The Circle Starts Again (We're starting, still Recruiting! Freeform game)

[Angie]

The year is 2010. The place is Seattle. As Autumn falls, a new menace rears its head. A dark, corrupting power that threatens to devour all things in its path.

You never heard about it? That's because of the Circle. The Circle is a loosely connected group of Mages and Hunters (explained below) that come together to face legendary, world-ending threats...and then retreat back into the shadows, no one knowing they were even there. In essence, kinda like the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. In fact, almost exactly like the League.

What is this menace that threatens Seattle, and soon the world? Well, a core tenet of magic is the knowledge that life is magic. Merely being alive means having a spark of magic in you. This dark power is an unnatural thing, a land formed by a complete absence of magic. Known by many titles-Shadowland, Blighted Land, Corruption, etc.-this dark place sucks in the magic that flows into it, draining the world of its very soul. Without intervention, the Shadowland will consume and destroy all life on Earth. Being unnatural, there is something within the Shadowland that is the direct cause of this infection.

That is why the Circle is needed. From all walks of life, they are gathered. Together, they can destroy the anchor holding the Shadowland. Without the core, the Shadowland will be healed by the world's natural flow of magic. Will you answer the call? Will the Circle start again?

Brief explanation of terms: Mages and Hunters are technically both 'magical'-both Mages and Hunters can have supernatural abilities. The main distinction is that Mages are capable of controlling external magic (i.e. the natural flow of magic) while Hunters are stuck with internal magic (the magic their own bodies possess). The big difference that this makes is that Hunters tend to have weaker supernatural powers then Mages do, but compensate with big weapons.

Okay, time for new stuff!

Elements

Fire: Cleanse the world with your flame! Fire magic is brutal, fast, and deadly. It can easily get out of control if not controlled, so the hot headed Fire mages tend to not last long. Fire mages are typically aggressive, rude, and prefer fast solutions to planning. Opposed by Water.

Water: Ever flowing, ever seeking, and holding plenty of mystery. Water magic is capable of plenty of things: Healing, attacking, defending, destroying, freezing, and even poisoning! Water mages tend to think outside the box, and prefer planning. Opposed by Fire.

Air: Be free, be unrestrained by limits. Air magic is just as offensive and defensive as others, but tends to work by attacking with projectiles from afar and redirecting return fire. Air mages come across as carefree and foolish, but just as often can come up with plans that no one else would have thought of. Opposed by Earth.

Earth: The land guards its riches fiercely, borrow its power and be invincible. Earth magic is heavy on defense, but a punch from a stony fist often leaves people down and out. Earth mages tend to be quiet, only speaking when needed, and incredibly patient. Opposed by Air.

Life: All magic is life, but some can hold the pure power of living beings in their hands. Life magic is where 70% of the healing lies, but has plenty of offensive and defensive options, including a variety of poisons! Life mages tend to be compassionate and caring, but god help you if you harm someone close to a Life mage. Opposed by Death (odd, huh?)

Death: All life eventually crumbles, for Death is lord of all. Death magic includes a lot of slow acting methods-curses, poisons, and more. They have little direct offensive, but Death mages are capable of animating corpses and using them for their own ends. It is not uncommon for a Death mage to have an entourage of zombies and skeletons. Death mages tend to put other mages off, but Death mages themselves are usually scholarly and quite philosophical (more so then mages usually are, that is!) Opposed by Life (who woulda guessed?)

Light: Shine bright, tomorrow may never come. Light magic contains some healing and lots of defense, and when the offense comes, it is proceeded by blinding light that renders enemies incapable of defending. Light mages tend to be possessed of a Knight Templar attitude, convinced that their way is the right path. Opposed by Darkness.

Darkness: Trickery, deception, and damn damn lies. Darkness is no more 'evil' then Death is, Darkness merely holds the title of most deceiving magic. Illusions, tricks, and even the power to drain enemies lie within Darkness's sphere. Darkness mages love to extend their illusions to all things, often being con-men or other tricksters, and occasionally playing the part of a mentor who strings the student along with riddles and deception. Opposed to Light.

Time: The clock strikes 12 when I SAY it does. Time magic is odd. Offenses age the target, for example, while defensive turn back the clock to before the opposing spell was cast. This does NOT allow time travel: Such an effect is impossible. Time mages are quite patient, but when the time comes (heh) they act faster then any other mage, as they can meld more actions into one second then any other. Opposed, oddly, by Gravity-no one is really sure how.

Gravity: Fun with Fundamental Forces of the universe. Gravity magic works by altering the attraction between two bodies by altering the weight of said object-a Gravity mage could fire an arrow that hits like a train as an offense, or make an enemy unable to move as a defense because they're so heavy. Gravity mages tend to have odd personalities-one moment, they're as light as a feather, the next, as serious as Earth mages get. Opposed by Time-again, no one really gets it, it just kinda happens that way.

Entropy: Decay and chaos, and everything Schrodinger did in that one experiment. Entropy is the power of decay and chaos, with offenses ranging from decaying a target to mutating them into a weird and crazy creature (that's much easier to kill, hopefully!). Defenses focus the raw power of decay and chaos to negate enemy attacks. Entropy mages tend to be erratic, wild, and just one step short of the cuckoo's nest. Opposed by Aether.

Aether: Magic's purest form, distilled into human hands. Aether magic is the rawest form of magic, and as such is incredibly powerful. Aether offenses straight up ignore defenses, and tend to manifest as the power of lightning. Aether defenses, on the other hand, have the caster phase out of existence entirely. Aether mages have personalities that are just straight up alien, as if they aren't seeing the same things everyone else is. Opposed by Entropy (as even magic decays).

I can't do the coding stuff, so bear with me. Character sheet below!

Player:

Name:

Nickname/Alias: (Not required)

Age: (Most Circle members are at least 21. Prodigies exist, but they prefer full adults of drinking age in America)

Vital Stats: (Things like height, weight, eye color, orientation, etc. Fill out as much or as little as you like).

Mage/Hunter: Pick one and read instructions below.

Elements: Mages may have up to three. In order to keep this simple, I'm going to assign a point system: Elements are rated from 1-10. You have 5 points to distribute. So if you have three, you're not going to be really good at any of them, while having one makes you extremely good. Hunters will have one element selected-Hunters do not actually use magic, but whatever element they are indicates which element they are strong/weak against (strong to your element, weak to the others). Mages will also be possessing a "base" element, make sure you mark which one yours is.

Powers/Skills: Hunters will get their fun in here. Hunters may have up to three powers, subject to GM approval (I'll be submitting a Hunter of my own to give you guys an example). Skills represent mundane training. Characters may have any number of skills, but be reasonable and try to keep a theme, you know? An accountant is unlikely to be an expert sniper, you dig?

Gear: Mostly mundane stuff, but you may have one minor magical item (subject to GM approval, again).

Personality:

Bio: Be as detailed or as not as you like.

Extra: Wanna include something? Put it here.


Link to character thread, which will take you everywhere else: https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=216805.0

[Rajah]

Looks pretty cool. Character sheets? Also: power level in pop culture terms, and maybe a few examples of Mages and Hunters?

[Angie]

Looks pretty cool. Character sheets? Also: power level in pop culture terms, and maybe a few examples of Mages and Hunters?

Will all be coming if there's enough interest. I've posted enough plot to get you guys hooked 

[Lynnette]

I'm interested, hopefully this game attracts some more attention soon.

[Cuchulainn]

Interested, but curious where the hunter's get their powers from.

[Izaya Orihara]

Curious.

[Angie]

Interested, but curious where the hunter's get their powers from.

Technically, the same place Mages do-that spark of magic that exists within all living things. I posted that original stuff when I was really tired, I should explain it a bit better.

[Cuchulainn]

Meant more what controls what aspect it takes and what are the limitations, same with magic.

[Angie]

Meant more what controls what aspect it takes and what are the limitations, same with magic.

Ah, that should be explained once I get character sheets and guidelines for powers up. However, magic being a wild and variable thing, a Hunter's powers can take almost any aspect. The only limitation is that the power comes from within, while a Mage can grab onto external magic flows and use them for their powers.

Ironically, this actually makes Hunters better in the Shadowland. In the Shadowland, there's nothing for a Mage to grab onto to power a spell, so a Mage is also stuck using their internal reserves. Hunters do it all the time anyway, so they don't have to acclimate themselves to a new way of using their power-they just keep doing what they were doing.

If this gets too confusing, though, I'll just drop the distinction and be like "we're all badasses who have magical abilities, okay?"

[Angie]

Derp! I never even mentioned something important: This game is going into the Bondage board. Since we're all going to be on the same team (sorry, villains!) anything NC related would make things rather awkward at the office next morning. Not that regular, wholesome sex can't make things awkward, but, well, you get what I mean!

[Lynnette]

One thing I would like to mention since you didn't mention it - Do you plan on locking mages/hunters to specific crafts within magic? I'd say it's a good idea, as it increases the need to rely on one another, unlike if everyone can use everything but specializes within something, where you can still manage even if you focus on something else.

Basically, what I mean to say is that I think forcing people to choose one type of magic to use, alternatively alterations of one form of magic (Ice + water as an example, both of which being water-based, fire + lightning as another). You could also implement ways for hunters to extend their mana-capability, say through objects, artifacts etc, maybe gemstones like in Eragon (I can go more in depth if you'd like, but basically, it's like batteries, has to be charged up with magic from the user on their off-time) but that's just one option, there's plenty of others.

[Angie]

One thing I would like to mention since you didn't mention it - Do you plan on locking mages/hunters to specific crafts within magic? I'd say it's a good idea, as it increases the need to rely on one another, unlike if everyone can use everything but specializes within something, where you can still manage even if you focus on something else.

Basically, what I mean to say is that I think forcing people to choose one type of magic to use, alternatively alterations of one form of magic (Ice + water as an example, both of which being water-based, fire + lightning as another). You could also implement ways for hunters to extend their mana-capability, say through objects, artifacts etc, maybe gemstones like in Eragon (I can go more in depth if you'd like, but basically, it's like batteries, has to be charged up with magic from the user on their off-time) but that's just one option, there's plenty of others.

There are 'Elements' being planned. Mages start out life being able to naturally grasp one Element, and might eventually learn another (game terms: Mages can use up to three Elements, but won't be very far in any path if they choose all three. Specializing in one makes you really good, though). Elements will also have opposing elements that most Mages can't really learn (Fire/Water, Life/Death, and more.).

Hunters will have access to items that make them more powerful, as well. From mana batteries to magical weapons and other wondrous and amazing items. A Buddhist Monk, for example, might have a magic staff that makes his mystical acrobatic powers go from the upper limit of human skill to "the dude just grinded down a beam of light" (although, that would probably be loot from a mission of some kind...oh no I said too much!)

[Sain]

Heh, this looks pretty sweet. What sort of theme were you thinking for the campaign? Is it going to be all black trench coat moody secrecy and hushed conversations under an umbrella or more wands & guns banging loud in the streets while flipping a big middle finger to the authorities. I can see it has a thick line of plot in a pretty central position so I would also like to ask what sort of pacing would that plot have. Is there time for any major character development over the weeks, months or years or is this more of a single mission kinda thing?

[Angie]

Heh, this looks pretty sweet. What sort of theme were you thinking for the campaign? Is it going to be all black trench coat moody secrecy and hushed conversations under an umbrella or more wands & guns banging loud in the streets while flipping a big middle finger to the authorities. I can see it has a thick line of plot in a pretty central position so I would also like to ask what sort of pacing would that plot have. Is there time for any major character development over the weeks, months or years or is this more of a single mission kinda thing?

There will be several missions, slowly revealing the cause of the Shadowland until enough intel has been gathered and the Shadowland is weak enough to risk a direct assault. Expect character development as you guys get more and more badass from blowing up twisted unholy monstrosities.

Also, The Circle will try to keep things secret, but if the Shadowland progresses from "wilderness outside Seattle" to "actually being IN Seattle", then there will be direct action with stunned onlookers, authority figures trying to keep control of the situation, and the Circle likely having to do a ton of clean-up work: Mind wiping, disproving Youtube videos, the works.

[Sain]

I'm not sure if these are just a bunch of silly unnecessary questions, but I like to have a firm grasp of the mood of the settings, so please indulge me. By more badass do you mean that the characters at start are not at their peak yet, but still developing. Or is the scale of this event just such that even people who would have thought they had achieved full potential will break their limits in battling it. Are these player characters (I'm assuming a handful of people) representing the worlds only defense against this supernatural threat, or is this circle some larger collective organization? Would the player characters then also be taking responsibility over the consequences of this to the civilian populace by doing that information dispersing and possible political maneuvering, or would they have some sort of babysitters for that. Would there even be times when the characters would be forced to kill other humans and deal with the feels involved in that to protect this great evil truth?

[wander]

I'll put my hand up to say I have some tentative interest in this... :)

[Angie]

Okay, let me take this question by question-and never feel bad for asking questions, others likely have your same question.

Do you mean the characters at start are not at their peak

That's exactly it. In addition, the nature of Magic is that no one is ever truly at their peak, but the characters are going to start being pretty low on the scale-I like it when characters grow.

Are the player characters the world's only defense?

Yes. Mortals can fight and kill Shadowland creatures, but the Circle is really the only group capable of destroying it utterly. The Circle is likely to be larger then our players though, with a large chunk of the Circle either unable to make it or NPCed by me (or a co-GM if this gets big enough).

Would the characters be taking responsibility over the civilian populace?

See the post I gave to Reaper. There may indeed be some political maneuvering. There's going to be something of a mission structure, and when I feel the actions of the Shadowland or the Circle warrant a need to respond to rising public panic, I'll insert a mission to deal with it.

Will there be times when the characters will be forced to kill humans?

Innocent mortals? Fuck no. Options exist, from mind wiping (which I'm making as a general function of magic to make it easier for us) to convincing them that what they saw was a hoax. However, there will be other Mages that are, for some insane fucking reason, on the Shadowland's side. They die.

Oi, and now with all this interest, I have to actually put up character sheets and relevant info!

[Sain]

Thanks, that about clears up my initial wonderings. I'll wait until you add your info before asking more things.

[Angie]

Whoo, just got done making 12 elements (although I can cut Time and Gravity if that weird pairing doesn't make any sense) and the character sheet! Have fun, all!

[wander]

I'll be working on a Mage character with two elements for your game then Angie! :)

This looks like it could alot of fun! :)

[Angie]

Oop, added the fact that Mages also need a base element. So, a Fire mage would be weak to Water attacks!

[wander]

The base element would probably be the one you assign more ponts in, right?

[Lynnette]

Quick question, is it possible to kind of... You know what, I'll send you a PM, I like being a bit secretive, and I hate requesting things publicly.

[Angie]

The base element would probably be the one you assign more ponts in, right?

Not entirely. It's just the one you manifested first when you gained the ability to cast magic (which can happen in any way or form, be creative!)

[Angie]

As I'm waiting, might as well make two examples for ya!

Player: Angiejuusan

Name: Angelo

Age: 22

Vital Stats: 5' 10", 200 lbs, blue eyes, black hair, bisexual.

Mage/Hunter: Mage

Elements: Aether 3 (Base), Life 2

Powers/Skills: Competent sword fighter, decent pistol user, incredibly good with math and technology.

Gear: Aside from mundane gear, Angelo has a sword enchanted with the power of Fire, allowing him to add fire damage to his sword attacks. Also carries a 9mm pistol.

Personality: Caring and compassionate, while also seeming to have a hard time understanding his fellow Circle mages. Not that he doesn't try-he does his best to get along, but he has a knack for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.

Bio: Born and raised in Wenatchee, he moved to Seattle after his powers started to develop at age 13. He teamed up with another Circle mage and learned the ways of Aether and Life magic. He runs a small hotel in Seattle, which often serves as a useful base for Circle business. With an actual Shadowland on his hands, he's sent a call for help to everyone in the Circle, with the phrase "Come to Seattle, the Circle starts again" somewhere in the request.

Player: Angie

Name: Harold Dean

Nickname/Alias: The Dragon Warlord

Age: 45

Vital Stats: 6' 0", 250 lbs., blue eyes, black hair, straight.

Mage/Hunter: Hunter

Elements: Fire

Powers/Skills: Power 1: Flight, can grow a pair of Dragon wings and use them to fly.

Power 2: Fire Breath: Do I have to explain?

Power 3: Dragon claws: Grow claws, rip throats.

Swordsman: Skilled with any kind of bladed weapon, prefers his big two handed blade, though.

Marksman: Amazingly skilled with all varieties of firearms.

Leadership: His presence inspires his allies to fight harder, and he has an easier time commanding teams then others do.

Gear: As far as weaponry, he carries a two handed sword, an M-16 assault rifle, and a S&W .45 Magnum. Also owns a Chevy pick-up truck.

Personality: Gruff and abrasive, but kind and caring at other times. In the field, he's all business. At home, he's a lot less serious face.

Bio: Several generations ago, a dragon mated with one of Dean's ancient ancestors. For most of his family, it meant nothing. For him, it meant having dragon style powers and a knack for combat. He was swiftly recruited by the Circle.

Dean adopted Angelo when Angelo was 2 years old-it was a bad situation for all involved (except Dean) and neither of them like talking about it. Dean raised Angelo like a true son, but kept his powers hidden until Angelo manifested the power of Aether magic. Together, they moved to Seattle, where they help Circle members with a warm bed and a few extra boxes of ammo as they move around the world. Dean himself owns a gun shop in Seattle, offering a 20% discount to card carrying Circle members-more if he owes you one.