The Unknown Future, a Crumbling Reality RP

• Discussion
• Roleplay

---

The Unknown Future is a roleplay about a version of humanity where a fair deal of if not all people possess some form of precognition. Besides the precognition, there's nothing really magical or advanced about them. However, the "Unknown" part of the title regards the fact their reality has begun breaking down around them, something nobody expected. Now as reality gradually gets worst, places begin taking on eldritch properties while (living) things become powered mutated versions of themselves. Thus the player characters' goal is ultimately just to survive and hope for the best. However, secrets will gradually be revealed, and in them perhaps a way to save their universe.

---

Important Information

• ~ Since the beginning of humanity there, they possessed precognition so alternate history is extremely encouraged.

• ~ Precognition can sometimes manifest for someone as seeing the futures of other realities, and while actively useless in their home reality these people tend to gain jobs in the creative industry since they're getting fully-formed stories beamed into their heads.

• ~ Precognition is classified in two types: Mental (such as precognitive dreaming) or Physical (such as lilthomancy). Things like sensing imminent danger to one's self is commonly labeled Mental or Hybrid.

• ~ On their social records, a person's precognition usefulness will be ranked with a title, Zeroes being those with no or worthless abilities (such as knowing the timeline for one pair of shoes) while Arches are extremely valuable (such as knowing the entire future of nations). Various titles inbetween would be Chanced (rank above Zeroes) and Diviners (a mid-point between the two ends).

• ~ Not all Precognition is restricted to one's self, such as precognitive dreaming that bleeds through into the dreams of those nearby or someone who can instill visions in others with a touch.

• ~ Traditionally, more powerful Precognition would net one more powerful leadership roles, and even in governments with systems like democracy one must have a certain Precognition rank to be allowed more influential positions (done so that those positions would be filled by people who can inherently accomplish more).

• ~ When applying for jobs, one must also include information about their Precognition in the resume, and those with Precognition of any kind are usually more likely to get a job than a powerless Zero.

• ~ Before reality began decaying, people were able to see an now-alternate future regardless if their precognition extended into alternate realities. With the reality decay, everyone's precognition grows increasingly fuzzy and unreliable the further along the timeline they go. Eventually they'll reach a point they can't see the future at all.

• ~ In areas where reality decay is notable, distortion of people and things is sped up while also providing further static for precognition.

---

Application Format

• Name:

• Appearance: (Aside from any technological/science justifications you can make, they'll be just like us)

• Personality: (More of a general rundown/intended plan)

• Precognition: (Precognition is used more as a term than an outright identifier, so feel free to give your special variation a special name)

• Inventory: (Please justify the weirder things for your character)

• Backstory:

Final note, because of aforementioned encouraged alternate history, I'll also allow a good deal of player creative input. I'll still have the final say on what's what, but more likely I'll try making an idea work than outright rejecting it if there's problems.

"The Omniverse is the collection of all possibilities, and all possibilities must eventually come to pass."

Would dream reading count as precog? Like, someone who could watch the dreams of anyone asleep in a certain vicinity.

off the shits

More as a medium for the precognition, with them receiving knowledge that's somehow relevant to the person in question with aforementioned knowledge being derived from the dream (so a dream about cats means you'll get the future knowledge they buy a cat for example).

Secondary powers can not be used on their own, though how their precognition actives can be pretty varied. So for example, the trigger for one's precognition could be that they need to be falling, with them getting precognitive visions for as long as it takes for them to fall.

"The Omniverse is the collection of all possibilities, and all possibilities must eventually come to pass."

Can I do postcog? Like, seeing what's happened to someone or something?

“Not a promise, not an oath, or a malediction or a curse. Inevitable." - Taylor Hebert

Well, your Precognition could reach into an alternate universe that's temporally behind this one, thus giving you a mostly-accurate telling of what was the past. I'll allow something like ESP however, if only because the Precognition options are already limitless (the only factors being "it tells future in some matter").

Though Alternate Universe Faux-Postcognition is in-universe considered one of the worst abilities, since it doesn't tell you of upcoming events and thus only finds use in law places for investigation.

"The Omniverse is the collection of all possibilities, and all possibilities must eventually come to pass."

Have you ever read Tokyo Esp?

off the shits

No, however I will say my inspiration for this is probably half The Future Dairy and half the apparent precognitiveness of my entire paternal family. Seriously, I ask my dad and one of his siblings, they say they're all psychics.

"The Omniverse is the collection of all possibilities, and all possibilities must eventually come to pass."

OH I love future diary I'll get my char up as soon as possible.

Saint Laughter

• Name: Lanius Yuuki.

• Appearance: Kinda short for a guy, about 5' 8". Bishōnen, black hair, longish and shaggy, always looks like he just rolled out of bed (and not always in a good way). Bright blue eyes, with aniridia (looks like he has no pupil; this makes him have awful vision). Glasses, with slim lenses that, combined with his naturally narrow eyes and rather extreme case of Resting Bitch Face Syndrome, give him a sort of "sarcastic genius" look. Generally dresses in blue hoodies and jeans. Just chubby enough to be noticeable. Is 18 years old.

• Personality: Very much a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, with a bit of Insufferable Genius, All-Loving Hero, and Manchild thrown in. He sometimes comes off as cold and terse, but only when he's in a bad mood. He's quite kind and sweet most of the time, and is eternally curious about pretty much everything. He loves reading, whether on a book or on his phone, and also loves learning other languages, including English.

• Precognition: Lanius can peek into an alternate universe that is mostly the same as his home universe, but is about 15 minutes behind his, and he can use the things he sees there as a reference for what he should/shouldn't do in this one. He calls it postcognition, though that's not quite right. He's a Diviner.

• Inventory: An iPhone of the latest model, a spare pair of glasses and accompanying case, and a deck of Tarot cards, which he keeps around half as a lucky charm and half to cheese people out of their money, just because it's kinda fun, though very much a Guilty Pleasure.

• Backstory: Lanius was born in Kōtō Ward, Tokyo, to a pair of massive hippies, both Diviners. His parents had gotten rich by selling alternative medicines that actually worked, so he lived comfortably, and eventually gained a little sister by the name of Asuna. Everything was pretty great... until the universe started disintegrating, and their entire prefecture was first to go; it disappeared, and was replaced with what was apparently the prefecture a few thousand years prior, according to his dad (whose precog could access an alternate Earth far into the past). Fortunately, they had been on vacation in the States when it happened, so their vacation ended up becoming a permanent stay. The four of them are now shacked up together in a small apartment in San Diego.

• Other: Lanius speaks fluent Japanese and fairly decent English. His mother has your basic precognition - visions of future events, clouded by uncertainty and other things that might happen. His sister, however, can see a far-future dimension, where Japan has expanded to cover Kamchatka, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. Said Japan is also a totalitarian state, so her visions are often more a gift than a curse.

edited 25th Apr '15 8:24:11 PM by Tojin

“Not a promise, not an oath, or a malediction or a curse. Inevitable." - Taylor Hebert

I just asked because there's an interesting use of postcog one character can use; she can see the pasts of any object, and besides her using it for detective work, can use the abilities of past users of the item. (i.e. A martial artist's nunchuks giving her mastery of, well, martial arts.) This ability didn't extend to her muscles, though, as using any physical ability outside her skill zone tires her greatly.

off the shits

@Daydre: I would say some variations of precognition can, to an extent, make one an instant expert. There would of been multiple people who became as intelligent as they did because they got science! beamed into their brains for example. However there's no time paradoxes, so people tend to gleefully mess around with what they see.

@Tojin: Outside of the "looking into alternate realities behind ours" exception, postcogniton isn't possible. So Lanius' father's Precognition is likely set extremely in the past of an alternate universe that he can freely examine the future of when it comes to your established limitation. Though besides that, character is perfectly acceptable and I would like details about his mother's and sister's Precognition as well.

"The Omniverse is the collection of all possibilities, and all possibilities must eventually come to pass."

How about a precog ability where the user couldn't see into the future per se but could sense how important an object was about to become. Or a person, just anything really.

Saint Laughter

As long as their Precognition meets the basic of "knowing future stuff", then it can indeed an a sense telling them of imminent importance. Or operate in any manner, so anything you guys do will most likely be okay.

"The Omniverse is the collection of all possibilities, and all possibilities must eventually come to pass."

Hm, okay, taking what you said into consideration, here is how my character's precog would probably work:

• Can view 'hints' of a person's future up to 20 years in the future.
• Person he uses it on must be asleep/knocked out/maybe in a coma and in contact with him for it to work.
• He can use this on himself, but it usually ends in a more nightmarish result than if he did it to someone else. (Oh geez, I just thought of what this sentence sounds like out of context.)

If this doesn't fit, I can think of something else.

off the shits

By nightmarish, I assume psychologically traumatic since he's temporarily confusing his present with the future? Though yeah, that'll work, you should explain what "contact" means however.

"The Omniverse is the collection of all possibilities, and all possibilities must eventually come to pass."

Edited my sheet accordingly, Kkut.

“Not a promise, not an oath, or a malediction or a curse. Inevitable." - Taylor Hebert

You do realize I'm probably going to chase LANIUS right?

Saint Laughter

That'll be fun.

“Not a promise, not an oath, or a malediction or a curse. Inevitable." - Taylor Hebert

Like skin contact, if there's something preventing that he can't use the ability.

off the shits

Okay, so when can I expect these other two applications?

"The Omniverse is the collection of all possibilities, and all possibilities must eventually come to pass."

I will have my sheet up soon (locally relativey linearly from now) as I have some issues I'm trying to get resolved.

Saint Laughter

How many characters are we allowed to have?

Because I just had this interesting shower idea about a girl whose precog relates to drawing. ;-;

off the shits

I'll allow at least two characters per player.

"The Omniverse is the collection of all possibilities, and all possibilities must eventually come to pass."

Scratch this too, two characters for me!

• Name: Caitlin Grey
• Appearance: About 5'4" in height with a slender build. Her hair is long and black, reaching to her waist. She has a kind face, and can often be seen smiling pleasantly. Her eyes are dark brown, almost matching her hair but not quite. She's 30, though she looks a little younger than that. She usually wears long skirts and blouses.
• Personality: Very gentle. She's kind to almost everyone, even people you might not think deserve it. The loudest she'll get is a stern reprimand. (Though that isn't to say she can't be intimidating.) If you can get her to yell.. Well, good luck... Very rarely a steely side of her can be seen, but don't expect it to come out often.
• Precognition: She hasn't given it a name yet- but her precog is that she can predict the future through prophetic drawings she can make. These predictions have about 90% accuracy. Though it's not able to focus specifically on one person- they randomly predict events tangentially related to her current situation. Only one problem. Her skill with drawing is still... developing. It's a bit hard to tell what some of her predictions are due to this, but she's working on it. Additionally, she can't turn this ability on and off, the predictions just happen whether she wants to or not.
• Inventory:
  • Her wedding ring. Yup folks, she's married! Don't expect her husband to come by any time soon, though, otherwise I'd have to write another character sheet!
  • A tanto. Her husband got it for her on one of his trips. And she actually knows how to use it. She keeps it in her bag most of the time.
  • Pad and pens. Practice makes perfect, and besides, what if her precog activates?
• Backstory: As a child, she was thought to have no precog. As a result, her family (which was full of high profile psychics) gave her up for adoption so as not to associate themselves with the powerless Caitlin. Luckily, she was adopted within a year or so. She lived happily with her new family. She was bullied a little during middle and high school, though nothing much else happened in those years. Her bouts of precog activation were often seen as her just spacing out, and treated as such. She met her husband after she finished with college, and married him when she was 25.

• Name: Jaime Altriss
• Appearance: A 5'9 17 year old boy. He's pretty skinny, which he laments a little. His eyes are brown, though his right one is slightly discolored and has a scar over it due to an accident he had when he was younger. Also, he has purple hair because he lost a bet. Yeah. It was expensive. He usually wears t-shirts, hoodies and some variation of knee length shorts.
• Personality: Snarky and cynical. He has a pretty dark sense of humor. He also has a tendency to pointout uncomfortable truths no one wants to mention. These traits tend to isolate him from people, so he's pretty used to being alone. He might be nice if you got to know him though. His demeanor also changes when he talks to people younger or much older than him, and he becomes much nicer.
• Precognition: He can see the futures of others in the form of dreams. These dreams are usually pretty vague, but almost always accurate when interpreted properly. Also, as long as he focuses on a certain time within a few years, he can see a vision that is on or near that time period. In order to use his ability on someone else the other person must be 1: asleep, and 2: in skin contact with him. He can use it on himself, however, this usually yields nightmarish results due to the ability showing horrible outcomes involving his own death. He theorises this is because his past memories and fears cloud his judgements or something. He can't be sure, though.
• Inventory: Nothing unusual.
• Backstory: Had a pretty normal childhood. Well, except for getting stabbed in the eye with a shard of glass. Playing in a decrepit old house in the forest during a rainstorm... Probably not a good idea. Fast forward to the present, and... He's got a pretty normal life. Yeah, sure, people approach him because his precog makes an interesting trick to pull at parties, but besides that, people tend to think he's a downer. Even moreso when he claims there are holes opening in the fabric of reality.
• Other: He's studying to become a psychologist. Might help to understand the weird symbolic stuff he comes across in dream visions.

edited 8th May '15 6:44:44 PM by Daydre

off the shits

Name: Natzcoi Civil

Appearance: Long, flowing, midnight colored hair, Slim wiht a slightly muscly build, and pretty like a girl sometimes. In the right light. His eyes are a sparkly purple, like eventide. He wear a white tee under a red hoodie wiht black denim jeans and pink sneakers. Sometimes when he's feeling silly he'll wear a trilby (BEACAUSE FEDORAS ARE FOR HIPSTERS). Olive colored skin.

Personality: Very aloof and flippant, loves irony and sarcasm and will blast you whit both barrells for fun. He has an almost personal disdain for mortality and death and will encourage chaotic situations for the hell of it. Also, he went insane a long time ago and is wildly unpredictable. Very rapid mood swings and violent episodes. Though he tries to face everything wiht a smile.

Precognition: Natzcoi can see can see multiple strings of destiny at once but it usually comes at him in a jumble mess. Though he can usually figure out the proper sequnce of key events.

Backstory: He's extremely powerful, to the point where he SHOULD be working for the government, but he uses his abilities to stay just outside of their reach. He has a personal grudge wiht all precogs and has an agenda against the governments. He acts as a variable they can't account for and plots their downfall.

Inventory: (wip)

[I'll come back and flesh this out. Just letting you know I've still got interest.]

Saint Laughter