Vampire and Mage RP [MUL-H]

[Darlusk]

Profiles: Twice Damned Profiles
Intro Thread: Intro
Feel free to create new threads with the [Twice Damned] header

Ok, so I recently got approved, and finally have the time to write up the idea I have :P

((-----Basic Premise-----))

The basic idea is a persistent group RP, involving a generic modern city as the setting. Of course, in addition to regular people, there's both a large faction of vampires, and a large faction of mages (faction is a very loose term). The idea would be to play as either a Vampire, Mage, or Mortal Thrall (As in, working subserviently to one of the groups), and then focus on interpersonal RP (I might create a larger-scale storyline if we have enough people interested in this).

The RP would be a mix of fighting and drama along with the usual romance and sex you would expect, heh. There's obviously quite a few different situations you can have between people of different sorts in it.

((-----General Background-----))

Vampires: The Vampires control the city, and have for many, many years. They currently have been getting more aggressive, more likely to blatantly take mortal thralls, feeding more publicly, and the like. In addition, there's quite a bit of fighting amongst themselves for control and power.

Mages: Mages have only recently shown up in the area, and don't have much of a hold yet compared to the vampires. Of course, they're split between those who abuse their powers (taking mortal thralls through magical means, for instance, draws a parallel to the vampires), and those who try to act as guardians or the like, keeping both the selfish mages and the vampires in line. Of course, that's no easy feat.

((-----Vampire Archetypes-----))

Duros: Vampires focused on physical enhancement, generally the type you'd see jumping across buildings or throwing a car at someone. Their powers reflect on such things.

Rectoris: The type of vampire you'd see controlling a human's mind with ease. Their powers are focused on mind control, emotional manipulation, and similar things.

Indicius: The dark, stalker types. Ones able to manipulate and hide amongst the shadows. Their powers focus on invisibility, darkness, and vision.

Atranis: The more mystical types, ones that never seem fully substantial or quite in the here and now. Their powers include some limited magic, like limited divination, shielding, telekinesis, and some even gain the ability to turn into mist for travel.


Elders: Elders form a special exception. Upon getting to a certain age (Generally several centuries old), they seem to elevate past their archetype, and find that they can use abilities from any of the groups.

((-----Mage Archetypes-----))

Necromancers: Masters of Life and Death, their magic focuses on healing, the undead, self enhancement, the shadows, and powers of entropy. Usually, a Necromancer focuses more on either the healing or the entropy aspects, giving a view of dark and light clerics or whatever, but one can easily learn both.

Sorcerers: Sorcerers focus on elemental magic for the most part. Fire, water, earth, air, etc etc. It goes past the 'standard' elements to a point, though any individual sorcerer will usually focus on one or two elements. Of course, a 'jack of all trades' is not unheard of.

Diviners: Seeing into the past, present, and future, manipulations of space-time, and curses/boons are all within the capabilities of Diviners. Usually a Diviner focuses on either Space-Time or on Pre/Post-cognition.

Warlocks: Warlocks tend to focus on offensive, blatant magic, and showy spectacles, things that control an area. Firing off a barrage of force missiles, paralyzing a powerful demon, etcetera.


Archmages: Unlike a vampiric elder, which learns all vampiric abilities to some extent, archmages instead will generally just learn to apply their archetype's magic to more varies applications. For instance, a Diviner Archmage may learn to heal by slightly altering the past so the wound never occurred.

((-----Rules and Organization-----))

For the most part, it's freeform, but I figured there'd be a little bit of dice-rolling included for conflict, generally only for non-romantic RP periods. A very simple system, there'll be 4 stats, and these will be added to a D10 roll for any given conflict.

Power: Stat that covers mystical power, like a mage's spells and a vampire's abilities. Ranges from 1-10 for Vampires/Mages, and is 0 for Mortals (Possibly will allow 1-2 for minor abilities, like psychics or the like). Add this to the roll when using any ability that's contested

Resistance: Stat that covers Resistance against supernatural abilities. Ranges from 1-10 for Mages, 2-11 for Vampires (Only elders have 11), and 0-4 for Mortals. Roll against abilities using Power.

Physicality: Physical capabilities. 1-10 for Mages, 2-11 for Vampires (11 for elders only), and 1-8 for mortals. Rolled for fighting physically (Contested, both use physicality)

Mentality: Mental and Social capabilities. 2-11 for Mages (11 only for Archmages), 1-10 for Vampires, 1-8 for mortals. Rolled if trying to recall information or for persuasion that the other person is against (Contested, both using mentality)


In general, the higher roll wins. For combat/hostile conditions, if there's a tie, the base 'stat' that's higher wins. If it's a tie and the base stat is the same, the defender wins. However, for standard RP and the like, you can agree that a tie gives a 'half' effect, an urging or otherwise works but not fully. Talk with the other playerin such a case

Example Rolls
Mind Controlling: Assaulter's Power vs. Victim's Resistance
Attack: Physicality vs. Physicality
Hide: Physicality vs Mentality
Hide using Magic: Power vs Power (conflicting power to see the person, basically)
Launch Magical Blast: Power vs Resistance
Launch Magical BLast against Supernatural Shield: Power vs Power (And does less damage then above regardless)

((-----Profile-----))

Code Select Expand


[b]Name:[/b] (Duh)
[b]Type:[/b] (Vampire, Mage, Mortal Thrall)
[b]Archetype:[/b] (As listed above)
[b]Gender:[/b] (Duh)
[b]Sexuality:[/b] (Duh)
[b]Age:[/b] (Duh)
[b]Appearance:[/b] (Text, picture, or both)
[b]Position:[/b] (If an archmage or elder, list it her,e otherwise list it generically. Archmages or elders will be limited to 3 total of each, and I'm one of the Archmages :P)
[b]History/Bio:[/b] (The type of person it is and a brief history)
Stats: (As mentioned above)
[i]Power-
Resistance-
Physicality-
Mentality-[/i]
[b]Dispositions:[/b] (An Explanation of the character's feelings on the things listed below
[i]Humanistic Vampires[/i] (Vampires that stick towards their human side)
[i]Fallen Vampires[/i] (Vampires that fully think of themselves as predators)
[i]Humanistic Mages[/i] (Mages realizing they are merely humans with enhanced capabilities)
[i]Fallen Mages[/i] (Mages that succumb to their power and place themselves above others)
[i]Mortals[/i] (Duh)




Example Profile (I.e My character's)

Name: Steven Culbad
Type: Mage
Archetype: Archmage (Necromancer)
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Straight
Age: 121, appears early 20's
Appearance: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v403/MrDelicious/Artwork/darkmage2.jpg
Position: Head Archmage
History/Bio: Steven was one of the first mages in the city, arriving around the time that Vampires had first started 'colonizing' in the area. For the most part he has just been keeping an eye on them, making sure they don't cross any lines or impede on his territory. He has several apprentices, and even has a Vampire or two that serve him directly. In addition to that, he has mastered life and death so fully that he has granted himself near immortality, and if nothing extenuating happens, he could live for millennia unimpeded by the ravages of age.
Stats:
Power- 10
Resistance- 8
Physicality- 4
Mentality- 11
Dispositions:
Humanistic Vampires- "It's respectable to see those undead that realize a part of them is still human. However, I do hope they aren't so naive as to place themselves directly into the same crowd..."
Fallen Vampires- "They are the ones you need to watch out for. The only type of Vampire I might truly fear is one that has succumbed completely to their feral nature..."
Humanistic Mages- "We are above them, but still are them. These mages need to realize that they are NOT completely at the same level anymore, though. However, it is respectable that they have not given into their power"
Fallen Mages- "Kill them. We can't have mages running around and treating people as nothing but expendable resources"
Mortals- "It's a mixed bag. Some deserve to be treated as nothing but scum, but at the same time, some need to be protected and treated well. However, it is difficult to prove to me you fall under the latter category"

Of course, this isn't fully detailed yet, and I'm of course looking for ideas and feedback. But yeah, anyone interested? If so, PM me a character. Or post it here. Whatever works for you. And eventually I'll make a character profile thread if there's enough interest :)

Edit:

So we have a list, if there's a spot, feel free to take it:
Archmages (3 allowed)
-Darlusk: Steven Culbad
-DeviantMunster: Laura Stone
Elders (3 allowed)
-Kate: Lady Kathryn Ryler
-PeacethatPowerBrings: Lex

(Note that there are probably  about 5 or 6 of each total, with NPCs)

[Treena]

i may be interested thinking of a concept for a mortal though.

[Kate]

sounds hot ! i am interested !

[Pumpkin Seeds]

This does sound real cool

[Kate]

Name Lady Kathryn Ryler
Archetype: Elder Rectoris Vampire
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Omnisexual
Age: 173, appears as above
Stats:
Power - 8
Resistance - 9
Physicality - 3
Mentality - 11
Disposition: Contested
Position: Contested
Powers: Mind control, sensory control of others
History/Bio:

Early in her vampiric days her aptitude for controlling the others minds was evident, initially such talents she used humbly to compliment a successful career as a psychologist but soon more extreme uses of her talents became an interest Kathryn could no longer keep in check.

A secretive brothel was soon established with other Rectoris vampires which primarily catered to pleasing select clients. For a while business progressed smoothly and over time Kathryn gained considerable respect from other Rectoris until rumor amongst them implied she was the source of the deaths of some men suspected of rape.

Inspectors were baffled, no restraints were detected, and the victums even had calm expressions on their face, like they had drifted away in their sleep. No device nor beast they knew of could manage such a thing.

These errie deaths had triggered many myths still well known in current times.
Although previous deaths did hint at vampires being the cause, to other vampires this was as blatant a statement to the world any could make. Humanistic vampires were outraged and demanded her extermination, however the elders knew bringing one to bear who was so talented in mind control would be an messy affair and instead choose to make the consequences political. To their accusations of having fallen Kathryn made no effort at mind control to placate matters, preferring to try and convince her kin of the justice she imposed on who she knew raped or blackmailed several of her human workers.

Although she had some supporters, most were not convinced of how she taken matters into her own hands, and although not officially deemed fallen Kathryn has long been considered not far removed from being so. Although Kathryn does actively prey on humanity, she does genuinely desire to aid humanity's progression towards utopia and does feeds only from those she believes are ones who frustrate its appearance.

[Kate]

if she is too extreme i can water her down if others prefer so.

[Darlusk]

She looks good to me, though if you could fill out the other sections I would be happy :)

I added sexuality to the profile skeleton though.

And yeah, anyone interested PM me or post here once your character's made. I'll create a character thread and an OOC thread in the NC Group forum (Seems appropriate) and then other topics can be made from there, once we have a decent amount of people on both sides (At least 3 and 3 + some mortals to start)

[Crovonovin]

Name: Thessaly Cluracan
Type: Mage
Archetype: Necromancer
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Pansexual
Age: 87 (appears in her late twenties)
Appearance:



Position: Elder [Fallen]
History/Bio:

Ms. Cluracan came into magic naturally, though her immediate family had absolutely no affinity for the art.  Her childhood was plagued by death, with relatives, friends, and animals frequently falling ill and wasting away to nothing.  It was rare that one was able to find an insect in the house that hadn't simply died without explanation, and her windowsill was frequently piled high with their corpses.  As she got older it also became a resting place for the small birds that feasted on them.  Then that of the neighbor's cat as it went after the fallen birds. 

Her family never had any reason to suspect Thessaly of being cursed, for she was always bright and cheerful no matter what the hour.  She was not wholly unaffected by the tragedy that seemed to follow her--she broke down for days when her grandmother passed on after a three day visit--but did not allow it to crush her spirit.  She never lied and only genuine smiles could be seen on her face.  It wasn't until the onset of puberty that panic began to fall over the house.

Suddenly the entire building seemed to be infested with insects.  Thessaly's window teemed with them, and it wasn't at all rare for her to awake in the middle of the night to find them staring eagerly up at her from her chest.  The entire house was evacuated and the exterminators were called in.  The house was pumped up with gas until it came out the chimney, but it seemed to have no effect on the intruders.  It was eventually decided that remaining there would be impossible given the circumstances, and the family moved from Ireland to London in an attempt to escape their odd misfortune. 

The same thing happened where ever they went, and it only became worse.  It began with insects and continued on to small rodents and birds, and eventually cats and dogs.  It was only when a hunk of roadkill began stalking the girl about that the family realized why their pest problems could not be solved by natural means; they were attempting to kill what was already dead.  Their attempts to confront their daughter proved fruitless, for the girl knew nothing of her innate talents.  Exorcisms were conducted in secret, to no avail.  The health of her parents declined dramatically as they desperately attempted to find help for their accursed offspring, while the girl's beauty only continued to grow from year to year.  When she was seventeen they finally succumbed to the unnatural disease that had settled in their bones. 

They were up and about again before the bodies had even gone cold.

Distraught to the point of hysterics, Thessaly fled from the moving corpses of her father and mother and never looked back.  She attempted to kill herself repeatedly, first by jumping from a bridge.  She was pulled to shore by a couple of vagrants with vacant looks in their eyes and skin as pale as the grave.  Victims of overdose that had died hours before in a makeshift tent beneath the bridge.  She attempted the same with the very pills they had taken, but they turned to ash on her tongue.  Electrocution in the tub met with failure as a power outage swept over the neighborhood.  Suicide by train was delayed when a series of devastating cave-ins in the subway tunnels closed off the London Underground from the public.  Every gun she put to her head jammed up, every poison turned to honey, and every blade was too dull to pierce her skin.  The final straw was the absurd timing of a truck filled with goose-feather mattresses that passed by just moments before she would have struck the pavement after leaping from a thirty story building.  She survived with minor fractures.

Realizing the futility of things, the girl decided to research her own strange condition.  This would continue for decades as she consumed every bit of occult literature she could get her hands on.  This fascination eventually gained the attention of certain mages that recognized her for what she was, whereupon she agreed to join their order in an attempt to understand, contain, and control her own morbid abilities. 

Suffice it to say that she was an extraordinarily quick learner, outpacing many of her teachers in the art of necromancy.  Though she had no ability beyond interacting with, manipulating, and raising the dead, she was creative enough to master a wide range of powers.  Eventually her own desire for power and knowledge drew the ire and criticism of her peers, and she left the ranks of her own volition to pursue her own path as a mage.

Stats:
Power- 10
Resistance- 7
Physicality- 3
Mentality- 9
Dispositions:
Humanistic Vampires "In their desperation they cling to the image of their former selves, fruitlessly.  The person they were vanished from this world the moment they turned.  Those who cannot accept what they are are nothing at all."
Fallen Vampires "The opposite extreme.  No modicum of self restraint.  In their weakness they use their condition as an excuse for their barbarism.  They wear the name vampire when it would be more apt to call them beasts.  It is a rare thing to encounter a true vampire that does not simply straddle the fence between man and beast, but demolishes the separation between the two and becomes something new altogether."
Humanistic Mages "Sensible.  Practical.  Woefully shortsighted."
Fallen Mages "Those who allow their power to wield them are infantile.  But those with enough power under their control find themselves in a place where laws and morality hold no sway, and it is there that they understand true exultation."
Mortals  "Ingredients."

Powers:

• The ability to raise, communicate, and control the undead.  This power is projected in an aura around herself until she maintains strict concentration at all times.
• Similarly, failure to keep her mind carefully guarded will unleash a miasma that is completely imperceptible to mortals, and also extremely fatal to them.  Death comes quickly to smaller animals, while sentient creatures may take months or years to succumb to its effects.  Other mages and vampires are not wholly immune to the effect, but generally only feel pangs of severe nausea and other flu-like symptoms.  Prolonged exposure is unhealthy to just about all creatures great and small.
• Thessaly's greatest creation is the art of Combat Necromancy, something that she was widely ostracized for before her self-imposed exile.  The spirits and bodies of the dead are fused together in an unholy amalgamation of horrors that can then be held magically to her own body, creating clothes and weapons out of their own organic or ethereal structures (see pictured).  Unlike many mages she prefers close-combat above all else, supplementing her own human frailties with the strengths of her cadaverous hordes.

[Kate]

can i change to an elder vampire ?

[Darlusk]

can i change to an elder vampire ?

Yeah, go ahead, edit your sheet and I'll add you as one of the elders.

[Treena]

haveing come up with nothing i am bowing out.

[Darlusk]

haveing come up with nothing i am bowing out.

That's sad :(

Hopefully we can get some more people going on this. Do I need to post more options of some sort? :P

[PeacethatPowerbrings]

Name: Lex
Type: Vampire
Archetype: Elder Atranis
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Pansexual
Age: 1000+
Appearance:
Position: Elder
History/Bio: Her true origins are shrouded in mystery, though even other Vampire Elders generally acknowledge that with her extremely lengthy life, one's origins are of little import. She seems distracted often, or possibly lost in thought, and when she is attentive, she usually treats people according to her judgements about them, wether they are her equal or not. She treats humans well, though, she feeds more than she strictly needs to, and she thinks little of human life, but doesn't kill for amusement.
Stats:
Power- 8
Resistance- 8
Physicality- 11
Mentality- 4
Dispositions:
Humanistic Vampires - Impractical, but harmless, self-decievers; humanity is gone when one becomes a vampire.
Fallen Vampires - Savage and brutish, niether enlightened nor ultimately helpful.
Humanistic Mages - Not worth thinking about, except where their powers exceed those of vampires, they might as well be mortals.
Fallen Mages - Same as the others, but more troubling, and too ambitious, worth doing something about, if they get out of hand, lest their viewpoint spread.
Mortals - Amusing, but short lived. Worth ignoring in large part.

[Kate]

how about we start this ... and just always leave the invite open for more to join which gets bumped every now and then

[Darlusk]

Mmk, I'll create a thread for JUST profiles now, in the NC System small group area (Unless someone has a better suggestion of where to put this, but that seems about right), and then later I'll start up an incharacter thread, too tired to right now :P.

Edit:

Quickly came up with a non-generic name for the game, here's the profile thread, please add yours there- Twice Damned

[Darlusk]

Ok, I made the first post in the thread incharacter, hope someone else will join in soon :)

[gwyn]

I would be interested in playing a mortal, but I am not sure what "dice rolling" is. . . would that be an issue??

[Darlusk]

I would be interested in playing a mortal, but I am not sure what "dice rolling" is. . . would that be an issue??

It's simple enough, there's a 'dice bot' link on top of the site. If you run into any trouble someone could easily help you. As it is, I don't see mortals needing to roll dice a lot anyway, and it's not a heavily dice-focused game, just a simple conflict-resolving system, so you should be fine

[Blackbird]

I'd like in on this if you don't mind. If you are still accepting characters, please let me know and I will whip up a profile for you.

Oh, and by the way... When do you want the game to start, and how often do you expect us to post?

[Darlusk]

I'd like in on this if you don't mind. If you are still accepting characters, please let me know and I will whip up a profile for you.

Oh, and by the way... When do you want the game to start, and how often do you expect us to post?

Accepting characters at any time, PM me a profile or post it her,e i'll approve it, and then you can add it to the official profile thread.

The game's already started, see the link a few posts up. I should add that to the top...but yeah, you can post whenever, and for how often you post, I'd say once every day or two if in the introductory thread, and if you branch off, whenever you and whomever else is in that thread decides.

[Blackbird]

Perfect. Thank you much, I'll get on that profile straight away.

[Blackbird]

Okay, my profile is in the profiles thread.

More questions for you:  Are the only people in this game going to be players? Or will you include NPCs for us to interact with? If you do, what are your rules for that? I mean, we are in some big city after all. If the only people we can interact with are other players, your world won’t be as immersive as it could be.

[Darlusk]

Okay, my profile is in the profiles thread.

More questions for you:  Are the only people in this game going to be players? Or will you include NPCs for us to interact with? If you do, what are your rules for that? I mean, we are in some big city after all. If the only people we can interact with are other players, your world won’t be as immersive as it could be.

If I run any specific storylines, I'll make NPCs. For now, it's just setting primer and whatevcer players wants. Feel free to make NPCs though; for instance, if your character history mentions having underlings or guards, etc, feel free to use them. I mean, don't go making 5 people that are always with your character and just as well developed as your PC, though, as that's basically playing multi-char :P

[Blackbird]

Do you plan on making an OOC thread too? Or is this one here good enough?

[Darlusk]

I figured this would take over as the OOC thread. Feel free to talk OOC here :P