With Hearts Ablaze (Skyrim RP Interest Check/Signup)

Four years after the Dragonborn slayed Alduin in the Battle of the Tongues, the Dragonborn disappeared without a trace. Years passed, and nobody saw the Dragonborn. However, something peculiar happened: in the span of three years, a number of Dohvahkiin came into the world, each from a different race. Now they have heard the call of the Greybeards up on High Hrothgar, and are each making their way to the Throat of the World, where their destiny awaits them...

—-

Character Template:

• Name:
• Age:
• Race: (One character per race: Nord, Imperial, Breton, Redguard, High Elf, Wood Elf, Dark Elf, Argonian, Khajiit, Orc, etc.)
• Birthsign:
• Homeland:
• Bio:
• Personality:
• Possessions/Equipment:
• Skills/Abilities:
• Fighting Style:
• Spells Known: (if applicable)

edited 25th Mar '14 4:06:29 PM by fearjunkie

Question: We start without knowing any Dragonshouts, correct? Or would we each start with a single word or something, to show that said character is a Dragonborn?

Yay, Skyrim! I'll make an Argonian.

But also, I have a few questions about big things. Are we working with an Empire or Stormcloak victory? And is the Dark Brotherhood destroyed, or did the Last Dragonborn perform the final assassination for them? And are the Dawnguard still around, or were they wiped out?

Can I make a Sload?

@Krika- We start without knowing any Shouts. The characters will learn Shouts from Word Walls or from the Greybeards.

@Nman- Assume that the Stormcloaks won, and the Dark Brotherhood and the Dawnguard still exist

@Musik (Looks up Sload) JESUS CHRIST IT'S LIKE JABBA THE HUTT WITH LEGS

(Keeps reading) Hang on, there's gonna be a problem there: The most important event known is when they released the Thrassian Plague upon Tamriel in 1E 2260, killing more than half of the population. In response, Tamriel assembled the All Flags Navy that ravaged Thras, killing all the Sload it could find and finally sinking it with unknown magics. The Sload, however, survived, and Thras has since risen again.

Given that tidbit of canon, it seems like it'd be unlikely that a Sload would show up in a continent that tried to commit the genocide of its people.

edited 24th Mar '14 4:07:26 PM by fearjunkie

I would love to play an Imperial

I'm preparing a Dark Elf...

Claiming the Nord!

• Name: Adelheid Svirn
• Age: 26
• Race: Nord
• Birthsign: The Lady
• Homeland: Skyrim - Whiterun Hold - Rorikstead
• Appearance: Adelheid doesn't deviate much from the standard mold of her Nord people... her long hair is a slightly dark shade of blond, her skin is fair and she stands a little taller than the norm for the other races. Her eyes are a deep blue color, big and full of life. She's built with compact muscle and her body is covered in light scars... though the tone of her skin makes it hard to tell them apart on first inspection. Despite her low and common birth, she has an aura of nobility and grace about her and the way she carries herself... however, whenever this is afforded by the Birthsign she was born under or some other reason, none could tell.
• Bio: Born in the small farming village of Rorikstead, Adelheid always felt a bit set apart from her peers. While she was raised as a simple peasant girl, meant to work the farms and live peacefully in her village she could never content herself with such a humble way of life. Adelheid instead, spent as much time as she could in the manor... listening to the old stories of the war from old Rorik and learning the history of her Nord kind from traveling bards and books. A bright and smart girl, she also took some early lessons in magic with childhood friends Sissel and Britte from Jouane Manette. While a good daughter that tried to help her parents on their hard lives, she truly spent most of her time dreaming of Nord heroes, the Nord ideal and feeling like something was lost from her life. Unfortunately, her separation from her parents came not from understanding and setting off on her own... but from steel. A band of bandits attacked the small hold of Rorikstead during a change of the Whiterun guard, intending on stealing the food they grew for the winter. Both of Adelheid's parents were cut down before her... though the furious young woman managed to run them off before they could kill her with a blast of frost magic. After a period of mourning, the young woman at only 15 years of age decided to abandon the village of Rorikstead. As the sole daughter of the Svirn family, she sold her home, the farm and most of her worldly possessions... instead buying a blade, a bow, a dagger and supplies for traveling. She bid farewell to the people of her village, comforted by knowing that she'd always have a place to return to among them. Thus, she set off onto a trip... chasing after that elusive thing missing within her soul. Her travel was long and arduous and seldom did she stop moving... only sticking in one place to learn something new. For the first years, she stuck to the roads and more civilized corners of Skyrim while she grew into womanhood and her true strength. She exchanged her first flimsy blade for a great two handed blade which she learned to wield with deadly efficiency. From fumbling with her bow, she learned how to strike ever more illusive prey. Her body grew strong as she left behind mile after mile in the bitting cold of Skyrim. She faced many dangers, however the Lady which was her birthright always helped her pick herself up and heal from her wounds with nothing but a few scars to show for it. As her twenty sixth year comes to her, Adelheid has grown to be something of an ascetic warrior and traveler. Having scaled high peaks with her bare hands to see the sun rise from some of the greatest heights of the world, meditated underneath freezing waterfalls to hone her body and become one with the cold of her homeland, walked along the side of giants and their encampments... And while she lives more fully now than she could have imagined back at the farm of her family, something is still missing in the life of Adelheid... something that doesn't click together in the civilization she visits from time to time.
• Personality: Adelheid is most of all, a woman obsessed with self improvement, wanderlust and her Nord heritage. She's a fair and good person, if a little reserved at times. However, she can be inflexible in her way of thinking and her moral compass is quite set in stone. Bandits and outlaws can expect little to no mercy from her due to the traumas of her childhood. Despite her rather unconventional life style in the wilds, she maintains a certain graceful bearing with her granted in part from her Birthsign which she takes after greatly and her emulation of the air of the noble warrior Rorik from her homestead.
• Possessions/Equipment: Steel gauntlets complimenting a suit of light leather armor she wears underneath a fur coat. She owns a big and sturdy greatsword as well as a bow and arrow. She carries a dagger to help her skin kills and cook. Aside from this, she owns very little... keeping a small pack of utilities needed for constant travel as well as a pouch of jewels and gold for when she ventures into civilization.
• Skills/Abilities: Two-Handed, Destruction, Light Armor, Sneak, Archery, Block. She is also quite a good singer, having a strong voice with good range. She's also quite agile and a good climber and swimmer.
• Fighting Style: Adelheid primarily fights using her greatsword to terrific effect. Wielding the blade with great strength, she can even swing it respectably one handed. Casting off heavier armor, she prefers to be more mobile and agile, running, leaping and being in constant motion to keep enemies on the defensive. She rarely uses her magic in battle as most of her foes are the native people or monsters of Skyrim... who embody its cold and winter as much as she does. However, against foreigner bandits or other such foes, she relishes in bringing icy might to bear against them. She's a fair shot with a bow and arrow, however she prefers to hunt with it instead of using it battle... she'd rather rush her enemies with blade in hand... however, when they attack from afar cowardly she's more than willing to shoot back in kind.
• Spells Known: Candlelight, Healing, Flames, Frostbite, Ice Spike, Frost Rune, Frost Cloak.

edited 25th Mar '14 12:45:14 PM by daltar

• Name: Nelbor Alithur
• Age: 29
• Race: Snow Elf
• Birthsign: The Lord
• Homeland: Skyrim
• Bio: Nelbor was the son of the chieftess of a Snow Elf sanctuary. However, the Snow Elves were unhappy with how the sanctuary was being run and turned against their leader. Nelbor was 18 years old when his mother was thrown into a dungeon, her authority usurped. Nelbor escaped, swearing to return one day and destroy those behind the revolt. He wandered the land, until he was approached by a messenger of the Greybeards, telling him to come to the Throat of the World without explaining why.
• Personality: Nelbor is a dour individual who has skill with holding his own against enemies. To gain his trust is a feat in and of itself and he's quite paranoid, watching over his shoulder so nobody can betray him. As a result, he tends to alienate others and struggles to empathize with people. Nelbor often delivers the harsh truth, refusing to candy-coat anything and telling it as it is.
• Possessions/Equipment: Iron armor, boots and gloves, Elvin war axe
• Skills/Abilities: Nelbor's skilled with magic, particularly Destruction and to a somewhat lesser extent Conjuration. He's also fairly skilled in the use of one-handed weapon usage, and he's dabbled in alchemy.
• Fighting Style: Cynric goes into battle with a light melee weapon in one hand and casting spells (usually Destruction) in the other. When outnumbered, he'll Conjure a familiar or a flame atronach.
• Spells Known: Frostbite, Sparks, Firebolt, Chain Lightning, Frost Rune, Conjure Familiar, Conjure Flame Atronach, Soul Trap, Healing

edited 25th Mar '14 4:28:01 PM by fearjunkie

What is Fighting Style and how should we write out Skills/Abilities?

I might roll with either Khajiit or Wood Elf, leaning to Khajiit.

Here we go! Let me know if there's anything that I did wrongly on here.

• Name: Moric Shadecaster
• Age: 27
• Race: Breton
• Birthsign: Atronach
• Homeland: High Rock
• Bio: The second son of a minor noble family in High Rock, Moric was tutored in the arcane from an early age. Unfortunately, the arts that he excelled in were frowned upon, if not explicitly forbidden, so he had to be very careful about revealing what he studied. Unfortunately, politics is politics, and eventually his family came under fire. Knowing that should his magical talents be discovered, the public shaming would be significantly harsher, Moric was determined to protect his family from his actions. He (with some trusted assistance) fixed the evidence so that it would seem that his magery had been done without his family's knowledge or consent, and left on his own. He ended up living on his own, taking what time he could to try to expand his art, while staying as far off the radar as he could - after all, he still could bring shame to his family were he to resurface. He traveled, trying to not stay in one place for too long, and eventually his travels brought him to Skyrim.
• Personality: Moric is honorable, in his own way. He does try to help out, and returns the favors he owes. He tries to avoid unecessary harshness, and generally does his best to continue to act in accordance with his noble birth. He is still ruthlessly pragmatic, however, and is not above doing reprehensible things if he must to achieve his goals.
• Possessions/Equipment: He has traveler's equipment, and several tomes filled with his spells, and his research. He carries a small sword with him, mostly for show, along with a magical stave containinig the ability to reveal lving creatures in the vicinity (Staff of Detect Life).
• Skills/Abilities: Conjuration is his main skill, focused into mostly undead-raising spells, with some expertise in summoned weapons (and infusing them with the ability to Soul Trap, should he wish to). Archery is a secondary skill he cultivates, with a strong knowledge base for the rest of the magical schools, thanks to his heritage and schooling.
• Fighting Style: He prefers to stay far away from his opponents, and use his Summoned Bow to hit hard from a distance. Once corpses become a thing, he generally starts raising them to both distract the enemy and keep them at a distance while he continues to strike with his bow.
• Spells Known: Raise Zombie, Reanimate Corpse, Revenant, Bound Bow, Bound Dagger, Soul Trap, (Mage/Candle)light, Equilibrium, Sparks, Frostbite, Clairvoyance, Calm, Healing, Lesser Ward, Steadfast Ward, Necromantic Healing

I might try this once I'm where my computer has internet (typing this on a phone with 4G networking, not as convenient), can I claim an altmer until then?

• Name: Ne'raz "Raz" Xemsareth
• Age: 32
• Race: Argonian
• Birthsign: The Steed
• Homeland: Skyrim
• Personality: Enjoys telling and hearing tall tales, especially if done loudly. A smith through-and-through, Raz, like most other working men, enjoys a large mug served by busty serving girls at the end of the day. While not jealous of mages, he does find what they do quite interesting. He is a bit miserly, but also knows that sometimes it's worth losing coin to gain something in return.
• Bio: Raz was born in Winterhelm to immigrant parents. At a young age, he discovered he had a talent for magic, being able to cast a Candlelight spell with ease. He sold everything he had in order to move to Winterhold to study to be a mage, and enrolled in the College. Then he discovered that he had a talent for that one spell. He had trouble learning new spells, and found that he could only excel at Enchanting.
  Eventually, he dropped out and started working for a blacksmith in a nearby village as her apprentice, learning how to trade, work metal and leather into arms and armor, and using his enchantments to increase the value of their goods. To that end, he needed a way to reliably harvest soul gems, so he saved up and bought a soul trap enchantment, slapped it onto his weapon at the time, put on a set of metal armor, and threw himself at wild animals axe-first. All those years of working the forge had left his arms pretty strong, so while he got pretty bloody, at the end of the day he had at least managed to axe something hard enough that he filled his first soul gem. He kept at it for the next few years, alternating between hunting and working, living the endless cycle of using up souls to enchant weapons that he used to kill animals that gave him new souls so he could make money and refill the weapon that he used to kill... well, you get the point. Until he got the call to High Hrothgar. With barely any coin on hand, he set out for the Throat of the World.
• Possessions/Equipment:
  • Six lesser soul gems, two common soul gems, a greater soul gem, and a grand soul gem - all empty.
  • Steel Armor: A full set with the horned version of the helmet, but he has no shield. The cuirass has a fortify health enchantment on it.
  • Soulsmasher: A Glass Battleaxe he made, it has the Soul Trap and Huntsman's Prowess enchantments on it. It's also a testament to his inability to name things well.
• Skills/Abilities:
  • Enchanting
  • Smithing
  • Speech
  • Heavy Armor
  • Two-Handed.
• Fighting Style: His strategy is usually "hit things with an axe, hope other things hit the armor instead of him, collect soul".
• Spells Known: Candlelight

edited 24th Mar '14 8:25:52 PM by nman

• Name: Mavur Givbruk
• Age: 34
• Race: Dark Elf (Dunmer)
• Birthsign: The Mage
• Homeland: Skyrim
• Bio: Mavur was a street rat from day one, his parents had abandoned him in Falkreath, being unable to support him. He stole spellbooks whenever he could and learned the arcane arts, focusing mainly on the school of Destruction with some interest in Conjuration. He found the abandoned shrine of Clavicus Vile at Haemar's Shame, after being cast out of the town he was in at the time. Finding food and water in the shrine, somewhat miraculously preserved, he started to view the Daedric Prince as his saviour and began to restore the shrine and worship the Deity. Now, near 20 years later he has found himself as one of the Dragonborn.
• Personality: A devoted worshipper of Clavicus Vile, Mavur is possessed of a silver tongue and a wit sharp enough to cleave stone. Sticking to his street rat roots, he will gleefully puncture the egos of anyone he sees as arrogant or posturing. He has light fingers and often finds himself in possession of other people's valuables by accident.
• Possessions/Equipment:
  • Full set of Leather Armor
  • Pair of Steel Daggers
  • Good amount of Food and Drink
  • Couple of Health and Magicka Potions(Lesser Quality)
• Abilities/Skills:
  • Destruction
  • Conjuration (Focusing on Daedra)
  • Sneak
  • Pickpocket
  • Speech
• Fighting Style: Usually summons an Atronach to start things off before either blasting the foe from mid-range with Destruction Spells or backing off so he can sneak around behind them and put a knife in their back.
• Spells Known: Frostbite, Sparks, Lightning Bolt, Ice Spike, Icy Whirlwind, Conjure Familiar, Conjure Flame Atronach, Conjure Frost Atronach

• Name: Ivala
• Age: 28
• Race: Wood Elf
• Birthsign: The Shadow
• Homeland: Skyrim, northeast of Markarth
• Bio: Born to an indentured servant of a Thalmor detachment in Markarth, Ivala was likewise considered little more than a slave by the High Elves as soon as she was old enough to be useful. Trained to be stealthy and listen in where she could pass unseen or unsuspected, she had fun finding and reporting anyone in the city's underbelly that said bad things about the High Elves or the Dominion, and was very happy to help in any way she could. That changed when she was ten, though. When her mother was killed by a taskmaster for dropping and shattering a large load of valuable magical materials, Ivala fled the city, taking little more than her clothing and a short knife. Even in the relatively benign summer months, her life was hard, but rather than breaking her will, the elements only forged her into a stronger, and much more ruthless, person.
• Personality: Ivala lives near Markarth but refuses to enter the city. She trades with nearby villages, mostly furs, meat and bones from her hunts, and is friendly enough when she goes, but she visits rarely; she handles strangers best on her own terms and with plenty of open space around her should anything go wrong. Her speech tends toward the laconic, and while she's not directly antagonistic, she can be brusque.
• Possessions: Ivala lives in a small, cozy shack hidden in a pine copse northeast of Markarth, just about due south of the Shrine to Peryite. She has a bedroll and firepit, as well as some iron tools and a small chest that she's traded for over the years in Karthwasten and other small settlements. Aside from that, her tanning racks and weapons are her most prized possessions, and she keeps her blades close by her at all times.
• Skills: Tracking/hunting, moving silently, and archery. Life in the city taught her how to sneak for spying, while life out in the wastes taught her how to sneak to kill. Proficient in fighting both humanoid and animal attackers. She fletches her own arrows and cures her own leather.
• Fighting Style: Ivala carries a short sword and a dagger of about half that length to defend herself from attackers. She also carries a bow of fine elven make. Her preferred method of combat is to attack from complete surprise and kill her target cleanly before she's ever noticed.
• Spells Known: Healing

(that feel you get when you realize you forgot to add an Appearance section. Eh, I don't feel like making people make addendum to their profiles...)

@Gladonost: Skills/Abilities is where your character excels. Fighting style is just what your character usually uses in battle (dual wielding, shield-and-weapon, two handed weapon, two spells, etc.) Also, Mavur is approved. @Krika: Awwww....I wanted to make a Breton. Any chance you'd be willing to change your mind? @Nman: Looks pretty cool! Approved. @Savant: Approved.

Can I be an Imga then?

(Looks up Imga) Pfffft omg it's Gorilla Grodd

Sure, that seems like an alright choice.

If you have a good reason in-story as to why I should change my race, but if your only reason is 'I wanted to do that!', then no I will not, because that is a misunderstanding of the role of a GM. When you posted this signup, the implicit meaning was that you had slots for 10 players, and thus 10 people could apply. If you wished to keep one of those slots for yourself, that should have been specified. On top of this, an GMPC (which you are trying to make one of) is a worrisome blurring of the necessarily distinct roles of the GM and the PC. The GM runs the world, the P Cs play it. This is not to say that the GM's role is all work, as ideally they should enjoy what they do, but the role is fundamentally that of a presenter and a storyteller, not a reader or listener. When you say "...I wanted to make a Breton", this gives the impression that you might want to play this idea at least as much as run it, which is the downfall of many campaigns, as "pet" GMP Cs overshadow the P Cs. This isn't to say that GMP Cs can't work (because they can), but that like most things a GM does, it should be built to work with the P Cs, and not as one, which seems to be how you were going about it.

My problem is that Moric doesn't really scream 'Breton' to me. Bretons are described as Passionate, eccentric, poetic, flamboyant, intelligent, willful. Now, re-reading your character's personality, he'd be a kickass Redguard! Considering Redguard's disdain for Conjuration, Redguard!Moric's willingness to do something reprehensible to attain his goals could have resulted in him learning Conjuration and, since Redguards frown upon that brand of magic, he had to save his family's reputation.

Personality shouldn't really have much to do with race, because not every member of a race is exactly alike. Though if you did want to go that route, Redguards are known for their pride and independence of spirit, which fits Cynric quite nicely. There's also no real connection to politics, which is a major aspect of Breton culture, so I think Moric is more suited as a Breton son of nobility and Cynric as a Redguard. Plus, with Redguards not liking magic so much, it makes more sense for Cynric, who is like a battlemage, to be a Redguard, and Moric, who is a pure caster, as a Breton.

edited 25th Mar '14 10:22:20 AM by nman

While that is some good delineation of the role of a conventional GM, Krika, this remains fearjunkie's RP, so he's free to make up the rules and have a GMPC of whatever race he wants.

At the same time, daltar, I'm with Krika that it's unfair to start out with a list of ten slots that are available and then say that one has been secretly filled the entire time. If Fear wanted to play a Breton, he should have made that clear from the start, either by saying so in the OP or by not listing Breton as one of the potential races.

GM or no, it's poor form to tell another roleplayer that their character doesn't fit the slot they signed up for and to pick another so you can take that slot. It might even be worse form to do it as a GM.

edited 25th Mar '14 12:18:06 PM by RedSavant

Indeed, I am by no means saying that he can't do that - Rule 0 is a thing after all. That being said....Savant gives a clearer summary of my feelings on the matter.