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Author Topic: The Almost War (FIRST MISSION BEGINS!)  (Read 36033 times)

WillowLuman

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The Almost War (FIRST MISSION BEGINS!)
« on: January 13, 2015, 01:07:14 am »

Introduction

Fire. Air. Water. Earth.
Long ago, the nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Earth Empire attacked. Not even the Avatar, master of all four elements, could prevent what happened next, and when she tried, she was struck down. Twenty-seven years passed and no sign has been seen of the new avatar. The world stands perpetually on the brink of cataclysmic war, with little hope of recourse.

The Almost War, as some call it, began on that day 27 years ago when the Avatar fell. The world shocked at this turn of events, the President of the United Republic became desperate to find a countermeasure, now seeing the lengths the self-appointed dictator of the Earth Empire was willing to go to. He found his countermeasure in the Earth Empire's own secret weapon and its defected inventor. He had discovered that through electromagnetic processes, the spirits could be converted into massive amounts of energy, powerful enough to create the world's first superweapons. Through some means or another, the President convinced him to divulge his design, and today the UR and EE stare each other down in an uneasy peace, held back from war by the threat of mutually assured destruction. Planes bearing bombs and airships able to strike from hundreds of miles away secure the borders. Conflicts rage between the humans and spirits as the latter are harvested to fuel the increasing stockpiles, and yet are still unwilling to abandon the world.

The world is ripe for mercenaries, to deal with the spirits and perform subterfuge for or against either side. Smuggling across the fortified borders is a dangerous but profitable game. Organized crime is always looking for more muscle, and people who would dare to operate in the most fortified areas. And, of course, dissenters and would-be insurgents are looking for whatever help they can get. This is where you come in.

Setting Details
Spoiler: world map (click to show/hide)

The nations:

Earth Empire
Until recently, this nation was a monarchy known as the Earth Kingdom. But a little less than 30 years ago, a band of radicals known as the Red Lotus assassinated the Earth Queen, fragmenting the nation and plunging it into chaos. A young woman named Kuvira, hailing from the secluded yet progressive city of Zaofu where the specialized skill of metalbending is taught to those who are capable, stepped up to take charge of the situation. Assembling a highly trained and modernized army, she led a three-year campaign to reunite the nation, welding warring states together and bringing hordes of bandits under the rule of law. The Earth Empire was born when she refused to turn over power to the royal heir, and instead closed the borders.

Kuvira holds absolute power, willing to do anything to keep her nation safe and united, and will tolerate no dissent. The powerful military strictly enforces internal order, but despite her use of prison and reeducation camps, Kuvira is beloved by a majority of her people, at least overtly. She brought development and resources to many poverty-striken areas, and brought an end to rampant banditry and civil war.

Fire Nation
The Fire Nation has always been an advanced and prosperous land. Nearly two centuries ago, they began a war with the rest of the world that raged on for a hundred years and utterly destroyed the Air Nomads. They slowly pushed towards victory with their steam-powered technology, until the Avatar put a stop to it. After the war, the Fire Nation shared its technology with the world, sparking an industrial revolution and taking their new place as an economic powerhouse. They are a hereditary monarchy, ruled by the Firelord. Firelord Izumi is the current one. Daughter of the Firelord who signed the peace accord all those years ago, she continues his non-aggressive policies, and denounces the use of spirit weapons. Yet, she knows well that without the WMDs of the United Republic, their allies, they would have no counter to those of the EE.

Water Tribes
The water tribes have always been somewhat poor compared to the other nations, due to their location at the poles, but this has also left them relatively protected in their isolation. In modern times, they've found wealth in controlling the polar fisheries and forming large fishing magnates. 30 years ago, the Northern and Southern tribes split into two separate nations after a brief civil war, though they remained allies afterward. The Northern tribe is led by the twins Desna and Eska, cousins to the late Avatar, who are rather severe yet aloof rulers. The Southern tribe is led by Tonraq, father of the late Avatar.

United Republic

During the hundred-year war, the Fire Nation colonized large territories of the eastern Earth Kingdom, and at the war's conclusion, some of these territories had been co-habited by people of both nations for generations. Rather than repatriate the Fire nationals, the Avatar back then and the (then) new Firelord founded a new nation, intended to serve as a symbol of international cooperation. However, resentment for these lost territories lingered amongst some in the Earth Kingdom, and with the rise of the ultra-nationalism of the Earth Empire, it flared from its long dormancy to fever pitch.

Since its inception, the United Republic has been a center of innovation and trade, and before the Almost War, its military mostly performed peacekeeping and police operations. It is led by an elected President, currently President Raiko, serving his 6th, but not consecutive, term. He was in office when the Almost War began, and since then the stress has aged him considerably.

Spoiler: Technology (click to show/hide)

Rules/Mechanics


This will be a hub-based mission game, running on a simple d20 system, with 1 being critical failure and 20 being absolute success.

Character Sheets:

As described in the intro, you are a mercenary in this world.

Name: The character's name. Mention if they have a real name vs preferred name/alias/nickname here
Age: An important detail
Appearance: Goes without saying. Make sure to mention eye color. Unless they're always hidden somehow for some reason.
Background: Where they come from, how they got their present situation, what their behavior/personality is like. All that good stuff.
Skills/Abilities/Traits: What can they do? What traits do they have? Disadvantages? These will be resolved, after some judgement, into a number of traits that give + (or -) modifiers to rolls in relevant situations. One doesn't have to be a bender to be an effective mercenary; vehicles, gadgets, stealth, weapon mastery/specialization, working with an interesting vehicle or pet, and other skills are all possible.
Combat Style/ MO: How do they fight? If they're not the fighting type, what do they do?
Posessions: What stuff do they have?
« Last Edit: March 14, 2015, 02:53:17 pm by HugoLuman »
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WillowLuman

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Re: The Almost War
« Reply #1 on: January 13, 2015, 01:07:51 am »

Characters

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Haka (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Character Sheet (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Turo Pakudzi (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Character sheet
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Wei Li (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Character Sheet (click to show/hide)


Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: January 26, 2015, 12:52:21 am by HugoLuman »
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WillowLuman

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Re: The Almost War
« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2015, 01:08:11 am »

reserved
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kj1225

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Re: The Almost War
« Reply #3 on: January 13, 2015, 01:14:34 am »

Name: Lu Bu

Age: 28

Appearance: This gentleman puts you in mind of a regal dragon. He has narrow brown eyes that are like two splotches of mud. He is bald, but used to have luxurious, straight, midnight black hair. He has a masculine build. His skin is nut-brown. He has small feet. His wardrobe is composed of grey clothes that allow for easy movement. He wears a leather backpack that covers the sheaths for his swords.

Background:  Lu Was fairly normal being born to a family of fire benders. When he eventually left home he quickly ran out of money. He eventually learned sword play from a kindly older man and began taking jobs as a mercenary. He has a fairly good track record for not killing people when he fights them. The last big purchase of his that wasn't a variety of tea was his swords which are cremaics. Overall he's quite polite.

Skills/Abilities/Traits: Decent Firebending
A superior sword fighter
Dabbling first aid

Combat Style/ MO: The first thing that comes to mind is that Lu doesn't kill if he can avoid it. His fighting style relies on how sharp his swords are to allow him to avoid grevious wounds while still making strikes that are deabilitatingly painful. He also makes sure to cauterize wounds of combatants after fights.

Posessions:
Backpack:
Tea set, Tea (enough for four occasions serving four people), bandages.
Cremaic swords
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Cheesecake

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Re: The Almost War
« Reply #4 on: January 13, 2015, 06:37:59 am »

Spoiler: Haka (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: January 13, 2015, 05:46:22 pm by Cheesecake »
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Dying of laughter?
Dying of pure unbridled hatred, actually.

Orange Wizard

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Re: The Almost War
« Reply #5 on: January 13, 2015, 06:40:50 am »

Spoiler: Character Sheet (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: January 13, 2015, 07:42:48 am by Orange Wizard »
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Hard science is like a sword, and soft science is like fear. You can use both to equally powerful results, but even if your opponent disbelieve your stabs, they will still die.

zomara0292

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Re: The Almost War
« Reply #6 on: January 13, 2015, 06:41:40 am »

Name: Zen Tau (first name Tau last name Zen, but call him Ty, if you know him)
Age: 26
Appearance: The man is tall, standing about 6 feet and 7 inches high, and a body of a well exercised man, rippling with tensed muscles, though he lacks the bulk to look more than fit and slim. His face is in a constant smile of calm joy, especially when he is angry, though, in those situations, his blue-green eyes open wide enough for one to mistake that joy with pure madness.
Background: A several times over reeducated Earth Nation nationalist,  he once had a pention for copying the whiles and trappings of the UR natives. Of course this got him deeply into trouble, and once he turned the age of 20, after his last, more intense, reeducation attempt, which unraveled after two years, though not completely, he snuck out of the borders. Such a feat he could only attribute to luck, for his skill with earth bending, at the time, was nearly non-exsistant. After a few months of traveling, he managed to find someone, a young girl, willing to take him in, and, quickly, he became indebted to her and her affiliations. She found him a teacher for his martial craft, and, he became as much of an ally to her, as a lover. Sadly, such a relationship had its faults. In one of their missions, which brought him back to the nation he hated, he unintentionally betrayed her to an official, which got them both locked away. Before he could manage to brake them both out, she, in her anger and haste, tried to leave on her own, perishing in the process. He managed to luck out an impromptu escape, and even brought her body back over the border for a proper burial. Now alone once more, and scared, by both the Earth Nation and his own conditioning, he tries only to keep up her alive by living life in the way she once did.
Skills/Abilities/Traits:
Reeducated: (years of reeducation does take its toll on the mind. Why do you think he is constantly forced to smile?)
Anti-EN: (Losing much of what he loved to a country tends to put you off of its ideals. Especially if those losses wernt by choice.)
Earth Bending: (A talent in earth bending that was only gained through intense training)
Leaning on madness and depression: (Do I have to explain why?)
Twisted luck on his side: (For some reason, actions that benefit him greatly, always leaves someone else in painful want)

Combat Style/ MO: Traditional Earth Bending Martial arts and bare handed combat.
Posessions: Usualy wears badge overalls, a yellow dress shirt, and a brown hat. As for personal possesions, he has the house and picture of his now deceased girlfriend, and whatever cash was left from their last mission.
« Last Edit: January 13, 2015, 07:30:26 am by zomara0292 »
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Comrade P.

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Re: The Almost War
« Reply #7 on: January 13, 2015, 08:53:33 am »

Spoiler: Turo Pakudzi (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: January 17, 2015, 02:36:20 am by Comrade P. »
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WillowLuman

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Re: The Almost War
« Reply #8 on: January 13, 2015, 10:07:55 pm »

Oh cool, illustration!

These submissions all look good so far, though I'm not sure how "twisted luck" would work. But that'll come when I balance these out/apply the bonuses.
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3man75

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Re: The Almost War
« Reply #9 on: January 13, 2015, 10:37:58 pm »

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Fixed.
« Last Edit: January 14, 2015, 09:42:55 am by 3man75 »
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Cryxis, Prince of Doom

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Re: The Almost War
« Reply #10 on: January 13, 2015, 11:12:21 pm »

Can I join?
An heck I'll write it anyways
Character sheet
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: January 13, 2015, 11:59:16 pm by Cryxis, Prince of Doom »
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Cryxis makes the best typos.

Yourmaster

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Re: The Almost War
« Reply #11 on: January 13, 2015, 11:28:50 pm »

Do I need to do this again?
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10/10.
Wants to rape and enslave my innocent night faeries ;-;

WillowLuman

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Re: The Almost War
« Reply #12 on: January 13, 2015, 11:44:04 pm »

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Some more details on the EE military, if you're making a character connected to it. Also, since he's from the Earth Nation, he should probably have a more Chinese-ish first name

Spoiler: details (click to show/hide)

And, a minor note, the Spirits probably wouldn't care too much about famous humans. They're more concerned with people that have a lot to do with the spirits, like the Avatar or people who harvest them to make superweapon ammo.

Can I join?
If I can then this is reserved for a character sheet
Go ahead!

Do I need to do this again?
Yeah, please post your sheet again, as I said in the planning thread. Since we've got a format for them now and stuff.
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Cryxis, Prince of Doom

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Re: The Almost War
« Reply #13 on: January 13, 2015, 11:47:19 pm »

Ok I edited my post
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Yourmaster

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Re: The Almost War
« Reply #14 on: January 13, 2015, 11:56:12 pm »

Name: Unknown.
Age: Unknown
Appearance: Standing at 5'4, they cover most of their body in heavy clothing. The only thing known about them is their blue eyes.
Background: They have an unknown history. They have become a known figure, with a large number of cases involved in murder, breaking and entering, unlawful use of the bending arts, and smuggling. They are to be taken for questioning if seen.
Skills/Abilities/Traits: They are skilled at stealth. Though they are capable of that, they flourish in the art of bloodbending. Provided they trained more, they could possibly use bloodbending without a full moon, yet this was almost unheard of. On the other hand, they are wanted and could get arrested almost everywhere.
Combat Style/ MO: Do not underestimate the suspect due to their short stature. They don't have a combat style, but they often use stealth and bloodbending to their advantage, to a good efficiency so far.
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10/10.
Wants to rape and enslave my innocent night faeries ;-;
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