Shapers: New Students [Fantasy, Teacher/Students, Vanilla]

[Sabby]

Shaping is an incredible ability that allows you to break down matter into it's raw elements and then reconstruct it as anything you choose. It can be used for every day tasks like building and repairs, or further the world in more ground shaking ways. Some of the greatest living inventions were created with Shaping, tools and weapons and vehicles, fusions of wood, metal, bone and flesh.

And, yes, Shaping has also created new life. A simple pest problem is easily solved by the introduction of a Shaped predator, genetically programmed to hunt and to breed and to die within specific parameters. And that's just the basic stuff. Steed's and servants and soldiers and living accounting systems, all made possible by Shapers.

But there is a dark side to this. The ability to create life can be disastrous. Entire ecosystems have been ruined because of small mistakes made with good intentions. The greatest of all crimes is to create something as intelligent as a human, with the ability to Shape. To craft a Shaper is believed to signal the End of the World.

Shaping is dangerous. It's that simple. So, the skills and knowledge are guarded jealously, and those born with the talent are taken away, where they will either die in training, become Shapers, or give service in other ways, never to return to normal society. Those that fail become Guardian's or Agents, keeping the isolated schools in line or tracking down enemies and thieves, keeping the secrets of Shaping hidden and buried.

You were born with the talent. You have been taken, and are now being carried by a living boat to an island, where you will likely spend a significant part of your life training to use your amazing powers. Or perhaps it will be cut short. Maybe your first creation will turn on you and tear your throat out. Maybe you will go on to create something so advanced it is destroyed and you are made into a Guardian. Or perhaps another students mistake will see you injured or killed by the schools automated defenses, it's turrets and quarantine lock-downs.

You are as much a prisoner as a student here, but you are hardly alone. You and your fellow student are the apprentices of a stern but kind teacher, an ex-Agent and an amazing Shaper. She will walk you through the sciences of Shaping, your first living item, sustaining it, and the many martial arts and concentration practices. Her methods are often unorthodox, but she is the best teacher at the school.

Welcome to your new life Shaper.

[Featherfall]

Color me interested; very, VERY interested, especially in a teacher role Is there anything else you can tell us (bios and such)?

[Sabby]

I'll be playing the main teacher, so theres roles for the two students. I'd like to keep it contained to that. Every group game I've ever tried failed, especially when it exceeds 3 players.

But if you need more to work with, try thinking where your character came from. Maybe a poor boy stolen in the night by an Agent, or a rich girl who grew up knowing she'd go there, or maybe a criminal/thief who used Shaping to steal to survive.

For the game itself, your first real task is creating a pet. Anything you like, but too complex and good luck controlling it, or even keeping it alive, too simple and theres no strain on your skills. You need to keep it alive and bond with it and add to it, without killing it, and it will be sustained and controlled by your own life force. It's like wearing weights, it gradually makes you stronger.

The best Shapers still have their pets with them from school, massive and powerful and intelligent. Think of some of them like Pokemon, large animals with odd combinations of bio-mechanical and organic parts.

[Sabby]

Oh, that's your living creation/stress testing, by the way. There's an inanimate object training as well, usually making a weapon, typically a dagger or baton that will evolve from your unconscious mind and your conscious efforts to improve it, which could break it also... like with pets, the best Shapers and Agent's still have that same weapon, and it's incredibly advanced at that point.

You're teachers weapon is a doozy.