History & Roster (RP Character, etc. Discussion) [Long rantiness!]

[Arcalane]

Feel free to post all your utterly embarressing roleplaying related stuff here. I'm going to. Anyway, I felt like airing some old laundry in the form of my roleplaying history and characters.

~~

I forget exactly when it started. It was back in the '90s, I know that, when I stumbled across one of the roleplaying cesspits - the RP boards of Gamewinners.com, where I pretty much started it all off with a first character, a vampire (big surprise there eh? I was playing way too much Castlevania:SotN at the time) who had a thing for vodka and not really paying attention to anything else going on. From there, I very rapidly bounced up the lists and became pretty much (in)famous (although I doubt anyone would remember my name any more) as one of the top RPers on the boards there. Given the standard, that was not particularly hard to achieve. Eventually, however, I had to leave the boards due to RL stuff. I wandered back a few years later to see it was the same pit of depravity, and was surprised to find my name was still remembered. It was back to the grind. I mostly ran one or two fairly stable ad-lib RPs set in fictional MGS-style universes. This brings me around to one of the most interesting moments on those boards. It came to my attention that someone else had started up an MGS-styled RP. I went and had a look, as it seemed to be getting attention. The main post was far too familiar, and I noticed some posts accusing it of being a ripoff. Being the curious being I am, I looked back, and lo and behold, found a thread that was much older, and was indeed the one in question. I posted this link, and there was much apologising from the author. What happened from there on, I forget. I also picked up "l33t" in various forms as a secondary language of a sorts. As a result, I'm unhappily fluent with it.

I mean, who else can understand "`/ |-|/-\|_() +|-|/-\|2" other than me? I can't type it as fast as I can English, but only because it needs shift-key combinations and I have to remember to translate.

1|= `/()|_| C/-\|\| |23/-\|) +|-|1$, `/()|_| |\|33|) +() 63+ |_/-\1|).

After that, I mostly turned to other boards - specifically a private one for a small group who I attribute to my "elevation" out of the cesspit and where I am now - a fairly functional member of the internet society, rather than troglodyte of the interwebs. I don't remember the character's name I had there, but I do remember that he was a mech of some kind. Specifically, he had some Doc-Ock style appendages coming from his back, although for all intents and purposes he was humanoid and green coloured.

From there, I moved on. My interest dwindled a little, and I moved more to IRC - the medieval settings of a channel on Sorcerynet getting my attention for a short while. Unfortunately, the DMs ruled that a Gnomish character with a magic-powered laser rifle was out of bounds, so I didn't get to play that one. I hung around there for a while but eventually left because most of the guys were annoying if I remember rightly. Either that or it suffered from the same problems as any other - ubers and overly stereotypical characters. From there, my interest died out again and I wandered the `net looking for other places. I found the NCD and explored that a bit, but found there was a slight air of elitism about the place and left for greener pastures - eheh, more than literally I'm afraid, as I now RP with the Gaming Guardians from time to time.

But for a rundown of the characters... well, here's a roster (whoa, nearly typed roaster there... must have food on the brain!) without further adieu;

That Vampire[/i] - I don't know his name. He was a fairly "normal"ish guy, who resented being a vamp. He liked his vodka, and was moderately proficient in combat. Like some exceptions to the usual vampire, he could walk about during the day. Status is unknown, of course.

That Robot Guy[/i] - Don't know his name either. Described him earlier. He was fairly casual and fully sentient. I don't remember much, but he wasn't a specifically combat-oriented type again.

Now onto murkier memories...

Kythorak[/i] in his various shapes and sizes has always been a draconic-type being, be he modern or medieval. His medieval side had a nasty tendency of eating bandits that tried to ambush him. He was combat-oriented, an ex-mil in modern form, more "retired noble" in his medieval form.

Siger[/i] was probably my first felinoid character. He was a blacksmith mostly, in a medieval setting. I vaguely remember that he made a pair of bracers for someone.

Exo2000[/i] is an old-but-somewhat-revived incarnation. I never really roleplayed him, but he was an assassin mech. Fast, stealthy and capable of invisibility/thermoptic camouflage similar to that used in Halo, albeit triggered at will and with no real time limit. He had no real ranged weapons, and relied on two retractable blades in housings on each forearm (two on each arm for a total of four blades) - ala Wolverine - in combat. Mostly relied on getting in fast, and slicing the target to pieces before fading out again, although his chassis was well capable of shrugging off most small-arms fire. He was most recently revived, temporarily, as my forum avatar and signature image here.

And onto more recent times...

Sheridan Isador[/i] was around for a bit as a human, and then cemented by Pardus (www.pardus.at) before changing into his current self - a white-furred felinoid pilot, bounty hunter and mercenary. A dangerous person, and well armed. One of my primary characters within the Gaming Guardians. Sheridan usually wears a light encounter suit that protects him mostly from harmful gases and lack of oxygen. It is very effective against energy weaponry, and is made of a weave that is fairly good at stopping bullets (although a bullet shot can of course pierce the suit and render some of it's other functions less effective) but he still relies on speed and agility, both being traits of his own species.

Sheridanna[/i] is, according to some notes, Sheridan's sister. According to others, she is entirely unrelated. She spends a majority of her time on a remote island within a secret fortified lair... yup, she's an evil mastermind, although not particularly evil. She rules her island with a velvet-clad iron paw, and is none too afraid to break out prototype weapons on intruders. Oh, and it's worth mentioning she only hires competant minions, unlike most, so getting into her lair is an actual challenge, assuming one survives the traps set up. From said lair, she contemplates acts of infamy, when not distracted by small squeaky mice or catnip.

Commander P3X-519[/i] is another `mech. The more 'unusual' feature about 519 is that he has four arms. The top two are standard manipulators, whereas the bottom two are rotary energy weapons. 519 also stands around 10-12 feet tall. He knows he's big, and he knows he's better than you. 519 is capable of short selfsustained flight, and has a pair of missile launcher packs which fold up from his back, aiming over his shoulders either side of his head. 519 also features a highly nanomechanics based design, meaning it is almost impossible to kill him. 519 is leader of the Machine Hive in it's various guises - a large force of mechanical entities who seek to rid the universe of all those who would oppress others, and act as a peacekeeping force. Unlike other peacekeepers, however, the Hive is unafraid of shooting first and asking questions later.

Tiberius Septimus[/i] felt a little Latin - well, no, he was actually a Space Marine Terminator from a modified Warhammer 40K system based more around Feudal Japan, with the "Imperium" in shreds, warring internally and externally under the control of various warlords. The Chaos still feature as Demonically Possessed Warlords and their soldiers, and a third offshoot, based more on the existing W40k were in as a unified force centered around a religion similar to Christianity. They were, of course, Crusaders. Tiberius was thrown into the "Primary" (aka Earth, where we are now) by a warp malfunction - and with no hope of return, he works with the Guardians as heavy support. Tiberius is big, bad, and his suit has an integral 6-barrel rotary chaingun which fires explosive bullets. He's slower than molasses and tougher than many many old boots.

Sargeant Ravencroft[/i] - One I forgot. Sarge is a genetically modified/engineered SPARTAN-II 'super soldier', and owns a well-kept and modified suit of black Mjolnir armour. In terms of weaponry he has his hands, feet, an MA5B Assault Rifle, and a black quarterstaff made of an unknown metal. It can be made into three shorter pieces for easier transit, and wielded in any combination he feels like. Enhanced strength + powered armour strength boost make him quite deadly in melee combat. Unlike Tiberius, however, Sarge moves quickly, although he probably isn't as tough, even with the forcefield to absorb damage. He's just as mortal as any man, just faster, tougher and stronger.

Arcalane Celso[/i] - it's about time I got here, as this is the here and now, the one you see before you, as it were. This fuzzy fella started off as a feline anthromorphic, and after a while shifted to an incubi. Imagine, if you will, Abel. Now, remove the spots, and shift the cream to black. Also, shift Abel's existing "gloves" and "boots" to a silvery-grey colour whilst keeping the chest black, and you have Mr. Celso. He relies most on agility as he cannot wear armour (with wings and all) without extreme difficulty, and is a fairly skilled gunfighter as well as swordsman. Also a semi-proficient fire mage with a few spells under his belt (primarily a firebolt, and a classic D&D explosive fireball) and healer (up to Cure Serious, IIRC) he acts in a back row role. He looks about 20-30ish, and is getting on toward his mid 200's, so he still has time to learn a few things, and is by no means extremely powerful. He hides his headwings all of the time, and rarely breaks out the wing pseudopods unless he is trying to incapacitate a foe to specifically avoid hurting them, or to hold them still.

~~

Right, that's my laundry cleaned. Anyone else want to step forward?

Also, might be a good place to use as a character 'prototyping' thread, where you can come forward with a character concept or details and ask anyone if they think anything is specifically wrong with it.

[DigitalMan]

Oh man oh man, I've got some stories to tell. I haven't dueled in probably over a year, but before that, it was all on MSN. Which kinda sucks, because I prefer the descriptive and long-winded nature of forum RP's.

Let's see. One of the times I recall best, a friend had given me an automatic shotgun. I don't know why. I normally use much larger weapons, but I figured maybe CDM could use it. I was also using shells given to me by another friend; they were described as simply being trap shells, that created a bubble-gum-like sticky mess to hold the opponent in place. A perfect match; a lot of my techniques take a long time to charge up. And I was in this tournament, up against another friend, a demi-god at the time. After a while of being kicked around, I decide to use the shotgun and the special shells. And then... it's over. He informs me of the true nature of the shells; they were designed specifically to defeat him, trapping him and draining his power. He leaves (not in a bad mood, he considered it a fair fight) before I can protest. That's probably my shortest battle, and the only one I've won on accident. It is also why I will never again use any weapon that is not my own.

And another time... I was in another tournament, shortly after the previous. We were battling aboard a Dyson Sphere. The rules were all quite clear, and I made sure to limit my power.  My opponent did not. He transformed into some bigass dragon, and after a few moments to charge up, he let off a blast that flew into space and obliterated a planet. The "moderator," if you will, said it was just fine, despite it being clearly against the rules. So as my opponent fired a second blast, I used my trump card; Quantum Disrupter shells. I had just created them a couple weeks prior, to go with that shotgun. Just one of these can disable an opponent's magical/metaphysical abilities for a half an hour, or destabilize an attack like Goku's Spirit Bomb in under three seconds. They're often used to level the field against god-modders/god-moders (two slightly different things where I come from). I fired five into his energy blast. It should have been overkill. I was quite clear about their abilities, but the "moderator" said that anything capable of stopping a planet-smashing attack was far too powerful. While we were arguing, my opponent got pissed off and left, calling me a god-modder. Ironically, as a result, my character now always carries QD shells with him, and can even fire them without a gun. This is very important against extremely powerful opponents; DM's power, when anger-induced, tops out at the ability to destroy a city.

It should be noted, I only use as much power as I need to. I've lost to someone who only had a simple fire spell. Fairness is the essence; it brings people back for more dueling goodness. More dueling means more blowing things up. Thusly, it is in my best interest to play fair.

I only RP as one character, or two if you count K2. However, K2 is almost never used without DM. Be careful of those double-team attacks. Or better yet, don't...

DigitalMan, also known as Drake Mayors to some, is the Supreme Commander of the Metal Empire. Though seemingly just a normal (albeit insane) human, he is easily the most powerful weapon in his universe (where blowing up planets is not the norm), and he designed himself to be that way. Normally empowered by anger, he gains significantly more power when those he cares about are in danger... which, sadly, never happens in RP's. And if his own power won't do the job, he has more than enough cannons and machinery to solve the problem... assuming, of course, that the problem involves some obstacle that must be blasted to oblivion with exponential overkill. Fortunately, that's pretty common in RP's. DM is based off of the real me, and the powers I'd like to have.

Random note: DM may occasionally go into a sort of strategic mode, which means so do I. It's quite useful against fellow brute-force users, or people using characters with an IQ of 600 when their real IQ is 60. Yeah, your character would know it's a trap... Too bad you don't...

CDM is DM's alternate form, a cougar anthro. Not actually another character, but different enough to warrant his own paragraph. Though they share the same mind, their personalities are a bit different. CDM can tap into every power and ability that DM has, but he prefers to use martial arts and a few chi spells. He was developed to be the perfect killing machine... And he's a pacifist. However, he's more than willing to defend his allies, and is always up for a duel. His calm nature generally makes him more aware, and actually gives him abilities that DM usually can't tap into.

K2 is many, many things. In reality he started out almost like an invisible friend that never left my mind. Nowadays he's essentially the logical part of my brain. But as a character, he's DM's spirit guardian, in the form of a box. Or a computer chip, depending on what point in the timeline. He forms the central processor of many things. His true form is that of an Eastern dragon, but his normal form is that of a truck. He can also commandeer a CameraBot. When required (or amusing), he can take the shape of several Zoids in the Geno and Fury line.

There's an interesting reason as to why I use Zoids, too. Aside from being really cool, they're also really powerful, and most importantly... they aren't my creation. Which means their power can't be disputed. The Berserk Führer's triple Charged Particle Cannons can destroy a small moon, and I didn't make that up. Tack on the ability to warp time from one of the games, and three Ultra Z's from another, and you've got something far more powerful than any mech I've seen on any other show. And when my opponent says "You can't do that!" I say "Yes I can, see?" Plus, there's always the advantage of, instead of typing a long description, I just say "He looks like that."

Anyone up for a duel?

[Stygian]

Apart from playing some W40k as first the rogue Eldar assassin Chahr Isol'dan, and later as the absolutely insane librarian Heraclius Moran, I have not played much more than some DnD (mostly evil characters, of course, and since I'm evil I multiclass all possible combinations of Monk, Rogue, Shadowdancer, Ninja, Warlock, etc...). I had a period as a full-out munchkinist on Neverwinter Nights when it came out, and while all my characters were strictly legit, I enjoyed coming up with the most ridiculously powerful PvP combinations that I could.
   Still, my characters have always carried a story and a main theme; I am very much a brooding, insidious, sometimes psycho and at other times coldly calculating kind of guy, and subsequently I have made sure that every single serious character that I have made has reflected at least some part of my persona. From brutal and cruel to sly, cunning and devious, to just plain insane; I can play any part convincingly, and most of my characters have some very strong undertone of either. Or, they used to have, since when I started reading some psychology in addition to more obscure classic and religious literature outside of my regular studies, I've discovered new and fun ways to make people evil at heart and in act without having to push it as far as I did, and making it more realistic and dramatic in the process.
   Not all of my characters are or have been evil though, mind you. I have also made a few good ones for certain campaigns, and most of my recent characters are more ambiguous, or unconcerned, or just plain complex the classic Raskolnikov way.
   Perhaps the most significant point to my characters is that I always use some sort of classical influence for at least one, and most often several points for them or their universes and stories. And also, I almost never do magical characters; I find magic unpredictable and inconvenient. But not as distasteful as religion.

This is a list of the three most recent and developed characters I have created.

Alister Kader was a dark mage and necromancer for a fantasy/steampunk setting very much like the one seen in the recent game Rise of Legends. Alister was a bit of an abberation of mine, being both a strong magic user and a genuine, bona fide gentleman, if a vicious and perverse such. I had a pretty good time playing him along with some of my friends, who all played more classic "adventurer" characters, except for Alice who was an elemental mage whom I was constantly at odds with. This allowed me to stand back most of the time and let them do the fighting and irritating menial things, while I mind-controlled people, stole, cheated and rained green balls of painful death. It was also what made me give up the hopes of ever wanting to play an always courteous and polite character again.

Asmodai was the alias of Andrew Craye, an assassin in a cyberpunk world called Dyssea, which later would become much more detailed and the main world in which my plots and stories were set. A parallel world and timeline of sorts to earth, set in a dystopic future after a third world war, Dyssea has furries, but not as a natural phenomenon but rather the result of genetic engineering.
     An assassin for hire, Asmodai was a hitman with a dual personality that worked mostly for the highest bidder. However, he had an agenda in that he was specifically trying to slowly bring to and end what he thought of as the greatest problem in modern civilization; corporative exploitation and unregarding cruelty. In Dyssea, mega-corporations rule the world, and after having done jobs for some of them for the better part of fifty years, Asmodeas decided that now that he had what money and resources he needed, he would turn on them and erode and destroy them from the inside through infiltraton, murder and blackmail. With many years of experience, undeniable talent and so heavily genetically engineered and painfully self-improved that he was not even close to human anymore, and with the assistance of a host of high-tech equipment he managed to do pretty well. He got to know a few other characters that would become pretty significant later on, including Victoria Raleigh, Stephen Exel (The Excelerator) and the man who was later to become Stygian – Sebastian König.

Stygian is my current character. He was also a regular (albeit slightly genetically modified) human, and a hitman, but first and foremost a spy and a thief, of technology, money, equipment... He had a pretty rough childhood and life, which turned him bitter and cold and is the reasons for his often recurring cynism and cruelty, even though more recent actions have shown him to harbor some good as well. He was nearly as accomplished a killer as Asmodai, but because of another background and technical education, he turned to working for the corporations, most notably the Haudée corporation, without complications. However, when finally it looked like he had found some joy in his life and was about to turn, a tragic event that he greatly contributed to took place, and he was cast into "forbidden territory" – horror beyond existence itself. Now, the truth about what really happened there, or then, I am not going to tell outright. It will have to reveal itself as his story progresses, but it is apparent that he was profoundly changed by this, becoming much more than any mere man could ever hope to be. And in his own eyes, also much less.
   Stygian, while a very accomplished shapeshifter, prefers to maintain a human or anthromorphic form. The first is the true form he had during his past life, that of a straight-faced and athletic but somewhat vicious- and hard-looking caucasian man, with grey-blonde hair and deep-set, chilly blue-green eyes. The other is that of a very similar looking bat anthromorph, with fur ranging from light grey to black, and one ear torn halfway off. However, being the kind of man, or rather the kind of thing that he is, he does not use these forms unless under what he deems controlled circumstances. It is much more common to find him in some sort of disguise, and although he is slower to shapeshift into fixed forms than cubi, and cannot change his weight or size that greatly without densing or loosening up ridiculously or "dumping" bodymass, he does not have many disadvantages of other shapeshifting beings, e.g. having to retain certain traits such as clan markings on his form. If given time he can mimic other beings to near perfection – especially if he has absorbed enough genetic material from that being, or devoured said being itself beforehand.
   As a person, Stygian can be described as mostly chilly and calculating, but never inconsiderate, just harsh. He has a softer side to him though, one that he lets through on occasions, just like a great deal of wisdom and cleverness and even wit sometimes break through his icy shell. But while it can sometimes be rewarding to challenge or prod him, or try and get to know him, it is also a fine line to walk. Stygian is slow to anger, but relentless once properly pissed off. And if he does not like to be demeaned or manipulated, then he absolutely hates being forced, and will often go to great lengths to pain, torture and/or kill those he feels have done him wrong. The same thing goes for his friends or "associates". While he has a very twisted set of morals and usually views things with simple cold and hard logic, Stygian's honor is sacred to him, and often those he considers his friends are very much part of it.
   Stygian is far from the most powerful creature in the Dyssean universe – but in some ways, he is still the most dangerous. And this seems to go for the many other existences that he "hops" between as well. Already as a human he was reknowned for his combat skills and strength, and even when he is not using his powers this still shows. Also like me in real life, he is excessively agile and flexible, and a dead-eye shot, even though he much prefers to deal with his foes up close.
   When taking on his full-fledged form Stygian looks like a dark angelic being, mainly black with shades of green, with glowing green eyes, wings that hover behind his back and sometimes spew poisonous fluorescent green fumes or turn into spikes or tentacles and a green-glowing broken "halo" above his head. Using his powers actively, Stygian is a force to be reckoned with. While these powers (including his biomorphosis and physical abilities, a form of "plasma molding", and a "quantum warp" ability that allows for several other powers) are neither technological nor magical in nature, instead being some form of extremely advanced energy-manipulation through unknown means, they easily rival either field in terms of direct power. However, Stygian is not shaped for mass destruction. Quite the opposite in fact. His abilities and training are instead perfectly trained for speed, accuracy, and fast attacks. He is viciously quick and strong, and while not that large in comparison to may creatures out there he sports enough point-blank power to rip most things to shreds, and burn or corrode those which he cannot. His greatest asset though is his "warp" ability, that gives him a form of telekinesis and energy shaping capabilities. This allows him to "phase", in effect a short-range rapid-succession teleport, and to tear asunder magic or energy discharges directed at him. While there are of course clear limiting factors to this ability, at close range it is enough to provide him with such protection that it practically grants him complete immunity to all such attacks.
   Perhaps most significant of all though is that whatever Stygian does, he does not mess around. In a fight this means that he at most gives a single warning or takes a moment to regard the situation and circumstances. Then he aims straight at the enemy's heart, and he is not afraid to use some of his more powerful abilities as a first attack, especially when enraged.

So yes. Yes, I would be up for a duel.