The Campaign Builder's Guild

[ic=Jéssica da Flor de Seda][spoiler=Picture][/spoiler]The woman called Jéssica seems to always be smiling, as though the world is a huge comedy made only to amuse her. Her makeup is strong enough to make her glow with beauty, but not so thick as to distract. Her chocolate skin and fine dreadlocks are accented by simple golden jewelry, and her stunning figure is shown off fantastically by a tight, revealing dress that could only belong to a whore. Which is what Jéssica is, and she loves it. Every action is a flirt and every move is an invitation. Her smile and attitude of fun are contagious, and she knows how to be just happy enough to be pleasant, without being annoying. Occasionally, Jéssica uses her power to walk around as a pair of Jéssicas. Jéssica almost never calls people by their names, instead inventing nicknames for each person.
She carries a cloth handbag.

Jéssica born out of wedlock in the spring of 1890 to a recently freed, African-Brazilian, plantation worker mother and the Portuguese, plantation owner father. Raised in poverty on the plantation, the young girl made fast friends with the children of the other workers. But alas, she had a terribly poor relationship with her father, who could see nothing in her except his own sin. As a teen, Jéssica became dissatisfied with life on the plantation and decided to move to the city and earn money for her mother. So she traveled to São Paulo and was quickly swept up by the Flor de Seda brothel. There she was taught the world's oldest profession, and she learned to hone her naturally friendly disposition into a hook for men. She serviced sailors and all manner of clients for eight years, becoming quite popular in her own way, until she was Chosen in 1914.

Elements: Blood, Frost, Smoke, Dust, Iron

Public traits: Attractive, Friendly, Naturally Happy, Clones
[/ic]

[ic=Emily White][spoiler=Picture][/spoiler]Emily is 47 years old, but she doesn't look it. Her Chinese heritage and small-but-thick, glasses are obvious, but she seems much more like a nerdy 30-something than a grandmother. She wears a simple dress-shirt, khakis, and long leather gloves that nearly reach her elbow. She's fairly quiet most of the time, and seems to have a hard time keeping up with conversations. But when she speaks, she's clear and firm. Most of the time she seems to be twiddling with one thing or another, usually a bit of metal or circuitry that she gets from her backpack. She's shorter than most, and keeps largely to herself. In conversation she has an annoying habit of correcting other people's grammar.
She carries a black backpack.

Emily was born in Sydney Australia in 2003 to second-generation Chinese immigrants. When she was 10 years old she was clipped by a speeding truck, mutilating her right hand. As a young woman she was quite shy; always scared that others thought her ugly because of her injury. She spent most of her time on the internet and studying for school. Her hard work payed off as she graduated at the top of her class. She went to school at the University of Sydney and studied robotics. There she met Ken Yeung, another Chinese engineering student, and the two of them got married in 2024. (Emily decided to keep her family name as a small bit of feminist activism.) After graduation, she and her husband got jobs at TitanYum Automatic Chefs building robots to replace cooks at fast-food restaurants. They had two children together, both boys, and made enough money to afford an upper-middle-class lifestyle. In 2029 Emily decided to amputate her disfigured hand and replace it with a robotic limb, which she's kept upgraded through the years. She lived a stable, happy life, contributing to society and being rewarded for it, until 2051, when she mysteriously disappeared.

Elements: Iron, Dust, Frost, Smoke, Blood

Public traits: Tinkerer
[/ic]

I'm still not entirely certain what is going on with this game, but if I can still slide in here (the thread does say "there's still time")... I might give it a go since it seems like it doesn't involve too much time commitment.

I think this character fills a role that no other PCs filled yet.

[ic=Vic Fellowes]Vic Fellowes

[spoiler=Pictures]Vic
Products[/spoiler]

"Puffy eyes and stuffed up face got your lover cheating? Runny nose got your friends fleeing? Lookin' for a Cure? Needin' it for sure! Then have I got a deal for you!"  Snake oil salesman, traveler extraordinarie, and alleged long lost heir to the throne of France, Vic Fellowes (aka Claude Feldaire), is a snake-oil salesman and apothecary from 1880s Mississippi. He's ridden the Steamboats and he's made the deals and he's taken people for rides... and now he's on for the ride of his life.

Vic's about five foot seven, about an inch over average for someone of his era, and his face is a face that can be trusted. He has a quick smile, straight teeth, though stained by the teas he takes. He's a world traveler and easily adapts to new situations.

If it isn't yet obvious, Vic is one slick and one backhandedly mean sunova....

Elements: Smoke, Dust, Blood, Frost, Iron

Public Trait: Attractive
[ooc]Body Trait, Public, Frost
Provides +2 Frost in the Social domain. If this character is a PC, whenever your loyalty score increases on an NPC that is sexually compatable with you (gender+orientation) it increases by an additional +1.[/ooc]

Public Item: Medium (Medical Tools -- Grants +1 Frost in the Healing domain)

[spoiler=VIC!]

Firearm Training
Body Trait, Mind Trait, Dust

Provides +1 Dust in the Ranged Combat domain.
Provides an additional +1 Blood and +1 Dust in the Ranged Combat domain when armed with a gun.

Intelligent
Mind Trait, Dust
Provides +1 Dust in the Skill domain.

Whenever this character would normally gain a knowledge token, they gain two knowledge tokens instead. (Knowledge tokens, like unhappiness tokens, are relevant for events.)

Friendly
Mind Trait, Public, Blood

This character tends to get along with others very well. Provides +1 to all elements in the Social domain. (This does not count as providing Smoke for the purposes of Good Judge of Character.)

Precognition
Mind Trait, Superhuman, Dust

You can see where all other players are assigning their characters and change where you assign your characters accordingly. If another player has a character with this trait, they are immune to this ability.

Additionally, you gain knowledge of one event that will happen next turn.


ITEMS:

Small (Handgun (Ranged Weapon, Gun) -- +3 Deadliness; Requires ammunition; Provides +1 Blood in the Ranged Combat domain. (No ammo yet :())
[/spoiler][/ic]

Due to unexpected delays (like none of the players looking for an exit to the starting location on the first turn and updates taking days to write), the "second batch" of the chosen hasn't had the chance to make an entrance yet. That being said, I still intend to allow new players to join the game, and anticipate the entrance occurring around the start of June.

Anyone who is interested should post a character here.

Light Dragon and Steerpike, if you're still interested, please speak up. (And I fully understand if either of you have changed your mind.)

Attention all people!! This game is open to new players! Please at least state interest as soon as you can. After this window new players will only be accepted on a case-by-case basis. If you'd like, I can also have your character join now and go into stasis if you're not quite ready to play.

P.S. I'll also be making a bunch more NPCs for the next batch of Chosen. I'll take requests, if anyone has an idea. :D

[ic=Jarji of the Mountain][spoiler=Picture][/spoiler]Jarji is a rough sort of man. Untamed by many long long years of life by himself. He wears simple but well-made wool clothing. He's younger than he looks, having wrinkled and grayed under the back-breaking work of a vegetable farmer on sub-par land. His teeth are rotted and he's not kind, but there's a kind of wisdom to him, if you know where to look. Jarji makes it his business to convert people to Christianity and make sure that they're acting according to god's plan. He's not particularly quiet or particularly loud, but in conversation he's quick as a whip and always has a snappy retort, even if it's not particularly kind.
He caries a long-handled spade.

Jarji was born in mid-4th-century Caucasian Iberia, known to him as Kartli, or what we would recognize as eastern Georgia. He grew up through the rise of the Christian church as the official religion of the kingdom, and came to believe in it fiercely and associate it with purity and morality. At 22 he married a neighbor, but was unable to father any children. Four years after marriage, his wife died of an unknown disease, and it thus fell to him to look after his father's farm. The farm itself was fairly lackluster, and took up a major section of rocky soil on one of the many mountains, but Jarji is a competent and hard-working man who managed to eke out a decent living despite it. With no family left and unable to attract another wife (possibly due to being poor and possibly due to rumors of infertility), Jarji came to accept that he would be the last of his line. The only time when he saw people, and had the opportunity to apply his quick tongue, was in church, which he devoted all of his free time towards. By Jarji's thinking, if he couldn't have a good life he'd be damned if he didn't have a good afterlife.

Elements: Iron, Dust, Frost, Blood, Smoke

Public traits: Mean
[/ic]

Ok. I am impressed by the extent you have worked on updates and by the low time commitment of this game. I still don't really like the setting or the theme or really get it, but the quality of your writing and your loving work really shines through.

I will admit that I read a number of private updates from the first 2 weeks of the game; I also assure you that I remember almost no details and I forgot the lion's share of what I read; and even if I did remember, I wouldn't use the information to my advantage.

Can my previously posted character slide in? I fear he won't be anywhere as successful as if he'd started out in the game on week one :(. In fact, I'd not be surprised if he dies in 3 or 4 turns time given how I wanted to play him. But I can give it a try.

Yes! You're welcome to join! I trust you on the private info. Almost all of the stuff from Turn 1 and 2 is unimportant at this stage, anyway.

Your character will be a little behind the others, but there's actually a good chance that you'll come out ahead in the long-run. Since you're starting from the second-batch of Chosen and since it seems like you may be the only one, you'll have a major opportunity to gain a large number of allies. (Another player may compete with you on that front, but I'm not holding my breath there.) The game is actually shaping up to be quite cooperative so far, so I wouldn't worry too much about getting killed unless you do some really aggressive actions towards the combat-oriented players. The structure of the game also makes play interesting and viable even if you're a weakling compared to the others (which you're not by a long-shot).

I appreciate the kind words about my writing, even if you're not a particular fan of the setting. ^_^ (Is it too weird? Unorthodox pseudo-steampunk/fantasy+mystery+superheroes makes it very different from a lot of stuff.) I'm always happy to adapt my games to the interests of my players, so if you want to talk about it, I may be able to shape it into something more towards your tastes.

------

@Everyone: I'm totally done with the fluff for the primary 4 players, have all the events done for Juliet and Saitoro, and about half of John's events. I'll probably update on Thursday given that I'll be writing some stuff for Vic Fellowes, but I may slip to Friday.

Thanks Raelifin!

I think it's I just don't really like amnesia-type plots and the system seems odd (in a good way, but it's like nothing I have seen before), and once again I DO like your talent. :)

I also like your allocation system for turns.

@LD: Technically it's not amnesia as much as it is "kidnapped and taken to a magic world a la labyrinth" but I can understand where you're coming from. The problem is that the players don't have any base ties to the world, so they feel really disconnected and inconsistent. That aspect, along with the growth of the Chosen into having a relationship with the City, is one that I hope to explore (and already have with a couple characters).

-----------------

[ic=Park Yoon-Ji][spoiler=Picture][/spoiler]

Yoon-Ji has her friends call her "Lilly". "It's an English word that means flower." she tells them, even if they already know more English than her. She's an artist. She's a musician sometimes. But no... she's not very good at the guitar. She's a better painter. Well, okay... technically she's a bank teller, but she just works that job to earn enough to go to art school! She's been doing that for about ten years... Hey. It's a good paying job. But she'll be a famous artist someday. Then she'll have someone else count her money.

At night she transforms out of her prim and proper business clothes and messes up her hair in just the sort of way an artist would. I mean does. Just the way an artist does. Because Yoon-Ji Lilly is an artist. Ignore what her parents will tell you. She gets distracted easily, and forgets to laugh at jokes that she knows someone is telling. She doesn't mean anything by it, really. She hates being told what to do (artists are supposed to be free, you know?) but she happily follows suggestions that her friends make. She never really stays on one topic too long. She likes telling people about herself, she hates violence (even violent art), and is fascinated by fish (ever think about what it'd be like to be one? (whoa)). Sometimes when she's talking she'll get distracted and just fade into...

Yoon-Ji is an only child. She lived in Seoul in a studio apartment with about 200 fish. She's 28, and can act her age when she needs to. She's surprisingly good with numbers, but she never got good grades. She works out regularly. She's always wanted to visit America. Her favorite band is Nirvana. She has two boyfriends, but they don't know about each-other, and neither are particularly serious. When she was taken the year was 1993. She's worried that someone's going to end up killing her fish.

She wears a casual dress with fish designs that shows off her toned form. Above it she wears an overcoat and an acoustic guitar is slung across her back.

Elements: Smoke, Blood, Dust, Frost, Iron

Public Traits: Attractive, Physically fit[/ic]

[ic=Estrella Salazar]Señorita Salazar stares at the people she doesn't like, which is most everyone. She rarely speaks when a gesture will do, and is cold and untrusting as the desert night. Once upon a time she was more relaxed, but the last few years beat that out of her. She's in her early 30s and her skin is deeply tan from long hours under the sun. She keeps her coal-black hair long, but tied back in a thick braid. Her range coat, brimmed hat, jeans, and boots make it clear to those who are knowledgeable that she's from the american west, but her stiff Spanish words mark her as Mexican. Her meager diet has left her already narrow face unattractively gaunt. She wears a black bandanna around her neck to cover the scar from when she was hanged.
She wears a shotgun on her back.

Estrella Salazar was born in 1798 to a loving couple of Spanish immigrants to what is now known as New Mexico. She was raised on the farm, and learned to handle a horse, gun, and livestock. At 15 she ran off with a Spanish outlaw named Negro Alfonzo. For a couple years she traveled with his gang, stealing, killing officials, and occasionally kidnapping someone important. Though she never personally hurt anyone, she supported Alfonzo, seeing his efforts less as random crime (which it pretty much was) and more as part of the rebellion against Spain. When she was 17 she connived a child with Alfonzo, and while he had no intention of being a caring father, she was able to stay with him for a time. A rival gang, striking back at Alfonzo for betraying them, kidnapped Señorita Salazar and hanged her. The Spanish authorities were tipped off to the kidnapping, and were able to cut her down before she fully died. She sustained minor brain damage (which largely healed in later years) and miscarried in her third trimester. Her neck still bears the mark of that deadly rope.
Abandoned for dead by Alfonzo, the señorita became a drifter for a couple years, surviving mostly by leveraging the appetites of men and her skill as a farmhand. In 1818 she found work at a ranch run by a kind family of the name Polo. Señor Polo treated Estrella like a daughter and taught her to trust in people again. Over the years she worked tending his cattle and became one of the family. Eventually she became strong enough to leave the ranch and reconnect with her estranged parents. For several years she was very happy, and she traveled across the new nation of Mexico (its independence mirroring Estrella's own return to happy life) visiting with her old family and working with her new one. She even fancied one of Señor Polo's sons, though he was many years younger than her, and she lacked confidence in her ability to make a relationship work.
And then the Comanche made her life hell. They killed her defenseless parents without, from Estrella's perspective, any provocation. As she traveled south to attend to their funeral, they hit the Polo ranch, killing her adoptive family as well. For about a year afterward she hunted them as a lone warrior, and did successfully murder a few men who got unlucky, but ultimately she was too inept to enact the sort of revenge she desired. So she returned to the Polo ranch, which had lost almost all of its livestock and goods in the raid and to thieves. There she made a meager life, trying in vain to rebuild by herself. During this time she successfully fought off other Indian raids and killed a tax collector when he asked her to show the deed to the property (which she'd never found).
Señorita Salazar has seen more than her fair share of death and evil, and she has more than her fair share of it within her, but she still remembers her life with the Polos and knows that it's not all bad.

Elements: Iron, Blood, Smoke, Dust, Frost
[/ic]

[ic=Lucie de Toulouse][spoiler=Picture][/spoiler]Lucie is almost 6 years old. She's also a noble. She's also adorable. Her hair is brown and her eyes are blue. She wears a frilly dress that matches her eyes. Like most children, she is curious, quiet around strangers, naive, oblivious to many things, and playful.
She is carrying a porcelain doll.

Lucie is the eldest child to the Count of Toulouse, and as such she's technically the heir to the county. She had a healthy and somewhat spoiled upbringing in the 1070s, sheltered from most of the horrors of medieval France.

Elements: Blood, Dust, Smoke, Frost, Iron

Public Traits:
[ooc=Child]Body Trait, Mind Trait, Public, Blood

-1 to all elements except Blood in all domains.
An additional -1 to all elements in the Strength and Politics domains.[/ooc][/ic]

[ic=Mu Qi]Oh damn. He's late again. He's always late. Mu Qi scrambles around even when he's not late. There's always something to be done, and he won't let the next thing creep up on him! Oh wait... that's right now! He forgot! Documents to sign. Scrolls to read. And always, ALWAYS, things to be recorded. Brush and ink are Mu Qi's trade. He is a scribe. His fingers are stained black and his hands have seen more than their fair share of ink, as well. The only times when the young Chinese man doesn't seem to scramble is when he's either writing, talking, or listening. Language seems to calm him, and the absence of it frightens him. As such, Qi talks to himself whenever he thinks other people won't mind (or aren't around). The man is thin as a stick, and abnormally short, with small black eyes (which seem always to be squinting, as if everything is too far away) and only whispers of facial hair on his upper lip. He's brilliantly smart in his own way, and highly attentive, but not exactly the sort of person who is fun at parties.
Mu Qi wears fancy silk robes (Hanfu), and carries a satchel that seems to be overflowing with scrolls.

Qi is a second-to-youngest child in a house of seventeen children (across two women). The Mu family was never poor, but not exactly rich, either. Qi grew up around people, and he never quite grew out of the feeling that being alone is somehow wrong or dangerous. Simultaneously, as a small, weak, middle-child, Qi learned to mind his place and stay out of trouble. Qi grew up in Xuchang, and had the fortune to be born roughly at the same time that it was made the capital of the empire. In 200 AD, as war was brewing in the countryside, Qi's father was invited to visit the imperial court and bring his children with him. While waiting, Qi, then aged only six years old, impressed one of the chief scribes of the court by reading a paper that Qi's father was having trouble with. The scribe offered to take Qi as an apprentice, which his father eventually agreed to early in the next year. Qi served the court well, and proved to all that he was a natural with brush and ink. His only downside being his lack of organizational skills and tendency to forget appointments and deadlines. Though he was never the most valued scribe, he was useful enough that in 211 he transitioned to serving Chancellor Cao Cao himself (along with a few others). It was a great honor to Qi, and he did his best not to mess it up until 218, when he was chosen.

Elements: Dust, Iron, Blood, Frost, Smoke

Public Traits: None

(P.S. For those who are unfamiliar with Mandarin, "Qi" is pronounced similar to "Chi" in English.)[/ic]

Mu Qi's (also Chinese) opposite:

[ic=Chan Feng][spoiler=Picture][/spoiler]
Chan Feng is almost two meters tall. He's a hundred and thirty kilograms. His head is bald. He doesn't take any shit. Feng is his body. He doesn't think when he doesn't have to. If he bothered to spell out a personal philosophy, it would be that his head is there to make sure he gets what his body deserves. He doesn't talk when he doesn't have to, but he's not a quiet man when he does. He's direct, and to the point, and unflinching in his desires. He likes sports (American football and Sumo are two favorites), food, and martial arts. When he's not busy he often does exercises, stretches, or practices his Kung Fu and Krav Maga techniques. Though he isn't public about it, those who get to know Feng soon pick up from his body language that he's more interested in men than in women.
He wears a tee-shirt, jeans, tennis shoes, and occasionally a pair of sunglasses.

Feng was born in 2008 in Hong Kong. His father left a few days later, and was later found living in Saigon. Feng grew up in a tough part of the city, and was pushed into martial arts at a young age by his mother. Being physically massive gave Feng the upper-hand in martial arts and sports, and he rarely got into trouble unless he sought it. Feng's mother became a drunk when he was young, and Feng did his best to take care of her. The experience made Feng less tolerant of what he saw as injustice, and in school he quickly became known as the kid to see if you were being bullied. Of course, this meant that Feng got into lots of fights with some of the toughest children all through his school years, often standing up to bullies that were several years older. At 13 his mother died in a car accident and he moved across town to live with his grandparents. As a teenager he dropped out of school and spent most of his time either in his Kung Fu training hall or lurking around nightclubs and gay bars. Once he was old enough, he got a job as a bouncer, which he enjoyed quite a bit. He lived with various men for several years before renting a small apartment near the club where he worked.

Elements: Iron, Blood, Smoke, Frost, Dust

Public Traits: Physically Fit[/ic]

[ic=Mark "Thaba" Jacobs][spoiler=Picture][/spoiler]
On a good day Thaba is a brilliant mind and a kind soul. He smiles to everyone he talks to, and does his best to be courteous and professional. Highly extroverted, Thaba is most alive when he's explaining or debating a theory of genetics or virology. While he's clearly an academic, he doesn't come across as disconnected or aloof. His English is flawless and he's quick to lend a sympathetic word. On a bad day Mark Jacobs hates the world. His eyes are bloodshot, he coughs with every other word, and stays away from social situations. His body curls up as if he wants to turn into a stone, and when he talks to people he has a habit of berating them for trivial things. Everyone has their bad days, when they're sick, tired, and just need some sleep. Unfortunately, Mark Jacobs has more bad days than most.
Jacobs wears a business suit, horn-rim glasses, and caries a briefcase.

Mark Jacobs was born in Johannesburg in 1933 to a half-white father and a fully-African mother. His family was poor, but they made it their focus to see that Mark had a good education. In school he showed great talent, especially in math. Though he had some bad experiences, he overall grew up to be a socially skilled, confident, intelligent young man. Thanks to the kind help of a teacher, Mark managed to secure a scholarship to study at Harris–Stowe State University in St. Louis, Missouri. He moved to the USA in 1952 and set to work on a degree in biology. Though racial discrimination was rampant in Johannesburg, it took moving to a new place to really highlight the issue of racial tensions to Mark. In 1956 he set to work on a Ph.D. in virology at Harris-Stowe. While he considered moving to another town, he had become deeply involved in the civil rights scene in St. Louis and didn't want to give it up. In 1959 he began to date Anabelle McCormack, a young white woman working on her undergraduate degree who had been hired to work in Mark's lab. Unfortunately, Anabelle's father did not at all approve of the relationship, and ended up hunting Mark down and nearly beating him to death with a baseball bat. Mr. McCormack was frightened off by the authorities, who later caught him and put him in prison for attempted murder. Anabelle moved away even as Mark made a miraculous recovery. When he was fit again, Mark finished his doctorate and became a professor of biology at Harris-Stowe, attaining dual citizenship as well. In the mid sixties he became a leader in the local civil rights movement and was a particularly strong proponent of the re-adoption of African culture by black Americans. Despite never really having a "traditional" African heritage (his parents spoke English and were factory workers), Mark took on the name "Thaba" to reconnect with his roots. In 1968 Thaba returned to South Africa in response to his mother becoming ill. There he became a professor at the newly formed Rand Afrikaans University, which he worked at until he was chosen in 1970. Though he was a successful and well-mannered man, Thaba never pursued romantic involvement after Anabelle. The near-death experience at the hands of her father instilled a deep fear in him, and it killed his ability to comfortably date other women.

Elements: Dust, Frost, Iron, Blood, Smoke

Public Traits: None[/ic]