School House Rumbles 3: The Reborn Age of Fighters RPG Sign-Up and Discussion Thread.

[KingofPie]

Next up, Boss Bali.



Hey! Someone reasonably close to Elewa's size! Nice!



Okay, first up - I like the ambition of this guy. It's interesting to see someone going to Arcadia with a purpose of getting something from it rather than lying low or being forced to be there.

I'm interested to see whether his 'Big Fish' mentality extends beyond simple combat to something greater. My gut says to me that Boss Bali has some big designs on the richer members of the student body; if not robbing them in some capacity, I fully expect him to be networking like crazy to make a whole bunch of connections to not only further his own personal gains but also helping out the folks back at the children's home.

He's got connections to the mob but nothing sinister, he's not law-abiding but has a strong sense of personal justice and he's not afraid to speak his mind and put people in their place but also to use his gift with words to talk people down and act as a mediator.

The most interesting part is going to be how he handles seeing the obvious decadence of the richer students and how that factors into his sense of justice, he could either be quite the agitator or just think of them as beneath him, which will in turn ruffle a few feathers. Furthermore, I will be intrigued to see if he becomes interested in the ideas of any of the more 'cause' based students or whether he marches to the beat of his own drum even to the point of ignoring other ideals.

Inventing is a fun quirk.

All in all, looks pretty strong, a lot of scope to play with here. I think he'll be a fine addition to the crew.

Thanks for the review! Forgive me if I don't have much of a response as I'm still in the planning stages of Bali. But I will say, his 'Big Fish' mentality is definitely going to encompass bigger things than fighting. It's seems pretty obvious that Edan itself id not without it's mysteries to hide. And yeah, a level of animosity with the wealthier students is probably inevitable for Bali. Not particularly due to their wealth but from what I've read ,most of the personalities of the wealthier students will agitate Bali enough to mess with them.

[Ptrvc]

Everyone else already seems to be asking, but would you mind reviewing my character Nik?

[Nik Hasta]

If you want to Nik, you can examine my NPC's as well. I know several are bare bones, but have at them if you wish.

Link me to the profiles and I'll be happy to take a look through them if that is your desire.

[Cleric of Hell's Brigade]

Link me to the profiles and I'll be happy to take a look through them if that is your desire.

http://forums.comicbookresources.com...1#post15004641

The link to my NPC's.

[Ghost]

Sarcasm, as I understand it, is used to mock people, usually with a statement that frames their opinion in a way that seems ridiculous.
While sarcasm is rarely polite and usually leads to a fairly obvious conclusion, it doesn't do it by directly stating a fact.

For example:
A is trying to open a mysterious door. B thinks this is stupid.

Sarcasm:
"I'm sure nothing wrong can come from opening a door that might lead to something that will kill us all."

Blunt:
"Opening that door is a stupid idea."

Well, being sarcastic isn't necessarily the same thing as saying the opposite of what you mean - that's just how most people use it. And I'm pretty sure being blunt isn't the same thing as being curt or being honest. It's just a matter of getting your point across without sugarcoating it.

I tried to think of examples where they are used at once, and turns out both of them are from Portal 2:

"Here come the test results. You are a horrible person. That's what it says. A horrible person. We weren't even testing for that."

"That jumpsuit you're wearing looks stupid. That's not me talking; it's right here in your file. On other people it looks fine, but right here a scientist has noted that on you it looks 'stupid'."

(Note that insults themselves are very blunt, but GLaDOS uses sarcasm to kinda frame them in fake civility.)

[Siriel]

(Note that insults themselves are very blunt, but GLaDOS uses sarcasm to kinda frame them in fake civility.)

That's the thing.

Bluntness is straight to the point and doesn't bother with framing. Sarcasm require a certain degree of...well, I would say sophistication, but that doesn't seem right.

Anyway, he can write whatever he wants in his bio, so this isn't really relevant and I don't want to have to kick myself off the thread for starting a debate on something that has nothing to do with the RPG. So please respond on the Black Hole if you want ot continue.

[Nik Hasta]

On the case and in space...

NAME: Marko McCool

CHARACTER HISTORY & PERSONALITY:

Marko and his father lived alone in Sector 13 where his father was a respected fairly high ranking member of the enforcers. While he repeatedly received offers of positions in some of the nicer districts, his father would have none of it, as he believed that the place where a good cop was needed the most was in the poorer and more crime ridden district.

As he grew up surrounded by some of he worst cases in Eden, Marko decided from an early age that he would follow in his father's footsteps and do his best to help and serve those that surrounded him. To be a guardian of those who could not help themselves.

Through most of his life Marko trained to be the best enforcer he could possibly be, not just training himself physically, but also practicing diplomacy, first aid, anything he could find that would be useful in helping people.

Six months before the events of the rpg, Marko's father passed away from an unforeseen illness, a few weeks after that, Marko discovered his enhancer abilities, at the age of seventeen, remarkably late, and only a few days before he was too enter the Enforcers training program.

This has caused him some distress, as it disqualifies him for the enforcers, as well as separating him somewhat from the memory of his unpowered father. Despite this, he seems happy to join the Arcadia in the hopes that he will still be able to help the more wretched members of the city, even if he cannot follow in his father's footsteps.


PERSONAL SKILLS: Marko is very skilled at negotiation and conflict resolution, he is also intensely familiar with with emergency first aid.

So... I think we have our first paladin style character here. Makes a welcome change to all the characters with mob and crime connections.

So we have a chap here with a certain amount of grief in him and really strong sense of duty. He wants to be like his dad and I think the most obvious source of conflict for him is going to be him holding up to his (potentially inflated) view of the standard set by his father - doubtless a man of unimpeachable conduct and duty. Despite the fact that he is going to the finest school in the city and has powers that will make him a far more effective officer of the law than his father could ever hope to be, he still fills dissatisfied, perhaps like he is letting his family down on some level?

I note his mother is curiously absent from the backstory. Lots of scope there - perhaps killed the mob, perhaps taken by illness, perhaps death in childbirth, perhaps a single blemish on the spotless record of his father? We haven't really discussed the idea of prostitution in Eden at all yet, but it is the oldest profession for a reason and I'd imagine it will survive even after the apocalypse.

I'm personally thinking it would be most interesting if his mother left his father because of his unwillingness to leave Sector 13. While we've discussed at great lengths that Sector 13 isn't as comparatively terrible as the slums that exist today, it is not a nice place. I could totally buy a wife, overwrought by the danger of her husband's career and with a young child to care for or perhaps just on the way, laying down an ultimatum that either they leave this place or she leaves him.

That then raises the question of why the father was left with Marko. Would his mother not have taken him with her? I'm sure you've considered this but I figure I'd like to put the idea out there.

So, this naturally follows on to how Marko sees other people. Does he really engage with them or does he just see them as projects and statistics that need 'saving'? Does he let his emotions dictate his moral compass or does he obey the letter of the law in a more clinical manner? Both will provide an interesting foil to a character like Boss Bali, for example, who operates on a much looser, but still just as strong, sense of justice. Currently I see him as more of a stickler for rules because he's seen what can go wrong when people break them.

Indeed; his exposure to the very worst examples of crime and poverty in Eden will make for a good source of conflict in him as he socialises with the very rich and powerful, people who could effect change in Sector 13 with a mere snap of their fingers. That might frustrate him that they could do more than both he and his dad could ever do in their lives with just one big fat cheque. It might well eat at him that the rich can be seen as "better," than his father just because they can buy problems away for people they don't know or care about. Does he necessarily want that? For people to be saved but not through any kind of systemic social change, just by the houses being made nicer and the schools refurnished? Does he have that rebellious streak that would see him block someone from interfering with his streets.

He's still young and passionate to I'd imagine he'd be highly territorial over his, and his father's, jurisdiction.

Oho, you could have a lot of fun here. Plenty of room for fun in here.

A great addition to the mix, there's a huge amount of potential for an interesting execution to be done here.

[Nik Hasta]

http://forums.comicbookresources.com...1#post15004641

The link to my NPC's.

Cool. I need to shave and then go to sleep so I'll do these tomorrow.

If anyone else wants me to look at their stuff, post it here and I'll do it tomorrow.

[Chrosis]

Your memory is better than mine clearly. I don't even remember.



Glad I am providing interesting points of view to the community.

Even if you did, I wouldn't mind you taking a second look at the character.

[Ptrvc]

On the case and in space...



So... I think we have our first paladin style character here. Makes a welcome change to all the characters with mob and crime connections.

So we have a chap here with a certain amount of grief in him and really strong sense of duty. He wants to be like his dad and I think the most obvious source of conflict for him is going to be him holding up to his (potentially inflated) view of the standard set by his father - doubtless a man of unimpeachable conduct and duty. Despite the fact that he is going to the finest school in the city and has powers that will make him a far more effective officer of the law than his father could ever hope to be, he still fills dissatisfied, perhaps like he is letting his family down on some level?

I note his mother is curiously absent from the backstory. Lots of scope there - perhaps killed the mob, perhaps taken by illness, perhaps death in childbirth, perhaps a single blemish on the spotless record of his father? We haven't really discussed the idea of prostitution in Eden at all yet, but it is the oldest profession for a reason and I'd imagine it will survive even after the apocalypse.

I'm personally thinking it would be most interesting if his mother left his father because of his unwillingness to leave Sector 13. While we've discussed at great lengths that Sector 13 isn't as comparatively terrible as the slums that exist today, it is not a nice place. I could totally buy a wife, overwrought by the danger of her husband's career and with a young child to care for or perhaps just on the way, laying down an ultimatum that either they leave this place or she leaves him.

That then raises the question of why the father was left with Marko. Would his mother not have taken him with her? I'm sure you've considered this but I figure I'd like to put the idea out there.

So, this naturally follows on to how Marko sees other people. Does he really engage with them or does he just see them as projects and statistics that need 'saving'? Does he let his emotions dictate his moral compass or does he obey the letter of the law in a more clinical manner? Both will provide an interesting foil to a character like Boss Bali, for example, who operates on a much looser, but still just as strong, sense of justice. Currently I see him as more of a stickler for rules because he's seen what can go wrong when people break them.

Indeed; his exposure to the very worst examples of crime and poverty in Eden will make for a good source of conflict in him as he socialises with the very rich and powerful, people who could effect change in Sector 13 with a mere snap of their fingers. That might frustrate him that they could do more than both he and his dad could ever do in their lives with just one big fat cheque. It might well eat at him that the rich can be seen as "better," than his father just because they can buy problems away for people they don't know or care about. Does he necessarily want that? For people to be saved but not through any kind of systemic social change, just by the houses being made nicer and the schools refurnished? Does he have that rebellious streak that would see him block someone from interfering with his streets.

He's still young and passionate to I'd imagine he'd be highly territorial over his, and his father's, jurisdiction.

Oho, you could have a lot of fun here. Plenty of room for fun in here.

A great addition to the mix, there's a huge amount of potential for an interesting execution to be done here.

Thanks, that's a lot to think about.

I'll admit I left his mother out of the equation mostly because I wanted to focus on the Father/Son relationship, but I'll keep that in mind, maybe I will do something with her.

[WickedElphaba]

After reading many of these reviews, I think I'm going to rewrite Skye's history to flesh her out.

Question: Without reading all of the bios, is anyone from sector 9?

[KamenRaida]

APPERANCE:
6'4", around 220 lbs. Kind of pudgy but has a excellent upper arm strength from a lifetime of working with heavy machines. He has long dreadlocks which are quite filthy and mostly wears working overalls or dungarees in varying shades of brown or blue. He has several circuitry-themed tattoos on his body, mostly on his arms and face, and would like to get some piercings (opting not to while working on electrics because even with his abilities, shoving a small lightning rod through your ear just seemed silly). He had a good solid set of boots with steel toecaps that used to belong to his granddad. They are arguably his most prized possession.

It's frightening and I hope you don't take it in bad way, but I'm getting a bizarre image of Uncle Ruckus in Tron lines and sporting YJ!Aqualad-esque tatoos from his appearance. He definitely earns points for being visually striking and I have to admit that his appearance does give me strong vibes of a rustic personality recontextualized within a technologized environ.

CHARACTER HISTORY & PERSONALITY: Elewa was from a working family. His father was an electrician, his uncle was an electrician, his mother was a mechanic, his brothers, except for his elder brother, were all workers in the industrial areas of Sector 12. They weren't poverty-stricken but with low wages and a large family with six children, money was mostly tight. It was his destiny to be another mechanic and diligently live out his days fixing things and servicing power cables. It wasn't the most glamorous of lives to be born for but the slow moving and simple Elewa was more than happy to take his place and, from the age of 9, that is what he did.

However, fate had other ideas, Elewa found himself able to manipulate and fix electronic cables without powering them down, live current coursing through his body with no effect. He was easily able to work on power grids that were in use with little more than his dreadlocks becoming slightly static. He became something of a local treasure, the young worker who could handle red hot metals and solder with his bare hands. It was an odd thing to be famous but slow moving and simple Elewa was more than happy with his lot in life.

Then, the academy showed up one day. Said to his papa that his son was special. Should have been taken years ago but they didn't come down to Sector 12 that much and who knew that treasure like Elewa would be hidden in the walls, mindlessly repairing power lines, when he could be doing so much more. He had to be educated, taught to read and write better than he did, become a part of a special class of better people.

Slow moving and simple Elewa was upset by this, he didn't want to leave his family, his brothers and sister and their tiny home. He missed the structures of the cable tunnels and power grids, he missed his friends and his job and being able to smoke while he worked. Still, this was where life had brought him and he would see how things turned out.

Elewa is a quiet and generally fairly shy man, a gentle soul who moves and thinks quite slowly. He doesn't go in for confrontation that much and will instead opt to be passive. He usually smiles without thinking and enjoys a good joke. He doesn't have great people skills, mostly choosing to nod and smile where necessary, and prefers working on machines because he can see how they work. He has a more assertive side but it only shows when he is either working or around people he feel comfortable with. He has a long term girlfriend who he has known all his life and been romantically involved with for just over three years now. (Profile for her to follow)

He always carries a pretty large toolbag with him, the bag contains various tools; including a large wrench, a set of tiny screwdrivers, a soldering iron and a good supply of solder, devices for measuring voltage, a huge variety of transistors and spare parts and whole host of other odds and sods. It also contains several packs of cigarettes which have varying amounts of cigarettes in them depending on how old they are.
PERSONAL SKILLS: Excellent electrician and mechanic. Has a fine analytical mind and loves to tinker with machines if even if he's not always successful at it. He smokes a lot and has a weed habit.

The futuristic-rustic feel I got from Elewa's appearance definitely translates into his backstory and personality. I can't help feeling that you've drawn some inspiration from Lennie Small in characterizing Elewa and my own personal image of him aside, I could definitely see a performance of him by John Malkovich.

You say it best in his profile concerning Elewa’s simplicity and it’s something I’d say works into the “Country Mouse in the Big City” vibe you look to be working towards. That said, I absolutely adore that you’ve given Elewa a skill atypical of what would be expected of his personality. It does plenty to characterize him beyond what could be a potentially stifling stereotype. What strikes me about what you do particularly well here is the way you’re giving a very clear image of Elewa through the use of a ‘type’ and following this through the addition of details that prevent him from being a cardboard cutout. That earns him A LOT of points in my book. I’d say at this point he’s the type of character who won’t need to rely on the crutch of an exaggerated characteristic and I would recommend avoiding writing him around a single trait, although that is entirely up to you.

That said, one thing that does worry me is that while I’m getting a clear image of Elewa as a character, I’m not finding it as easy to see how you will approach his characterization in the RP. While, as I said, I can see a “Country Mouse in the Big City” story being a direction under which he should be able to head, I don’t think it’s going to be a long-term solution. At this stage, I’m not really getting the impression that he has any direction to go in terms of character growth. The best possibility I can imagine would be the effects his leaving has on his family, although, and this is merely my own personal preference, I do find that stories focused on relationships between characters not in the immediate physical presence of one another tend to get tired very quickly.

Don’t get me wrong, I think Elewa is a heavily rounded character and has enough distinguishing traits to support him as a good character. However, I am nervous that he may become dangerously static and I’d seriously suggest adding some potential for dynamic growth to him.

All said and done however, I think he’s definitely set to have a very good start in this RP.

[WyldCard4]

Actually, I doubt the upper class cares who make their swords - what they'll care about is having the best. If these swords are the best in the city, then he's going to be able to charge appropriately. Besides, its not like any of the city factories are going to be located in Sector 1 - all actual production will still be done in the industrial areas by working class people living in the poorer sectors, while the rich people just own the companies. Only this company happens to be owned by a guy who somehow managed to work himself up on sheer entrepreneurship, and for whatever reason hasn't bothered to move to the fancy part of town.

I say it depends on the circle of the upper class. Elites tend to be quite diverse. A place as old as Eden probably has a core that doesn't buy from any company younger than 800 years old, and others probably care for the highest quality, while some may have stranger definitions. While we have a lot of rich people I do not think we have a good representation of what local high society is really like. Furthermore, there's a large difference between "the one percent" that probably takes up the bulk of Sector 1 and the super rich.

As for why Arthur Van Clef hasn't moved to a higher Sector, I mentioned that he would be a small fish there, while he's probably the largest fish in Sector 13. And more sympathetically, it is where all his friends and connections are.

Indeed; his exposure to the very worst examples of crime and poverty in Eden will make for a good source of conflict in him as he socialises with the very rich and powerful, people who could effect change in Sector 13 with a mere snap of their fingers. That might frustrate him that they could do more than both he and his dad could ever do in their lives with just one big fat cheque. It might well eat at him that the rich can be seen as "better," than his father just because they can buy problems away for people they don't know or care about. Does he necessarily want that? For people to be saved but not through any kind of systemic social change, just by the houses being made nicer and the schools refurnished? Does he have that rebellious streak that would see him block someone from interfering with his streets.

He's still young and passionate to I'd imagine he'd be highly territorial over his, and his father's, jurisdiction.

Hm...

a thought, if he has a strong potential conflict over the financially powerful, what will he think of the supernaturally powerful? If he can literally fight for weeks on end with his eventual stamina stat, and objectively eclipses his father in ability to help, eventually eclipses any 50 thousand Paragons, what will that mean to him? What about someone like Hilda Agnar, who was his father's boss and could do things his father never could? This character might be able to have a very complex and interesting version of Rivia's conflict over a dislike of superpowered people. Just a thought.

[Ghost]

I say it depends on the circle of the upper class. Elites tend to be quite diverse. A place as old as Eden probably has a core that doesn't buy from any company younger than 800 years old, and others probably care for the highest quality, while some may have stranger definitions.

Still, the guys who will exclusively buy swords from the esteemed cutlers Dewey, Cheatem and Howe (the oldest firm of swordmakers in Eden!) are going to be a very small minority. The issue was wether or not Arthur's business could accumulate a respectable wealth, not wether or not he's popular among the extreme elite of Eden.

As for why Arthur Van Clef hasn't moved to a higher Sector, I mentioned that he would be a small fish there, while he's probably the largest fish in Sector 13. And more sympathetically, it is where all his friends and connections are.

Not saying that he would necessarily want to move to Section 1, but there are 11 sectors between 13 and 1 and they get progressively fancier. There's going to be some place where someone of his economic standing would be expected to live.

[Guy Smiley]

Okay, with JianGeGe's character posted, we have new powers to assess.

- Richard Yao IV:

Pulse Thrust - Okay, so this allows Dick to speed up existing motion in a liquid. As read, it doesn't give him hydrokinesis, but does allow him to, I dunno, give folks heart attacks? (My guess for what happens with a significantly boosted bloodflow) This one's a bit confusing, since he needs to be able to feel the liquid's flow, which I'd assume takes at least a few seconds for, say, taking a pulse, but needs only a light tap to activate? Doesn't seem too bad, though, since it only affects existing flows and requires contact.

Maybe give the guy a martial art based on contact and redirection or something that would allow him to grab wrists in combat as a matter of course.

Pulse Sonar - Now this one, I'm not sure about. It seems expressly designed to allow Dick to bypass his balancing restrictions for Pulse Thrust and whatever else he ends up getting. Here's how I see it: Dick uses Pulse Thrust. The pulse travels through the ground and thus through any groundbound characters, marking out their blood. Dick then has the explicit ability to Pulse Thrust all their blood flows without meeting any of the normal requirements for doing so. This isn't an inherently bad power, but I'd probably save it for a power slot at a higher level, since its main function is to enhance your other Water powers, and abilities bought at higher levels are usually expected to be more powerful.

I should note that I don't see your point totals anywhere. Is it safe to assume you chose an even split of 5 Water and 5 Speed? (Hypothetically, with 2 abilities in Water, it could be as much as 9 Water and 1 Speed, but I think only one player has actually done that.)