The Campaign Builder's Guild

Please excuse me if I missed it, but any chance we'll see any Labor Union activists (in the vein of the US' Caesar Chavez) or Jesuit priests? (either Matteo Ricci types or mission-running ones in South America, or French Jesuits converting Amerinds on the Mississippi River), or perhaps an Egyptian Pharaoh who is used to ruling...probably not good to suggest competition for me in the most recent pod though :D. Just thinking of some potentially interesting archetypes.

I actually have a union-worker/activist already planned! I had considered some sort of ancient king (was leaning towards Mesopotamia) but decided against it. A Jesuit priest sounds really fun, though, and it gives me another chance to make a South American character. I also have a builder-woman from Burma and a (probably female) cyborg from a south-pacific seastead planned.

[ic="Un Sacerdote"]

Quote from: Ignatius Loyola"Whoever desires to serve as a soldier of God beneath the banner of the Cross in our Society ... should, after a solemn vow of perpetual chastity, poverty and obedience, keep what follows in mind ... he should show himself ready ... to perform any other works of charity, according to what will seem expedient for the glory of God and the common good."

"That we may be altogether of the same mind and in conformity with the Church herself, if she shall have defined anything to be black which to our eyes appears to be white, we ought in like manner to pronounce it to be black."

"...yet we must also recommend the fear of God; and not only filial fear, but servile fear, which is very useful and often even necessary to raise man from sin..."

Tall, but not awkwardly so, the man speaks in a deep and rough voice, his Spanish flowing and elegant like a lowland river. He wears all black except for his mask, which is pure white porcelain, and his priest's collar, which is rarely visible. Upon his head is a broad-brimmed hat, flat and simple. Beneath it he wears a hood, and veil. His eyes and nose are covered by a mask, and below he wears the robes of a priest. On his hands are simple, black gloves. The only visible skin is that near his eyes. On his hip is a longsword with an ornate silver handle and decorated scabbard. He stands up straight, holding his hands behind his back most of the time. He does not give his name, and when asked replies "Soy un sacerdote" ("I am a priest") as if that were all the information one could need.
Within his robes he keeps a small Spanish bible, which he often reads from when not otherwise occupied. The sword on his hip is bound with cord, and it is unclear if he ever would (or knows how to) use it.

The man does not talk about his past, but a watchful and patient observer will gather some basic facts. He is a priest, more specifically a catholic, and more specifically a Jesuit. He is roughly thirty years of age. Before he was chosen he lived in what would later be called Paraguay. He hails from some time around the 17th century. He has a disease that disfigures his skin. He is incredibly religious almost to the degree of fanaticism, but is careful to choose his words so as to not become at odds with others. He is deathly afraid of fire. He is in pain regularly, but tries not to show it. His face is more disfigured than the rest of him. His sword is his most prized possession. He will never let an opportunity for charity or kindness go unanswered.

Elements: Smoke, Frost, Iron, Blood, Dust

Public Traits: None[/ic]

[ic=Mya][spoiler=Picture][/spoiler]
Daw Mya demands respect and deals in smiles. Her face is painted with thanaka and alive with emotion. When she's happy she grins. When she's angry you'd best get out of her way. Mya is heavy-set, but not exactly fat; much of it is muscle. Her voice is low for a woman, and she's fairly short. In her many years of working her hands have become rough and calloused. Her black hair is worn up, and her dark eyes seem to sparkle when she laughs. Daw Mya wears a simple shirt, longyi, and sandals.
She is carrying a box of tools.

Mya was born under the name Lwin to two of the more influential members of a rural Bamar village in northern Burma during the late 16th century. The village was more of a trade-center for local farmers, only possessing a few dedicated residents. Lwin was one such resident, as her father was a repairman who would fix broken tools and carts that were brought in from the various farms. The eldest child amongst all girls, Lwin learned to help her father, and eventually took over as a repairwoman when he died. When she married Kol, the village healer, she changed her name to Mya. For over two decades she remained happily married, doing odd jobs and fixing things for the community. For a reason unknown to her, she and Kol were never able to have children, though she had many nieces and nephews whom she tended as if they were her own. Mya is a spiritual woman, and regularly prays and sacrifices to her deities which are a local variant of the Hindu pantheon.

(The word "Daw", which she includes before her name, is an honorific similar to "Mrs." that indicates that she's respected as pillar of her community.)

Elements: Blood, Iron, Dust, Smoke, Frost

Public Traits: Physically Fit, Naturally Happy[/ic]

[ic=Naz, the Broken]Naz is young. Barely 18 years old, in fact. Her belly bulges outward and it is clear that she is with child. She doesn't speak unless she has to. She stares with suspicion and hatred from her cold blue eyes. Her tanned face is long and beautiful, despite the scars from pox. Her hair is straight and black as night, having been well cared for over the years. Her clothes are ragged and dirty. Her arms are almost always crossed beneath her breasts. She never makes eye contact for more than a second. Despite being stubbornly silent she refuses to be alone, always following others. Her feet are bare and battered, covered in callouses from a life of never knowing shoes. Her back is covered in scars from lashings. She hates everyone, herself most of all.
She has nothing.

Naz was born to a teenage girl named Shams and the owner of a date farm named Kouros in the year 420 BC. Kouros owned many slaves, all of whom had to work his farm while he enjoyed a life of relative luxury. The girl slaves were forced to serve as his personal harem in addition to toiling under the hot Persian sun (the region would later be called Turkey) to collect and prepare the dates. Shams was one such girl, who became pregnant at 15 and gave birth to Naz at 16. Shams died of disease two years later, forcing Naz to be taken care of by the other women of the farm, none of whom really loved her or saw her as more than a burden. As soon as she was old enough to carry a basket, Naz was forced to work in the orchards from dawn until dusk and she was frequently beaten and whipped as a young child. Later she would come to serve Kouros as her mother did, and she too became pregnant, though this time at 14. She gave birth to a beautiful baby boy whom she named Musa. Naz cared for Musa will all her heart, but it did not save him from the pox. Most of Naz died with her son and she was never really the same after that. At 16 she became pregnant again, but miscarried. She would be whipped for not working hard enough, but never for fighting. She had stopped fighting long ago. Late into her 17th year of brutal life she became pregnant yet again. She was chosen shortly thereafter.

Elements: Frost, Smoke, Blood, Iron, Dust

Public Traits: Young, Mean[/ic]

[ic=Mohandas Sharma][spoiler=Picture][/spoiler]
Mohandas Sharma is of medium height and medium build. Not particularly skinny or muscled, but certainly not overweight. He wears business clothes and always seems calm and collected. His eyes are his most distinctive feature.

Mohandas Sharma is clean shaven and his hair is well cut. He is always polite, but never goes so far as to imply that he is inferior. He smiles often, but never fully; there's always an air of reservation, a wall, a facade. His eyes shine and gleam with a metallic texture.

Mohandas Sharma looks Japanese, or perhaps Chinese, but his name is Indian and he speaks Indonesian. He speaks clearly and precisely and enjoys the sound of his own voice. Explaining things is one of his passions, but he is naturally secretive when it comes to himself. Mohandas never forgets a name or a face. His irises are pure silver.

When he first comes to the city he is carrying a briefcase.

Mohandas' parents, both of whom were programmers, moved to Jakarta in 2053 out of fear that Japan would become involved in the violence of North America. Mohandas was born in spring of 2054 right as their fears were confirmed. Neo-Luddite extremists tracked them down, recognizing their involvement in building the GAIA system, and in Summer of 2054 Mohandas became an orphan. Luckily, the baby was adopted quickly and found a home as an only child to a pair of immigrants from India. His new father was a famous journalist who provided one of the few Indian-centric perspectives on the budding South Pacific. His adoptive mother was an amateur fashion designer and political activist. From them he learned much about appearance, politics, and society. While he had a Japanese name from his birth parents, Mohandas was given an Indian name as part of being welcomed into his new family. At 14 he had his legal identity changed to reflect what he considered to be his "true name".

Mohandas is a genius, though he makes a point of only revealing it when advantageous. He speaks four languages (Indonesian, Hindi, English, Mandarin) and has a familiarity with three others (German, Japanese, Spanish). But more than being a genius, Mohandas is freakishly motivated. While most people would be content to surf the web or take a walk, Mohandas' brain seems wired to only feel satisfied when working towards a concrete goal. At twelve he convinced his parents to let him drop out of school and study on his own, even being two grades up he felt held back by the institution. He taught himself calculus, chemistry, mechanical physics, history, programming, and rudimentary law. He read great works of literature when he needed a break from technical material and taught himself to paint when he needed a break from both. And, more than anything, he taught himself to write.

At 14 he moved to the UK to attend Oxford after he managed to convince two professors there that he was, himself, a professor of history. (Mohandas' paper on understanding societies using fine-grained agent-based models was, unfortunately, never published.) At Oxford he dual-majored in history and physics. At 16, while working on his degrees, he published his first and only book Out of the Loop: Why Artificial Intelligence Couldn't Save North America. The book became a best-seller worldwide, and the young man soon found himself to be the wealthiest 16 year old on the planet (not counting children of rich parents who themselves didn't earn anything). The book was published under a pseudonym, and Mohandas ended up selling the name to his publisher rather than continue to write. At 18 he graduated with honors and moved from Oxford to Hong Kong to start his career. Though he had, and would later have many, many female companions, none of them have ever kept his interest for more than two weeks.

Over the next few years the young man reinvested his money and made it multiply. He put his hands into everything from robotics to augmovies to illegal drugs. And while his investment decisions were solid and his people-skills were good, he was young and reckless. A bad move with the Chinese mafia eventually led to his eyes being gouged out in an alleyway. Shaken, but not deterred, Mohandas hired more bodyguards and moved to the American Union where he oversaw the growth of his "empire" across the world. In his spare time he picked up a doctorate in particle physics and became a professor at Princeton University.

And then, one day, he vanished.

Elements: Frost, Smoke, Dust, Blood, Iron

Public Traits: Attractive[/ic]

[ic=Henry McCormack][spoiler=Picture][/spoiler]
41 years old. Red hair. Beard. Irish. American. Southern. Criminal. Rowdy. Racist. Veteran. Judgemental. Loud. Loyal. Tough. None of 'dat flow'ry speech.
Carries a baseball bat.

Henry was born in 1920 to a working-class couple from St. Louis. To hear him tell it, the Irish are the best people in the world, though he's never been outside Missouri. His gran'folks were Irish, though, and that's all that matters to him. He was in the second war but he never saw combat. His only regret is that the damn Nazis didn't give the commies a better one-two if you catch his drift. He thinks the USA still should show those pinko bastards what-for; he bets their missiles wouldn't even get off the ground. After the war Henry got married to a good ol' fashioned country girl and got a job up at the steel mill. He made a good number of friends and more than a couple enemies at his work, especially when he became one of the founding members of a worker's union. (Unions are nothing like that pinko commie bullshit. Unions are a way for a real man to make a real wage. They're a nat'rl part of the capit'lst system.) Though he never was leadership material, he served as a diligent pawn for the union leaders, particularly when it came to intimidating those who were thought to be at odds with the worker's interests.
Henry has one daughter, Annabelle, whom he cares more about than anything. Two years ago she was seduced by some ugly nigger up at the university and Henry had to sort things out. Of course, the police didn't seem to understand that he was just protecting his family, and they put him in the slammer for "attempt'd murder". He was doin' his time there when he was chosen.

Elements: Blood, Iron, Frost, Smoke, Dust

Public Traits: Physically Fit, Loyal[/ic]

[ic=Athena Transcendent]Athena Transcendent is not human. Not fully, at least. While other Chosen may have an artificial arm or artificial eyes, Athena has fully embraced the idea of becoming a machine. She does not wear clothes, as we would think of them, but instead she is covered in a sheathe of reflective metal that seems half-way between a toga and a cluster of mushrooms and borders on being indecent in the way it reveals patches of human skin. Her arms and legs are fully machine and she takes no effort to hide their mechanism. Hydraulics and carbon fiber rods are exposed, giving her a distinctly alien look. Her fingers are nearly twice as long as they should be, and are jet black. Her feet are shaped like stiletto heels and she literally changes the length of her legs to match the height of who she interacts with. Her lower jaw and neck are some kind of silver plastic and are adorned with small green lights. When she talks her mouth does not move, but the lights flicker as though they were the source of the sound. Her voice reverberates with an inhuman echo that gives the impression of a chorus of voices. She is bald and her left eye has been replaced by a black lens. Her skin is ghostly white and smooth as porcelain. The one remaining "human" eye has an iridescent iris that shimmers like the wing of an exotic butterfly and her eyelashes are inhumanly long and thick.

While her mouth doesn't move to talk, it does smile. Athena is clever and insightful, but also has a kind of charm and charisma once one sees past the mechanical shell. She has a love of puns and wordplay, but isn't obnoxious about it. Her pride and confidence are infectious and she chooses her words to inspire those around her to greatness. She sees herself as a being on the way to enlightenment and is fiercely intolerant of the status quo.

Athena is not carrying anything.

Athena Transcendent was born in 2037 as Stephen Freeman, the only son to Wall-Street billionaire Michael Freeman (and his trophy wife, actress Yelena Law). Stephen grew up in luxury and had a first-rate education. As a young man the machine war tore his life apart. Both his parents were assassinated by terrorists and he was taken into protection by one of the splinter-factions of the US government. There he lived for a couple years as a kind of political prisoner, milked of his wealth under the excuse of protecting him from the outside violence. While in this bubble he became quite famous for publicly defending the GAIA project and criticizing the anti-tech backlash, becoming a lightning rod for political debate on the net. Under the pseudonym "Athena Transcendent" he further entrenched himself as a defender of transhumanism, artificial intelligence, and automation. Some of his contacts were pro-tech radicals and he quietly arranged to be abducted by them. In 2065 transhumanist extremists broke into his compound and gave him the power to travel as he would. Over the next thirty years Stephen realized that he identified more as the woman Athena than as a man, and proceeded to transition his body that way. Athena was built piece by piece and became a figurehead for conservative transhumanists (rather than progressive Neoluddites). She appeared as a voice of "enlightenment" across the world and lived primarily on a seastead, a floating city, that was often anchored near Singapore. There she married two women: Rose Lightmind and Tempest of Mars, whom she loved deeply. In 2096 she awoke in the City, alone and afraid.

Elements: Frost, Dust, Smoke, Iron, Blood

Public Traits: Cyborg (Unknown power)[/ic]


That's all! I don't have any plans for new characters. Please feel free to post here if you're interested in joining, however, as there may be options for adding people, including taking over an existing character.

You're really running with the near future term characters :o. I thought when you first designed it you were planning to cap out at 2020. It's very fine that you're looking into the future, and as a matter of interest- did you change your concept of the game midway or did you always plan to have these types of characters in from the beginning?

I changed mid-way when I got Juliet and Jens into the game. Emily White is also from the mid 21st century. With these NPCs I decided to play with the sci-fi aspects a little more.