[OOC] Horror High - Freshman Year

Concept 1- Shivani Singh (DRAFT)

Concept 1, first full draft:

[sblock= Fluff]
Character Name: Shivani Singh
Gender: Female
Age: 15
Height: 5’0”
Weight: 105 lbs
Appearance: Shivani is a young woman of Southeast Asian descent- she is just under average height for her age, with a slender build. She has red-brown skin, brown eyes, and long black hair (typically tied back in a ponytail or simple braid); her features are rather sharp and, combined with her naturally stern expression, give her a rather severe appearance for a girl her age- she looks as if she ought to be wearing a doctor’s lab coat or a military uniform. While in school, she dresses in what appears to be a British school uniform (mostly because it IS a British school uniform)- dark pleated skirt, white blouse, dark jacket, tie, and knee socks. On her own time she prefer loose-fitting comfortable clothing (polo shirt and hiking shorts, etc.); she typically wears little in the way of jewelry or make-up. She is friendly enough, but has a tendency to be a bit of a know-it-all. She speaks with a proper British accent, but something about her voice and diction tends to make her sound sarcastic or condescending, even when she is trying not to.

Background: Shivani was born in northern Virginia- her mother is American, her father was British. Both her parents had a strong scientific background- they met while working on a project at the Smithsonian. Her mother is an astrophysicist, and her father was an archaeologist (who specialized in anomalous sites, that did not match known historical records)- consequently Shivani was well-educated from an early age. She spent much of her childhood in England, but traveled often, visiting her father at remote digs during school holidays and so on. There were a number of strange events during her early childhood, but Shivani herself has forgotten (or repressed) them, and her mother would deny that they ever really happened.
Her father disappeared 9 months ago, while on an expedition in the jungles of central Africa (looking for yet another ‘Lost City’)- surviving members of his team reported his death with certainty, but no body was recovered (and many of his personal effects also went missing). After his death, Shivani’s mother began the search for a new job- and was recently hired by the Draper Labs in Cambridge, MA (near MIT). Shivani and her mother have only recently moved to Belmont- there was no time to enroll Shivani in a proper private school, so they chose the best available public school within commute distance. In the future, Shivani plans to apply for admission to a ‘better’ school, with an eye towards preparing for a first-rate college. In the meantime, she has a new school to adjust to, and schoolwork to do. In her spare time, she has begun to study some of her father’s notebooks- though they don’t seem to be in any language she can recognize…
[/sblock]

[sblock= Crunch]
STR 8 (-1)
DEX 12 (+1)
CON 12 (+1)
INT 16 (+3)
WIS 14 (+2)
CHA 9 (-1)

Initiative: +1 (DEX)
Perception: Listen +2, Search +4, Spot +2
Defense: 11 (+1 Dex, + 0 class bonus, + 0 equipment bonus)
HP: 7 (6 +1 CON)

FORT +1 (Base 0, +1 Con)
REFL +1 (Base +0; +1 DEX)
WILL +3 (Base +1; +2 WIS)

BAB: +0 (Melee -1, missile +1)

Basic Class: Smart 1/Dedicated 0
Total level: 1
Starting Occupation: Student
Reputation Bonus: +1
Action Points: 5 (level 1)
Wealth: +1
(Possible advanced classes: Field scientist, Mage)

Weapons:
-None

[sblock= Skills
-Smart 1, INT 16= 9+3= 12 (x4= 48)

Climb +0 (1r/cc, -1 STR)
Computer use +4 (1r, +3 INT)
Concentrate +2 (1r/cc, +1 CON)
Craft- chemical +4 (1r, +3 INT)
Craft- structural +4 (1r, +3 INT)
Craft- visual arts +4 (Photography, Blueprints/drafting)(1r, +3 INT)
Craft- writing +4 (1r, +3 INT)
Decipher script +7 (2r, +3 INT, +2 feat)
Demolition +4 (1r, +3 INT)
Disable device +4 (1 r, +3 INT)
Investigate +5 (2r, +3 INT)
Jump +0 (1r/cc, -1 STR)
Listen +2 (untrained)(0r, +2 WIS)
Navigate +10 (4r, +3 INT, +1 Savant, +2 feat)
Read/write +3 (French, Latin, Greek)(3r)
Repair +4 (1r, +3 INT)
Research +10 (4r, +3 INT, +1 Occupation, +2 feat)
Search +4 (1r, +3 INT)
Speak language +1 (French)(1r)
Spot +2 (untrained)(0r, +2 WIS)
Survival +5 (1r/cc, +2 WIS, +2 feat)
Swim -1 (0.5r/cc, -1 STR)
Treat injury +3 (1r/cc, +2 WIS)
Tumble +2 (1r/cc, +1 DEX)
Knowledge- Arcane lore +5 (2r, +3 INT)
Knowledge- Art +4 (1r, +3 INT)
Knowledge- Earth/life sciences +4 (1r, +3 INT)
Knowledge- History +6 (2r, +3 INT, +1 Occupation)
Knowledge- Physical sciences +6 (2r, +3 INT, +1 Occupation)
Knowledge- Technology +4 (1r, +3 INT)
Knowledge- Theology/philosophy +4 (1r, +3 INT)

-To Add: Listen, Spot, Gather information, Knowledge- current events
[/sblock]

>Talents:
-Smart 1: Savant (Navigate)

>Feats:
-Level 1: Guide (+2 Navigate, Survival); Studious (+2 Research, Decipher script)

>Class Features:
-Smart 1: Talents (Research tree- Savant)

Equipment: (TBD)

Languages: English (UK), French, Latin (R/W), Classical Greek (R/W)
[/sblock]

Concept 2- Tasha Rabinowitz (DRAFT)




First pass for concept 2: Tasha (latent telepath)

Character Name: Tasha (Natasha Miriam Grace Rabinowitz; FKA “Natalie Robbins”))
[sblock= Fluff]
Gender: Female
Age: 15
Height: 4’11”
Weight: 95 lbs
>Appearance: Tasha is a rather petite young Jewish woman- while she is only a little under average height for her age, her build varies between ‘noticeably skinny’ and ‘painfully thin’. Her skin is quite pale, with just the slightest hint of olive undertone; she has large dark eyes and slightly wavy black hair (which she has lately taken to wearing in a very short cut; it might look severe on someone else, but actually looks good given the shape of her face). She is generally prone to smiling, and her face is quite expressive. Tasha tends to dress in a very modest fashion, generally favoring long skirts (over tights), high-collared shirts or turtlenecks, and sleeves to the wrist. She like silver filigree jewelry of all kinds. She usually carries a large satchel or shoulder bag (usually containing her sketchbook and drawing materials, several books, a water bottle- and whatever meds she is currently taking).

Personality: Tasha is generally friendly, though a bit quiet. She has a rather dark sense of humor, and a reflexive tendency towards sarcasm and self-deprecation- she tends to avoid the spotlight (She has spent years trying to bury her celebrity status, after all). She also dislikes physical contact- she likes a lot of personal space. She enjoys reading, especially fantasy, and self-identifies as a nerd (much to her mother's dismay). She has a strong fondness for print (books and comics, mostly); she doesn't watch many movies, and often says that "TV rots your brain"- despite this, she has an almost uncanny awareness of what shows and movies are popular, and what happens in them. In visual terms, she does enjoy traditional animation (especially Studio Ghibli)- on her own, she has begun to develop her talent as an artist, and is rarely without her sketchbook. Tasha does not particularly enjoy physical exertion- she would much rather be comfortably curled up with a book or her sketches; a significant part of this comes from the fact that she is more than a bit clumsy and accident-prone (though this is in part due to uncontrolled PK activity). She has, in the past, had seizures (not epilepsy, but similar), so she has quite a bit of sympathy for people with disabilities (especially 'invisible' ones)- it seems like these seizures were triggered by psychic activity, and may have faded out as her brain structure and chemistry have matured...

Background: Tasha was born in Los Angeles- both of her parents were involved in the entertainment industry, and she was ‘acting’ before she could walk, under the ‘stage name’ of Natalie Robbins. By the age of five, she was starring in the TV show ‘Lady of the House’, a modestly popular sitcom. As she grew, though, she began to experience a number of unexplained ‘incidents’ including both visual and auditory hallucinations and RSPK phenomena- these incidents seemed to grow worse as time passed, and soon enough they were impossible to ignore. Tasha retired from acting for ‘health reasons’ at age 10- ‘Lady of the House’ was cancelled less than a season later, but still pops up in syndication.
In the intervening years, Tasha has gone through more than a dozen schools, a handful of institutions, and an army of therapists and counselors (from quacks to geniuses). Unfortunately, her "condition" also destroyed her parents' marriage- while Tasha and her mom have moved to Massachusetts to be close to a number of resources including her grandparents, her father remarried VERY quickly and he has remained in Hollywood. One breakthrough has come quite recently- Tasha spent the first half of the year at the McLean Hospital in Belmont; it is best known as a psychiatric hospital, but it is (secretly?) also at the forefront of research into Psychic phenomena- Tasha hasn't been 'cured', or really even diagnosed, but she has learned some tricks of meditation, and gained some helpful prescriptions (or maybe her body is simply growing into her abilities...). After some significant debate, Tasha was enrolled at Belmont High, for an attempt at a "normal life"- who knows what the future might bring? Her mother, meanwhile, works in Boston, teaching classes on 'entertainment industry' topics at Emerson and Berklee.
[/sblock]

[sblock= Tasha's Psychic Abilities: (GM)]
- At this point in her life, Tasha's psychic gifts are almost entirely latent. In game terms, she is a (latent) Telepath, but her strongest gifts are in clairsentience and psychokinesis. She has minor telepathic talent (represented in terms of skills, and in the future in Charismatic levels and Talents). Her earliest manifestations were entirely unconscious, mostly triggered by various stresses, but also 'echoes' from encountering other untrained/latent psychics. Her seizures, which have mostly faded away, were mostly because her immature brain structure wasn't able to handle the neural stimulae her senses were pumping in.
In addition to any abilities she can consciously control, she has significant gifts in Precognition, Object Reading, and other clairsentient powers. Especially since these powers aren't detailed in d20 Modern, these are handed off to the GM, to be used however is convenient- mostly to drive Plot as needed. She also has some excess psychokinetic ability- this manifests in an uncontrolled fashion, especially under stress, and typically acts 'against' Tasha herself; this is part of her 'accident- prone' nature.
[/sblock]

[sblock= Crunch]
STR 8 (-1)
DEX 9 (-1)
CON 12 (+1)
INT 14 (+2)
WIS 14 (+2)
CHA 15 (+2)

Initiative: -1
Perception: Listen +2, Spot +2, Search +3
Defense: 9 (-1 DEX; +0 class; +0 Equipment)
HP: 7 (6 +1 CON)

FORT +1 (Base 0, +1 Con)
REFL -1 (Base +0, -1 DEX)
WILL +3 (Base +1, +2 WIS)

BAB: +0 (-1 melee; -1 Missile)

Basic Classes: Smart 1/Charismatic 0/Dedicated 0
Total level: 1
Starting Occupation: Creative (Add Bluff, Disguise, Perform- Acting as class skills)
Reputation Bonus: +1
Action Points: 5 (level 1)
Wealth: +2
(Advanced class possibilities: Telepath, possibly Battlemind)

>Weapons:
-None

[sblock= Skills
-Smart 1, INT 14= 9+2= 11 (x4= 44)

Bluff +6 (4 ranks; +2 CHA)
Concentrate +3 (2r/cc, +1 CON)
Craft- visual arts +6 (Illustration, Calligraphy)(4r, +2 INT)
Craft- writing +3 (1r, +2 INT)
Diplomacy +3 (1r/cc, +2 CHA)
Disguise +3 (1r, +2 CHA)
Gather information +3 (1r/cc, +2 CHA)
Investigate +3 (1r, +2 INT)
Jump +0 (1r/cc, -1 STR)
Listen +2 (untrained)(0r, +2 WIS)
Perform- acting +4 (2r, +2 CHA)
Profession- student +3 (1r, +2 INT)
Read/write +3 (Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian)(3r)
Research +4 (2r, +2 INT)
Search +3 (1r, +2 INT)
Sense Motive +3 (1r/cc, +2 WIS)
Speak language +3 (Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian)(3r)
Spot +2 (untrained)(0r, +2 WIS)
Knowledge- Arcane lore +3 (1r, +2 INT)
Knowledge- Art +3 (1r, +2 INT)
Knowledge- Behavioral sciences +5 (1r, +2 INT, +2 feat)
Knowledge- Current events +3 (1r, +2 INT)
Knowledge- Pop culture +9 (4r, +2 INT, +2 feat, +1 Savant)
Knowledge- Theology/philosophy +3 (1r, +2 INT)

(To Add: Computer use, Perform- comedy, Knowledge- Earth/life sciences, Knowledge- History, Knowledge- Physical sciences)
[/sblock]

>Talents:
-Smart 1: Savant (Knowledge- Pop culture, +1))

>Feats:
- Level 1: Wild talent (Far hand); Educated (Knowledge- Behavioral sciences, Pop culture)


>Class Features:
-Smart 1: Talent (Research tree- Savant: Research)

Equipment: (TBD)

Languages: English, Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian
[/sblock]

[MENTION=48394]pathfinderq1[/MENTION], I love them both.

Alright, I'll try a stat sheet for me as well. This should be about everything...let me know if there's something important I'm missing. I've left EQ blank since I can't afford anything I would want without eating my wealth bonus, and I'm not decided on what to choose yet.

[sblock="Vitals"]HP: 7 (6 + (1 CON x 1))
- Mass dmg: 12 (CON score)
Defense: 13 (10 + 2 DEX + 1 class + ? EQ + 0 size)
- Touch def: -0 (lose EQ)
- Flat-footed: -2 (lose DEX)
Fort: 2 (1 CON + 1 class)
Ref: 2 (2 DEX + 0 class)
Will: 3 (2 WIS + 1 class)

Initiative: +1
Reputation: 1
Wealth: 3
Action points: 5[/sblock]
[sblock="Ability scores"]STR: 13 (+1)
DEX: 15 (+2)
CON: 12 (+1)
INT : 10 (---)
WIS : 14 (+2)
CHA: 8 (–1)[/sblock]
[sblock="Occupation"]Occupation: Rural

Skills (from Balance, Climb, Drive, Handle Animal, Repair, Ride, Survival, Swim)
1. Repair
2. Drive

Bonus Feat: Brawl (+1 comp. on unarmed atks, 1d6+STR dmg when nonlethal)[/sblock]
[sblock="Skills"]Ranked:
- Drive: 5 (3 + 2 DEX)
- Intim.: 1 (2 - 1 CHA)
- Listen: 5 (3 + 2 WIS)
- Re/Wri: 1 (Romanian)
- Repair: 4 (4 + 0 INT)
- Speak: 1 (Romanian)
- Surv.: 9 (4 + 2 WIS + 3 Skill Emphasis)

Unranked:
(will list later)

Ranks spent lvl 1: 20 pts ((5 + 0 INT) x4)
- Drive: +3
- Intimidation: +4 (x-class)
- Listen: +3
- Read/Write lang.: +1
- Repair: +4
- Speak lang.: +1
- Survival: +4[/sblock]
[sblock="Class features"]Level 1: Dedicted 1
- Talent: Skill Emphasis (+3 untyped to checks with chosen skill; Survival)

Feats
1: Track (Survival check can follow tracks over DC 20)
1: Dodge (+1 AC vs target, chosen on my turn)[/sblock]
[sblock="Bio"]Name: Daciana Pavlenco (aka Francis)
Age: 16

Background
Born in Romania, Daciana Pavlenco should have been lost to the world in irrelevance, but lost that chance. At 6 years old, she strayed a little too close to the woods a little too late at night. She only remembers that something jumped at her and hurt her before her father shot it and ran it off. Ever since then, her parents seemed different somehow, more tense. Daciana would wake up in the basement once in a few weeks, locked in, not sure how she got there. Or she'd find out it was Monday instead of Friday, with no memory of time passing.

Until one day, at 9 years old, when she woke up in an alleyway, sirens blaring in the distance. Her parents found her and rushed her home. Within a month, they were in America. There wasn't even time to see a familiar face before leaving; she barely noticed the broken basement door on the way out.

When the family was settled, they were finally forced to tell Daciana the truth. She hadn't just forgotten those lost days, she had become something else. They couldn't keep her safe at home anymore: from now on, she would have to wake up somewhere far away from innocent people, and no one would be there to help her. It seemed like a gross prank until a couple weeks later, when she woke up next to a dead deer in the woods. Using the landmarks she'd been taught in the preceding weeks, she made it back to the road and her waiting father. With little choice, she practiced this pattern to perfection over the next few years, even learning to recognize the warning signs and get to safety by herself. It's just a numb grind now, except for the dread with which she checks the obituaries for mauling deaths afterward.

Being foreign and commonly truant, Daciana was slow to fit in at school. She soon started going by Francis outside the house, pretending her family didn't exist. Though her ability to keep up with school life grew, her desire to do so faded, until she was held back in her freshman year of high school due to repeated absences. After years of floating along in confusion and self-pity, this was a wake-up call. She couldn't let this curse, or whatever it was, destroy her actual life. She now gets regular tutoring to keep up after her absences, and she's practicing vocational work fixing motorcycles and other devices.

Family
Francis' father had contacted a cousin in America to help with passage there; this man's resources came from organized crime, a gang to which Francis' father is now indented. Francis is practically a member herself. A diligent worker, and unable to refuse, he does anything they ask. Francis is sure he's killed before, but wouldn't know who. He's quiet, either too busy or too tired to show much emotion. He never talks about "work," but from what Francis has seen, he seems to have earned some seniority within the gang.

The family ostensibly works a small farm, but only Francis' mother is able to work on it full-time. She takes the move worst of all; she used to be very social at home, but now can rarely leave the house except for church, and barely talks to her family, getting her company from TV.[/sblock]

[MENTION=6801600]Macv12[/MENTION], stats look good. We'll need name and background as well, though.

Shivani and Tasha should both be complete at this point.

Still need more classmates, though

Indeed. Everyone, [MENTION=48394]pathfinderq1[/MENTION] is making you look bad. PQ1, which character do you think you'll settle on?

I'll be honest, Tasha appeals to me as GM a bit more as she gives me a good plot driver.

Kiraya_TiDrekan said:

I'll be honest, Tasha appeals to me as GM a bit more as she gives me a good plot driver.

Click to expand...

At this point, Tasha is certainly in the lead. I think Shivani is probably a stronger candidate from a mechanics standpoint- especially if we don't have another candidate for a Mage (somebody else posted as a possible mage, but hasn't spoken up much lately). As a snooty know-it-all, she might turn out to be a bit too much Hermione, though, but I think I could have fun with that.

Tasha, somehow, seems to be connecting a bit more deeply. I don't often have a concept 'stick' quite that well, right off the bat- most of my ideas go through a pretty broad swing during the development arc. I just need to make sure I can hold the line between shy and sociable. From a mechanics standpoint, the limited psionics options in d20 Modern may require some creative work (though not immediately- she isn't going to hit Telepath until at least level 7). We shall see.

With all that said, I am still reading through some of the fluffier parts of the rulebook pdf, and waiting to see what other concepts come in. and rewatching Buffy, for the first time in a while (though, for me, the series still boils down to a few key minutes- the Buffy/Twilight mash-up and the 'Activation of the Potentials' from the finale, most specifically).

I am about a quarter of the way through my first watch of Buffy (along with watching Angel). So, no spoilers.