No, they'll just brow beat the punk into submission and then reject his application to the University

Tired of pacifists, eh?


Immortal
Paranormal Bounty Hunter

Background

Little is known about the man known as Immortal. Word on the street is that he has been around for decades, though word on the street is never too reliable. It is known to those he is somewhat close to that the elf has a deep hatred for twisted magic. In particular, he has an almost insatiable vengance towards Insect spirits.

Unknown to the masses, Francis Blackwater was once a UCAS military officer. He never had the chance to progress too far, his lack of social graces (shocking to some, for an elf), detracted from his rise. His only solace was in his family; his young bride, and their newborn child. That is, until they were killed during the rise of a Bug hive in their military provided apartment block. Francis was assigned to the cleanup crew of the hive, and much to his horror came upon the remains of his family. Since that day his path has been solid.

The events leading to Francis' leaving the military are mired in darkness. He will not speak of those times, nor does he wish to remember them. Since that day, Francis, who became known as the Immortal for his ability to take insane amounts of punishment, seemingly die, and re-emerge later to the shadows, has been hunting Bugs, Toxic Shamans, Blood Mages, rampaging Paranormals; anything he can get within the range of his weapons. His desire to clense the world of tainted magic and the paranormal is obsessive, and he has been known to go to great lengths to do so. Rumors have said that he has slaughtered entire tenaments, simply based on rumor; that he has trekked for weeks to track a solitary animal; that he has liquidated entire teams of Shadowrunners simply for holding back from fighting a toxic threat. Of course rumors tend to be exaggerated.

The rumors spawn mainly from one dark stain on the Immortal's past. He had completed a series of hunts for a Fixer in Denver, weeding out a Toxic cult. All seemed to be well, but a local contact of his planted word in his ear that the Fixer herself was a toxic shaman, and she had been eliminating rivals. At the next meet with the Fixer, Immortal drew on the woman, and put a burst of fire from his Guardian in her forehead. The word planted in his ear had been false, but so deep had been his hatred for the twisted magics of a Toxic mage, that he had killed her on that alone.

Immortal's path isn't entirely dark, however. Despite his blunt ways, he has done a deal of good. He has saved villages from Toxic threats, traveled to Azatlan to cleanse Blood Mages, and more recently he has made his ties into the Orc Underground by helping to clean out an Ant Hive.

Recruitment
Despite his dark path, and the more recent disgrace in the circle of shadows, Immortal was recruited by the DIMR for several acts of unsung altruism. He has brought to the institude nearly a dozen blood and toxic shamans, declining the bounty on any of them. Though his ways are often brutal, he knows that something more permanent must be done to quell the threats.

Background Flaw: Bad Reputation
In circles both street and professional, Immortal has earned a reputation for being... blunt. His past is also stained by the murder of one of his contacts, upon suspicion she was a Toxic shaman.

Random Flaw: Spirit Bane: Insect
Be it that they can sense the hatred towards their kind on him, or that his soul bears the signs of slaying so many of their kind, Insect Spirits are quick to seek to harm Immortal.

Tapestry

Magical Otaku

Background
Tapestry was abandoned at birth. One day at the age of 5, she walked out of the orphanage and never returned. She was found wondering the mean streets of Boston by a tribe of otaku who welcomed her. Her talent for the Matrix was progidious even by otaku standards. She had an almost precognitive ability to piece together fragments of data that rival the best and most experienced intelligence analysts in the world. This ability was further enhanced by the various cybernetic and biological implants the tribe scraped together for her. She SURGEd on her 8th birthday and it opened her eyes to a whole new world, the world of magic.

Recruitment
Tapestry is an anomaly among anomalies, an otaku with magical ability. That in itself would make her a precious addition to the DIMR family. Her prodigious genius, Submersion Echoes and Initiate Metamagic of Divining enables her to predict with flawless precision any moves a potential opponent could make even before he thinks of it.

Background Flaw
Infirm. You spend nearly your whole life in the Matrix and see how good you are physically.

Random Flaw
Astral Impression.

Hal

Otaku in a Box

Background: One of Dr. Halberstam's "children", Hal was extracted by a team and eventually found his way to the care of the DIMR. He currently does odd jobs for the DIMR, and is frequently mistaken for an Expert System when encountered in the DIMR PLTG.

Raison du Recrutement: Dude. Halberstam. Otaku. Need I say more? The fact that he's a more than competent force for intrusions doesn't hurt, either.

Background Flaw (Quadraplegic): Hal's physical development was… deliberately halted, shall we say, after his skull and nervous system developed fully. Not only was it halted, nonessential parts were disabled or removed to free up nervous system capacity for the Matrix.

Random Flaw (Combat Monster): Well, the Matrix equivalent thereof. Hal takes attacks against him in "his" domain very personally, and wil never back away from a conflict once begun unless physically jacked out.

Secondary Random Flaw (lesser Vindictive): Against anyone who defeats him in cybercombat. Less strong against hosts/IC, extremely strong against other deckers.

~J

Johnnie Fetch

Free Spirit, Dog

Background/Recruitment:
The DIMR knew of Johnnie through one of their own, a Dog Shaman named Herbert Simon who first conjured him back in 2057. He is a free spirit now, set free when the elderly Shaman died of a heart attack a few years back. He showed up at the institute a few days after Herbert died.

Johnnie has a few abilities that the DIMR find useful, particularly his ability to find people and things. Johnnie loves to 'play fetch', and is happiest when his friends at DIMR give him something to search for and bring back. Johnnie is also quite protective of the other people that he works with for the DIMR. In his natural form he is quite capable of handling many physical threats, being much stronger, faster and tougher than a normal dog. He also likes to take human form, as he finds having opposable thumbs very useful.

The DIMR also recognized his limitations. He's a bit easy to manipulate by others, and needs someone else to keep an eye on him to keep him out of trouble. He's not very subtle either and prefers to tak the direct approach in most situations.

There is some argument in DIMR magical circles as to what type of Spirit that Johnnie started out as. He seems to have the ability to utilize the search power in any domain, but has displayed no other powers common to Nature Spirits or Spirits of Man. He's also displayed no powers common to Ally Spirits such as Sorcery.

All of Herbert's spirits took the form of scruffy black dogs, making identification difficult. Many of the magically active members of DIMR has been interested in studying him, but Johnnie has not cooperated much. Johnnie doesn't know or care what he is.

He has also claimed to be still in contact with Herbert, even though Herbert is dead and buried. He stopped talking about it once he saw how it freaked people out, as he's mentioned things that only Herbert would have known.

Flaw: Unsophisticated: Johnnie was conjured by a dog shaman who hated corporate politics and wished people were more like dogs, loyal, unquestioning and affectionate. Herbert gave him the thought process of a dog, a very intelligent dog, but a dog none the less. Johnne doesn't really understand metahuman motivations very well at all. As such he is a little easier to con than most metahumans.

Flaw: Dislikes Cats: After the unfortunate biting incident of 2062, the DIMR has learned to keep Johnie away from cats, including Cat Shamans.

I'm starting to notice a trend in a few of these concepts, so I wanted to bring three points to the foreground as a reminder to everyone. This isn't aimed at anyone in particular, so please don't take it personally if you think it's in reference to you ('cause it's not, it's aimed at everyone... so nyeh ).

1) Whatever the paranormal event you encountered or discovered was, it should be what lead the DIMR to your doorstep. The DIMR likely wouldn't have hired you prior to it -- they're hiring you because of your weird experiences and the way you handled them, not to expose you to those experiences for the first time.

2) Random flaws should have no direct bearing on your professional abilities. Let's say you're putting together a concept for a former Hollywood stuntdriver (rigger) who developed the Gremlins flaw after a bizarre and devestating week-long encounter with a Blackberry Cat. That would be a flaw that, while interesting, still has a direct impact on your rigging performance. If that same rigger became a widow because of that cat and now had an 8-year-old daughter as a sole Dependant, that would have minimal impact on his professional abilities. The latter is the sort of thing I'm looking for here, not the former.

3) Try to avoid using archetypes as your occupations, and focus more on occupations than archetypes. An archetype, at least as far as it's used in Shadowrun, is a quick way to describe the brunt of your abilities. Your occupation, however, can vary widely. Also, remember that you don't have to be a gung-ho quasi-runner type character to have been recruited; even regular everyday people can have fantastic encounters that change their life. Try and keep this in mind, all right?

Okay, I just thought I'd mention those points so that none of you hurt your chances of getting in. Carry on and continue having a blast with these concepts -- overall, I'm having a blast reading them!

Just edited my post. In Johnnie's case, HE is the Paranormal Event.

In that case, just interchange some of my Background and Random flaws

~J

hmm...things opposable thumbs are good for...opening the container the humans put the dog food in

Borrowing the Doctor's idea...

Name: Corina 'Jinx' Iulian
Former Stunt Driver (elf rigger)

Background: Corina had a good thing going until The Cat showed up. She was looking to be adding a few more zeroes onto an already lucrative contract, had a great car, and best of all, Dorin hadn't shown up on her door step in trouble again for over a month. But that was all going to change.

She liked cats, and when a black one tried to cross her path, she tried to avoid it. Normally it would have been an easy task, no problem. But for some reason, her car just couldn't handle the sudden change of direction and went out of control. When she woke up, she was in the hospital, The Cat curled up next to her in bed, having defied all the attempts of the nurses to have it removed.

Getting out of the hospital, nothing went right. Anything electronic she touched simply ceased functioning. Things went out of her way to trip her. Dorin showed up owing more money than ever before. If only he wasn't her brother... She was getting quite a reputation as a jinx.

Recruitment: DIMR approached her, attempting to claim The Cat. She was more than willing to get rid of it, once they explained to her just what it was. However, The Cat was less than willing. Even when captured, it always managed to free itself, and make it's way back to her, to continue to plague her existance. Giving up on that, they offered her a job so that in addition to acquiring a good rigger, they could keep an eye on The Cat.

Background Flaw: (Clumsy, Gremlins, Bad Reputation) The Cat just seems to enjoy making her life miserable.

Random Flaw: (Pirate Family) Family can be good...but it seems that her brother, Dorin is always managing to get himself into trouble. And you can't turn down family when they ask for help.

That was awesome Whizbang!

Johnnie Fetch + Corina = FIREWORKS!

Oh god, now that is a horrible thought…

~J

It's raining cats and dogs over at the DIMR.

Here's another concept, though I'm sadly going to have to withdraw my bid for playing. I've just received word today I have been posted to my first ship, and it departs Monday for a twelve day sail, so I won't be able to be online. Thanks, though Doc, for the chance to stretch out my brain a little.

Thetus Walker
Retired Televangelist and Faith Healer

Background

Deep in the heart of the CAS, in what used to be refered to as the Bible belt, there exists a faith that still remains strong despite the Awakening. There in the house of the Lord resided a man who provided with faith alone miracles to defy the heathens who would cast the devil's magic down upon those who believed. That man was the Reverand Thetus Walker. For twenty years those who believed could set their eyes upon the Lord's telecast, and witness the miracle of true faith healing. They could watch as the Reverand laid hands upon the sick and the lame, and made them whole again, and in doing so provided the light of the Lord to the people. That is until one day the Reverend failed to make a broadcast.

In truth, Thetus Walker was no holy healer, though he could heal by touch alone. What he was, instead, was an Adept, one of the very Awakened his firey sermons often decried. His gift, however, had gone largely unidentified, and for a long time he was able to hide it from the world. What Thetus Walker was, was not a Reverand at all, he simply gave himself the title. Thetus Walker was a smooth talking con man who sought profit from the word of God. That was, of course, until his temple was beseiged.

The Lord, it would seem, works in mysterious ways, for with the passing of the comet came the Shedim, and many of those restless spirits came to rest in the recent dead that had been lain to rest in the cemetary adjacent the House of the Lord. And on the fatefull night of the last broadcast of the Reverand Thetus Walker, those restless spirits besiged his false temple, and were it naught for his gift, and his guile, they would have claimed him.

Since surviving that brush with the walking dead, Thetus Walker has seen the failing of his ways, and he has converted to a truer form of faith. When approached by the DIMR, he saw it as a way to attone for his former greed.

Recruitment
Truth be told, the DIMR was aware of the true nature of Thetus Walker even before he himself was. One of their researchers had been investigating the process of faith healing, and had been present the night of the Shedim attack. Given that he was able to survive the horror, and given the gift, an offer of recruitment was soon tendered.

Background Flaw: Bad Karma
Be it for his false claim of being the word of the Lord, or for the transgressions that went on behind the scenes of his fame, Thetus Walker still remains tainted by his past.

Random Flaw: Compulsion: Skirt Chaser
What good is a false prophet if he's not out to spread more than just the word of the Lord, but the legs of his female faithful?

Be safe DH and give'em hell

Faisal Hussein

Mujahidin, mercenary.

Background
Faisal was born of the desert, that is easy to see. Yet his past is a mystery even to him. His somatic technique is that of one trained to the Jamil Islamyah mujahidin, yet it is evident that he is Fellahin, a metahuman and outcast. Not that this means anything to the 10K Daggers, his ability was what made him valuable. His expertise in infiltration and skill with a rifle earned him an MVS during a Desert War Merc Challenge.

Recruitment
His recruitment by the Institute was a gradual affair. He was first hired as a security consultant for one of the Institutes many archaelogical digs in the Sahara. Time and again, he managed to prove his worth, be it mana storms, mutated paratoxics or shedim.

Background Flaw
Amnesiac. He lost his memories and was found wondering the Sahara by a 10K Dagger merc group.

Random Flaw
He is Compulsively inquisitive. He simply cannot stand leaving any new discovery unexplored.

Rembrandt Quadesh
Dragon Hunter (Ork Negamage)

Background: Born to a poor family in the Trollkönigreich Schwarzwald, Rembrandt and his twin sister grew up strong and proud in a community of sustenance farmers. One harsh and punishing summer when nothing green came from the hard, dry soil, he and his sister Anath sought an audience with the landlord to beg for an extension on their family's rent. The great, fat slob of a man laughed at them and instead of granting their wish threatened to triple the rent of all the farmers to punish their lazy ways. Bravely, Anath spat upon his piggish face, only to have the man roar and erupt into a dragon, swallowing her in a single bite. The following second a great blast of fire engulfed Rembrandt, who, much to the surprise of everyone present, including himself, sucked the flames inside his body and soul like a powerful tornado. In that moment of hesitation, he grabbed the gun of a nearby bodyguard and shot the scaly monster in its eye. As it fell dead, he escaped in the ensuing chaos.

Recruitment: Rembrandt arrived in Denver to aid the fight against Ghostwalker. It was during a pitched battle with one of the attacking Wyverns that he was struck by the beast’s poisonous barb. While he defeated it, he knew death was not far for him, though he was surprised by how beautiful she was. When next he awoke, the sterile walls of a bleeding edge hospital surrounded him. It was there that a representative of the Draco Foundation informed him of his situation, and of his contractual agreement.

It seems this particular Wyvern had manifested a powerful paratoxin, which now coursed through his veins. Without continuous injections of anti-venom, he would die. Worse, the Wyvern he had almost killed was the only source of this serum. The Foundation agreed to keep the creature alive in return for ten years of service, which was effectively the rest of his life by averages. Rembrandt often wanders down the dark stairs, through the thick steel doors, along the long narrow corridors, and to the room over looking the Wyvern’s prison where he watches the steady rise and fall of the creature’s chest. He watches and wonders what god or gods planned this twist of fate.

Background Flaw: Serum Requirement, see above. The use of the serum has induced a vulnerability to Wyvern venom as well.

Random Flaw: Flying in planes is by far the worst form of transport to Rembrandt; the horrible shaking and swaying, the roaring engines, and the flimsy wings make it all the more like traveling in the belly of a devil beast. A flask of alcohol is always in his hand for such trips in the flying sardine cans. Well to be honest, a flask of alcohol is always near to him.

Jim Keegan

Paranormal Investigator, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Sufferer

Background: Jim chased ghosts, ghouls, spirits, and mages with the help of his partner and long-term fiancé Molly (never did get around to marriage, it quickly became a running joke amongst their friends), a shaman following the path of Wolf. Through the late forties and early fifties, they chased, documented, corralled, and exterminated magical threats of all varieties, until, one night, alone in bed together, they shared a dream.

More to the point, they didn't just share it with each other. They shared it with six other people, one of whom had a face garishly painted in the style of a clown.

Jim awoke the next morning in a cold sweat, Molly's rigid body next to him. He left their apartment that morning, left the Welsh town they had been living in, left Great Britain entirely, and never returned. He sank to the bottom of a bottle until he was eventually tracked down by the DIMR. Seething with rage over being forced to relive his experiences, tied to the DIMR by their delicately-laid chains, Jim managed to convince the institute to take him on in his former role. He hurls himself into his assignments, desperate for one that will finally take his life and allow him to forget.

Raison du Recrutement: See above.

Background Flaw (Flashbacks): The sight of a clown pitches Jim back into the horrifying events of that night. One shudders to think what he might do while reality and fantasy are blending in his fear-tainted brain.

Random Flaw (Alcoholism/not-so-mysterious Cyberware): The DIMR slapped some toxin filters into Jim fairly quickly to keep him sober enough to answer questions. In response, Jim is in a continual quest to drink enough to overwhelm them. Unfortunately, he seems to have no middle ground between sober and a trip to the emergency room for alcohol poisoning.



Incidentally, I may incorporate aspects of this character's background into David Lloyd, depending. His life has until now been too happy.

~J

Randall Orson
Archivist

Background: Randall was always very quiet growing up. While intelligent, he never seemed to be entirely there, spending almost all his time with his face buried some book or another. He coasted through school, and eventually landed a entry level archivist's job at the DIMR. While good at his job, he never really managed to make an impression with anyone on staff, going through his day like he had all his life, quietly.

Till one day, when a fellow employee overzealously attacked a translation, accidently setting loose a rather nasty little blood spirit. The Institute called an immediate lockdown, and brought in one of there clean up teams to take care of the problem. Imagine their surprise when all they found of the spirit was an astral stain, and Randall, slightly worse for wear, muttering the lyrics to the latest Dandelion Pop album. It seems he had made an impression at last.

Recruitment: After the incident in the library, Randall was sure he was going to get fired, but the DIMR had other ideas. Reassuring the timid librarian that he was only going to be transferred to a backup field research position, Randall has nonetheless found himself at the forefront of no less the three Astral investigations and cleanups. Each time the DIMR has insisted that his involvement has been merely coincidence, Randall is beginning to suspect that the Institute might actually be grooming him for a full on field position, a thought which leaves him humming pop songs in terror.

Background Flaw(Oblivious): Randall has, over the years, perfected the ability of ignoring the outside world to the point of forgetting he lives in it. While the DIMR is trying desperatlely to rid him of the habit, there are some things that are beyond even their resources.

Random Flaw(Compulsion): Whenever Randall has been faced with a particularly stressful situation, he begins to sing under his breath. The more stressful the problem, the more sugary sweet bubblegum pop response. Not really life threatening, except, of course, to his social life. The boy can not sing.

Bobby Joe Wellhouse

Miner, Geologist, Alchemist and Bootlegger.

Background: Deep in the mountains of Eastern Tennessee a small clan of mountain people live much like their ancestors did 150 years ago. Bobby Joe Wellhouse lived there with his parents and their extended families. Although he spent little time in school he got quite an education. His father Joe Bob taught him the family business of making moonshine. His Uncle Robbie Joe taught him to hunt and fish, his Uncle Joe Rob taught him how to fix cars and other machinery, and his Aunt Jo taught him about the healing properties of the local plants. But the most important lessons he learned came from spending time with his grandmother in her double-wide trailer.

The awakening was a particular boon to them. Bobbie Joe's Grandmother Bobbie Jo discovered that the old folk charms that she had learned from her grandmother actually worked now. The Wellhouse family expanded their business into Talismongeriing and Enchanting, making healing potions and charms that they sold along with their traditional moonshine.

Bobbie Jo taught Bobbie Joe the old ways, how to make a charm, how to brew a potion, how to speak with Spirits, very useful tools for your average Bootlgger. .

Recruitment
Bobbie Joe and his Uncles were digging in an old abandoned mine shaft deep in the mountains when they saw it. Two weeks before Bobbie Joe's Grandmother had dreamed they should dig there, so of course they did. Bobbie Joe still isn't sure what he saw when they broke through as it happened so fast:


A chamber with glowing carvings on the wall.....Squat stone statues that blazed like a sun on the Astral plane.....Sudden movement.....A large spirit, looking like some bizarre cross between a Nature Spirit and an Earth elemental rumbling across the room toward them.

Bobbie's Uncles ran. Bobbie just stood there too stunned to move and watched as the hole slowly closed. As the rocks pressed up against him he ran, barely staying in front of the rapidly closing tunnel.

It was three days before they came back to the mine to see what happened. There was no sign that they had ever been there, no tunnel, nothing. They decided they needed to learn more before they acted again.

Bobbie was chosen to leave the family lands to see what he could find out. The family was nothing if not patient. Bobbie got his high school GED in about 6 months, then graduated 4 years later from NC State with a double major in Geology and Thaumaturgury.

He spent the next ten years learning as much as he can about legends of spirits and magical creatures that live beneath the earth. He has become one of the foremost experts in that field, and has many published papers, but has never mentioned the events that took place in the mountains of his home.

The DIMR learned of his expertise and sought him out. He agreed, realizing that he could learn more with them than working alone.

Flaw: : Dark Secret. It would be bad if anyone discovered what was underneath the Wellhouse lands. The last thing they want is to have a bunch of treasure seekers digging on their property.

Random Flaw Compulsive Drinker Bobbie Joe just cannot not have a drink. It rarely gets him into trouble directly as his alcohol tolerance is incredible due to years of drinking 200 proof moonshine, but it can get him into trouble indirectly as the people around him usually cannot keep up. He can usally be found in the nearest bar, surrounded by a bunch of drunks, having a great time.

While slightly off-topic, I thought I'd go ahead and get everybody's opinion on something.

I've been fiddling around with the first mission the team will be sent on, but the sheer number of options are (not surprisingly) pretty overwhelming. That said, I figured you guys (and gals) might be able to help: What kind of a scenario would *you* like to play in? Feel like something action-packed or more mystery driven? Something a little more goofy than serious, or vice-versa? How about a horror-oriented scenario, or something with more of a sci-fi vibe to it? A crime caper, perhaps, or maybe something involing immortal elves and great dragons? How about something dealing with the oft-ignored wastelands of the Sixth World? Maybe even space or the metaplanes? Blah blah blah...

Get what I'm after? I'm not really looking for any specifics (that's part of the fun of being the GM!), just the main "oompf" (for lack of a better word) of the overall theme.

So... what are you in the mood for?

P.S. Keep the concepts a-comin'! I'll be making my final decisions come Wednesday.

Maybe something fairly straight forward. A little/no legwork, straight to the action sequence against something unusual but not too deadly (just so that we can get used to working as a team), maybe you can add a little hidden villian behind it to be revealed as the campaign progresses. But Magic, definately magic.

Magic (or at least something dealing with the occult) is a given.

Damn you, always asking the hard questions

I have to admit, I'm in the mood for something quite dark. While I have no objection to hitting GDs, IEs, etc. (in the "encountering" sense, not the "performing wetwork on" sense), I'd personally, if asked, push towards leaving them decently in the future at the start. I would not mind something Horror-oriented, though if you did that route I would advocate more than one plot thread, at least one of which was unrelated to them.

That is, of course, just me.

~J

I agree. Horror/Mystery driven sounds very cool. The 6th world wastelands would be awesome. The only problem I see, from experience, games tend to die down quickly due to the slowness of them if there's not alot of action. However, still I'd personally prefer a more mystery/horror level game, but I think that kinda game would require really dedicated players.

Sphynx

You know what a DIMR campaign would be perfect for? A kind of X-Files type mystery-suspense, real "exploring the unknown corners of the Sixth World" stuff. They tend to be tough to pull off, but unlike standard Shadowrun the DIMR would fit the bill for that kind of investigation.

I'd like to see something a bit dark and more than a little bizarre that will make the characters a bit paranoid and shake up their understanding of the Sixth World. Rampant Conspiracy theories, Horrors, Immortal Elves, Elvis, whatever.

Yeah, something that breaks preconceptions. Leonardo's alive, teleporting is possible, all spirits turn to Blood Spirits, etc. Something completely crazy.

I'd like to cast my vote against teleportation. Also, there is the (slim) possibility left open that Leonardo is alive by the novel.

~J

Yeah, Teleportation is right out. No worries about that. But I am starting to notice a slight trend in what people are looking for.

Which novel are you talking about?

Technobabel, IIRC?

~J

I've heard the title mentioned before...haven't been able to get ahold of a copy yet. Perhaps one of these days I'll get over my fear of buying online. And find the patience to wait for the mail.

I could go for something darkish, I like exploring so maybe a litlle bit of uncharted territory.

I was just throwing out examples off the top of my head, don't actually do any of those.

Mysterious events drag the characters into a world governed by dark forces where they must seek out redemption... or discover their own damnation.

Maybe runs investigating new phenomenon, like Shedim or the poor sod who "discovered" the Imps.

I would also be down with 'water' related games, you know like out in the sea...

...or under the sea.

I guess I'm the only one who wouldn't mind something lighter. Like Evolution or Shaun of the Dead. But I can do whatever.

I do so love Shaun of the Dead. You should try Bubba Ho-Tep sometime, too. Nothing like having a black JFK or an Elvis impersonator who really is Elvis, both in a retirement home, out hunting a 5,000 year old mummy sucking the life out of the old folks. AND it's got Bruce Campbell playing Elvis. I mean, come on!

Oh, I almost forgot. Today is pretty much the last day for character concepts. I'll be making my decisions sometime tomorrow and, hopefully, we can move on to the character creation phase after that. It's going to be a real bitching having to only pick 4-6 characters out of all these submissions, though. I truly am impressed with all of you (and I'm not just saying that, so quit pelting me with rotten fruit) -- you've totally changed my outlook of a lot of online players with these submissions.

Prof. Andrew "Andy" Jones
Treasure Hunter (Fomori Mage)

Background Summary: As the only son of a neurosurgeon and an English professor at Harvard, Andy had it all as a child -- Irish blood, loving parents, and the best education money could buy -- despite a crippling bone disease caused by his body’s inability to process calcium properly. Unable to play with his friends, Andy instead took up reading and discovered that he had a love for history. At the age of 16, as a total surprise to both him and his parents, Andy spontaneously goblinized into a fomori. Luckily, he had already earned a scholarship to Harvard (thanks in part to his mother's influence as a retired professor there), so there wasn't much they could do to snide him from attending. Along with his goblinization, he also awakened as a mage. As the years rolled by, and thanks to a newfound health via the gift (as he liked to see it) of his transformation into a troll, Andy eventually graduated with a doctorate's degree in history, archeology, thaumaturgy, and spent many of his days out exploring the great unknown. In between adventures, he returns to Boston to teach a few courses on the side. In recent years he has trained himself lightly in combat, because you never know what dangers you face when on a dig, but mostly he focuses on his magic to aid him.

Reason for Recruitment: Normally, Andy's experience and education would have been enough to have the DIMR seek him out to join their little club, but it was a paper he wrote on a strange something or other he discovered in the African jungle that really got their attention. Especially when it was revealed to be a petrified invae cocoon proving that was at least six thousand years old, thus lending evidence of a time of magic in our distant past.

Professional Flaw (Infirm 3): As a child, Andy suffered from a rare bone disease that stunted his physical maturity. His goblinization, when he hit his late teens, helped cure the disease, but to this day he's still not quite as physically adept as other orks. This flaw also includes the Exceptional Attribute and Bonus Attribute Point edges for Intelligence, reflecting how he turned to study and playing on the Matrix while all of his childhood peers were outside playing suburban brawl.

Random Flaw (Ophidiophobia, Mild): Andy has an irrational but mild fear of snakes. They're just icky, dangit!

On the off chance that I get in, I need to let you know I'll be going on a hiatus for two weeks. Sorry for any interruptions.

Heh. I've heard nothing but good things about Bubba Ho-Tep. I tried to convince the ex-girlf[r]iend to rent it over the weekend. Not surprisingly, I lost. We got Man on Fire. If you haven't seen it, its basically one part Proof of Life and two parts The Punisher.

Anywho, I'll be waiting for Doc's next post.

Pfft. In my woman (oh man, I hope she doesn't read that) ever stopped me from watching Bubba Ho-Tep, she'd be my ex, too. <shakes fist while looking over his shoulder to make sure she's nowhere nearby> <whew>

In any case, if anyone was planning on posting anymore concepts today -- you're too late. I'm closing the recruitment phase as of now. I'll spend the next few hours pouring over all the submissions and put together the rough guidelines I plan on using for character creation and, then (is this sentence ever going to end?), I'll post the results and we'll get on with the rest. <tries to catch his breath>

Thanks again to everyone who showed their interest in the game.

Man. This is always the hardest part about being a GM, especially in an online game where you have a huge pool of potential players to choose from. Like I said before, I really appreciate all the time and effort everyone put into the game, but I did say I was going to limit the game to a max of six players. So, that said, here are the players I've decided on:

• Andrew "Andy" Jones as played by Ecclesiates
  Treasure Hunter (Fomori Adept Magician)
• Corina "Jinx" Iulian as played by Whizbang
  Former Stunt Driver (Elf Rigger)
• David Lloyd as played by Kagetenshi
  AI and Drone Researcher (Human Programmer and Drone Rigger)
• Jacque "Sinjin" Saint John as played by Shadow
  Deep Sea Explorer and Atlantean Researcher (Menehune Mage)
• Preston Chase as played by kevyn668
  Freelance Security Consultant (Human Mercenary)
• Rembrandt Quadesh as played by Kanada Ten
  Dragon Hunter (Ork Negamage)

Thanks again for offering up some spectacular concepts, and if I ever run another game I'd love to see all of your names in the recruitment thread.

Whew. Okay, with that out of the way, I'm still putting together my character creation guidelines. Hopefully later tonight or possibly tomorrow sometime I will most likely be starting a new thread so we can all start hashing our characters out. Congratulations for making it, and I'm looking forward to gaming with all of you! <insert random insult here just to clean the palate>

Grats to those that made it

Drop me a line if one of them has to cancel, or if you lose a player mid-game.

Yeah Doc, feel free to kill a few of them off so that some of the rest of us can get in.