is pretty dodgy with details about Sean's actualy mother. Seeing his son's origin, it goes without saying that Paul has a bit of history with the strange, and he is a parahuman himself. Appearance wise, he is built similarly to Sean, but lighter hair and sharper facial features.

-Judith Castevet: Sean's step-mother. Paul and Judith married about 6 years after Sean was born. She and Sean have gotten along rather well, and there are no ill feelings between the two. They are not particularly close however.

-Sarah Castevet: Sarah is Sean's half sister. She's ten years old and there isn't a great is deal to say about her. She's more outgoing than her older brother, and she regard him as being rather odd due to his silent nature and preference for the cold. Sean cares about her though, and they are on positive enough terms. She doesn't really seem to posses any odd abilities or be anything but a normal kid.

-Nicholas Bell: Nicholas Sean's cousin, who was born not a month after Sean himself was. The two of them more or less grew up together and have a bit of a rivalry going. It could be said that they act more like siblings than cousins. Being of the same family as Sean, Nick has a dercent awareness of the strange. In particular, Nick is pyrokinetic. He isn't as muscular as Sean is, but he is still in good shape, being more slim and rather acrobatic. If there is any particular trait that sets the two apart, its that Nick is more wild and a risk taker of sorts.

Penelope Liega: It is hard to pin exactly what Sean and Penelope's relationship is. Sean would call her a friend while stammering and maybe blushing a little, and Nick would call her "Sean's creepy succubus girlfriend." Sean had met her during the week or so that he spent at Amaranth before classes. While wandering around the campus, he stumbled into an empty choir room and happened upon the lone blonde singing on her own. Sean wanted to just leave her be, but he felt drawn into the room, and he struck up conversation, or she struck up conversation. It was sort of a blur to him. During his short time at Amaranth so far, a bit over a week, she has sporadically confronted him and asked him questions about how his day has been. Whenever she's around, Sean seems to suddenly become Michael Cera, the weakest of all Canadians. Whether or not her interest in him is innocent is unclear, but Sean seems to be pretty much infatuated.

[Wizardcat]

Screw you, background, I'm just going to post and edit you later!

---

Name: Joseph Hunter (Goes by Seph)
Gender: Male
Aura: Green
Appearance: Seph is caucasian, with dark mid-length hair and blue eyes. At seventeen, he stands at 5'8, and weighs in at about 165 lbs. Pretty well built. Seph's choice of attire tends towards dark colors, and usually permits freedom of movement.
Race: Werejaguar

Abilities:

Shapeshifting: Beast Form - Like the vast majority of those of Were descent, Seph is capable of taking on an animal form; in his case, a black jaguar. A feline shape has its benefits, including, but not limited to: Fangs, claws, increased physical attributes, et cetera.

Instant Movement: Flash Step - A straight-line long distance move, which leaves the user vulnerable for a moment after using it.

Superior Senses - Namely, night vision and superior senses of smell and hearing in human form. Even sounds normally too high in pitch for humans to hear are audible.

Background: Seph was born in a village of Weres in a secluded area, where there was no need to hide their supernatural ancestry. Also, stuffs.

Clubs: Swim Team, Cross Country Running

Relationships:

Anthony Wood: A Weretiger who is in the wrestling club. A friendly, muscular, jolly redheaded giant, Tony isn't the brightest, but possesses startling insight into others.

[krogothwolf]

Long Lost Cousin!

[DanteFalcon]

Card Reading has been modified as per our PM conversation.

[phil_]

Nothing really cool is coming to mind, so I think I'll withdraw. Have fun.

[IHateMakingNames]

Bard, I'm going to throw some quick fixes out to possibly save you some time.

Change race to half-Yeti, half-Jotunn (Norse frost giant), or son of a Yomi-onna (Japanese snow woman), and change appearance to suit. Gives you some basis. Make the first ability more specific (Freezes something on touch, makes ice balls, weak freezing wind) and turn the armor into ice while removing the claw aspect.

[Bard The 5th LW]

Sounds like a plan. Thanks for the advice.

He was actually going to be fire based, but I felt that Menarker's character already had some fire stuff about him, so I figured I wouldn't step over his territory.

Edit: Alrighty, I edited it around a bit. IHMN (your name is too long), my Japanese mythology/history isn't that great, anything to point out?

[IHateMakingNames]

Well first, it's Yuki-onna. I wrote the wrong thing.

You might want a Japanese name, unless his father is not Japanese. You have two eye colors, I assume you just want brown. Should probably mention he's (half)Japanese.

Wiki page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuki-onna), but summary is that they draw in people during snowstorms then freeze them to death. One popular legend has the woman spare a boy, boy says he won't talk about her, later secretly marries boy, boys talks about snow woman, wife gets all mad cause he said he wouldn't but doesn't kill him.

[Bard The 5th LW]

Thanks for pointing that out. Some of those were left over from a different draft. His father isn't going to be Japanese, mostly because I like the name. First name has potential to change, but not the last name.

I'll give that wiki page a good look at. I looked it up at first, but I couldn't find anything what with the misspelling.

[Teal Mage]

BE RELENTLESS! TEACH ME A LESSON!

That sounds like a line from a bad porno.

But, since you asked!

Like IHMN said, your appearance section is a bit jumbled, clean that up, will you? Aura would be either pale pink (this is very eastern concept) or pale magenta (but elemental control is usually more western).

You realize that the Ice Manipulation power is more of a specific skill than elemental manipulation, right? It would just make a blast of really cold air with ice shards and snow particles in it, can't use it do other things. Although, you can turn down the intensity if you like. Max strength should be enough to slow the average person down if they're walking into it, but that would be hard to maintain. Oh, and if it isn't fired in a focused column, it'll be weaker.

Not sure if the armor skill's worth taking. It would take about a post to form it, and whatever part you cover, you wouldn't be able to move. Probably better to take another specific attack or something.

Regeneration's fine, assuming its a pretty slow heal. Shallow cuts and the like would probably still be healed by the end of the battle he was fighting in, but larger injuries like broken bones or lost limbs would take a day, at minimum, to heal.

As a general racial traits, his blood would probably be cold, not warm. He'd also be more comfortable in cold places than form ones (mild cold resistance/heat weakness) and his regenerative trait would work better in colder areas too.

Otherwise, I can't approve you until I see your background and you fill the rest of your bio in.


Anyway, Wizardcat gets the same speech, fill the background in more, stuff does not tell me anything!

Like any other physical enhancement skill, his senses will only be boosted for short periods of time, and when he uses the skill, his eyes will glow green. Even normal people will see that. So, it isn't something that's always on, and prolonged use, as usual, will be tiring. Also potentially painful since flashes of light and sounds will probably hurt you while that's goin'.

The main power for the Jaguar Shapeshift is is a Jaguar. Not a magical Jaguar, just a normal one - who can use Flash Step. It'll just be a little harder in this form and the sense boost trick won't work either, which is good because then everything would hurt.

As a Were, it should also be noted that touching silver will cause burns and that any cuts made with silver will often become infected. You will not like this. Full Moons will also lower his inhibitions - although you can decide how that will manifest yourself. Still, it should affect him in some way. No, biting people doesn't make them into other Weres. He probably won't be too fond of eating vegetables in general, but certain plants (Rye, Wolf's Bane, Mistletoe and Mountain Ash trees) are things he'd have to avoid. Allergies!

Otherwise, there's nothing you need to change. Except adding the background.


Dante's character is also approved, as he's changed his questionably useful skill to something that might be helpful someday (maybe) and seems alright with the limitations of the other two abilities.

Plenty of approvals today, yay!

[Bard The 5th LW]

Alright. I'll change the armor ability (I was actually iffy on that to. Mostly to fill a space) with something else and fill in a backstory .

Tomorrow. Its getting late and I need sleep now.

[Arhra]

Welp, I had a pretty similar concept to Bard, but the actual applications of powers are pretty different, so hopefully won't be a problem.

It might be fun to be interested in Sean as a result. Oh yeah, is anyone else living on campus? Might share a dorm.

Really bare bones right now:


Name: Johanna Imirsdotter

Gender: Female

Aura: Green

Appearance: About average height, Jo has a lean build, very pale skin, long, white hair and coal black eyes. She feels cool to the touch.

Race: Jotun

Abilities:
Winter's Touch - Jo can create snow and ice in close proxmity to herself, about a two metre range. Snow is quick and easy, she can generate a human sized mass in a matter of seconds. Ice is much more time consuming.

Snow Manipulation - Jo can also can shape, harden or soften snow and ice that is close to her body. She can also reinforce it to the point it can be used as bladed weapons. As her body is made of snow, she can manipulate herself, although this is difficult to get right. Her most practiced use of this is sprouting ice talons.

Ice Clone - Jo can animate a mass of snow or ice, transforming its substance to make it appear like a real person. Her body is essentially a much more advanced version of this technique. They remain vulnerable to heat and breaking the surface reveals the truth about them. They cease to function if seriously damaged. The clones are semi-autonomous and Jo can see through their eyes, although any more than two needs her concentration for complex actions. They are still vulnerable to heat and must stay within a hundred meters of her. Their composition affects them - ones made purely of snow are much lighter and more fragile. Ones made in her image are nearly perfect copies, ones of people she knows well are decent and people she's only just met are likely to be quite obvious. If she's rushed in making the bodies, they're lower quality.

Background: It is hard to be a mythological creature in the modern age. Johanna is a rime giant, born and raised in Niflheim, which is diminished these days. The human world has so much more potential and so after completing as much of her education as she could at her home, she let most of herself melt to be able to go to a human school. She lives on campus. She has a tricksy mindset, she does not like doing things in straightforward ways.

Clubs: Art Club (Sculpture)

Relationships: To be finalised!

[Overcast]

Ice Giants are obviously ten tons more awesome. But yeah Jay lives on campus, don't know if the dorms are coed.

[IHateMakingNames]

Shouldn't she be tall?

Going to take some guesses as to what you'll need to fix.

Winter's Touch, nothing, but maybe to much snow to fast. Snow Manipulation, since the armor would take a post, I'd assume this would. I expect Ice Clone to get beaten down. I'm guessing one max, they can move, no seeing through their eyes.


I might put Michael in the dorms, just because he's the only PC living off campus right now.

[Teal Mage]

Shouldn't she be tall?

She melted.

I expect Ice Clone to get beaten down.

Am I really that mean?

Oh wait, yes I am. Hm.

Arhra spent quite a while discussing the matter of his Ice Clones with me, as it happens. Since they're essentially the only thing his character can do (I'm still not sure why he didn't just merge it into one skill) I was more lenient on it than I would have been if his character had other abilities on top of it.

As it is, Johanna's only other skill is reshaping her body and that still takes a post to manage. Winter's Touch and Ice Clone are basically two halves of a level two skill, which allows her to make copies of herself made of snow (although, for balance reasons, I'm going to limit it to one at a time) in one post. Conseqently, the copies aren't any better than she is (unless she modifies them by adding claws or changing their default structure, but, again, has a post's cast time for each) and bladed weapons will one shot them pretty easily. Ice clones, because of how much harder they are to deal with, still take a post (each) to make though.

That said, if she has more than two active she'll need to concentrate to control them - as it says in the bio. Also, in order to avoid a 'I see from three different locations at once' thing, she'll only be able to see out of her clones eyes at a time, and only if she's closing her own eyes. I suspect controling her own body like this would be difficult, at best, while this was happening. Using it in battle is not recommended.

This is all under the assumption that Johanna's ability to use her Winter's Touch skill is limited to just past touch range, and, that she can't use it to quick generate anything other than clones. Because if I start seeing piles of snow appearing to block an enemy attack, that enemy will mysteriously get the power to throw sheets of fire at you.

The only thing I'm unsure of is the range limit, I'd like her to need to be relatively nearbye for her clones to function, but I don't have a good figure in mind. As long as she's in the area with her clones, that'll be fine, but if she's across the school campus from the clone, that'll be too long. I'd prefer to handle that on a scene-by-scene basis, since I'm not very good with exact measurements in games like this. It gets very complicated quite quickly.

So, if you're alright with all this Arhra (you made small change to the control method, but it seems better this way), then the skills are fine. Only thing I'd like to see is the relationships before approving.

Race-wise, her blood would be ice water and she'd have a high resistance to the cold, but heat can kill her. So, its a good thing Amaranth springs for air conditioning. But! I have a funny feeling being her roommate would suck. Either way, she should also get the standard immortal perks, but she might be a very bad swimmer - falling in water might kill her if she stays in too long, come to think of it.

Even magic snow is still snow.

I might put Michael in the dorms, just because he's the only PC living off campus right now.

If you like. There's single dorms (normally expensive) and double ones - as you might imagine, the school likes to keep humans rooming with humans, for safety reasons. Might be a good way to put one of your relationships back up though.

Still waiting for Wizardcat and Bard to modify their bios, and Steel and Arcanum to post in the first place.

[krogothwolf]

Dean wishes to be in a double room. Don't really care who his roommate is in the end.

[Dracorion]

Yep, I guess Jack's in a double dorm also.

But I don't really wanna come up with another NPC, so I guess he's going to be rooming with a PC. Any PC, really. I'm not picky.

[Menarker]

Jin would probably be single dormed. Doesn't want anyone to find his lamp after all. ^^:

[Bard The 5th LW]

Alright, I filled out all the blanks on Sean's CS. I also altered an ability. Sorry it took so long.

Tell me any necessary revisions and edits that need to be made and I promise that I will make them quickly this time.

Edit: I suppose Sean could tolerate being in a dorm with Johanna, however, the gender difference would probably be an obstacle against that. Due to the whole cold preference, he's probably have his own dorm as well.

[Teal Mage]

Dean wishes to be in a double room. Don't really care who his roommate is in the end.

The baby dragon might be hard to explain.

Yep, I guess Jack's in a double dorm also.

But I don't really wanna come up with another NPC, so I guess he's going to be rooming with a PC. Any PC, really. I'm not picky.

But since Jack's a Wizard already, you two should totally room!

Edit: I suppose Sean could tolerate being in a dorm with Johanna, however, the gender difference would probably be an obstacle against that.

The school doesn't particularly care if the students aren't the same gender when they room together, so if you want to, you can.

They just make you sign a waver clearing them of any possible legal responsibilities if something happens. But every student has to sign those forms anyway, so that's not a big deal. Its just common sense when the school contains possibly dangerous things, really.

-Hypothermia: Upon using this curse on someone, their internal body temperature will begin to drop. While it isn't by a huge amount, 5 degrees or more can make quite a difference in a normal human or someone lacking in proper defenses to the cold.

I think it falls into useless or overpowered territory, which is unfortunate since it is a nicely thematic ability. What effect did you imagine it would have? Is it supposed to be a touch based or a ranged curse?

But since your character's so closely related to parahumans, perhaps you could fill that slot with a skill that works as a reference to their training? I mean, if Sean's dad hasn't made an effort to hide it from him, its possible that Sean's picked up a trick from him or something.

Oh, and in case my first post gave you guys the wrong idea, you don't need to pick an ability from that list.

[Bard The 5th LW]

Alright, that sounds like a decent idea. I'll drop something in that matches up more with Parahumans.

I suppose it would be sort of OP. I was imagining it as a ranged thing, but it mostly was a thematic thing. I'll find something to replace it with.

[Arcanum]

...and Steel and Arcanum to post in the first place.

Yeah I'm not really coming up with any good character ideas that I really like so I'm gonna pull out. Sorry for keeping you waiting.

[Bard The 5th LW]

Alright I replaced Hypothermia with Flash Move.

You realize that the Ice Manipulation power is more of a specific skill than elemental manipulation, right? It would just make a blast of really cold air with ice shards and snow particles in it, can't use it do other things. Although, you can turn down the intensity if you like. Max strength should be enough to slow the average person down if they're walking into it, but that would be hard to maintain. Oh, and if it isn't fired in a focused column, it'll be weaker.

Does this mean he could fire it in either a column or a spray, pr just one?

[Teal Mage]

Alright, Sean's approved.

Does this mean he could fire it in either a column or a spray, or just one?

The ability is slightly malleable. He can fire it in a relatively focused column (about the size of a person), which would be the most effective attack, offensively speaking. Or he could widen the range, but decrease the strength of the wind and its range of effectiveness. For instance, the ability could be turned into an all-directional-attack, but the range would be pretty low, and it wouldn't be good for much except making a cool snowy breeze. By contrast, making the ability more focused will take a turn's focus, but would make it more lethal - it probably won't kill any one right now otherwise.

Does that make sense?

[Bard The 5th LW]

Yeah I got it now. The earlier post was a bit confusing to me.

WOO-HOO I'm in!

[Julford Hajime]

Okay, I'm slowly (VERY slowly) making my way through all the characters and (especially) posts Teal made after the initial one, but I thought I'd write up my character first, as Teal put quite a lot of effort into this and so I'll bite :D

Name: Howi Tanzer

Gender: Male

Aura: Darkish Yellow? I'd like input on this please, based on his powers, as I'm not understanding it.

Appearance: I'm REALLY bad at typing up descriptive paragraphs for how my character typically looks, so I'mma just treat it like a list >.>
Hair: Light brown
Eyes: Blue
Skin: White, fairly well tanned.
Height: 6'0"
Build: Skinny dude, has obvious muscle-tone but not "HULK SMASH" type muscles.
Typical Clothes: Usually caught wearing some of T-shirt with blue jeans.

Race: Human

Abilities: I hope I do well here, I used to help run an RP'ing site where I argued the hell out of the relative powers of different abilities.

Newtype Senses: Possesses minor future-sense in one specific way; he can sense the direction, distance, and speed of a single attack coming in his direction about half a second before it would connect. The ability is constantly active and so would give off a very minor aura, but whenever it triggers the aura sudenly flares up for an instant before dying back down. Newtype Senses cannot activate rapidly, requiring about five seconds between each 'flare'. Basically, due to the small time-frame this gives him, it is typically seen as simply having very good reflexes, though that wouldn't explain him 'knowing' about things that would hit him from behind. Howi simply treats it as a good sense of hearing, though, since magic and stuff is for CRAZY people and it being some sort of supernatural power has never crossed his mind.

Speedy Jab: Howi's jab, specifically with his right arm, is extremely fast. While this isn't, say, Flash Action fast, he naturally has a very nice speed and strength to the jab. Unfortunately, this doesn't transfer over to the rest of his punches at all, which are all fairly typical punches from a teenage male. Not actually a super-naturally powered skill, but it seemed appropriate to place here as I hope to improve it as time goes on >.>

I'll leave the third one out for now, I wanna get your opinion on the other two, as they're the core concept for the character's fighting style >.>

Background: Howi's parents, lower-middle class working adults with a high school education, have insisted that Howi attend a nicer school than the one in their old neighborhood, and moved upstate so that he could attend this school specifically; Howi had not performed well in his previous school, and his parents are hoping that the different style of teaching in the school will help his grades so he can do better in life than they did.

Howi, being a teenager, pretty much hates everything that got written in that last paragraph; he's just been dragged from a school system he grew up attending, enrolled into a school he knows little to nothing about, and resents the high expectations his parents have thrown onto him. Still, at least this school has a boxing team, something Howi had been trying his old school to make for years.

Clubs: Boxing Club takes priority, though his parents push him to attend Student Council meetings; he is an infrequent attendee at best. Though not a member, he attended most Wrestling meets at his old school and will attend them here as well.

Notes: Keeps a pair of boxing gloves in his backpack along with everything else a normal schoolkid would need.

Relationships: A couple of old girlfriends, though nothing really to write home about an the relationships never got too serious. His best friends back home were Drake Cornwall and Matthew (Matt) Langley, and they sometimes visit/he sometimes visits them during weekends. Otherwise, fairly popular guy, he knew a lot of people in his old school, they knew him.

Did NOT get along with most teachers, though, and while a sub-par student (Didn't fail, didn't excel), his attitude in class often bordered insubordinate without ever getting too close to crossing the line.

[Teal Mage]

Boxing Club takes priority, though his parents push him to attend Student Council meetings; he is an infrequent attendee at best.

Hasn't come up yet, but, the school doesn't have a student council. I didn't think it mattered!

I'll leave the third one out for now, I wanna get your opinion on the other two, as they're the core concept for the character's fighting style.

If that's the case, then you might have to make a new character. I'll elaborate a little on why that is, as I always do. But I won't be allowing either ability.

I've seen a power just like Newtype Senses before, that type of ability is too easily abusable. The closest thing I'm willing to give would be a danger sense, which would only alert your character to enemies being nearby.

Speedy Jab sounds like a passive ability. While I don't have a problem with those in principle, I don't want players to have abilities like 'this character is faster/stronger than average' as powers. I made a note of how physical enhancement skills will be handled in this game later in the thread - you'll find it if you look.

If it isn't a passive ability, it seems either overpowered or pointless. A slightly stronger than average punch isn't worth an ability slot, and most enemies will probably just ignore it. Either way, a different skill would be better.

Edit: I'll just remove that last bit, actually. Reading it over a couple times, it isn't as bad as my first instincts said.

[Julford Hajime]

Hasn't come up yet, but, the school doesn't have a student council. I didn't think it mattered!
Hmm... PTA meetings, then? Something to that effect? >.>

If that's the case, then you might have to make a new character. I'll elaborate a little on why that is, as I always do. But I won't be allowing either ability.
:ohdear:

I've seen a power just like Newtype Senses before, that type of ability is too easily abusable. The closest thing I'm willing to give would be a danger sense, which would only alert your character to enemies being nearby.
Actually, do you have an IM of some sort I could contact you on? I've used this ability several times before, but I feel like my description is too vague on what exactly I'm trying to get across, and if you wanted to shoot some examples my way I could give a better idea of what exactly I'm striving for here. I'm aware of the potential godmoding this thing can bring about, which is why I made the time before hits only half a second, included the "Only once per five seconds" limitation, and if need be I'd also be willing to up the time between uses even further. The idea is it helps him dodge one blow every few seconds, but he can't rely on it since any attacks coming more often than that are up to his natural reflexes to fend off. It's an ability that leans towards the defensive, rather than the offensive.

Speedy Jab sounds like a passive ability. While I don't have a problem with those in principle, I don't want players to have abilities like 'this character is faster/stronger than average' as powers.
You mentioned in the Notes section that you wanted people to mention weapons and such up in the Abilities section. His right jab is his offensive strength, as opposed to being able to pull/find a sword out of nowhere or summon a fireball.

I made a note of how physical enhancement skills will be handled in this game later in the thread - you'll find it if you look.
Are you talking about this section?
In addition, I'm afraid the innate strength boost ability doesn't work, but that's really my fault. I forgot to talk about physical enhancement abilities in the first post. They work similarly to Flash Step and Move, acting as short bursts of improved performance. Using this power in rapidly is exhausting, especially at low levels though. One casting leaves the user tired, while two used rapidly leaves them unable to move for a few moments.

But, when it lets you throw things that are a lot larger than you, and punch down stone walls, that might be worth it!
That isn't anything like what I was trying to get at. Instead of a short burst of super-human strength, I was trying to get across the idea that his jabs hurt. Like, if you can't dodge his jabs they'll mess you up pretty royally. HOWEVER, he hasn't gotten to the point where they'd be an Action Flash, instead being a sort of specialty of his that he focuses on when fighting, while his other skills/stats/whatever are merely normal for someone his age. Also, yes, I guess it'd be a passive skill in the sense that it triggers itself (He doesn't have to focus on activating it) when he's throwing the jab, though he would be aware that right jabs are his strong point.

If it isn't a passive ability, it seems either overpowered or pointless. A slightly stronger than average punch isn't worth an ability slot, and most enemies will probably just ignore it. Either way, a different skill would be better.
Comparatively it's probably a bit weaker now, but the idea was that he'd eventually get his jab to be a Flash Action, which'd really lay down the pain if one got hit by it.

EDIT: Removed this chunk because you removed the relevant part from your own post. PM'ing it to ya so we can come to an understanding, though.

[Steel Shadow]

Name: Diana Tear

Gender: Female

Aura: Black, it has been decreed!!

Appearance: Just looking at her, you can tell – She is a teenage female!
...What, more details? Kay, fine. Aged about 16 and ¾, Her hair is a dull, kinda flat red that she wears tied up in a pony tail and frequently under a blue baseball cap. Occasionally a pair of glasses will appear on her face (that is to say, she'll put them on, rather than some oddly magical specs) if she wants to look professional or needs to do extended reading. Blue eyes, for the record. She's an active girl, so typically she wears clothes that reflect that, often a pair of dark jeans and a white cloth jacket over a blue T-shirt. She's pretty much never seen without her video camera, either in her hands or in it's rather secure looking bag at her side.

Race: Human

Abilities:
1: Precognitive Sixth Sense (Camera-girl edition) : Di is gifted with the ability to always be at the best location to start filming interesting events within her range (as in, where she can feasibly travel). A subconscious sixth sense that tells her 'something cool is going to happen over there!', it acts as a reverse danger magnet, dragging her to trouble.

----
Ability: Camera Girl Sense
Level: 2
Effect: A sixth sense that alters Diana whenever something interesting is happening, and weakly compells her to investigate. It also enables her to sense how interesting people are, just by looking at them - although it can only do so in a relative way.
----

2: Do. Not. Touch. The Camera : As a Director and camera woman, Di's camera is her life and she defends it as such. If there's any danger to her camera, Di will defend it however she can, up to and including shielding it with her own body. As long as she is capable of moving, this ability applies. It's really best no one but her goes near the thing, lest they lose a hand. This improves her physical state, and in certain cases may be similar to a flash action.
3: Directorial Ability - Self insert : If, while the camera is rolling, Diana ends up on screen, suddenly her hair is radiant, her eyes sparkle with a mysterious light, she moves with the grace of a dancer, and she punches with the strength of a gorilla. Basically, while she's being filmed, her stats get a boost. It's exhausting though, like, really lots.

Background:
When Diana was a kid, her parents were obsessed with home movies. It was a family quirk, one that's resulted in the filling of an entire store-room these days. Diana always wanted to be the one holding the camera, and her love of directing slowly grew from that.
More recently, she just got into Amaranth Institute for the Gifted, which is nice. Her parents were thrilled! Of course, Di has pretty much no idea about the supernatural world.

Clubs:
Film makers club
Anime club
Movie club
Various tv show and movie fandom clubs
Drama club
Documentary club


Notes:
A skilled director and movie maker, at least for her age, Di is never without her camera (which no one else is allowed to touch). Usually she keeps enough spare film on her to never really be in danger of running out during mundane day-to-day activities. If anything interesting crops up, so to does the camera. Her computer has the rather modern editing software she personally uses, although for big jobs she'll find someone more skilled at using it. The movies she's made to date aren't that bad, either.
She's also very well versed on tv-tropes (“It's a creators responsibility to know what the hell they're doing after all!”) which can be more than a little annoying for those around her.

Relationships:
Alex Darrow: Diana's main rival as a director. A dark haired boy in his late teens, never without his shades. To Di's constant annoyance, he also got into the school and lives nearby on campus. The two should never be put in the same room for more than half an hour.

Sarah Fiyr: Di's room-mate at the dorm. The two are best friends. Sarah is a blonde new arrival more interested in computer science than movie making, a little taller than Di, and far calmer in temperment.

Bill Door: The best special effects editor Diana knows, much to his despair. Di will pester him to edit whatever videos she makes until he caves. A few years older than Di, Bill's usually found hanging out in the computer labs, casually dressed and carrying a can of cola, a sign of his caffine addiction.

[Dracorion]

The baby dragon might be hard to explain.



But since Jack's a Wizard already, you two should totally room!

Hm? I thought students, even the magical ones, weren't supposed to know about the existence of non-humans if it could be avoided.

I figured Jack's parents, being part of a paranormal organization, wouldn't have told him about non-humans since it wasn't strictly related to his abilities.

Exposing him to a dragon would confirm the existence of magical creatures and therefore non-humans. After all, if dragons exist, who's to say vampires and werewolves don't?

[krogothwolf]

It's not a dragon! It's a pet dog!

Besides, it says the average human would scoff at it, not the non average human, ie. parahumans.

[IHateMakingNames]

I assumed anyone not human already knows that everything else exists, cause they are already not human or using magic. But they don't go advertising that because the idea is to stay hidden, so you can't risk telling Guy A that you are a wizard because maybe Guy A isn't a werewolf and just some normal guy

[Wizardcat]

This ignorance isn't limited to humans either, just because you might be a werewolf doesn't mean you believe in ninja and fairies. Some things really are just stories.
^-This.

[krogothwolf]

Yes, but it doesn't mean you can't believe in certain things, it just means that some things are sheltered. I doubt a wizard with parents in a paranormal group be that ignorant to the world around him.

Also, we are going to a school for these types of things, so it's highly possible that things we thought weren't real we'll find out are real.

Even if he didn't believe in Dragons before hand, he probably will start to at the school. He may react all weird-ed out by the Dragon at first(though you're a wizard with powers, how surprising can it be to find out a Dragon exists.)

[Bard The 5th LW]

I would presume that you would just have an unspoken agreement to not talk about the dragon.

He would simply act as though it did not exist.

[IHateMakingNames]

I put Michael in the dorms and added Justin back as a guy he met while trying out for tennis.

[krogothwolf]

Should pretend the dragon isn't even there on him.

Everytime he mentions it "What Dragon?"

"Dude, there's a dragon on my bed!"
"I don't see a dragon."

[Teal Mage]

Thanks to Wizardcat for bringing that old quote up. Yeah, being part of a Paranormal Organization doesn't mean you know about everything. In fact, the Organizations would officially have to deny the existence of any supernatural creatures you couldn't show them evidence of. So, the stance a Parahuman takes will depend on their own experiences and views. As a young Wizard, it's rather likely that Jack would only know about other Magic Users. His parents might have told him more, but, the more a Parahuman knows, the more places their organization feels comfortable sending them.

Can you imagine why parents would like to avoid telling their children too much?

That said, if the school has to put two people in the same room, they generally prefer to put known Parahumans together (they have their ways of knowing). It falls on the roommates to find a way to live together without exposing themselves. Like any one else.

Don't know if that resolves the questions though, do I need to elaborate more?

Exposing him to a dragon would confirm the existence of magical creatures and therefore non-humans. After all, if dragons exist, who's to say vampires and werewolves don't?

What if Dean (Krogothwolf's character) said it was a rare lizard-dog from Scotland? Or maybe it's a Dinosaur! Either way, Dragons don't necessarily mean that Vampires and Werewolves exist; most Fantasy Worlds with Dragons are more likely to have Elves and Orcs than Vampires after all. That said, it isn't the worst thing in the world for a Wizard to be exposed to a Dragon in a safe environment.

But it really does make more sense for someone with a pet dragon to have their own room, or for the dragon to live elsewhere on the campus, or something like that. If you two still want to room together, I'll talk it over with Krogothwolf and see if I can come up with something that suits his character's preference.

Hmm... PTA meetings, then? Something to that effect? >.>

Also doesn't exist! The school is very strange. But otherwise absolutely normal!

Don't think about it.

Actually, do you have an IM of some sort I could contact you on? I've used this ability several times before, but I feel like my description is too vague on what exactly I'm trying to get across, and if you wanted to shoot some examples my way I could give a better idea of what exactly I'm striving for here.

If you want to try, I'm on MSN and AIM - you can see the little blue and amber people under my display picture, if you look, my contact information should be in there. Don't think you'll be able to change my mind though.

You mentioned in the Notes section that you wanted people to mention weapons and such up in the Abilities section. His right jab is his offensive strength, as opposed to being able to pull/find a sword out of nowhere or summon a fireball.

A base assumption of the game's system is that everyone is that everyone's pretty much equal, physically speaking. But, background determines the few differences between characters - athletes would have more physical stamina than non-athletes, a martial artist's punches would hurt more than a school girl's, that sort of thing. However, things like speed are generally constant unless abilities like Flash Action are thrown in.

So, what I'm trying to say is that it's assumed that a trained boxer's punches would hurt, but that's not an ability. It's a skill that should come from the character's background. So, you'll need to pick two (if not three) new abilities.

Should be noted that, as a trained boxer, while Howi's punches would hurt more than most, but his speed would still be pretty near normal. Nothing to write home about - maybe a little quicker than usual, but that's about it. Speed's not something that'll vary much in this game, unless players use abilities to get speed bursts. Everything'll be relatively mundane otherwise.

That make sense?

Now then, Steel.

I think her aura would be black, looking at those abilities. Her Do. Not. Touch. The. Camera. power is almost yellow, but not enough that it'd really change her aura. That ability allows her to protect her camera from anything, provided it's physically possible for her right now, right?

Self Insert is essentially a combat mode, right? Just allows Diana to keep up with the trained fighters in battle, despite not having a fighter’s background. I’d like to know where the boost is mainly focuses though; sounds like it's mainly a reflexes thing, with a little strength enhancement so she can hurt people with her punches. Correct?

As for energy drain, unless the battle’s going particularly long, it shouldn’t really hit her until the scene ends. But after it does, she’ll probably be too tired to use it for a while, kay? Oh, and if the camera is broken or runs out of film or something, she loses the boost and the fatigue hits her.

I assume her combat style would be learned from watching movies?

[Dracorion]

What if Dean (Krogothwolf's character) said it was a rare lizard-dog from Scotland? Or maybe it's a Dinosaur! Either way, Dragons don't necessarily mean that Vampires and Werewolves exist; most Fantasy Worlds with Dragons are more likely to have Elves and Orcs than Vampires after all. That said, it isn't the worst thing in the world for a Wizard to be exposed to a Dragon in a safe environment.

Okay, so maybe vampires and werewolves wasn't the best examples. Orcs and elves probably does fit better. Regardless, exposing someone to any magical creature would certainly open their minds to the possibility that more exist. You'd have to be a moron to believe the story that the only magical creatures that exist are dragons, especially after someone's already lied to you about that.

That said, Jack doesn't have to believe it's a dragon, although the dragon-like appearance, wings and scales and whatnot are a dead giveaway. You'd just have to come up with a better story than dinosaur or lizard-dog.

But it really does make more sense for someone with a pet dragon to have their own room, or for the dragon to live elsewhere on the campus, or something like that. If you two still want to room together, I'll talk it over with Krogothwolf and see if I can come up with something that suits his character's preference.

We don't have to room together. In fact, the only one who said we should room together is you.

I don't really have a preference as to who Jack should room with.

Also doesn't exist! The school is very strange. But otherwise absolutely normal!

Don't think about it.

The closest thing to a student council or PTA meetings is probably the social club I dumped Jack into.

Honestly, I have no idea what the hell a social club is, but I figure it's the one that's in charge of organizing all the big events like homecoming and the winter ball and prom and everything in-between.

[Arhra]

Shouldn't she be tall?

It's the last thing anyone will suspect!

I have a feeling I'll invent a jotunform trick eventually. Well, technically Jo could do it right now except it would take forever to switch on or off (days probably) and be terribly unsubtle as well as tiring to the point of being useless.

The only thing I'm unsure of is the range limit, I'd like her to need to be relatively nearbye for her clones to function, but I don't have a good figure in mind. As long as she's in the area with her clones, that'll be fine, but if she's across the school campus from the clone, that'll be too long. I'd prefer to handle that on a scene-by-scene basis, since I'm not very good with exact measurements in games like this. It gets very complicated quite quickly.
I just stuck in the distance I did as a rough guess. That sort of general area rule will be a lot easier to keep track of.

Race-wise, her blood would be ice water and she'd have a high resistance to the cold, but heat can kill her. So, its a good thing Amaranth springs for air conditioning. But! I have a funny feeling being her roommate would suck. Either way, she should also get the standard immortal perks, but she might be a very bad swimmer - falling in water might kill her if she stays in too long, come to think of it.

Even magic snow is still snow.
Iceberg! Although I was thinking she might have to be careful about long swims. And heated pools would definitely be nasty.

I've had a few thoughts about how Jo'd tend to try to use her Winter's Touch to cool herself down if badly overheating. Everything from sucking on ice pellets (passing them off as hard sweets) to the critical danger Emergency Snowman Shell.

It's like the bizarro world version of sleeping in the comfy innards of a dead taun-taun to survive the deadly ice planet night!

Edit: I suppose Sean could tolerate being in a dorm with Johanna, however, the gender difference would probably be an obstacle against that. Due to the whole cold preference, he's probably have his own dorm as well.
Let us be roomies!

Hmm, I'm just not getting any thoughts for the relationship entries right now. Should definitely have something when I put up the fully fleshed out sheet up though.

I would presume that you would just have an unspoken agreement to not talk about the dragon.
Dracorion, Krogoth: Do EEEEEEEEET.

[Krylo]

You'd have to be a moron to believe the story that the only magical creatures that exist are dragons, especially after someone's already lied to you about that.You're already a wizard and you know that. If you're going to make this argument you should really be making it over your own existence.

That said, Jack doesn't have to believe it's a dragon, although the dragon-like appearance, wings and scales and whatnot are a dead giveaway. You'd just have to come up with a better story than dinosaur or lizard-dog.It's not a dragon. It's his latent magical abilities manifesting in a form that is comfortable to him, which just happens to be a dragon. Really, he's a wizard and doesn't know it.

There's your explanation.

[krogothwolf]

If anyone enters my room though, how am I going to explain the giant litter box I have!

I never really though the Dragon would be staying in the same room as I am, wouldn't the school have a place for these type of creatures? I mean, otherwise.....I'd hate to actually have to deal with a Dragon litter box.

[Dracorion]

Screw you, Jack isn't dealing with giant dragon shit.

[Astral Harmony]

But in Lunar, dragons shit diamonds, don't they? Besides, I imagine that a dragon's litter box would be a big honkin' pile of gold and other precious metals.

[Steel Shadow]

Now then, Steel.

I think her aura would be black, looking at those abilities. Her Do. Not. Touch. The. Camera. power is almost yellow, but not enough that it'd really change her aura. That ability allows her to protect her camera from anything, provided it's physically possible for her right now, right?

Self Insert is essentially a combat mode, right? Just allows Diana to keep up with the trained fighters in battle, despite not having a fighter’s background. I’d like to know where the boost is mainly focuses though; sounds like it's mainly a reflexes thing, with a little strength enhancement so she can hurt people with her punches. Correct?

As for energy drain, unless the battle’s going particularly long, it shouldn’t really hit her until the scene ends. But after it does, she’ll probably be too tired to use it for a while, kay? Oh, and if the camera is broken or runs out of film or something, she loses the boost and the fatigue hits her.

I assume her combat style would be learned from watching movies?

Yup, all sounds right and good. Check and double check!

[Dracorion]

Hey hey guys, GUYS.

So I've been PMing with Teal a lot and he's told me a bunch of stuff.

For starters, Professor Landry is an alien. FROM OUTER SPACE. In fact, she's more like a swirling vortex of entropy.

And and, the Man behind the Man behind the Man is a bird that's as cute as Hedwig! Who can bite your head clean off!

And the first boss is a demon or an angel!

[krogothwolf]

That's it, my dragon is going to torment Jack by appearing then disappearing. Jack's going to freak out thinking there's a dragon around but no one else will see it and everyone will just start calling you Crazy Jack.

He's also going to leave you presents on your bed!

[Dracorion]

Jack's just going to have to figure out how to dissect a dragon with a blade of goddamn air, then.

Oh and Teal, are Flash Step and Flash Move only single-person teleportation? That is, you can't grab hold of someone and side-along them?

[Teal Mage]

Flash Step, unless your character is ungodly strong (Would have to lift the passenger), is limited to single person. They're actually running that fast! You can take someone along if you're Flash Moving, but the drain would be impractically high. You're basically teleporting yourself twice.

Steel, Diana's approved. Just be careful with that combat mode, nothing too crazy. I don't think you'll abuse it, but if you do, my wrath shall be like that of god! Only much more subtle and always aimed at her camera.

I'm reasonably sure Arhra's character will be fine as well, relationships or no. So, I'll approve the character part of Johanna's sheet - tell me if there's any more changes.

So, Krogothwolf, Dracorion, are you alright rooming?

For starters, Professor Landry is an alien. FROM OUTER SPACE. In fact, she's more like a swirling vortex of entropy.

And, the Man behind the Man behind the Man is a bird that's as cute as Hedwig! Who can bite your head clean off!

And the first boss is a demon or an angel!

Your beloved teacher Professor Landry would be hurt, no, crushed! To hear such hurtful rumors. Oh, the things she'd feel!

She takes great pride in her humanity, you see.

All other things are as likely to be true as they are false. I may change my mind!

Yes, as speculations from players are starting, I'm going to begin work on the game thread itself. There's still two player profiles that need to be cleared up, so the game won't start for another few days. I'll inform the lot of you when things formally begin, of course. To Wizardcat and Julford, I'll wait a few days, but if I don't hear anything new from you, you'll have to assume you've lost interest. Can still register after the game begins, so if that's not the case, there's still ways to join.

Anyway, not starting just yet. But it'll be soon. Since there's still Sign-Ups that aren't quite done though, I'll wait to put up a new discussion thread until the game itself begins. Seems a reasonable thing to do unless this one really fills up in the next few days anyway.

[krogothwolf]

Yes, I'm okay with being in the same room as Jack the Wizard!

[Bard The 5th LW]

I'd imagine being roommates with Jack would be like being roommates with Drac.

Nightmarish to say the least.

[krogothwolf]

Meh, it can't be any worse then being roommates with an Edmonton Oiler fan. Hate those guys!

Or the strange arts student who would paint naked in the backyard. That was weird.

[Bard The 5th LW]

Or the strange arts student who would paint naked in the backyard. That was weird.

.... really?

The worst I've had (consistently) are douche-bags who won't wake up when I yell at them, but complain about me not waking them up after I give up.

Oh yeah, this one guy also carried switch blades, k-bars, and other illegal crap like right in the open. The only advantage to that was it gave me some leverage over him, but I never needed it.

[krogothwolf]

I have more roommate stories. But the naked one stands out the most.

Picture a middle aged man who weights about 300 pounds, hairy as all hell and is standing in the back yard painting. In broad daylight. The backyard is fenced high enough no one else would see it unless they enter said yard. It's safe to say I never went in the backyard again.

I figure he was on a mid life crisis and went to art school because it was something to do.

[Menarker]

But in Lunar, dragons shit diamonds, don't they? Besides, I imagine that a dragon's litter box would be a big honkin' pile of gold and other precious metals.

Technically, the White dragon shat diamonds. I'd imagine the Red dragon would probably crap rubies, the blue one excrete sapphires and the black one rub his scaly butt clean of oynxes.

Not that there aren't other complications such as the dragon growing, or its diet, or the rampant boredom if you try to lock it in the room or something like that... And that's before it learning a breath weapon or something.

[DanteFalcon]

Andy would probably have a room mate as well if someone is still lacking one.

[Astral Harmony]

Does a person necessarily need a room? I keep imagining Astarte as sleeping in her sarcophagus in some storage space while Linda the zombie sleeps buried underground.

[Teal Mage]

If alternate accommodations are possible and acceptable, they will be made.

So no, characters don't need rooms, strictly speaking. They might have one registered somewhere to keep up appearances, but that's another matter entirely. There's storage rooms in the basement which would be effective for said appearances.

[Astral Harmony]

That's good. Astarte sleeping alone gives her mother's spirit opportunities to speak with Astarte without being seen by people who don't believe in mummies or ghosts.

[Dracorion]

Yeah, sure, Jack can room with Dean.

Though krogo, if Jack finds one dragon turd on his bed or even steps on one, you can be damn sure watching him paint naked on Dean's bed will be the least of your problems.

[krogothwolf]

It won't be dragon turd, it'd be a Great Dane puppy turd thanks to advance technology!

It'll just seem a lot larger then a great dane puppy should be able to crap.

[Teal Mage]

Right, game and discussion threads are up!

Game Thread: Just a Normal School. (http://www.nuklearforums.com/showthread.php?t=38499)

Discussion Thread: Not Really Normal. (http://www.nuklearforums.com/showthread.php?t=38500)

I apologize for the wait, but writing first posts is painfully hard. Anyway, sign-ups remain open, but I'd prefer you submit any new characters to the Discussion Thread. Let's all cross our fingers that this goes well!