I want to join but I can’t come up with a good character 
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@winger @Ghid
Several questions:
Will Dreamspace have a main narrative or more of the characters deciding/acting in order to bring about the story?
I think I have the start of someone, although I’m unsure how a more combative type dream would mesh with the current roster of characters. Do our Nightmares affect only our characters or do they potentially affect others around us as well?
What is AVON? If you have any more (nonspoilery) information about the world outside of the dreamstate I would be interested in that to help form the history of my potential character.
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The plan is for it to be heavily character driven, but with a “main” plot on the back burner. The RP will be primarily focused on the characters, their fears, their dreams, and their nightmares.
I’ll go ahead and say that yes, you, and likely the other character, will encounter your nightmares throughout the course of the RP. How that Nightmare specifically manifests may not be the exact way you’d think.
AVON is a pill, developed as a rival to MENDAX’s corporation. It is touted as being more potent, longer lasting, and malleable than MENDAX’s product. But because of heavy resistance from MENDAX, the largest company in the world right now, AVON’s not entirely legal.
The world is in a state of disarray. Natural disasters and war have stagnated society, and civilization has shrunk and centralized into large cities surrounded by huge swathes of wilderness and deserted towns.
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on a scale of dog to dead rat, how possible is it for people to be completely unaware that they consumed this drug?
a very
very
imperceptible nightmare and dream should do the trick.
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behold my terrible character that will come e nowhere close to my magnum opus.
Name: Alexis Callahan
Info : Female, 5ft 5in, age: 18
She carries a handgun on her for protection.
Appearance: shoulder-length black hair that’s been bleached in the back. She wears a lab coat with pockets full of technical components over a gray sweater, along with a pair of jeans.
**Dream **: technopathy this grants her the ability to interface with machines as if they were a part of her body, However there is a catch as she must be within a 12-foot radius to actually use her abilities
Nightmare : Alexis knows that there is something hunting her down. She can feel it. She doesn’t know what it is or what it looks like, but she knows that it means her harm, and will stop at nothing to get at her.
Backstory : about 5 years ago, Alexis was diagnosed with cancer that if left untreated would eventually kill her. Alexis’ parents being very poor at the time were barely able to afford her treatment much less the highly coveted SNOVA pill to give her peace in her final days, so one day when her parents became aware of the cracked version they practically leapt at the opportunity to bring her some peace
Personality : Alexis is paranoid due to the nature of her nightmare and panics easily, though she does have moments where a strange calm comes over her when working with machines. Overall, Alexis is quite empathetic towards other’s plights and will try (and most likely fail) to make them feel better. She has a tendency to be quiet. Alexis enjoys company, but is terrible at showing it.
Vices : Alexis hates organizing things, she finds a strange order in chaos.
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or they genuinely believe that their dream is not just possible, but likely
despite it being a work of fiction
ok @N01InParticular at this point i have a really good idea so just keep doing random stuff that you think i would like an i might join
Relatable
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So you’re completely insane
useful info
Coupling with what Winger said for these:
There’s going to be undercurrents of the main plot (wrote pain plot by accident; freudian slip if I’ve ever seen one) but building character and writing well will drive how much that main plot shows up - hopefully not much at all. It all depends on how the stories unfold.
So far there is no combat-heavy character, so it would be a nice addition. Be warned, though; I’ll be watching.
I’m not quite sure what you mean, so I’ll illustrate exactly how the end result will work.
If your nightmare can be twisted into a scenario or entity, it will appear and most likely will affect all characters. Not disallowing scenarios where nightmares are tailored by Winger to only affect the individual spawning them, but some won’t exactly manifest as a GM obstacle at all.
Basil has a nightmare specific to himself and by definition cannot be applied to others - the fear of being turned into what he is now. That fear can be extrapolated further with the realization that he’s, y’know, sucking blood at times, and be forced to either cope with the scenario, find a way to reverse it entirely, or succumb to a complete mental breakdown - we’ll see how the stories unfold. However this nightmare could be applied in less specific terms to potentially having to face an entity with a similar condition or perhaps trying to reconcile with his parents if they by any chance also end up in that strange realm.
TL;DR it could go many ways and anything is possible here.
Like Winger said, it’s the america’s choice version of SNOVA. Also very originally named.
Also was named by me along with every other name used here because I am, as Basil would say, a stingbum
The general consensus of the world under MENDAX is that life has never been better. That’s hardly a true statement, but coming out of the plight of utter chaos, it’s an efficient change of pace as long as they don’t think too hard about the world outside their windows.
Otherwise, we’re willing to hear propositions on that side of the worldbuilding. The other side, however - the world unlocked by the AVON pill - is the realm of Winger and I, and all its rules are hush-hush for now.
Oh would you look at that it’s profile review time
If there’s a webcomic, this might work well so thank you
Learn to punctuation
I have.
SO many ideas for this.
heh.
I expect much interaction between her and Basil.
Well I don’t know what Winger will say but it passes the minnesota multiphasic personality inventory test. I’m going to keep naming off tests when something gets my approval and no one can stop me
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Alright, if Ghid’s good with it, that’s the last thing I needed.
h’approved’hhh
A “good character” usually has nothing to do with your character sheet. The quality of a character stems from the stories that you tell with that character. The perceived need for a character to be “unique” or “interesting” to be good - or that unique/interesting characters are inherently good - is totally illusory.
So don’t worry about it. If you want to join, just start with one part of the character and build off of that. The Nightmare/Dream doesn’t have to be crazy or unique, or tie deeply into the character’s backstory.
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When you talked about posts, is there some kind of post length you guys are looking for?
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I don’t know what exactly Winger has planned, but this is a good rule of thumb which he seems to very much agree with. You’ve got the option to write and write well, and we expect it to be utilized.
Like Winger said, your capability as a writer will determine the quality of the outcome. You have a completely neutral slate, for instance - Superman, the invincible man of steel - and a good writer will take him to heights previously unattained, deep personal dilemmas, and compelling plot with a satisfactory conclusion. A bad one will give him a mullet and rapid-fire fully automatic firerarms.
So it’s not the character that is “good” - although an interesting one helps. It’s how you write it that counts. And of course, if you’re having difficulty you can always PM Winger or myself for assistance.
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Paragraph’s not unreasonable, thank you for clarifying. Is the pace of this game anticipated to be faster or slower, or does it depend on the players?
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I expect the plot to take around a year to accomplish, but that timeframe can obviously waver. However I would recommend posting frequently to allow for characterization as well as practicing writing skill as often as possible, and most likely both Winger and I will be keeping activity level on a pretty consistent pace if we can.
But, of course, real life and timezones can be a bit of a problem when it comes to making significant progress. While most boards users are in the US, I have a job and at least one perspective player lives on the opposite side of the globe, so there will likely be a maximum speed which cannot be outran due to the globe having different timezones and light cycles.
And, of course, how many players may impact the speed as well. There needs to be adequate time to cover everyone’s nightmares and allow for character arcs to occur if so desired. But most of the specifics are entirely up to Winger, and I doubt I will be informed of too much lest I lose that element of anticipation I specifically reuqested from him.
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A year timeframe, post frequently but expect variance, all sounds acceptable. If I have scheduling troubles I’ll attempt to alert the mods in advance.
And with that-
This is a bit rough, do let me know of any suggestions to improve this potential person.
Name: Eve Taimon
Info: Female, around 6’, has a sharp knife.
Appearance: As a human, a rather unspecial looking brown-eyed woman with a thin face and (probably dyed) blonde hair. She usually wears a black sweater and dark blue sweatpants, and has a closet almost entirely full of that same outfit.
Dream: In her dream Eve was free. Her frail human shell was sealed inside one of metal, one that could not feel pain and would not yield to others. The dream formed a perfect replica of her home city and she smashed it to pieces, reveling in the destruction and the death. After all, if this is just a dream, why care for those you kill in it?
They’re not even real.
When transformed Taimon’s body from the neck down becomes an exoskeletal metal construct. Her nails and teeth become talons, gunmetal plates replace frail skin, and synthetic cords replace feeble muscles. Her eyes turn a pale blue and glow increasingly brighter or duller depending on her exertion. The armor’s hardly impenetrable, but it’s quite strong and can very slowly rebuild itself when not in any kind of active fighting.
In addition to lowered pain response, Taimon can move and strike far harder than any human (although lifting things is a problem as they tend to fall apart in her hands rather than be raised up). She’s far harder to put down as well, and can summon powerful bolts of lightning to vaporize things from a distance.
Nightmare: Taimon’s newfound metal shell is powerful surely. But it is unaccountably inhuman. It’s sense of touch is inferior to her human form and her head is of course not protected like the rest of the armor.
Any “large enough”* chips or fragments of Taimon’s armor that happen to get dislodged will slowly fuse with any nearby material and forge itself a body; they prefer humanoid shapes but never seem to get them quite right. These “fragments” will then begin tracking her; Their goal is to “save” Eve from her isolation by destroying her armor and any obstacles in their path…which will also probably kill her by reducing her to just a head. All the while spewing familiar speeches about “opening up to others around you” and “not shutting yourself in your own little world”.
They’re not strong enough to kill her yet. But they’re persistent.
Any other beings they encounter are at best distractions to be violently thrown aside. Or enemies to their noble purpose, to be cleaved in two.
Backstory: Eve Taimon was born to parents who remembered the world before MENDAX, before the walled cities and open wastelands. She spent her childhood listening to story after story about the bright past and the dim future, and slowly ingesting her parent’s resentment toward their current world.
By the time they were taken from her by a viral disease, Eve already was deeply uncomfortable in her home, let alone the world at large. She started working for MENDAX after a while, trying to pay bills and live quietly.
But the stories never went away. The thought of a better world, of living in someplace worth living in and not her soulless apartment and desk job drove her madder and madder.
When she was diagnosed with the same disease that took her parents Eve could only muster up a dull disappointment rather than any real rage at the world. She bought the cure, swallowed the cost, and after a painful recovery process finally broke her self-made vow and bought some SNOVA.
The last thing she remembers before the dream is downing it and wishing she could uproot the city by its foundations.
Personality: Taimon is a reserved person. She doesn’t mind the company of others, but her sometimes standoffish nature can put her at odds with others. She tends to become progressively more wordy when angered, and more terse when at ease. She could use friends, if she could admit to herself they’d be nice.
Vices: Eve can be extraordinarily selfish, preferring her dreams of a past world to the current one, and neglecting others to reminisce on said dreams.
The more time she spends in her armor, the more disconnected she becomes from the world around her. If it’s all a dream, why bother worrying about the lives or wellbeing of others? Why not smash everything into dust and laugh at the ruin?
It’s only a dream after all.
- Chunks around the size of a hand or more will definitely produce a Follower, anything smaller has a progressively smaller chance of producing one.
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The basic character info: gender, height, and knife.
All right, I’ve never participated in one of these before, but…
If I were ever to join an RP, this sounds like the kind I would want to join.
But what about self-psychoanalyses? Holy Krufsnos I spelled that right on the first try.
Name: ??? (“Sue”)
Info: Female, 5’7’', 18-ish YO
Appearance: Long brown hair, upkept in a ponytail. Piercing amber eyes. Wears short-cut blue jeans, and a black leather biker jacket.
Dream: being a girl(?)
Nightmare: near-total amnesia, she has very vague memories of her past life before taking the pill.
Backstory: Sue has no idea who she was before taking the cracked SnOvA. Or rather, who he was, because that’s about the one thing she does remember: she was a guy when she took the pill. She’s also pretty sure that her “dream” was just to be a girl. (Editor’s note: I can come up with the backstory, if requested.
Personality: She quickly adopts a very outgoing, brash personality, who has NO idea how to interact with people. By that, I don’t mean the quiet, shy, never talks to people stereotype – that might be better. No, she’s not afraid to say what she wants to say and has little understanding of what’s appropriate or acceptable for for social interaction.
Vices: sometimes a casual jerk, occasionally does or says mean things. She’s a nice enough person to regret it afterward, but it’s a compulsion, like an instinct that she hasn’t figured out how to turn down. She lacks independence, and tends to follow along with what others around her are doing.
I can come up with more than this, if requested.
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i’ve never related with an amnesiac so much before
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So already there’s a bit of a problem.
Eve’s nightmare is that any chunks of her body that get knocked off create false-Eves that attempt to eliminate her. The only problem is that anything that could accomplish this would absolutely steamroll the rest of the party, and would essentially put her on a playing field a head above everyone else. That would not, in normal circumstances, be a bad thing, as there’s definitely a unique character dynamic that can play out here, but she also happens to not care about people and yadda yadda which, in my opinion, would make her immediate thought process about hurting or ignoring people or stepping on them and becoming the defacto leader. Plus, she can Zeus things from a distance, which might be the most problematic point here as none of the approved characters has anything remotely close to that level of power at their disposal.
So with that in mind, I have a proposed rewrite of the character I’d like to suggest.
Eve Taimon’s dream abilities turn her into a mechanical woman, robot or cyborg, it’s not certain how much of her is still human outside of her likely dyed blonde hair. What matters, though, is she’s now markedly tougher than the average person, with superhuman strength and durability, and her personality of reserved and standoffish marks her as the defacto defender of the group. However, her apathy due to the idea of the whole world being a dream and actions not mattering/selfish nature may, if the writing heads in this direction, make her antagonistic towards the group, which is why I specifically clarified she is mechanical as it puts her at the mercy of the already-approved Alexis Callahan.
This way she is both able to deal with threats above the heads of everyone else and not so ridiculously overpowered that she can cripple the party at any moment. Obviously this isn’t a perfect proposal and has some flaws, and since approving characters is really Winger’s responsibility and position, he may entirely veto my proposal or approve your character with no questions asked. But I predict he will also take issue, and I tailored my suggestion to accommodate how I expect he will approach it.
Whether or not you take anything from the idea is your decision, but if you do decide to, make it a new post as opposed to modifying the old one as I want Winger to be able to see it.
Second separate post incoming for Willess.
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While this is an interesting character concept and I imagine much can be done here, the basic premise hits a little too close to home in regards to some societal/pseudo-political issues going on in the real world today, ones which the boards’ admins are adamantly against being discussed in any capacity (and with good reason). Due to that, and my desire to not greenlight a potential loophole for problematic and/or argumentative discussion, I’m going to veto this character from appearing in the RP. Winger can contest that if he desires, but I think he will agree.
Outside of that, each individual category works well, notably the vices as they add real character to the, um… character. If you decide to try a round two, I would not detract anything from my review of a second profile if you recycled content in that regard.
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I can see that, yeah. I wasn’t going for any type of commentary, it just seemed like a reasonable thing for someone to want and use a dream pill to achieve.
I feel the character can still work as is, just with a different dream, something that would still balance with the “nightmare”. So what about this:
Blindness. Character is blind, wishes to see, takes pill. Pro: can now see. Con: their past life is now “in the dark”, metaphorically speaking.
Otherwise, same character concept.
Revised character sheet
Name: ??? (“Sue”)
Info : Female, 5’7’’, 18-ish YO
Appearance : Long brown hair, upkept in a ponytail. Piercing amber eyes. Wears short-cut blue jeans, and a black leather biker jacket.
Dream : sight(?)
Nightmare : near-total amnesia, she has very vague memories of her past life before taking the pill.
Backstory : Sue has no idea who she was before taking the cracked SnOvA. The only things she is sure of is that she definitely took the pill, and that before she took it, she was blind. Aside from that, her life has been reduced to mere snippets, a voice that she can almost remember, a term or date that was important but she isn’t sure why.
Personality : She quickly adopts a very outgoing, brash personality, who has NO idea how to interact with people. By that, I don’t mean the quiet, shy, never talks to people stereotype – that might be better. No, she’s not afraid to say what she wants to say and has little understanding of what’s appropriate or acceptable for for social interaction.
Vices : sometimes a casual jerk, occasionally does or says mean things. She’s a nice enough person to regret it afterward, but it’s a compulsion, like an instinct that she hasn’t figured out how to turn down. She lacks independence, and tends to follow along with what others around her are doing.
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