Oh, and in responce to some PM's I've gotten: Newbies are more then welcome. Please, don't be shy, send something in.
Also the following is an example of what I am looking for, but by no means does any submission have to be this detailed, but it would be nice.
Example Background:
Neil Burnside was born in 2018 in the Renraku Compound of the London sprawl. His parents were both well educated, company mages and with the rarity of magical employees at the time they were treated almost like royalty. Neil, along with his three older siblings (two brothers and a sister) was groomed right from the start to follow in their parent's footsteps.
Neil was very bright and charismatic growing up and he became an almost "golden child" for his parents and the Renraku executives. No expense was spared in his education and training and many great things were expected of him when he reached the age where his magical talent should present itself. Unfortunately things didn't work out quite as well as everyone hoped.
Unlike his brothers and sister before him, Neil did not display any "active" magical abilities. True, he was capable of viewing the astral plane, but he seemed unable to astrally project or capable of casting even the most minor of spells. At first everyone thought he just needed more time and training, but after another year of expensive study he still did not seem capable of these abilities (It should be pointed out that at this time, the early 2030's, Physical Adepts were exceedingly rare, almost unheard of, and the few that were known all had "flashy" abilities.)
Disappointment started to settle in amongst his parents and the Renraku executives, they saw him as being "magically stunted" and given the amount of time and money they had invested in him this wasn't a happy state of affairs and did not make for a good home life for Neil. Of course they did not come right out and say they were disappointed in him, it was always "Don't worry." Or "you're special in your own way." Or "We still love you no matter what." But Neil could see right through that…
In fact the one thing Neil was always good at was seeing through lies. He just knew when someone was lying or hiding something and the pressure of knowing all the fake sentiment and hidden disappointment of his friends and family began to ware him down. He became sullen and withdrawn. Everywhere he went he was surrounded by lies and hidden emotions, even the day-to-day white lies everyone speaks were laid bare before him.
He was 19 when he finally gave up on life in the compound. He dropped out of school, packed his few belongings and left for London proper. To be honest no one was sad to see him go. Sure his parents said they wanted him to stay, but he could see that they didn't and as for the Renraku executives, they couldn't see any reason to bother to try and carouse him to stay. They had already spent too much money on him and his sullen attitude was a strain on the work performance of his parents and siblings. But Renraku, never one to turn it's back on a possible asset, decided to keep an occasional eye on Neil, both for their own and his parent's peace of mind. This amounted to the occasional covert surveillance of Neil by Renraku security.
Life on the streets of London wasn't any better of Neil then in the Renraku compound. The lies and false sentiment were even more prevalent here and Neil started to sink lower and lower into depression and apathy. He drifted north to the Edinburgh sprawl and finally fell in with the lowest of crowds. His days were spent gambling and his nights were spent searching for the bottom of the nearest bottle.
He began to take up a life of petty crime, but eventually left that for what he found to be his true calling… The Con. Neil was great at this, he could read people like an open book, tell when they were falling for it and when they weren't. He could have been the best of all the con artists, but for one problem, he just didn't really care that much. He only took what he needed and then ended up gambling and drinking that money away. The one thing he did do at this time was get an excellent fake id created under the name of Willie Cane that he used for all of his scams, and his caution paid off.
Neil was 24 when the law finally caught up with "Willie Cane". A big scale con went wrong and Neil ended up getting caught by the police. Fortunately the Willie cane ID was exceptionally good and even fooled the police. So it was "Willie Cane" who was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison, and Neil, not wanting to ruin his real name never told anyone he was someone else.
It was in prison, of all places, where Neil finally began to find himself and think that his abilities could be of even greater use. He always had a knack for getting along with people and in the big house his skills were of great use and won him a place with the biggest gang on the inside. His ability to spot a lie and know what people were feeling helped him spot all manner of rats, snitches, and informants for the gang. The leader of the gang, a Frenchman, gave him the nickname Le Eyes (The Eyes, pronounced Lies) and his skills made life in prison much easier. He began working out, taking better care of himself and started to do some research on magic and magical abilities. He eventually figured out that he must be some sort of Physical adept, and the knowledge that he wasn't some freak or "stunted mage" like his parents and Renraku that thought made a big difference on his outlook on life.
When his time was done and he was finally released it was a different Neil Burnside that left prison. He quickly ditched his Willie Cane ID and went back to being himself. He headed back to London and with his newfound self-confidence started to look for the next big score.
He still enjoys gambling and the Con, but his sights are set higher and though he still is living day-to-day it won't be for long. He has started to try and study his magical abilities and to try and increase them. He has also made a few new friends and has found work on both sides of the tracks. Sometimes pulling cons and other times stopping them. Recently he has made the acquaintance of a local Fixer name Neddy who says he may have some "special jobs" lined up…
Anyways, that is just an example character. He's a social adapt, not super good in a fight, but has a lot of roleplaying potential and can work well with other player.
Any questions, just ask.