Topic: Heads Will Roll [horror/supernatural], game full but wait list spots available

[Roo]

 

Game Title                         Heads Will Roll

Inspirational music for the game by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Game Description/Teaser
 
 Simon’s Bull is a rundown old bar on the east side of town. The lights outside the joint flicker, like there’s something leeching the power from the lines. Inside you can find all manner of people in the lambent atmosphere, their fears wafting off their skin and sinking into the booze in front of them. Tonight Otis is inside; he’s a large man, tall too. His hair is long, greasy and you’re not sure of his age. He could be thirty; he could be fifty. There’s no way to tell, but his voice is low and smooth like pebbles at the edge of a lake.
 
 They’re out there, you know that, right? They don’t want you to know that though—they’re hiding in plain sight. Lurking at the corners of our vision. If you’re careful though you can see them sometimes—the trick is to make sure they don’t notice you noticing them. If that happens, well, then it’s time to put up or shut up.And if you can’t do that, well son, you best run . . .
 
 It’s only after he stops talking and looks up at you from over his pint of ale that you see the long, jagged scar that scores the right side of his face. The eye on that side is milky blue: blind. He smiles unevenly; something is wrong with the musculature on the right side of his face—the scraggily beard there is also interrupted by the length of the taut-skinned scar.
 
 OOC
 
 Welcome to Heads Will Roll, a game that pits player characters against all the things that go bump in the night. Heads Will Roll is set in Cape Merrin, ME, a large metropolitan area that has been infested with the supernatural: ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and all other manner of creepy things lurk here, including monsters that are or appear human. Player characters will be tasked with fighting against these forces of evil—as well as investigating them, and determining if they are indeed evil.
 
 This game will be inspired, in part by Hunter: the Vigil, but this game will be without a system.
 
 We welcome character concepts of three types:
 
 The Initiates:  These characters have not been baptized into the world of the supernatural. You are a typical person with your own beliefs, motivations, and personal goals. In game, these goals and motivations will alter, probably irrevocably, when you encounter the supernatural for the first time. Perhaps a loved one is murdered, or you are thwarted in your career by the meddling of someone who is not wholly human. This type of character, however, will be able to discuss with the GMs (Roo and Rick957) exactly the type of encounter that they would like to experience in game and we, the GMs will help make that happen. We are also happy to generate a surprise for you, if you prefer that.(Examples of Character Types that might fit well into this category: low-ranking police officers, news reporters, history buffs, etc.)
 
 These characters should not generally be especially combat effective unless there is specific justification for that in their background stories. So, yes, a police officer would have access to a sidearm, but if said officer is also a crack shot, there ought to be some explication of this in the backstory.
 
 The Indoctrinated: These characters have been introduced to the world of the supernatural, and for the most part, it should have altered or scarred them in some way, not necessarily physically. These characters come into the story with a self-designed justification for why they want to fight the darkness. Did they lose a spouse or child to some sort of supernatural creature? Did they get attacked personally? These questions are all things the player will decide on and describe in his/her backstory, and so you may start the game with a more combat-savvy character. That is, your character knows a little bit about the weaknesses of one type of supernatural character as well as some of the ways to defend against them. (Examples of Character Types that might fit well into this category: jaded detective, someone orphaned by the supernatural, priest or minister, occultist, etc.)
 
 The “Reformed” Monsters: These characters are themselves supernatural. Perhaps a mage or a werewolf, but one who has “seen the light” and works against the more vile creatures of the supernatural world. There will need to be a strong backstory justifying your alliance with mere humans. These characters, pending GM approval, may also masquerade as humans among the other hunters, though this secret will come out over the course of our story. If you wish to masquerade as human, mark the Character Type on your sheet as either Initiate or Indoctrinated; make sure your true Character Type as a shape-shifting Reformed Monster is not given away anywhere in your sheet.  Include only the "street" image of your character with the sheet, showing your appearance as most of the mortal world sees you.  Then PM the secret information to the GMs:  your Reformed Monster description and/or your out-and-out monster image, e.g. your appearance as a werewolf.
 
 Characters will require GM approval and we will be selective based on the following criteria:

• Willingness to post 3x per week at a length of at least 4 sentences per post; lengthier posts are welcome and can occasionally stand in for shorter, more frequent posts, but everyone should post at least once a week.

• Literate posts (no textspeak, intelligible grammar though perfection unnecessary)

• Originality and interesting backstory that indicates your character would be willing to be part of a group (i.e. loners who like to sulk and be moody won’t be a good match for this game—characters will have to work together to survive)

• Willingness to take detailed and extended encounters of a sexual nature to PMs between the appropriate characters so the thread does not become overcrowded with sex scenes (several posts are fine, but if this is an epic sex scene—take it to PMs)

• Willingness to sometimes read lengthy posts from both GMs, as we both write rather lengthy posts. This should not be a call for you to respond in kind, though you certainly may tend toward lengthier posts if that is your tendency.

 Mood and Tone: This game will feature gritty and dark material, including violence. If that’s not for you, it probably won’t make for a good game. Black humor and other humor are welcome—but as players you should be aware that no one character will have the clue to everything in this setting. Your knowledge of the supernatural is incomplete, partially incorrect, built off of assumption, hasty research done in libraries after work while you constantly check over your shoulder. Teamwork will be essential to survival, and so we welcome players who are willing to write scenes cooperatively and work together to solve problems. There will also be a fair amount of action in this game, but your characters’ first impulse when faced with a problem that is not immediate physical threat, should not be to seek a physical or violent means of solving that problem. In-game actions will have in-game ramifications for characters. Sexual interactions between player characters are certainly welcome (though see above on extended encounters) and there is a possibility for monster-on-player character romance should it become viable in terms of plot (e.g., a vampire attempts seduction to feed, etc.).
 
 Character Sheets
 
 Name:
 Character Type: (Initiate, Indoctrinated, or Monster)
 Physical Description and/or image: Sex:
 Sexual Preferences:
 Skills: (list 3, one of which may be combat or very physical for Initiates; 4, two of which may be combat-related for the Indoctrinated)
Backstory: (This doesn't need to be as long as the example below but should be at least one solid paragraph.)
 
 Please post your character sheets here in the want ad, and we will PM you approval after both of us have had the chance to review your character sheet. See below for a sample character sheet for Otis, the figure who appears in the vignette above.
 
 
 Happy Gaming!
 
 Roo and Rick957
 
 
 Sample Character Sheet for Otis
 
 Name: Otis Treehaute
 
 Character Type: Indoctrinated
 
 Physical Description and/or image: Otis is a large man, tall and well-muscled. His age is indeterminate, but he’s somewhere over 30, and probably not in his 60s yet. He has a long, uneven scar that runs nearly the length of the right side of his face, and his right eye is blind. His hair is long and oily. He sometimes wears it back in a pony tail, which makes his scraggly goatee all the more prominent.

Sex: Male
 
 Sexual Preferences: Women, Vanilla Sex, though mostly Otis is celibate these days.
 
 Skills: Otis is proficient with a double barreled shotgun and his career working for construction companies as a demolitionist has left him with a reasonable working knowledge of mainly explosives and a strong ability for how to plant charges in order to bring down buildings. Otis is also a bit of a gourmand; he loves to cook, and if he can arrange to have someone tolerate his company for very long, he will inevitably cook a delicious meal for his guest. Otis is an excellent chess player.
 
 Backstory: Otis has worked in construction for decades, and specifically, he has always been part of a demolitions team. His life was typical, happy. He was a working stiff and his wife, Patty, stayed at home to watch their daughter and son—Margaret and Jason. Life was good; he loved his wife and children, and his pay was more than enough to keep them living comfortably though not richly. He went to church with his family on Sundays, and the Treehautes were generally considered good Christians by most of their fellow churchgoers. This might have to do with the annual barbeque that Otis helped prepare every year for the church, or it might have been his recipe book that was put together for the community and sold as part of a church fundraiser.
 
 All of this changed when Otis came home late from work one night. He and his crew had brought down a doozy of a building and the guys had all blown off steam together as a way of releasing the tension about the building’s fall. He’d come home not quite drunk, but definitely a bit more than tipsy. His buddy Carl had dropped him off; Patty would be annoyed the family truck was parked in the parking lot of Simon’s Bull. She did chide him for drinking sometimes, but she should understand, or at least that was what Otis told himself as he crossed the threshold into his house. In the stark yellow kitchen light of their home, Otis saw crimson. Blood pooled on the floor, sprayed the normally cheerful walls with its red stickiness. Otis said nothing intelligible, but made a horrid keening noise in the back of his throat as he ran for the kitchen. He slipped in the blood and landed painfully on the kitchen floor on his back. He jolted his head on the linoleum so that he was disoriented when he turned to look at the pile on the floor next to him. It took him a moment to realize what it was: Patty, Patty strewn with her own guts and more or less torn apart. He turned and retched but struggled to keep the vomit down and dashed up the stairs with bile coating his throat. He left his bloody footprints on the carpeted stairs. The lights were off up here, but Otis was insane with rage and fear. He stumbled through the dark to the children’s room, calling out the whole way, his voice ragged with emotion, “Margaret! Jason! You answer your pa, hear! Margaret! Jason!”
 
 He burst through their door in the darkness. He could see something hunkering down on one of the children’s beds. There was the smell of wet dog, piss, feces. He hit the light switch and immediately wished he hadn’t. The thing perched on his daughter’s bed was—he didn’t know—something between dog and human, but there was nothing human at all in its features. Its mouth was a cavernous maw filled with ragged, yellowed teeth; it held up one of his daughter’s eyes, popped it into its mouth and swallowed. Glaring its bloodshot eyes at Otis it opened its mouth and laughed a low, husky laugh that shook its form before it mouthed two words Otis had to fumble with mentally in order to understand because of the thing's contorted speech: “Sweet meat!” As Otis stood there puzzling it out the thing stepped off the bed and began moving toward him—Otis raced back down the hall toward his bedroom where he knew he kept the shotgun loaded in their closet. But he didn’t even get to turn around. Instead, the thing buried its festering claws in his left shoulder and spun him around. Screaming, Otis unloaded both shots at the thing seconds after it batted his face with its large, clawed paw. They both fell backward, the thing yelping; Otis was more badly injured and laid on the floor slipping toward shock while the thing got up and crept away, licking its wounds.
 
 He laid there for about twenty minutes before the police arrived; he had thought, once he got better, that he had lived in a neighborhood where gunshots would have brought the police much sooner. So much for his pride in raising a family in a good neighborhood—but then none of that mattered anymore to Otis because he had no family anymore. All that mattered now was revenge—all that mattered now was bleeding the fucking dog that stole his family.

[Kaisude]

Small question. Is it possible to play a monster who was human, but turned against his/her will. Thus making them want to help fight the darkness? So an Indoctrinated and a monster. Either way I am going to join, just curious about that mix of character.

[Roo]

Hi Kaisude, that could definitely work! Look forward to seeing your character ideas.


Also, to clarify, age ranges for characters, since I've had a couple of inquiries about that--as long as you're human a typical age range would be 16 at minimum on up to about 50 or so, basically just to make sure that your hunter is still realistically viable in combat. For supernaturals, upper limit on that age range can vary a bit more.

[Aurora Wayland]

Name: Samantha "Sam"

Character Type: Monster
 


Appearance: Long black hair, pale blue eyes and pale skin. Shes lithe, standing only 5'1 and weighing 90lbs. Her breasts are small and she wears provocative clothing to blend in with the hookers.

Sex:Female

Sexual Preferences: None - As of yet.
 
Skills: Drawing. Shes always been a skilled artist since she was young. Sam also excels in history. Since her 'turning' she had spent numerous nights at the library, learning what she could in attempt to break her curse. Samantha also knows quite a bit about the human anatomy. Knowing just where to strike an opponent in combat.

Backstory: Samantha was a typical sixteen year old girl She had friends, family and a career in mind. She was smart and attractive. At the time she was dating a boy named Billy Kaid. He was a bit of a bad boy, and her parents hated him. But to Samantha he was everything she wanted.

Their relationship started out innocent enough. Talking and holding hands. But as the months went on, Billy became more aggressive, groping her and forcing their relationship to move quickly. Many times Billy attempted to force Samantha into having sex with him, and each time she said no.

One night as Samantha was leaving her part time job at the Gap at the mall, Billy pulled up in his car. "Get in..." He had said, voice slightly slurred.

"Billy, your drunk..." Samantha had replied, walking away from his car.

"Baby, come on. get in. I just want to apologize for last night..." He cried out, his car idling next to her.

Samantha knew it would be a mistake getting in the car, but she loved Billy and the desire to make him happy was strong. The girl sighed and stopped, turning around and climbing into the passenger seat. "We can talk on the way to my house." Samantha said.

Billy sped away in his car. Of course it wasn't to her house. Instead he has driven 20 minutes past the mall and turned down a dark alley. "Billy, take me home!" Samantha had demanded, looking around. her heart rate was fast and blood pumped into her ear with nervousness.

"Fuck you! Ain't I good to you? Buy you dinners and take you to movies!? Huh?" He growled, grabbing a fistful of Sam's black hair and yanking it back. With his other hand he produced a knife, holding it to her throat.

Sam's eyes went wide, struggling to get away as she screamed for help. "Billy! your drunk! Don't do this!"

Sam's boyfriend spat in her face and pressed the bladed edge tighter to the skin. "Shut the fuck up! I'm tired of paying and YOU not putting out!" he hissed into his ear, then licked it. What happened next was a blur. Billy raped her ruthlessly and Sam could only thrash and scream. 

As Billy climaxed, he realized he couldn't let her go. She would surely call the cops and tell her parents. So instead he gripped the handle to his knife and jabbed it up into Samantha's ribs. Blood flowing and collecting on the bottom of the car.

Samantha's eyes grew wide, then distant as the world seemed to be fading from her. Of course it didn't end there for her. Instead she managed to see the car roof be torn open, and a man, who's face she could not make out grab Billy by the throat and yank him out.

What followed next were screams from Billy as the stranger brutally mutilated the corpse. Samantha was growing tired, her eyes drifting close when the Stranger's hand opened the door and pulled the girl out. She couldn't make him out clearly. He was tall. Dark. and his voice had an accent to it.

"Sweet child...I am Azrael..." he said, his voice like honey to her. "Do you want to die to night?" He asked, towering over her as she looked on from the ground.

"N-no..." She manged to choke, blood trickling out of her mouth.

"Then drink...and know it is not your time..." The stranger's voice whispered as he knelt down beside her. To Samantha, the world went black.

She awoke hours later, laying on the cold wet ground. She was naked from the waste down, blood between her legs from where the rape had occurred. She struggled up looking around and then screamed when she saw bits and parts of Billy on the driver's side of the car.

Samantha panicked, grabbing her clothes and hastily putting them on before running home, sobbing. When she got home, she managed to sneak in through her bedroom window, not wanting her parents to see.

Within minutes she was in the shower, scrubbing excessively to get the blood off her skin. This has to be a nightmare...a nightmare..., Samantha thought. The poor girl was so thirsty and no matter how much she would drink the the shower's faucet, she couldn't seem to quench the thirst.

Samantha left the shower and dried herself off. She collapsed on the bed, exhausted. Soon sleep over took her. As she slumbered her dreams were vivid. In them she had left her room, and visited her parents. It was there that she slaughter them and drank their blood. Samantha wanted to scream, but couldn't. The drinking of the warm red liquid was orgasmic and she felt as if her body was on fire with pleasure.

Screaming, Samantha woke up in her bed. She ran a shaky hand through her hair when she noticed it was smeared in blood. The dream was real, she had murdered her parents. Heart broken and truly alone, Samantha left that night.

For the next 5 years she spent on the street. She had taken refuge with the hookers near Simon's Bull. She had not aged a day since she was cursed by the Stranger known as Azrael. Mostly feeding on the perverts that tried picking her up, Samantha managed to survive, being careful to not give away what she was.

[Shihong]

You can definitely color me interested!  This looks like a very well thought out game, and I'm always keen on seeing multiple GMs working together to form an engaging plot.  Splitting up the workload always tends to help in the long run.

I can't say for sure exactly what sort of character I like to play.  I think this one deserves a bit of good hard thought.  I'll be sure to get back to you when I've come up with something concrete!

[Kaisude]

Name: Micheal Summers
Age: 27
Character Type: Indoctrinated
Physical Description and/or image: 
Micheal is a tall man 6'4 to be exact. He's a buff tough son of a bitch. Practically bronzed skin complexion, and chocolate brown hair which; he wears slicked back. He has a thin strip of a beard stretching from his side burns connecting at his chin. His eyes an almond shape with brown chocolate hues. He tends to wear loose clothing, something he can move freely. A hoodie and track pants is the usual apparel. Colors are a cliche red or black most likely both. 
Sex: Male
Sexual Preferences: Heterosexual
Skills:
Craftsman- Micheal is a handy man in sorts, can fix, break and re fix things. He's also a creator he likes to tinker so inventions are made.
Hand To Hand- Micheal is a natural brawler. He believes the only way to fight is with fist. Not to mention the minor muay Thai lessons he had.
Knife Handle- It's not very often that he uses it, but Micheal is also a bit of a swordsman.
Morale booster- Despite the hard times now, and the hard times ahead Micheal does his best to keep spirits up. Some might find small joy others could feel brand new. He does his best.
Backstory:
Micheal Summers was born native Maryland. He lived in a small town of La Plata growing, and for the majority of his life was spent there. Good at a majority things one thing mainly, fixing things. All through school he played football, and wrestled so he was always kept in shape for a fight. Though his life wasn't the greatest it had it's worst times. When Micheal was graduating high school the day before his graduation his mother was murdered. They say she was attacked by a pack of wild dogs, but that was never really confirmed in Micheal's eyes. They wouldn't allow him or his father to see the body. After the graduation the funeral came, and after that Micheal split from Maryland. He got a scholarship to a collage in Maine. He spent a while in collage and made plenty of friends, and still his main trait was fixing things. He even fixed a relationship too.

Though the good times come back they go again as well. The head lines after homecoming night read a group of college bludgeoned to death, and drained of their blood. Micheal didn't know a single student, but the chain continued. He had witnessed loss twice in his life, and still it had done nothing to effect him.  He was becoming colder to those around him because he knew he would be losing someone again. Left and right people were dieing, and Micheal got the idea to get out of college. He found his way through Maine trying out different spots, but nothing caught his interest. He didn't really have much to go for, so it wouldn't take much to make him stay. Finding his way in to Cape Merrin Micheal liked the atmosphere. Despite the depressing feeling Micheal felt at home. He spent much time working out, and after hours at Simons Bull. Another late night and an early morning Micheal found himself drunk and wandering the streets after leaving the bar. He made his way towards the park. He had no real reason for being there, but he was just going there. Not even aware of his surroundings Micheal had no idea he was being followed. Making his way to the fountain Micheal felt a push to his side, and rolled over not even sure what happened. Attacked by something, but not being harmed. As he woke up he held his head, and awoke back at the bar. A man had saved his life and kept Micheal unscathed. The following days the man introduced Micheal in to the world of the supernatural.

Micheal of course didn't believe at first, but stuck around to see proof. The man shown him the ropes to killing the supernatural, and how to survive. Though it was a lot to take in Micheal stuck it out, and became a hunter. A killer of the supernatural.

[Esoteric Myobi]

Oh no, I was trying so hard to behave this time around and was only going to limit myself to solo games but this! This is just...too tantalizing!

But to be fair, I can't throw my hat into the ring 100% yet but I am most definitely interested.

[rick957]

Hey everybody,

Wow, I feel like I'm late to the party.  :)  *waves to Shihong and Myobi and all the interesting unfamiliar folks too* 

I'm the other GM in this game, so any time you're PMing Roo about game stuff, try to remember to PM me too, and vice versa.  (You can type as many names as you want into the text field for the recipients.)  Credit where credit's due:  pretty much the whole write-up at the top of this thread was Roo's doing, though we discussed all the rules and game ideas a good bit.

I've been on Elliquiy longer than Roo and have GMed here before, but she's an experienced GM and knows way more than me about roleplaying in general.  Between the two of us, we should be able to keep the rest of you entertained.  There will be gore aplenty.  Hopefully also some strong characters and fine storytelling.  Not sure where the sex will fit in yet, but it'll be in there, one way or another. 

Roo and I are busily trading PMs back and forth to discuss everyone's submissions, and then one or the other of us will get back to everyone.  There's still lotsa room for more!  Hope to hear from you.  :)
-- Rick

[AndyZ]

 (I'll try to use he as a pronoun to avoid the usual problems of switching around, unless he's in a female form.)

Name: Arathel
Character Type: (Initiate, Indoctrinated, or Monster) Monster
Physical Description and/or image: Sex:

Arathel appears alternatively male, female or androgynous depending on a number of factors, but his true form is androgynous.  However, his true form is one that is rarely seen.  Even when revealed in the white robes and angel wings, most people simply can't seem to see anything other than an ordinary man or woman.  However, Hunters and those more aware of the true nature of the world have little trouble seeing the angel form once he reveals himself, though he doesn't do so casually.
The three forms that others have seen him in which appear mortal are:
A young man in a white T-shirt, faded jeans and sneakers.
A younger woman dressed in a white dress, purse and heels.
A hermaphrodite dressed in an expensive but somewhat pale business suit.
Each of the three have the fiery red hair and the green eyes of the angel's true form, and each one could easily be mistaken for siblings of the others.  It's rare but not unheard of for someone to see him in one particular form and actually end up seeing an alternate form which they recognize.  Further clarification below:

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

He effectively has four forms that he can choose to appear in, the angel form, or one of the three human forms.  While in one of the human forms, it is possible once in a great while that he will seem to one of the other humans to be in an alternate form.  The reasoning for this is because the person recognizing the glitch has seen the angel before and recognizes him, even though he's in an alternate human form.  The three forms do look similar enough that he can easily be recognized anyway if one knows what to look for; the three are close enough to be siblings or closely related.

For example, let's say that he appears in female form to start off.  She will head around the place, say hi to everyone, introduce herself as Arathel and so on.  Now Sam and Max see her, meet her, greet her and so on, as do others.  Now, later on he meets them in male form. 

Sam will see him and have very little trouble recognizing Arathel despite the different form because they're so similar.  Max, however, is one of the rare exceptions.  For some unknown reason, he'll see Arathel in his female form still, still recognizing Arathel but his brain just has an easier time processing that it's the same female that he met before.  Arathel has no control over this aspect of things.

If Arathel is in angel form, mortals who aren't used to the supernatural will see him just as one of the three forms, maybe at random, maybe whatever they feel most comfortable with or is most beautiful.

 Sexual Preferences: Sexually attracted to females
 Skills: (list 3, one of which may be combat or very physical for Initiates; 4, two of which may be combat-related for the Indoctrinated)  Melee Weaponry, Empathy, and Musical Instruments.
Backstory: (This doesn't need to be as long as the example below but should be at least one solid paragraph.)

Arathel is rather silent about his true upbringings and backstory, but those who have seen his wings, his white robes and the glow from his form have little choice but to recognize an angel.  Some have theorized that he doesn't willingly explain himself in order not to tarnish the faiths of others, others that his existence is a mockery in an attempt to convince people of untruths.  Arathel simply seems more concerned in actions than words and guesswork.

He's shown an ability to heal and seems to be able to call a flaming sword from nowhere, with which he is exceptionally proficient.  Just as with his true form, however, the flaming sword appears perfectly mundane to those unaware of the supernatural, who see either a mundane sword, a torch or flashlight, or something similar.  He can also summon a golden harp in the same method, which he sometimes plays beautifully.  Occasionally he can be seen out in public in one of his human forms, playing the harp for tips.

Further, he seems to be able to judge the hearts and minds of those he sees, recognizing the good and evil as easily as others would notice colors.

One of the stranger things about him seems to be his concept of life and death.  Though most would traditionally expect an angel to be strongly devout to saving every life possible, Arathel is more devoted to the greater good and is willing to let people die for a cause.

With the world in the sorry state that it's in, sometimes it can be hard to believe that an angel could just appear from nowhere to save people.  Sometimes it just seems a little too convenient.

When Arathel first came to Earth, swooping down to the ground with the speed and burning precision of a meteor, the only ones to witness the crater that he left in the cement were Otis and the large gathering of vampires that Otis had been hunting.  It would be difficult to say who rescued whom, but between the two of them, and a lot of luck, they managed to dispatch enough to send the other monsters running.  Ever since, Arathel has made sure to keep enough of an eye on Otis to watch for those that seem worthy of aid.

Short term goals: Ally with hunters to destroy monsters and save the innocent

Long term goals: GM secret ^_^

[TheHangedOne]

Name: Leofwine "Leof" Carter
Character Type: Indoctrinated
Physical Description and/or image:

Sex: Male
Sexual Preferences: Heterosexual, slightly kinky; light bondage/femdom, masochistic tendencies.
Skills:
First Aid ( (Un)conventional ): Their are plenty of ways to treat a wound, and he's starting to learn them to help out others. This includes using herbal compresses (as often featured in his Iron Shirt training, below), as well as how to do things such as (but not limited to) making impromptu splints, stitching wounds with a needle and thread.  In addition to this, he does know his way around a first aid kit.
Escrima (Knife): Escrima is a Filipino martial arts school that focuses on the use of actual, some times improvised, weapons. Leofwine, despite his gentle nature, is quite well with smaller blades, and usually carries a seven inch folding pocket knife for this reason.
Escrima (Staff): As mentioned above, Escrima is a school of martial arts that focuses on using weapons besides the wielders hand and feet. Leofwine is good at using lengths of wood, metal pipe, etc. as a staff like weapon.
Iron Shirt: Training under this form of martial arts has led to him having a high degree of pain tolerance, as well as stamina.
Backstory: Leofwine's mostly been seen  as a gentle soul, which to many, makes the fact he is so martially focused seem....strange. However, he all too quickly brushes it off. It's good exercise, it's for self defense only, so on, so forth.

Back when he was 17, he found himself in a rather awkward position. His first encounter with the supernatural.  He had been hanging out with his friends at a snack bar, during which time he had somehow manage to draw the damnable attention of a vampire to himself. Leofwine was not sure what she wanted, or why she had followed him, but the woman did follow him, and he only seemed to become aware of the presence once he had seen that the rest of his friends got home.

At first, her approach had been a simple one. The lady in the red dress was new to the city, she was lost, and she wanted to know if he could help her. Not thinking much on the matter, he had said yes, he could, and that's exactly what he did. They chatted casually about a few things as they walked.

Then, when finding her home, things took a turn for the odd. She wanted him to come in, have a drink. He told her he couldn't do that, he was underage. She thanked him for being such a polite, truthful young gentleman; a fact that probably saved his life. Nonetheless, she encouraged him to at least take a bottle of water for his trip home, and since he was indeed thirsty, he acquiesced.

The following events were something akin to a blur. He found himself forced up against a wall, and practically being raped; like an animal, she ripped and tore away at the accursed shirt that had dared to cover his neck, and then she was...kissing him..? No, no, something worse than that. She bit him!

And the vampire drank. She filled herself up on the tasty mortal, but not to the point of death. No, she left him alive, and she even let him go, with the warning that if he ever came back, if he said anything to anyone about this encounter, she would end him; and that would be such a shame, wouldn't it?

That was eight years ago. It was during this time that Leofwine took up his Escrima and Iron Shirt training, seeking a way to not only keep himself in peak physical shape, but so that he would be ready for if and when he ever encountered another 'monster'. It should be noted however, that he doesn't truly view such entities as monsters right off the bat; just like real people, different creatures must surely possess different temperaments, different attitudes, different philosophies about life, and that was what was more important than what they were.

He sees his role in life to be three-fold: protect innocents from the predations of the more violent and homicidal monsters. Redeem those monsters which still have a sense of humanity intact. Tend to the wounds of those who share his cause.
Secretly, he hopes to one day find the Lady In The Red Dress, as he refers to her.

[Roo]

Hey everybody,

I just want to reiterate what Rick said above; we are discussing characters and character sheets, and we'll contact everyone once we have a few more people submitting write ups.

To TheHangedMan: Thanks for becoming our first human hunter!

For those of you still considering submitting, we'd be super happy to see more humans, though supernaturals are also still welcome.

Roo

[TheHangedOne]

Hey everybody,

I just want to reiterate what Rick said above; we are discussing characters and character sheets, and we'll contact everyone once we have a few more people submitting write ups.

To TheHangedMan: Thanks for becoming our first human hunter!

For those of you still considering submitting, we'd be super happy to see more humans, though supernaturals are also still welcome.

Roo
You're welcome. 

[Mhina]

I'm definitely interested, although I need to do some thinking on a character.

[Shihong]

Hello again rick!  I'm glad to see that I may get to participate in one of your games, especially after I had to drop out so suddenly from your previous one!

I've definitely got a Hunter character set down (A Louisiana-born chick with a rather unorthodox weapon), and will have something up here later tomorrow!

[Reia]

I'm definitely interested in this and am working on a character. I do have one question: Would there be a problem with a hunter that was born into the life? As in, it's something that their family has done for generations? They wouldn't be untouched, as they'd have family members die - but they'd maybe have a little more "experience" in dealing with the unknown.

[Roo]

Hi Reia,

I don't think that would be a problem, especially if you are billing your character as Indoctrinated. You may want to address the issue of your family in your backstory--are they alive, have you lost them?

Rick and I look forward to seeing your ideas,

Roo

[Reia]

Yes, they'd definitely be indoctrinated. Will have a profile up shortly. :)

[abandoneddolly]

 
 Name:Alice  Sheapored
 Character Type: Indoctrinated

 Physical Description and/or image:
http://fav.me/d16sew3
Alice stands only at 5 foot, and has a skinny build.  She tends to wear casual clothing usually thrown together as if she didn't care what she looked like. She has brown eyes and medium length brown hair.
Sex:Female
 Sexual Preferences: heterosexual.
 Skills: 1) interrogating. Alice was a journalist and held many interviews with high profile people. She knows just what questions to ask, and what just to say.
2)Hand to hand-  Alice has been going to self defense school since he encounter with the supernatural and has learned a little about fighting with her hands
3) Writting- Alice has been writting for a living for a long time.
Backstory: Alice is 25. She had a child at the age of 20, but had not had that much time to spend with him. Being a singel mom she spent a lot of her time persuing her career goals as a journalist and writer trying to keep her kid living in comfort and giving him anything he could want. That was why she was so excited when she got a week vacation to go camping with her son. It was her chance to get reconnected with her kid.At first things were going good. She spent her days swimming and playing with her son.

Then one night in their tent Alice was awaken to a chilling howling noise. She sat up and saw shadows pacing outside her tent. She pulled her sleeping son into her lap, and watched as the shadows drew closer and the howls grew louder. She was a bit scared, but was certain that whatever beast it was could not get into the tent. That was where she was wrong. With a loud rip something dog like broke his way into the tent, and bite into her child's leg. She tried to keep a good hold on her son, and screamed and yelled at the dog to scare it away. The dog thing ripped her son out of her hands and ran off with his body. Alice ran after him, but lost the dog thing.

She called the cops, but no one believed her story.  There was a search party, but her son was never found. They said that he must have got up in the middle of the night and took a swim, and the river pushed his body off somewhere. Alice began to believe that story, and the dog thing she saw must have just been a nightmare. She spent a lot of time and money on a councilor trying to make herself be live that lie.
She has buried herself even deeper into her job, and convinced herself there is no such thing as monsters.  Though in the back of her mind there is a lot of doubt. The monster in her nightmare she cc an remember just as clearly today. She can never look at anything the same again.
 

[Malrunar]

Dibs! I'm interested! It's going to take me a little while to work on a character sheet, but I'd love to play an Initiate. You need a sassy human detective to investigate the violence in this city. 

[TheHangedOne]

This is quickly looking like it's going to be quite awesome. 

[Reia]

Alright, here's my character. I especially enjoyed creating a backstory for her. I also decided to add a bit to her profile - hope that's okay.

Name: Diane Elkin
Character Type: Indoctrinated
Age: 26
Gender: Female
Sexual Preferences: Pansexual with a kinky side - she's very dominant in the bedroom.

Physical Description and/or image: Diane is of average height at just over 5 feet 4 inches. Her hair is never longer than mid-back length and never shorter than just below her shoulders. For the past few years she's been dying it a deep reddish-brown using henna as a way to keep her ties to her family severed. The color of her eyes seems to change, from an odd pale-green with brown rings around the edges to a light green-hazel. She's naturally pale and doesn't tan at all - when she does stay out in the sun for long she turns a nice, bright red. Her figure is toned and lithe, and while she may seem small, she's strong and able to stand her ground against people or things much bigger than her. Her clothes are casual and convenient - jeans and a t-shirt/tank are her staples, along with an old bomber jacket she found at a flea market a few years ago; she's never worn a dress in her life and sees them as extremely impractical. At first glance she seems like the average all-American college girl.

Skills: Diane has a strong set of skills thanks to her upbringing, but while she's good at what she does, it all has a rough quality to it and no real finesse.

• picking locks - learned this from her brother at a young age and quickly surpassed him in skill
• knives - pretty adept at using knives of all kinds to defend herself and always has a dagger or two strapped on her somewhere
• shotguns - when it comes to guns, these are her specialty, especially sawed-offs
• self-defense - this skill was drilled into her by her father from the moment he felt her old enough to learn

Weakness: Her family is her greatest weakness - she senses they're in trouble and she loses all rationality. She's also extremely freaked out by cockroaches and she hates the smell of corpses (enough to where if exposed to it for too long, she'll get physically sick).

Backstory:  The Elkins come from a family of hunters. Diane's father had even boasted once that they had ties to the infamous Samuel Colt. Growing up, Diane had a strange childhood. She wasn't like most other kids and she never attended regular school. From as far back as she can remember, hunting had been the number one priority in her education. Her mother, while not a hunter herself, was supportive of her family and home schooled her kids. While she doesn't exactly love the life she lives, she knows nothing else and wouldn't actually want to be a "normal" person. Diane has a brother (Jason) and a sister (Amy), both older than her. They were trained by their father, being taught everything under the sun that they needed to know in order to go after the supernatural.

Regardless of her unconventional upbringing, Diane had a good life. Due to the work they did, her family was extremely close-knit and also had some close family friends amongst other hunters. They had their home base in central Texas, on an old ranch that had been in their family for generations. When a strange or unusual "something" cropped up, they'd travel to the city to check it out and take out whatever it was. Being the youngest, though, Diane was left home with her mother quite a bit. She didn't resent it, not to much at least, because her father would always tell her that someone needed to stay home to watch Mom.

When Diane turned 18, Jason and Amy took her for her first solo-hunt - a simple ghost haunting one state away. With only a few scrapes and bruises to show afterwards, she was delighted at her success and more than ready to tell her dad everything. When the three siblings arrived home late one night, about a week later, they realized something was wrong - as the red warning light wired to the top of the house was lit. Scared and clinging to Amy, Diane followed her brother and sister into the house, a knife held in her shaking hand.

The house was empty and completely quiet, all electronics off and no light coming in from outside. They inspected every bit of the house they could and found nothing. Which worried them even more. Upon declaring the house clean, Jason led his sisters outside to check the barn. That's where they found their parents. There wasn't much left to them, just measly shells of the people they had been. They were still alive, even though just barely, but non-responsive. Terrified, the three siblings quickly gathered up their parents and took them to the nearest hospital.

Their mother and father lived, but never truly regained full sanity. They could recognize their kids and talk about when they were younger, but that was it. Jason, furious at what had been done to his family, practically tore the house and barn apart in his search for answers. It was during one of his rampaging sprees that they found the message scribbled on the roof of the living room. Scratched into the plaster and speckled with bits of sulphur and black dust, were the words: We'll get you.

After that, Amy decided it would be best if they split up - to hopefully distract whatever was after them if it had three trails to follow. There was an long and intense argument, but eventually they all agreed. They also agreed of a way of letting each other know that they are okay. Every two weeks they each send in a classified ad to several newspapers around the country with a coded message.

Since splitting from her brother and sister, Diana has been traveling all over the country on her dad's old motorcycle. She hunts daily and takes down what she can, occasionally accepting help from others when she knows it'll be a tough job. While it was hard at the beginning - as most of the seasoned hunters wanted nothing to do with a small 18 year old girl - she's managed to make a name for herself. She's made mistakes and has the scars to prove it, but she's not afraid of shooting first and asking questions later. When it comes to gathering information, she's a bit impatient and relies mostly on her own knowledge and the tattered notebook she jots things down in. However, she does work well with others and is more than happy to let someone else take the brunt of a job if it means her assured survival.

For the past few years Diane has been trying to find out what got to her parents and if there's any way to stop it. So far she hasn't found much more than myths and lore. But she's determined to get revenge and kill the thing so her family can be together again.

When we meet Diane she's in search of her sister as it's been over two months since last hearing from her and Cape Merrin is the place of Amy's last known whereabouts.

[Malrunar]

Name: Cori Michaels

Age: 26

Character Type: Initiate/Human -Detective

Physical Description and/or image:

Sex: Female

Sexual Preferences: Curious.

Skills:
*Hand-to-Hand-- Through Cori's training with the US Army, she's skilled in a variety of hand-to-hand combat, including disarming her opponents, and quickly bringing them to the ground. With much buried aggression, she's been described as 'beautiful but brutal' while sparring with others.
*Luck-- Looking at her past, one wouldn't call her lucky; but Cori's sense of intuition seems to be rather acute, giving her a step above the others when it comes to survival.
*Parkour-- Instead of drinking, or taking to other acts to make up for the events of her live, Cori prefers the more gratifying sensation of a hard workout. When she was a kid she would play with the neighbors, and through foster care, Cori was introduced to parkour by some new 'sisters' and 'brothers'. This has developed over the years, and comes in handy when chasing down a felony or person of interest for her cases.

Backstory: Daddy wanted a boy; and got beautiful little girl instead. It could be said that Cori Michaels was a mixed blessing from the start. Her presence in the world gave Cori’s mother someone to talk to and confide in, adding a little lace to the heavy masculinity of her home. Yet, Cori’s father, Police Chief Donald M. Michaels of the Santa Barbara precinct, had the old-world beliefs that a woman’s place was in the kitchen; and not bringing home the proverbial bacon.

Growing up was difficult for her, but not horrible. Cori’s relationship was strongest with her mother, while her father was a figure who sat at the dinner table and occasionally spoke up about an arrest in the neighborhood or to give a foreboding warning to watch out for the Masterson boys. Through Cori’s mother, she harbored the wants and desires of a romantic, the princess who wanted to be swept off of her feet and carried away in an extravagant parade of flower petals and forest critters. When Cori turned thirteen, romantic thoughts of Fairy Tales died with her mother, who was found raped and brutally murdered in their Santa Barbara home. The only evidence that turned up was large animal tracks around the front windows of the bedroom, and a tuff of dark hair that belonged to some canine.

Donald picked up the bottle to drown his sorrows, finding himself in a world he didn’t know how to live in; with no woman able to take care of him, and with the daughter he never wanted. For a couple of months, Cori tried to return structure by picking up the duties of the mother she had lost, but found her father disinterested in the meals made or in Cori at all. She took care of herself, did well in school, and knew that the moment she was able to leave, that was the route she was going to take. Donald took his life when she was sixteen, by wedging his toes into the trigger of his most prized shot-gun.

From there, Cori lived with foster parents, moving from home to home until she was eighteen. With no money for school she joined the Army the day she graduated from high school, and knew that if she didn’t find any structure in her life, statistically she wouldn’t last long before following the fates of her parents. It was that little girl’s ever present need to please her father that she joined as an MP, and began to get involved with MCU.

Cori had a natural talent for picking up details; and a unique point of view that allowed her to ask the right sort of questions. The army life, however, reminded her too much of her old home life, and so when her contract was up, Cori looked for work in the civilian world. Cape Merrin was far enough away from her old life that she felt refreshed, almost new, and was all too happy to dig her heels into the soil and find new roots.

[Kaisude]

I'm loving the characters here. I can't wait to get this thing started. Yggdrasil I am rather turned on that your character knows Parkour I am a huge fan of it, and know a little my self. Though near death experiences aren't accomplishments I had fun.

[Mhina]

One quick question I wanted to ask before I post a character. How exactly were you planning to run this? I mean is it going to be character driven and we all sort of do our own thing or did you have a plot in mind already?

[Roo]

Hi Mihna,


Thanks for your question. We have an initial story arc outlined loosely, but as much as possible we are going to prompt the hunters to work together. Once we establish a final roster we are probably going to ask each player to think about 2-3 short term and 1 long term goal. Basically these will help drive subplots. This game won't be about railroading you along one path, but we will look for you to work together cooperatively to solve the mysteries and catch/kill/maim the villains. Rick and I very much want to allow for individual character freedom and I think we are both open to talking with players about character ideas and where they can fit in to the overall plot. So, if you do create a character and ever end up feeling lost in the shuffle, well you can always PM one or both of us and we will be happy to help you come up with some ideas that can move your character in the direction you'd like to see him/her develop.

Hope this gets at an answer that makes sense-if not, feel free to inquire further.

Roo