Character Discussion

Hullo, folks,

Once more, the name of the thread says it all.

This Thread is designed for discussion about the player characters, for talking about how you guys want to create your characters, types of characters you might want to create, deciding on elements common to your player characters, asking questions if you have any about matters, etc.. And where we'll start with the basics of character creation shortly.

Please do not post to this Thread until I have started the ball rolling. Thanks. :)

Hullo, folks,

I've got four PMs so far with Character Concepts to look at, and will get back to that stuff later today. Sunday afternoon is a gaming day for me, so it will have to wait until this evening.

What I want to address here is something else for the moment.

For those who are considering creating player characters that are not native to the present day (approx. 2007), there are certain things you need to consider.

First off, if you're going to play a character from the past, you'll need to figure out how the character is going to fit with the modern-day characters, and what his/her purpose will be in the ARC and why they would have accepted this person who is suffering from culture shock. (And we're not even going to think of player characters from the future.)

Which leads us to the second element, the issue of culture shock. You're going to have to go on the assumption here that your character has been in the present day long enough to get familiar with the appearance of modern technology, if not the basic operation of said technology, and has learned some language skills as well. Travelling through the Anomaly doesn't give you automatic language skills and the like. Needless to say, this will mean taking the Knowledge (Language - English) Skill, possibly the Technically Inept Bad Trait, and the Time Shifted (Minor) Trait as well.

If you choose not to have the character having been in the modern day for some time to acclimate, then that's fine. But remember, the player character in question shouldn't steal every scene and dominate every adventure through sheer weirdness and the fact that they're different. That's just not fun for everyone else playing in the game.

There are other things to consider when taking a character from a different time period, but I'll discuss that with each player considering taking an out-of-time character in the various PMs and the like.

If folks have any thoughts, questions, comments, etc. about this whole matter, we can discuss it here. :)

Hullo, folks,

Once players have had their Character Concepts approved by the Moderator (me), you can post up the Character Concept to this thread for discussion and brainstorming about character relationships and developing the character and the like, and to the Character Generation thread for the purpose of actual character creation in that thread.

I'll be playing an expert big game hunter and guide, working with ARC to track down the ultimate big game. I'm thinking he'll be comedian to someone else's straight man, and probably be a bit loony to boot. Not that ARC agents are normal by any definition.

I'll be playing Bryn Prothero. He is an adopted troubled punk seventeen year old with a stutter who as a free runner has become determined to succeed as an athlete at the Olympics in London in 2012. At game start he is independent of both the ARK and the Chronos society.

Gwyn Halfpenny
28 years old
From Cardiff, Wales
Professional Photographer
Hobbies:
Hiking, Diving, Rockclimbing
No Affiliation at the start of the game.

My character is Aldous "Jon" St. John, a homeless veteran who came back from a conflict over a decade ago. He tried to adjust to civilian life but fell through the cracks. He's been living on the streets for a while now. He doesn't know what ARC is and at the moment doesn't care one way or the other.

My character is Dr. Henry Anders is a medical doctor and avid student of botany, who enjoys hiking in the woods to find specimens for his herbalism hobby.

I'll be playing James T. Raiden, an ARC scientist tasked with the study of Anomalies. In addition to being very serious about his work, he is also an avid martial artist.

Elsy Balthasar is a mathematical engineer, and is a former lieutenant in the Unité Spéciale de la Police unit (counter terrorism) of the Grand Ducal Police of Luxembourg. She joined ARC as a scientific investigator after experiencing an anomaly while on holiday outside of London, at which ARC had also responded, and became curious about the scientific explanation, but she is nosy and is becoming known for meddling in things she shouldn't.

Well that's 7 out of 7. Time for step 2 now John?

Hullo, Gavin,
Yep, time for Step 2, Character Background and History. It's already up and waiting for folks in the Character Generation thead. (And I've sent folks the file for this that needs to be done up.) So just waiting for files/messages from players with the write-ups on Character B & H. :)

Hullo, folks,

Just a couple of other thoughts about this step in Character Generation.

In my personal view, you cannot undertake this Step of Character Generation in a void, per se. That is to say, there should be some give and take among you as players when creating the Character History and Personality. Towards this goal, I want to encourage you to talk here in this thread about connections, links, and some of the possible interaction(s) that you see between your characters, and possibly how you want to relate and interact with the Name characters from the PRIMEVAL tv series (if you're actually a part of the ARC). Please use a Subject Header of "Interaction with the ARC and Others" for this subject, okay? Thanks. :)

Bear in mind here that we're talking more about Personality and History and other roleplaying elements, rather than game mechanics and skill sets. Some discussion of that should occur, possibly, as relates to how you're all going to "fit in" with the various roles that are possible for characters, but this really should be more about the roleplaying aspects of this subject, okay? At least for the moment, please.

If you have any questions on this matter, please don't hesitate to ask, and any comments and thoughts are also welcome. :)

Anyway, let's get to Character Histories and Personalities. Looking forward to what everyone comes up with. :)

Hullo, folks,

Okay, effective this morning, I have three players with complete and approved Character Background and History for their player characters. They're going on to doing up their Primeval RPG game statistics.

I'm still waiting on the Character B & H from the other four players for the game. Hopefully, they'll be sending me theirs for approval sometime within the next few days. Assuming folks want to get to the actual play of game, sooner rather than later. :)

Hullo, folks,

Just thought I should let folks know that Qralloq has dropped out of the game, due to being involved with too many PbP games.

Therefore, Elsy Balthasar is no longer a player character.

So now there are six (6) player in the game. *sigh*

Sorry to hear that. I really liked Elsy's concept. We'll miss you Qralloq!

Mine is coming along, just haven't had much time to work on the write up and get it submitted. Should get it soon JohnK, another day or so perhaps?

Yeah that's shame, also one fewer ARK character. It looks like we have 2 ARK characters and 4 independents. The two ARK characters will obviously have links, however anyone have any suggestions about links between the independents prioir to game start?

I made my character's interested and career in such a way that she could easily get involved without actually knowing any of your characters. Oh no an anomaly opened up in the woods somewhere where Gwyn happened to be hiking and taking nature photos. Perhaps she can be our first "victim." Anyway just an easy way in for her. A pity we lost an ARC character though.

Does Gwyn work for a newspaper (i.e. Papparazzi) or is he more of a wedding photographer?

She is more of a wedding/family/event photographer. Her hobbies are outdoor hobbies and it would be conceivable for her to just be out for a hike taking nature photos.

Well, if the story picks up with her as the first victim things could get interesting. I know there's at least 3 PCs with outdoorsy interests, including her and my PC Tycho, so that should be enough for a quick rescue. Assuming the GM didn't throw a pack of creatures at us, of course. ;)

Yes four outdoor types, since Bryn is a free-runner.

Looking to get my write up in before this weekend. Sorry I'm taking so long.

Hullo, Azzorak,
Well, how about this as inspiration at some point? :)



To put it mildly, the bride realises she doesn't have to outrun the dino, just the rest of the wedding party, especially the second girl from the left who hasn't realised that if you pull up the hem of your bridal skirt, it would be easier to run. Of course, if the bride tosses the bouquet back and it is caught by the T. rex, then that might serve as a minscule distraction!

Hullo, Kenny, Azzorak,

Yeah, I'll be patient a bit longer. :) Bear in mind that you'll need to get my approval on the Backgrounds and History before you can start in on the game stats and numbers.

And if you don't have the game in some form or other, that can be handled with me in personal e-mail. One of the players is like that, and the numbers game that we did was pretty much a breeze. :)

Hullo, folks,

Just heard from Kenny, and he'll be dropping out of the game for a variety of reasons. Therefore, James Tatsu Raiden is no longer a player character in the game. :(

We're down to five (5) players. *sigh*

Just waiting on one player to get the character creation process rolling forward, and then we'll be able to start playing the game.

Dinosaurs are picking off one by one before we even have a chance to roll the dice!

Indeed, were dropping off quickly. I am the one holding things up right now, been overwhelmed irl unfortunately.

Hullo, Tim,
Well, it is in the nature of the PRIMEVAL tv series for the main characters to be picked off one-by-one. But this is getting ridiculous! Hopefully, we'll get a few folks to replace the players we've lost.

Hullo, Azzorak,
Real Life(tm) does take priority over gaming, so no worries there. Hopefully you'll wrap up the Character Background and History material sooner rather than later. :)

Life has a way of making things difficult at times that's for sure.

Hopefully things will get less overwhelming soon.

Yeah hopefully people will be done soon and we can get down to dinousaur awesomeness.

should be done tonight then we can get into this

Hullo, folks,

Now that we're getting very close to starting to play the PRIMEVAL: Tales of the Anomalies PbP game, it's time for players to do one more thing.

Each player with a complete, ready-to-play character for the PRIMEVAL PBeM game should post to this thread a Public Character Bio in whatever style the player likes, and of any length, about their character. This Bio should contain the information that you, the player, would like the other players and their characters to know about his/her character, and should not necessarily be the complete character Background and History that the player had approved by the Moderator of the mailing list.

This character biography, in whatever style the player has decided on, should have the Subject header, "Character Bio - [Name of Character]".

After that, the player in question is ready to start the game! :)

I'll be playing Elliott Tycho Cartwright the 3rd, or Tycho for short. He founded Banff International Outfitters, based in Banff, naturally, and has traveled the globe leading various hunts and safaris. He's small (160cm and 49kilo) and unimpressive to look at. Brown hair and eyes, slightly unkempt/scruffy in appearance, and he sports a large scar that wraps from the top left edge of his chin several centimeters down into the skin below the jaw. In most pictures you could find on social media, or local media, would show him in a faded Toronto Blue Jays cap.

That's all a public profile of him would show.

Just submitted my background, I am sure it will be approved so I will begin with stat generation and post a short bio here shortly.

"Hi there. My name is Dr. Henry Anders, though most people call me Henry or Doctor Anders, or THE DOCTOR, , no not really, I just thought that would lighten the mood.”

"Since this is for the official record. My full name is Henry Clayton Anders. I am Physician specializing in internal medicine, namely Immunology and Infectious Disease. I have O.R. experience, PHD in Botany and an interest in Herbalism. Most recently I worked out St Thomas hospital, but I’m currently attached to the ARC, I mean the Anomaly Research Centre. I was born in East Grinstead, Sussex. I have a younger brother named James and I had an older sister named Claira.”

"You might be asking yourself how a doctor such as my self ended up here. It’s quite funny when you think about it, but it wasn’t so when it happened. As I said, I have an interest in herbalism, it started back in my post graduate days working in the rainforest, but I digress. I had heard about an outbreak of very odd plants in Upper Shrewsbury. I took a weekend trip with the express purpose of collecting a sample of these new plants. Instead I found a group of official and military types. They were having problems dealing with a real live dinosaur. The plant you see was a super potent version of poison ivy. I wasn’t able to do much about the dinosaur, frankly, I was gob-stopped by that part. But I was able to treat the people debilitated by the ivy, and I was able to identify that the dinosaur was suffering a sever rash. I still can’t believe I saw a real live dinosaur. After the dust settled, I was approached by James Lester, the Home Office man responsible for the ARC.”

"I had already known not to talk about what I saw. In my profession, emergency services are often involved in drills and crises under the Home Office banner, and most of them can’t be discussed. However, he also had a proposal for me. In his job, Mr. Lester routinely has to think about the unthinkable. He told me he was concerned about the possibility of a disease crossing from the past. Not an uncommon concern. I agreed to come work for him at the ARC in return for being allowed to study the medicinal properties of any extinct plants encountered in the field.”


Appearance:
Henry is Forty Three year old man, standing 5’8”, 146 lbs. He is in reasonably good shape with healthy complexion and short light brown hair starting to grey at the temples. He has kind looking hazel eyes and wears black metal framed glasses. A professional, he is typically clean shaven, even when he works double shifts.

He is typically seen wearing a white lab coat over a brown sweater and beige trousers, with very comfortable brown shoes. He has a couple of business suits with the old school tie for board meetings and such as well as some well used out door clothes and hiking boots. But he is most comfortable in casual clothes.

APPEARANCE:
Gwyn is a 28 year old woman with dark hair and lightly tanned skin. She keeps her hair short at about shoulder length and rarely wears it down. She is about 162 cm tall and weighs 54kg. Gwyn is physically fit with clearly toned musculature and a curvy body type. Her eyes are a vibrant green and she typically wears comfortable clothing typical of physically active individuals. When working an event she may wear a skirt and blouse, but day to day she prefer tank tops and yoga pants, jeans, or other casual/sports/outdoor wear, depending on the situation.

What you might have heard:
Gwyn has had many rough patches in her life and though generally happy she tends to be somewhat quiet. Any social media will be sparse if it exists at all. Those who read wedding/bridal publications and magazines or those who live in Cardiff may know of her photography business as she is fairly successful in Cardiff and has taken photos for many bridal magazines. Her business has been advertised as one of the best in Wales in several such publications.

BRYN PROTHERO PUBLIC PROFILE (or what Bryn says about himself)

“Yeah I’m kinda rad looking what with the Mohican, studs and all that. The hair and the getup make me feel more part of the punk scene. The fake ‘rents don’t dig it and can’t see how much of a total uber beast I look now. First time I tried it out they made me undo it when I got back to the yard but I guess they’ve given up now.

"I dunno who my real ‘rents are. I was found in Wales as a babe and the squares in Social brought me up in a home called Sunnymeads 'til the fake ‘rents adopted me in London when I was ‘bout six. Jeff and Annabelle are alright I s’pose, though they are a bit square. I’ve had my run-ins with the fake ‘rents since they don’t see how totally controlling the authorities are. At one point I thought ‘bout bouncing, but I have nowhere else to go. They’re not all bad; Jeff helped me find a job at Knox’s Autos when I left school helping to fix up motors. 'Course I’d like to pimp ‘em up properly but that’s not what Knoxy says he’s paying me for. The fake ‘rents let me have a bike when I was sixteen, but it ain’t got no power as I ain’t allowed to ride a decent one till I’m twenty-one.

I seen a few strange things in my time, though I don’t blabber ‘bout them no more since both the social and my fake ‘rents sent me to a shrink. When I was five, at the home, I was stunting in the grounds when I heard a tingly sound, saw a big Ostrich-like thing coming towards me. I ran and dodged round a tree knocking the thing out. I thought I deffo should tell someone but when I did and they came to look, the thing was gone. They sent me to a shrink.

"Then when I was thirteen, it happened again in London when I was escaping from the Wankstas in the Southwell Posse. This time it was a Pterodactyl and some MIB turned up so I hid. When I told the fake ‘rents they sent me to a shrink again. She was pretty peng for an oldster, but she tried to talk done to me and she said I had to have a goal in life to stop me fibbing. So I told her I wanted to run at the Olympics. I already did free running round the streets, and had liked running ever since I was a young'un. I’m free and not pinned when I’m running, so I thought it would get the shrink off me back. Still I didn’t know how much flat roofing it would be!“

Pretty sure Gwyn is completely done now. I uploaded the character sheet to the game and posted her short bio here. Ready to get into the first post!

Character Bio - Aldous "Jon" St. John

Born on a mountain top in Tennessee,
Greenest state in the land of the free.
Raised in the woods so's he knew every tree,
Killed him a bear when he was only three.
Davy, Davy Crockett King of the Wild Frontier.

okay... I will have a bio ready for tomorrow.

Hullo, Tim,
LOL! That's funny!

But yes, please do. :)