Traversing Upon a Sea of Stars - Astral Plane Adventures Signup Thread

The Astral Plane, The Astral Sea, Sea of Stars...

A never ending realm of endlessly extending space, of star filled sky above, below and in all directions. The spaces that connects all others, the empty realm upon which all of creation resides. From the realms of the celestials, planes of goodness and heavens, from the realm of the devils, planes of evil and hells, from the realms of law and chaos, touching upon the realms of shadows and fae, touching upon the elemental planes of fire, water, air, earth and all between... touching upon the material plane where they all mix in equal measure and even the distant Outlands... the timeless plane upon which all that is lost can be found, where you are when you're not anywhere else.

One of these stars, one of these shining spots of light, drifting through the empty sky is the city of Mirage. Just one of many communities set upon the infinite star sea, built upon the debris and broken pieces of the worlds cast adrift into the endless void, gathered by the will of it's community and held together by a Demi Divine being whose worship powers the city itself. For a long time, Mirage has floated in the void, following around a cycle taking it close to each of the planes connected to the Astral Plane. Through the centuries it's population has flourished, faced near extermination and then built themselves up all over again... be it by the mixing of those within or the acceptance of extraplanar travellers.

One thing hasn't changed through the years, however... and that is how Mirage can only grow and prosper by scavenging from the floating remains of worlds, cast off and lost pieces of the planes as well as naturally occurring matter that drifts through the endless stars. For this reason, numerous groups of salvagers live upon Mirage... launching on expeditions to the chunks of matter floating upon the Astral Plane. Sometimes they retrieve magical artifacts, sometimes merely resources, at others they can even bring pieces of rock the size of a neighbourhood to bond to Mirage and thus let the city grow.

You and your allies are one of the salvage crews... however, what you may find on your latest expedition may change life as it is on Mirage... and bring forth an untold danger to the peaceful city for the first time in centuries.

Good evening everyone! Welcome to a new RP.

On this RP, we'll explore the possibilities of the Astral Plane, a dimension of endless space based upon the plane of the same time in the D&D cosmology. Taking base upon the city of Mirage, a demiplane maintained by a benign Demidivine entity and built upon chunks of earth and other matter that have drifted upon the Astral Plane, the players will play as members of a salvaging crew who explore away from Mirage for suitable materials, resources and to scout out possible threats to the city. Their latest exploration, however, will uncover something unlike anything they have seen found before.

On subsequent posts, I shall explain the nature of Mirage, how the Demidivine Entity affects it, what rules affect the plane and Demiplane, what kind of people live within and more. The biggest group within the city, however, is a mix of bloodlines human, elf, dwarf, gith, aasimar and the like making up a highly mutable subrace whose traits are mostly humanoid but who tend to develop some sub characteristics depending on the family or given the mutable nature of the plane, depending on the nature of the user. Non mixed humans, elves, dwarves and more live within Mirage as well, as well as potentially nearly all kind of races present on the D&D universe within reason given the nature of refuges and lost ones which may be found and given refuge on Mirage. Magic, Ki, Divine Powers, Feats and more are present on the city and salvagers are likely to have access to these so keep these in mind as you figure out what kind of character you'd like to make.

Until I write up a character sheet and describe the city and its inhabitants further on subsequent posts, please do feel free to ask questions, give opinions and the like. I shall be accepting roughly 5, 6 or 7 characters and those accepted will have to figure out with all accepted previous events they have collaborated with, what their current relationships are and in general, have previous connections with the rest of the salvagers to be an incentive for collaboration and Role Playing with your fellow players. Expect a bit of combat, exploration, perhaps some resource management, interpersonal development and the like.

Any interest?

Lore:

— Enleil - The Dreaming One —

Core to the city of Mirage is the Demidivine Entity known as Enleil the Dreaming One. A creature of uncertain origin displaying Divine abilities putting it in the field of a minor deity or demigod. It is capable of creating matter, granting divine blessings and spells and a wide variety of other abilities. It is by their power that the Demiplane of Mirage exists and remains bonded together as it is. It's energy, however, is not boundless and must be managed well by its clergy and caretakers. It manifests itself physically in two different ways... providing a bridge for its essence and power to act upon the world. The first is its most resilient anchor on the world, the core of its essence. This is a rough, spherical amethyst colored crystal with some cracks running through it reinforced, or filled rather, with a metallic material similar to gold. The crystal has been tested to be nearly indestructible in attacks performed upon Mirage and from it, emanates the power of Enleil.

The second form Enleil takes is rather more curious but still a mainstay in the city of Mirage. A big, corpulent, massive lizard like creature... standing around 3 meters tall when it gets on its hind legs... though usually it moves slowly on all fours. Possessing a wide maw and face, perfectly round and black eyes, as well as a crest of golden metal upon its forehead, the lizard like creature of small, soft violet scales is most definitely a conduit of Enleil's power. Whenever the creature dies for any reason, it is reincarnated a few weeks later from an egg formed around the crystal of Enleil. The ponderous, peaceful creature is groomed and taken care off by the Temple of Enleil and escorted around Mirage in order to allow the creature to perform miracles and grant blessings when it is required.

Enleil is called the Dreaming One since this is the primary form of communion to have with the Entity. The head of the Enleil's Temple is called the Dreamer, the closest mortal to Enleil who is able to contact and transmit the desires of the people of Mirage to the Entity and try to understand them better. Though the Dreaming One doesn't communicate in any language known to Mirage, instead expressing itself through images, emotions and disjointed dreams, a certain interpretation of its desires and understanding of their soul is possible by its clergy and people as they are visited in their dreams or meditation.

The creature Enleil sometimes lays a multitude of little eggs from which come a creature indigenous to Mirage... tiny and more slender lizards the same color and with characteristics similar to Enleil called simply Leils. These are usually pets in the more devout of Mirage homes, though more than a few live as strays crawling around the buildings of the community. They can usually grow to be about as big as a cat and start their lives the size of a mouse.

— Mirage - The Drifting City —

Mirage is the name of both a Demiplane and the city that resides within, moving through the endless span of space in the Astral Plane. A Demiplane being an individual, small sized plane of existence, a world with its own rules housed but separate from the plane on which it resides. While initially Mirage doesn't appear to be a Demiplane given how it can perfectly be seen an entered from the outside, appearing to be simply another floating chunk of matter drifting on the Astral Plane, in reality the whole city is housed within one... merely, a very accessible ones maintained by Enleil. If seen from afar Mirage looks like a small, violet star and to those capable of sensing magic to a great degree they can see the boundary of the Demiplane and the energy which maintains it. Because it is a Demiplane it is that Mirage can function as it does and a lot of properties can be applied upon the places within.

By Enleil's magic, most of the chunks of terrain that make up the city have a standard gravity applied to them... no matter the size. You can walk and build all around any chunk of terrain with down always being towards that chunk. Moving through ropes, bridges or flying allows one to move in between chunks... since after a certain height their gravity stops functioning. There are a few exceptions to this... as the main chunk of the city has gravity functioning in only one direction. Unlike in most of the Astral Plane, time does pass within most of Mirage... though somewhat slowly to those used that of the material plane. A two to one proportion with two years in Mirage ageing you roughly one of the material plane. There are special storage spaces and chunks, however, which by request of their owners don't have time passing at all, which is useful to store food so that it doesn't spoil and for people to live indefinitely without worrying about hitting old age. Most chunks however, do have the passage of time affecting them so that the young of the city can properly grow and develop when needed. However, given how old age rarely takes away from the population and more refuges come from time to time, Mirage maintains a small population control effort maintained by the power of Enleil... who controls by a blessing reaching the whole city the general fertility of all living within it. After a gruelling raid or sickness that takes many, Enleil may increase the fertility of everyone in the city, while in times of peace and quiet it can become quite hard to conceive a new life. The Temple of Enleil maintains a census and handles this procedure and upon a writen request to be considered, exceptions can be made if there is space within the city for a new life.

As mentioned, the city is made up of chunks of terrain that over the years have been gathered or created by the power of Enleil. The biggest one is Central Island, set upon the center of the city... with all other chunks orbiting and surrounding it. Central Island is the size of a town all by itself, with a lot of terrain that has been expanded over the ages... upon which in the middle sits the two most important buildings of the city, the Temple of Enleil and before it, The Palace of Governance. Between them is Mirage Square and all around them, a lot of buildings, old manors, shops and the like arranged in a strict and well laid out grid. Upon other floating chunks live the rest of the inhabitants, with the smallest chunks used, amusingly enough by both the most rich and the most poor of the city, as the poor live cramped upon their own small chunks they could manage to gather and the most rich preferring, if they don't live on Central Island, to build manors made entirely out of individual chunks, unconnected to others.

— Citizens of Mirage —

In Mirage you may find nearly any race and species... while it certainly doesn't have one of each or even close to that, its location on the Astral Planes makes it so it is possible that nearly any sentient creature of the planes has found their way to it. This within reason of course, as races that would have a hard time coexisting or a woefully destructive wouldn't be welcome into the community. However, a good chunk of the population is made out of a mix of the races that have spent the most time populating it... mixing elven, human, gith and celestial blood in the greatest measure with others into a subrace informally known as Miraians. As a bit of a hybrid species there isn't exactly a baseline for appearance, however they present more or less pointy ears, solid but slender builds and skin tones which range from the common human ones to more exotic metallic tinted colors. Heterochromia and metallic colored eyes are also somewhat common as are some recessive traits to show up in individuals, such wings which manifest in roughly 1 of 5 Miraians or some other distinctive trait of any of the resident species of Mirage, such as a tail, cloven hooves, horns, webbed fingers or other such traits.

The youth of Mirage move about the city in small, laughing mobs, playing games as they jump from asteroid to asteroid... learning to move through ropes, grappling hooks or simply to jump hard and fast if they cannot fly. While being able to fly with wings is a big advantage in this city, those who do so tend to have slimmer builds and most of their muscles set on the wings in order to fly... there are quite a few who are born with wings and never become adept flyers due to the focus or bodily requirements for it. And those kids who do take it upon themselves to be adept fliers can always be humbled and drawn back to the earth by the usually more robust or strong kids. However, exceptions exist to every rule.

The people of Mirage, living in an Outer Plane use more magic than those in the material plane... with a bigger percentage of the population learning the arcane arts or having natural magic bloodlines. Others worship Gods and Goddess whose calls are closer in this transitive plane. And then there is the worship of Enleil itself. Thus, a very high percentage of the populations knows at least a cantrip or two and adept magic users can be found thorough... though funnily enough, while there are more adept magic users in the city, the proportion of users who have access to the highest tiers of magic remains the same as in the Material Plane. While a greater chunk of the population has access to magic items, cantrips and low level spellcasting, the mix of dedication, talent, knowledge and experience needed to become an archmage or archpriest is still as rare in Mirage as in other places.

— The Swamp of Rebirth —

Underneath all the other chunks of Mirage lies the Swamp of Rebirth... an essential place that is often placed out of sight and other of mind. Where all the waste, garbage and unwanted things of Mirage end up. A valley like chunk, enclosed and full of nature and trees. Within this place dwell a lot of plants and extraplanar beasts which recycle and destroy all the waste of the city... and it is up to a special caste of Miraians to tend to it. A long time ago, work upon the Swamp of Rebirth was considered a punishment and chore to be doled to troublemakers and those who break the law... and while it remains a serious punishment, it all changed when a convict after their sentence was served asked to be left in the swamp. Little by little, more and more of those sent to the swamp began to ask to remain within for reasons none in the higher city could begin to understand... and yet, the swamp people began to develop druidic powers and strange customs. When going up to the overcity, somewhat rarely, they would wear big, body encasing suits of armor... once provided to protect the convicts sent there from the flora and fauna of the very alive swamp. Not many deal with them as they mostly stick to the swamp, but they are a valuable members of the community and hold a seat in the council that rules the city. They provide for the city plants, medical mixtures, fertilizer for the crops, some lumber and the like.

— Salvagers —

In the city operate a few organized groups of salvagers... scouts and miners who locate chunks floating outside of Mirage and go check them out for hostiles or resources to bring back into the city. These groups tend to be made of highly capable and adventure loving members of the community, with good skills to bring to the table either in recognizance, retrieval or combat. Not two group of salvagers are exactly alike... there are some of pure flyers who move in formation, some who go upon specially made craft capable and enchanted for flying and yet others who use magic to instantly teleport to chunks. It all depends on their specialty and way of doing things.

Well, I think that should be enough Lore to get people started with ideas... so here is the character sheet.

• Name: What you are called.
• Gender: Male, female, other?
• Age: Roughly in which state of development your character is, time goes by strangely in Mirage so just saying a number won't be as specific.
• Species: What are you genetically? If your form has special abilities or attributes do explain it when you name the species.
• Appearance: What do you look like?
• Personality: What are you like?
• Equipment: What do you own? Can have a couple minor magical items, normal or somewhat exotic weapons and armor, some miscellaneous and useful gear and such. Also where you live and such.
• Abilities and Skills: What can you do? Magic? Special Abilities? Even Martial Inclined folks can do some supernatural feats of strength or skill given the high magic in *Mirage making development of their bodies go beyond just physical limits.
• Bio: Important events of your life, what led you to be a salvager. When the players are picked we'll go over some joint story telling to see how you all became pals.

Player List by Starbound!

• Dealer of Fates, Rowan Azaria - guyshane
• Estranged Sorceror, Mago Barca - Tojin
• Littlest Adventurer, Guide - Starbound2
• Knight of Errant Roots, Kenneth Lake - Taco
• Scaled Skyslinger, Lilifo - RedSavant
• Wildcat Warrioress, Natali - Saturn
• Construct of Curiosity, Nova - Imca

edited 21st Jan '16 8:49:05 PM by daltar

I'm interested. I'm a fan of Fantasy Kitchen Sinks and heavy character interaction, I'm game.

Definitely interested here, too.

Expressing potential interest. Haven't really played an extended Dnd campaign in a while, so I figure I'll give this a try.

got my interest fam

Pretty interested.

I'm piqued.

What's the genre to this? I'm getting vibes of both fantasy and sci-fi.

edited 21st Dec '15 11:20:56 PM by Wryte

I'm definitely in. Save me a spot!

Me would make 8, including Dalt.

edited 21st Dec '15 11:49:38 PM by Saturn

I wish to express interest.

edited 22nd Dec '15 2:14:46 AM by HeroicSociopath

Interested.

Definitely interested!

Absutively interested.

Sure, if you are willing to accept whole organizations

Alright, still working on Lore, I'm giving you what I could work on today and soon I'll have the signups done.

— Enleil - The Dreaming One —

Core to the city of Mirage is the Demidivine Entity known as Enleil the Dreaming One. A creature of uncertain origin displaying Divine abilities putting it in the field of a minor deity or demigod. It is capable of creating matter, granting divine blessings and spells and a wide variety of other abilities. It is by their power that the Demiplane of Mirage exists and remains bonded together as it is. It's energy, however, is not boundless and must be managed well by its clergy and caretakers. It manifests itself physically in two different ways... providing a bridge for its essence and power to act upon the world. The first is its most resilient anchor on the world, the core of its essence. This is a rough, spherical amethyst colored crystal with some cracks running through it reinforced, or filled rather, with a metallic material similar to gold. The crystal has been tested to be nearly indestructible in attacks performed upon Mirage and from it, emanates the power of Enleil.

The second form Enleil takes is rather more curious but still a mainstay in the city of Mirage. A big, corpulent, massive lizard like creature... standing around 3 meters tall when it gets on its hind legs... though usually it moves slowly on all fours. Possessing a wide maw and face, perfectly round and black eyes, as well as a crest of golden metal upon its forehead, the lizard like creature of small, soft violet scales is most definitely a conduit of Enleil's power. Whenever the creature dies for any reason, it is reincarnated a few weeks later from an egg formed around the crystal of Enleil. The ponderous, peaceful creature is groomed and taken care off by the Temple of Enleil and escorted around Mirage in order to allow the creature to perform miracles and grant blessings when it is required.

Enleil is called the Dreaming One since this is the primary form of communion to have with the Entity. The head of the Enleil's Temple is called the Dreamer, the closest mortal to Enleil who is able to contact and transmit the desires of the people of Mirage to the Entity and try to understand them better. Though the Dreaming One doesn't communicate in any language known to Mirage, instead expressing itself through images, emotions and disjointed dreams, a certain interpretation of its desires and understanding of their soul is possible by its clergy and people as they are visited in their dreams or meditation.

The creature Enleil sometimes lays a multitude of little eggs from which come a creature indigenous to Mirage... tiny and more slender lizards the same color and with characteristics similar to Enleil called simply Leils. These are usually pets in the more devout of Mirage homes, though more than a few live as strays crawling around the buildings of the community. They can usually grow to be about as big as a cat and start their lives the size of a mouse.

— Mirage - The Drifting City —

Mirage is the name of both a Demiplane and the city that resides within, moving through the endless span of space in the Astral Plane. A Demiplane being an individual, small sized plane of existence, a world with its own rules housed but separate from the plane on which it resides. While initially Mirage doesn't appear to be a Demiplane given how it can perfectly be seen an entered from the outside, appearing to be simply another floating chunk of matter drifting on the Astral Plane, in reality the whole city is housed within one... merely, a very accessible ones maintained by Enleil. If seen from afar Mirage looks like a small, violet star and to those capable of sensing magic to a great degree they can see the boundary of the Demiplane and the energy which maintains it. Because it is a Demiplane it is that Mirage can function as it does and a lot of properties can be applied upon the places within.

By Enleil's magic, most of the chunks of terrain that make up the city have a standard gravity applied to them... no matter the size. You can walk and build all around any chunk of terrain with down always being towards that chunk. Moving through ropes, bridges or flying allows one to move in between chunks... since after a certain height their gravity stops functioning. There are a few exceptions to this... as the main chunk of the city has gravity functioning in only one direction. Unlike in most of the Astral Plane, time does pass within most of Mirage... though somewhat slowly to those used that of the material plane. A two to one proportion with two years in Mirage ageing you roughly one of the material plane. There are special storage spaces and chunks, however, which by request of their owners don't have time passing at all, which is useful to store food so that it doesn't spoil and for people to live indefinitely without worrying about hitting old age. Most chunks however, do have the passage of time affecting them so that the young of the city can properly grow and develop when needed. However, given how old age rarely takes away from the population and more refuges come from time to time, Mirage maintains a small population control effort maintained by the power of Enleil... who controls by a blessing reaching the whole city the general fertility of all living within it. After a gruelling raid or sickness that takes many, Enleil may increase the fertility of everyone in the city, while in times of peace and quiet it can become quite hard to conceive a new life. The Temple of Enleil maintains a census and handles this procedure and upon a writen request to be considered, exceptions can be made if there is space within the city for a new life.

As mentioned, the city is made up of chunks of terrain that over the years have been gathered or created by the power of Enleil. The biggest one is Central Island, set upon the center of the city... with all other chunks orbiting and surrounding it. Central Island is the size of a town all by itself, with a lot of terrain that has been expanded over the ages... upon which in the middle sits the two most important buildings of the city, the Temple of Enleil and before it, The Palace of Governance. Between them is Mirage Square and all around them, a lot of buildings, old manors, shops and the like arranged in a strict and well laid out grid. Upon other floating chunks live the rest of the inhabitants, with the smallest chunks used, amusingly enough by both the most rich and the most poor of the city, as the poor live cramped upon their own small chunks they could manage to gather and the most rich preferring, if they don't live on Central Island, to build manors made entirely out of individual chunks, unconnected to others.

Questions and suggestions are welcome. Additionally, there will be no reserving slots... Once signups are up, I'll see from among the group which characters better fit the group and its chemistry and accept them by that parameter.

I just want to clarify something. Is this RP going to use standard 5th edition character construction, a standard roleplay character signup, or some other system? Because if this RP is going to use Dnd character creation, I kinda want to know so I can work out my character stats beforehand, especially if we're starting at a higher level.

Interested!

While it would be nice to have an Tabletop System to back up the combat and other skill checks as well as provide character progression, I think for this one I'll go free form as that will give the players most freedom and ease at the time of making up their concepts.

However, since this is an D&D inspired game, the classes in 5e and their mechanics should easily be represented in the setting and game, so you can make say a Warlock or a Paladin and I'll know mostly what they can do and what to expect of them. That said, it isn't needed to stick too closely to the mold since it's free form so alternate ability and the like is certainly possible.

Freeform, eh? Mm. I may pass, then. I tend to prefer rule-based gameplay.

Interested.

I have yet to play 5e. I know 3.5, though, and I love psionics. Would it be okay for me to be a Wilder? Their thing is they're basically the psionic version of the Sorcerer. They get less powers overall, but are better at using the few they get. Which is like IIRC 11 at level 20. Also, their powers are fueled by a given emotion, like anger or despair or happiness.

— Citizens of Mirage —

In Mirage you may find nearly any race and species... while it certainly doesn't have one of each or even close to that, its location on the Astral Planes makes it so it is possible that nearly any sentient creature of the planes has found their way to it. This within reason of course, as races that would have a hard time coexisting or a woefully destructive wouldn't be welcome into the community. However, a good chunk of the population is made out of a mix of the races that have spent the most time populating it... mixing elven, human, gith and celestial blood in the greatest measure with others into a subrace informally known as Miraians. As a bit of a hybrid species there isn't exactly a baseline for appearance, however they present more or less pointy ears, solid but slender builds and skin tones which range from the common human ones to more exotic metallic tinted colors. Heterochromia and metallic colored eyes are also somewhat common as are some recessive traits to show up in individuals, such wings which manifest in roughly 1 of 5 Miraians or some other distinctive trait of any of the resident species of Mirage, such as a tail, cloven hooves, horns, webbed fingers or other such traits.

The youth of Mirage move about the city in small, laughing mobs, playing games as they jump from asteroid to asteroid... learning to move through ropes, grappling hooks or simply to jump hard and fast if they cannot fly. While being able to fly with wings is a big advantage in this city, those who do so tend to have slimmer builds and most of their muscles set on the wings in order to fly... there are quite a few who are born with wings and never become adept flyers due to the focus or bodily requirements for it. And those kids who do take it upon themselves to be adept fliers can always be humbled and drawn back to the earth by the usually more robust or strong kids. However, exceptions exist to every rule.

The people of Mirage, living in an Outer Plane use more magic than those in the material plane... with a bigger percentage of the population learning the arcane arts or having natural magic bloodlines. Others worship Gods and Goddess whose calls are closer in this transitive plane. And then there is the worship of Enleil itself. Thus, a very high percentage of the populations knows at least a cantrip or two and adept magic users can be found thorough... though funnily enough, while there are more adept magic users in the city, the proportion of users who have access to the highest tiers of magic remains the same as in the Material Plane. While a greater chunk of the population has access to magic items, cantrips and low level spellcasting, the mix of dedication, talent, knowledge and experience needed to become an archmage or archpriest is still as rare in Mirage as in other places.

— The Swamp of Rebirth —

Underneath all the other chunks of Mirage lies the Swamp of Rebirth... an essential place that is often placed out of sight and other of mind. Where all the waste, garbage and unwanted things of Mirage end up. A valley like chunk, enclosed and full of nature and trees. Within this place dwell a lot of plants and extraplanar beasts which recycle and destroy all the waste of the city... and it is up to a special caste of Miraians to tend to it. A long time ago, work upon the Swamp of Rebirth was considered a punishment and chore to be doled to troublemakers and those who break the law... and while it remains a serious punishment, it all changed when a convict after their sentence was served asked to be left in the swamp. Little by little, more and more of those sent to the swamp began to ask to remain within for reasons none in the higher city could begin to understand... and yet, the swamp people began to develop druidic powers and strange customs. When going up to the overcity, somewhat rarely, they would wear big, body encasing suits of armor... once provided to protect the convicts sent there from the flora and fauna of the very alive swamp. Not many deal with them as they mostly stick to the swamp, but they are a valuable members of the community and hold a seat in the council that rules the city. They provide for the city plants, medical mixtures, fertilizer for the crops, some lumber and the like.

— Salvagers —

In the city operate a few organized groups of salvagers... scouts and miners who locate chunks floating outside of Mirage and go check them out for hostiles or resources to bring back into the city. These groups tend to be made of highly capable and adventure loving members of the community, with good skills to bring to the table either in recognizance, retrieval or combat. Not two group of salvagers are exactly alike... there are some of pure flyers who move in formation, some who go upon specially made craft capable and enchanted for flying and yet others who use magic to instantly teleport to chunks. It all depends on their specialty and way of doing things.

Well, I think that should be enough Lore to get people started with ideas... so here is the character sheet.

• Name: What you are called.
• Gender: Male, female, other?
• Age: Roughly in which state of development your character is, time goes by strangely in Mirage so just saying a number won't be as specific.
• Species: What are you genetically? If your form has special abilities or attributes do explain it when you name the species.
• Appearance: What do you look like?
• Personality: What are you like?
• Equipment: What do you own? Can have a couple minor magical items, normal or somewhat exotic weapons and armor, some miscellaneous and useful gear and such. Also where you live and such.
• Abilities and Skills: What can you do? Magic? Special Abilities? Even Martial Inclined folks can do some supernatural feats of strength or skill given the high magic in *Mirage making development of their bodies go beyond just physical limits.
• Bio: Important events of your life, what led you to be a salvager. When the players are picked we'll go over some joint story telling to see how you all became pals.

• Name: Kenneth Lake
• Gender: Male
• Age: Old
• Species: Augmented Miraian
• Appearance: Kenneth is certainly an odd sight. He stands six feet tall, with a thick and broad build almost exactly like a tree. His skin is dark brown with patches of green, and vines lace in and out of his body seemingly at random. His features are rugged like an older man, but where an old man might be sallow and sunken his face is full and energetic. His nose is prominent and round and his eyes are bright and large, always moving around. His hair is actually still the same since his procedure, soft, straight black in a short bush. Kenneth typically wears soft loose-fitting tunics and leggings of hide with no shoes, but will don his armor for Salvage operations and formal occasions.
• Personality: Kenneth is trying to make the world less painful to live in. He's had to go through a lot of hard times, and he tries to empathize with people going through similar stuff. He knows the power violence can have, and that it just as easily saves lives as it does destroy them. Negotiation and tolerance is his go-to in a heated situation. He feels great anger and greater sorrow at people who refuse his help, or who would use their own power for personal gain.
• Equipment:
  • A home just above The Swamp of Rebirth situated on a street that runs straight up to a dock his Salvage team docks at often.
  • An old sword and shield, well-maintained throughout the years.
  • A stout staff of Ash wood, six and a half feet long with a hook at the end.
  • A suit of heavy armor◊ made of wood and cloth that combines heavy armor with some touches of priestly robes.
• Abilities and Skills:
  • Kenneth's body is more plant than Miraian now; he bleeds a thick sap that coagulates rapidly and his body is more or less independent of its organs; he can take an enormous amount of punishment and remain standing, though he also moves a bit ponderously—he needs every ounce of that durability to stay in a fight. Almost more than his physical fortitude is his mental fortitude, too: his mind is somewhat alien and hard to penetrate from a mental assault, and on a more mundane front he's extremely patient and willing to put up with stuff others might call Total Bullroar. He also doesn't need to eat—his vines can absorb nutrients straight out of the ground, though that doesn't taste as good as a nice warm loaf of bread. He can also breathe carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen, which is occasionally useful.
  • Kenneth's vines can extend up to five feet out of him as secondary appendages, though they get hacked up just as easily as any old plant.
  • Kenneth knows how to fight. He's no epic swordsman, but he's fought plenty of fights in his days as a guardsman and knows his way around a sword, shield, and polearm. He's swapped out his old glaive for a shepherd's crook, but most of the theory's the same.
  • Kenneth can't talk to trees or anything, but if he concentrates he can get a general sense of what kind of and how many people had been near a given plant recently.
• Bio:
  • Kenneth was there when people first started getting thrown into the Swamp as a punishment. Seeing what he thought would be an easy job, he signed on as an armed guard to keep the prisoners in check. For awhile that was the case; his career as a guard was uneventful, but it paid well, and that was all he could really ask for. When the first prisoners started staying behind, though, Kenneth got a little worried he'd be out of a job. As it happened, yes, that was exactly what happened.
  • With age getting the better of him and guard details being needed less and less, Kenneth got fired. Having served as a soldier most of his life, but without the physical fitness that got him into the job in the first place, getting a new position was next to impossible. Without a job he quickly lost his home and ended up a refugee in the Swamp he once protected. He spent his last days in the care of the druids there, during which they proposed a plan to him: they would give him back his vitality, and more, through an experimental ritual, never before tested on a sentient creature. If he lived, he would spend that next life in service of the druids—though that last part was to be worked out once he got off the ritual slab.
  • Kenneth consented and let the procedure take place. When he awoke, his body was barely Miraian anymore. Great vines suffused his body, and his skin was green, waxy, and thick like a leaf. Far from horrified, Kenneth was full of boundless energy and vigor. Once the initial high wore off and he could actually sit still for five minutes, Kenneth proposed his reparation to the druids: he would become their Knight Errant, defending Mirage and its people from any threats to his existence. He would spread the good word of nature's healing powers, and of his and others' experiences of renewal and redemption in The Swamp of Rebirth. Salvaging was the logical career to make sure he would make good on his deal—Kenneth could eliminate any scary monsters on the chunks themselves and let anyone coming to Mirage that they'd have a safe place to stay with the druids of The Swamp.

edited 13th Jan '16 5:20:24 PM by Taco

Would a character who casts magic through cards be alright? Because I've been looking at the Card Caster Magus from Pathfinder recently and I'd kinda like to do that.

Name: Mago Barca.

Gender: Male.

Age: Roughly college-age.

Species: Human.

Appearance: Mago is rather skinny, weedy even. His skin is roughly the color of milk chocolate, and his hair is short, messy, and black. He's rather short for a man at 5' 8", and is usually found dressed in ornate, intricately-patterned, white-and-purple robes and sandals, with a kufi◊ with similar coloring perched atop his head.

Personality: Mago is a bit haughty and regal, and thinks of himself as above most others, due to his arcane talents. He'd never be so impolite as to say this aloud, of course, but it occasionally comes out in his actions. He respects other people with magical talents and fellow salvagers, recognizing the dangerous work they do. It is possible for him to come out of his shell, but it'll take some time and his trust. When you do, though, Mago turns out to be a goofy, idealistic dork. He's also rather giddy that he's finally able to have his dream job, and can sometimes, late at night, be seen laughing giddily to himself or even dancing (note: he's not a good dancer). If you catch him at it, though, you'd best make sure that he doesn't catch you. Finally, asking about his family is like poking at a wound that has yet to scab over. Mago doesn't like to talk about his family, and if pressed enough will be reduced to tears. He wishes that he could return home soon, and wants nothing more than to be able to be loved by his parents again.

Equipment: Mago has a dagger that has a simple magical enchantment on it (+1 dagger), a ring that allows him to slow his fall, which comes in handy when trying to salvage a far-off chunk (ring of feather falling), and his hat has an enchantment that protects him from any adverse effects the weather might have (kufi of weather protection).

Abilities and Skills: Mago is a sorcerer; someone with the innate ability to cast spells, without needing to memorize or research any of them. He has a few offensive spells (Magic Missile, Ice Knife, Chromatic Orb), as well as a few defensive and utility spells (Sleep, Blade Ward, Create Bonfire, Prestidigitation). He's decent with his dagger, but it's more of a last resort than anything.

Bio: Mago was the only child of a family of wealthy merchants who traded in whatever the salvagers would provide them. Though Mago enjoyed the benefits he was afforded by being a member of such a rich family, he always liked to watch the salvagers work from his bedroom window, and even wrote amateur fiction of himself as a salvager. Naturally, it wasn't very good, but when his parents discovered it, they gave him a huge lecture that stuck with him to the current day, with one core message; "You will never be a salvager." Though they didn't tell Mago this, they believed it to be too dangerous, and wanted to protect him. This marked the point when Mago began growing apart from his parents. Their previously loving relationship began to fracture and crumble, and when Mago's magic manifested by blowing a hole in his bedroom wall, that was the final straw. Mago found himself on the street outside his home with only a dagger, his clothes, and a pittance of money. (His parents regretted their decision almost immediately, but they couldn't find Mago to contact him and apologize.) He wandered and scavenged for several days, looking for both food and arcane items, based on the idea that he could ascend to his parents' level based on the thing that got him kicked out in the first place. Eventually he managed to get a job with a salvager company, which is where he finds himself when the RP starts.

edited 30th Dec '15 7:38:47 PM by Tojin

Sure, can have a spellcaster that uses cards. Can treat them as prepared spells he keeps in a deck.