Fade Rift Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
faderifting) wrote2020-01-06 09:45 pm
faderifting) wrote2020-01-06 09:45 pm
Applications
APPLICATIONS
Applications generally always open (unless otherwise announced and noted) and will be processed on a rolling basis, as quickly as possible.
Before applying, please read the FAQ and the Rules. In addition to a lot of other useful information, the Rules page details the caps and restrictions in place for certain character types. Native characters need to conform to Fade Rift's World State and should take a look at the Timeline of major events that have occurred in the game's version of Thedas. You may also want to check out this post about our incorporation of Veilguard canon and characters.
↠ Reserves
↠ Format Notes
↠ Native Application Form
↠ Rifter Application Form
↠ CRAU Application Form
↠ Canon Updates
↠ Apping Previously Played Characters
RESERVES
To reserve a character, you can comment to this page with a blank comment. You'll have one week to edit your comment to link to a completed application. E.g., you can post a blank comment for Dagna at 1 p.m. on June 1 and will have until that same time on June 8 to finish your application and edit the comment to include it. Do not update your comment until your application is complete. Expired reserve comments will be removed after the deadline passes. Consecutive reserves for the same character are not allowed—you must wait at least one week after your reserve expires to reserve the same character a second time.
FORMAT NOTES
Please paste your application into the comment body, rather than linking it. The subject line of your comment should include your character's name and canon (if they have one). Please don't include any images or adjust the app's style—it's plain to make it easy to read. Also, please make sure you're truly finished with your application before you post it; there are no app deadlines to meet so no rush, and we get notifications for every edit you make, which can get annoying very quickly. And note that we do strictly enforce our word count limits, even if you're only a little over!
If you need help with samples, check the the test drive meme for prompts—you're welcome to either link threads or write starters, whichever is easier for you.
NATIVE APPLICATION FORM
PLAYER
Name:
Age:
Contact:
Other Characters:
Interests: What sort of RP are you hoping for in Fade Rift? Are there particular aspects of the world you're hoping to dig into? Types of plots or threads you're excited about? Do you love action scenes? Political intrigue? Rescuing lost animals? This doesn't have to be long or complex and there is no right answer—it's to help us make sure our plots stay in line with people's interests.
CHARACTER
Name:
Canon/OC:
Journal:
Race:
Nationality:
Occupation:
Division:
Mage or Not:
Age:
History
This section has a 500 word limit. Bullet point timelines are fine! We're less interested in a list of every event in a character's canon/life, and more interested in a description of key moments that shaped the character.
For Dragon Age canon characters, you're welcome to just link to the wiki and then fill in any holes or significant headcanon as needed. If your character has been off-screen for a while since their last canon appearance, please provide a write-up of what they've been doing since their last appearance. For AU'd canon characters, please link to their canon history and write up their AU history. For OCs, just write their history.
Personality
Please describe your character's personality in 300-500 words. No need to touch on every aspect of their being, but do hit the key traits and motivations (as you see them) and demonstrate balance.
Opinions & Affiliations
This section has a 300 word limit. Please briefly note your characters' opinions on topics such as the Chantry, the Qun, the Mage/Templar War, Thedosian race relations, and anything else you feel is worth mentioning for a particular character! If your character is currently or has previously been a member of an IC organization or identifiable group other than Riftwatch, please also briefly describe their relationship with that organization or group. This includes obvious things like Templars, Seekers, Circle Mages, and Grey Wardens, but it can also be used for less organized groups such as Dalish elves, landed nobility, etc., if you have something you'd like to say on the topic that isn't covered in the personality section.
Adaptation Notes
If your character is being AU'd from another canon, please explain in 300 words or fewer how the adaptation you've chosen is a good fit for your character. This should include things like why you've chosen to make them a mage, or a particular race, or a member of a particular organization. How do these choices reflect essential aspects of their canon character? What key features are you adding or subtracting from the canon version of their story and why? There is no single right answer to this question; there may be lots of plausible ways to AU a given character. We're interested in understanding why you've chosen the things you've chosen as part of evaluating your grasp on the character and on the setting.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Basically, what are they best at, and what are they worst at? How can they assist Riftwatch and where will they be a liability? This can include personality strengths and weaknesses as well as any skills or special abilities. It is not necessary to pick a class or to provide lists of specific Dragon Age skills or skill trees, but you can use classes and skill trees as a reference to discuss what your character is and isn't good at, such as saying a mage is good at primal magic but useless with entropy, etc. It's sufficient to give us a general idea of areas and level of ability, but please make sure you mention any magical ability or significant skill/resource/connection you hope to rely on in-game. Please make sure to read and comply with the FAQ sections on character abilities.
Inventory
Please list any notable objects your character will be bringing with them. This doesn't have to be exhaustive, but weapons, magical objects, and items with plot importance must be listed if you plan to use them in the game.
Motivation
What brings your character to Riftwatch? This can be as brief as "he's got a sliver of weird magic in his hand he'd like Riftwatch to deal with" or "he wants to help," though more complex reasons are welcome, and shouldn't be more than 200 words.
SAMPLES
Please provide 2 samples. It doesn't matter if they're written or linked and we don't care if you prefer brackets or normal punctuation, but at least one of your samples must take place in the game world, and at least one must be a log rather than network tags (or their setting-appropriate equivalent). They can be of any length, as long as taken together they provide a good sense of your character and your writing ability. If we feel they aren't sufficient, we'll ask you for more.
RIFTER APPLICATION FORM
PLAYER
Name:
Age:
Contact:
Other Characters:
Interests: What sort of RP are you hoping for in Fade Rift? Are there particular aspects of the world you're hoping to dig into? Types of plots or threads you're excited about? Do you love action scenes? Political intrigue? Rescuing lost animals? This doesn't have to be long or complex and there is no right answer—it's to help us make sure our plots stay in line with people's interests.
CHARACTER
Name:
Canon/OC:
Canon Point:
Journal:
Age:
Canon World
In no more than 500 words, please describe the world your character comes from. Don't try to cover everything, just focus on the key points that an unfamiliar reviewer would absolutely have to know in order to understand your character and their abilities.
History
Please provide a summary of key points in your character's history in no more than 500 words. Bullet points are fine. If there is a wiki history for your character available, please also provide a link in addition to your summary. We're less interested in a list of every event in a character's canon/life, and more interested in a description of key moments that shaped the character.
Personality
Please describe your character's personality in 300-500 words. No need to touch on every aspect of their being, but do hit the key traits and motivations (as you see them) and demonstrate balance.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Basically, what are they best at, and what are they worst at? Where can they help and where will they be a liability? Give us a general idea of areas of expertise and level of ability. While this needn't be 100% exhaustive, any powers/magic/significant areas of expertise not listed here cannot later be used in game.
If your character has superhuman abilities, please describe these abilities in plain terms. Although Fade Rift is based on a video game, we don't write about abilities or attacks as if they are occurring in a video game. For example, characters will not have an ability called "Whirlwind" that enables them to spin in a circle and strike things with a sword. Just tell us they can use a greatsword and they're agile enough to spin in circles with it.
Please make sure to read and comply with the FAQ sections on character abilities.
Suggested Nerfs
Many (if not most) abilities from other canons will be nerfed or adapted to Thedas. We want rifters to be unique and retain what makes them fun to play, but not to be so powerful that they render natives and especially unpowered characters superfluous to missions. A list of universally applied power limits is in the FAQ (http://faderifting.dreamwidth.org/966.html#nerfs). These nerfs will apply to all rifters unless we discuss a specific exception with you. Additionally, we may place other limits on rifters' abilities to prevent them from being too powerful compared to natives and unpowered characters. So if you have a high-powered character, we encourage you to use this section of the app to suggest your own nerfs or let us know what's most and least important to you about their powerset so we can take it into consideration when we establish limits.
Arrival Inventory
What will your character have with them in the dream they arrive from? Please go ahead and list weapons, technology, and magical artifacts, though they may disappear in the passage through the Fade. And please note that we do mean what they have with them in their dream; they can arrive in plainclothes with their usual belongings from a dream about buying groceries, or they can arrive in a gorilla suit with a deflated hot air balloon from a dream that was a little less mundane.
Humanization
Please describe any ways that your character's canon form differs from that of a normal real world human. This should include all physiological differences, even if they're purely cosmetic (for instance, hair or eye color if not standard real world colors). Passage through the Fade will convert each character into a Thedas-standard human, elf, dwarf, or qunari. This means that in every physiological respect, both internal and external, they will be a member of one of those races.
If your character is not a human, elf, dwarf or qunari in their canon, which would you like them to exit the rift as?
Fit
Is there a reason you think this character would be particularly interesting in this setting? Are there particular aspects of the world you're hoping to dig into? Things about your character you think Thedas will help you explore? Will they have a personal connection to an issue, or act as a foil to another character/group/opinion? Give us a sense of what you think your character will bring to the game world and what you think they might take away from it. Basically, why did you choose this character in this game? This shouldn't be more than 300 words.
SAMPLES
Please provide 2 samples. It doesn't matter if they're written or linked and we don't care if you prefer brackets or normal punctuation, but at least one must take place in the game world, and at least one must be a log rather than network tags (or their setting-appropriate equivalent). They can be of any length, as long as they provide a sense of your character's voice and internal narrative. If we feel they aren't sufficient, we'll ask you for more.
CRAU APPLICATION FORM
PLAYER
Name:
Age:
Contact:
Other Characters:
Interests: What sort of RP are you hoping for in Fade Rift? Are there particular aspects of the world you're hoping to dig into? Types of plots or threads you're excited about? Do you love action scenes? Political intrigue? Rescuing lost animals? This doesn't have to be long or complex and there is no right answer—it's to help us make sure our plots stay in line with people's interests.
CHARACTER
Name:
Canon/OC:
Last Canon Point:
Previous Game:
Arrival Point: (At what point in the past game is your character arriving in Thedas?)
Journal:
Age:
Canon World
In no more than 500 words, please describe the world your character originally comes from. Don't try to cover everything, just focus on the key points that an unfamiliar reviewer would absolutely have to know in order to understand your character and their abilities.
Canon History
Please provide a summary of key points in your character's history in no more than 500 words. Bullet points are fine. If there is a wiki history for your character available, please also provide a link in addition to your summary. We're less interested in a list of every event in a character's canon/life, and more interested in a description of key moments that shaped the character.
Past Game History
Please provide a link to the main navigation for the game your CRAU character is arriving from, as well as a summary of key points in your character's prior game history, in no more than 500 words. Bullet points are fine. (There's no need to recount the basics of the game setting, we'll get that from the link.) We're less interested in a list of every event, and more interested in a description of key moments that shaped the character into who they are now.
Personality
Please describe your character's personality in 300-500 words. No need to touch on every aspect of their being, but do hit the key traits and motivations (as you see them) and demonstrate balance. Please make clear which aspects of their personality are from canon and which have changed as part of the CRAU. While it's expected that characters will have changed as a result of their experiences in other games, we expect that they will still remain true to the fundamental nature of the canon character, and that any development will logically follow from the events described in your history sections.
Prior CR
Please list 2 to 5 of your character's closest relationships (of any kind--canonmates or cross-canon, platonic or antagonistic or romantic) from their past game and briefly explain what that relationship was and how it influenced the character's development. This section shouldn't exceed 300 words.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Basically, what are they best at, and what are they worst at? Where can they help and where will they be a liability? Give us a general idea of areas of expertise and level of ability. While this needn't be 100% exhaustive in detail, any powers/magic/significant areas of expertise not listed here cannot later be used in game.
Please note which skills or abilities are from canon and which were developed in your prior game. If your character has superhuman abilities in canon, in their past game, or both, you can choose (1) to keep their canon power set, (2) to keep their game power set, or (3) to lose both. Your character cannot keep both game-granted abilities and canon abilities. If your character's canon abilities were removed in their previous game, you can choose to have them regain them in FR.
If your character has superhuman abilities, please describe these abilities in plain terms. Although Fade Rift is based on a video game, we don't write about abilities or attacks as if they are occurring in a video game. For example, characters will not have an ability called "Whirlwind" that enables them to spin in a circle and strike things with a sword. Just tell us they can use a greatsword and they're agile enough to spin in circles with it. And while we don't want to hear about saving throws or hit points, we do want a sense of the scale of their abilities, so please do include some ballpark parameters for stuff like how big a thing can they lift, how big a ring of fire can they create, how long can they stay transformed into a spider, etc.
Please make sure to read and comply with the FAQ sections on character abilities.
Suggested Nerfs
Many (if not most) abilities from other canons will be nerfed or adapted to Thedas. We want rifters to be unique and retain what makes them fun to play, but not to be so powerful that they render natives and especially unpowered characters superfluous to missions. A list of universally applied power limits is in the FAQ (http://faderifting.dreamwidth.org/966.html#nerfs). These nerfs will apply to all rifters unless we discuss a specific exception with you. Additionally, we may place other limits on rifters' abilities to prevent them from being too powerful compared to natives and unpowered characters. So if you have a high-powered character, please use this section of the app to suggest your own nerfs and let us know what's most and least important to you about their powerset so we can take it into consideration when we establish limits.
Arrival Inventory
What will your character have with them in the dream they arrive from? Please go ahead and list weapons, technology, and magical artifacts, though they may disappear or be bricked or altered by their passage through the Fade.
And please note that we really do mean what they have with them in their dream. They can arrive in plainclothes with their usual belongings from a dream about buying groceries, or they can arrive in a gorilla suit with a deflated hot air balloon from a dream that was a little less mundane. Since your character is arriving from a dream, they may be able to regain canon items, animals, etc. that were not permitted in their previous game.
Humanization
Please describe any ways that your character's canon form differs from that of a normal real world human. This should include all physiological differences, even if they're purely cosmetic (for instance, hair or eye color if not standard real world colors). Passage through the Fade will convert each character into a Thedas-standard human, elf, dwarf, or qunari. This means that in every physiological respect, both internal and external, they will be a member of one of those races.
If your character is not a human, elf, dwarf or qunari in their canon, which would you like them to exit the rift as?
Fit
Is there a reason you think this character would be particularly interesting in this setting? Are there particular aspects of the world you're hoping to dig into? Things about your character you think Thedas will help you explore? Will they have a personal connection to an issue, or act as a foil to another character/group/opinion? Give us a sense of what you think your character will bring to the game world and what you think they might take away from it. Basically, why did you choose this character in this game? This shouldn't be more than 300 words.
SAMPLES
Please provide 2 samples. It doesn't matter if you write a fresh top-level style starter for the app or link us to existing threads, and we don't care if you prefer brackets or normal punctuation, but at least one must be a log rather than network tags (or their setting-appropriate equivalent). One must take place in the world of Fade Rift, and the other in your previous game. They can be of any length, as long as they provide a sense of your character's voice and internal narrative. If we feel they aren't sufficient, we'll ask you for more.
CANON UPDATES
Once in Thedas, rifters don't return to their home universes unless they are dropped and later reapped by the same person. However, your character may acquire new memories from time after their originally apped canon point while asleep and traveling in the Fade. (If your character is a dwarf, please contact us for alternate options.) Your character will not change physically--no new scars, no overnight aging--but the memories will feel as real as if they've experienced them directly. This option is available to both canon and original rifter characters.
If you would like to use this mechanism to update your character, you can do so by submitting the following form as a comment during the rifter application period.
APPING PREVIOUSLY PLAYED CHARACTERS
We allow reapps of dropped characters by both the previous player and new players. Unless their players make other arrangements, dropped native characters generally fade into the background or are sent away on long-term missions. Dropped native AU characters may be reapped by their previous players with their in-game memories intact or by both previous and new players as a new person entirely, with a clean slate. Dropped rifters will have disappeared mysteriously from Thedas, unless killed off in-game prior to a drop. Previously played rifters may be reapped by their previous players with their in-game memories intact, or by both previous and new players with a clean slate.
Dropped Dragon Age canon characters are a little trickier. For characters who were only briefly present in the game or who were dropped a long time ago, it may be possible to retcon their involvement entirely and allow a new player to start fresh. For characters that were around for a while and may have established CR that other characters can't easily retcon, you can work with other players to determine what to keep and what to discard from character histories, and we can work with new players to allow for (selective) memory loss via an in-game mechanic.
If you plan to app a Dragon Age character, we recommend checking for a tag to see if they've previously been played, then contacting us to let us know if you're interested in a clean slate. If you don't want an entirely clean slate, most players who app previously played DA canon characters make OOC posts after acceptance to ask people to recap their previous CR, if any, and decide what CR to keep or change on a chase by case basis.
Ellie || The Last of Us Part II || CRAU: Meadowlark
Name: Charlie
Age: 32
Contact:
Other Characters: N/A
Interests: I love varied CR, opportunities for characters to learn and adapt in new settings that challenge their point of view, and Journeys of Personal Discovery. Ellie in particular is a fun and adaptable character who gets very attached to people, so I'd love to throw her into the mix.
Name: Ellie
Canon/OC: The Last of Us Part II
Last Canon Point: Part II, Post-game.
Previous Game:
Arrival Point: At the point of Meadowlark's game closure.
Journal:
Age: 20
Canon World
Ellie's world was ours until 2013, when a worldwide pandemic broke out overnight. A fungus (cordyceps) that had originally infected mainly insects adapted to infect human beings. Anyone bitten by an infected person or who has breathed in a significant or concentrated amount of fungal spores becomes infected themselves. Over a maximum of two days, they utterly lose their humanity and deteriorate into violent monsters, eventually sprouting spores and fungal plates. There is no known cure, and the only human being ever known to be immune is Ellie herself.
25 or so years later, humanity has crumbled into various factions in a struggle to survive. First came the Federal (FEDRA) response, resulting in Quarantine Zones and martial law. Life in the zones is highly regulated, with work assignments and rations that often aren't enough to go around. Many citizens are forced to turn to crime just to make ends meet. Orphaned children become wards of the state and are trained to become FEDRA soldiers by the time they're sixteen.
Various civilian groups rose up to rebel against FEDRA, forming factions such as the Fireflies (rebels who recruited scientists in an effort to find a cure), and the Washington Liberation Front (a militia-minded organization who overthrew FEDRA in Seattle). There are other smaller groups such as the religious zealots called the Seraphites, or the violent slavers known as the Rattlers.
Few and far between are independent human settlements like Jackson of Wyoming, where small communities have managed to gain self-sufficiency and safety with tireless group effort and highly vigilant defenders. They bolster their numbers by welcoming peaceful outsiders and engaging in trade with travelers.
Living outside of these groups, people are largely on their own, vulnerable to packs of hunters, bandits and even cannibals that prey on anyone brave enough to risk travel.
The infected are an ever-present threat everywhere, and the world is a ruin quickly being reclaimed by nature.
Ellie is intimately familiar with all of these groups, and is currently one of the few individuals able to survive on her own without outside assistance, though she risks death every day.
Canon History
History.
• Ellie was born an orphan in the Boston Quarantine Zone and raised in a military prep academy. While sneaking out with her best friend/first girlfriend Riley, both were bitten by infected. Ellie survived the bite. Riley didn't.
• Ellie went to the leader of the Fireflies, Marlene, who hired a smuggler named Joel to escort her out of the city and to a Firefly lab for a vaccine attempt.
• Joel and Ellie start a year-long journey. He teaches her about fighting, weaponry and survival. She keeps them both alive when Joel is badly injured. Ellie adapts but shows significant signs of trauma, and Joel is unable to teach her effective coping mechanisms. They form a deep familial bond.
• When they make it to the Firefly lab Marlene explains that making a vaccine will kill Ellie, but they plan to go ahead. Joel kills everyone in his way and takes Ellie from the base while she's unconscious. He lies, telling her that others with immunity were found, but a vaccine was impossible. Ellie argues, but trusts Joel enough to accept the lie. They settle in Jackson.
• At 16, Ellie uncovers the truth and corners Joel into admitting it. They both stay in Jackson but are fully estranged.
• At 19, they talk things out and begin to rebuild their relationship. The next day Joel goes missing. Ellie finds him just in time to see him be horrifically murdered by Abby, daughter of the surgeon from the lab.
• Ellie, Tommy, Dina and Jesse hunt down the group of 8 people who tortured and murdered Joel. Ellie's violence and obsession escalates until she progresses to torture. She discovers after an interrogation gone wrong that the woman she killed was pregnant. She has a complete emotional breakdown. They all agree to go home even though Abby is still alive.
• Before they leave, Abby finds them. She kills Jesse and badly injures Tommy, Dina and Ellie, before sparing them when her companion, Lev, calls out to her. Emotionally and physically shattered, Ellie takes them all home.
• Ellie attempts to build a life with her girlfriend Dina, and Ellie adopts Dina and Jesse's son JJ. She suffers from panic attacks, flashbacks and PTSD episodes that hinder her daily life, relationship and parenting. Tommy visits and tells Ellie that he knows Abby's whereabouts. After fighting with Dina, Ellie leaves in the night to hunt down Abby.
• Ellie finds and confronts an emaciated and wounded Abby. They fight until they are both on death's door. At the last moment, Ellie realizes that killing Abby won't fix anything and will only break her more. She lets her go.
Past Game History
Meadowlark Nav
• Ellie arrives and is immediately attacked by another Displaced, Callisto. She discovers her power to turn invisible and subsequently uses it to slip out of the safehouse. Lance Sweets offers her a place on his couch and though she's initially suspicious he slowly gains her trust.
• Ellie meets a variety of people and amazingly, almost all of them are friendly. She spends time with quite a few of them and explores the city, and even makes her first friend in Glimmer through an ill-fated dart game. She stumbles into a few strangers' dreams, often filled with life or death situations, and immediately jumps to helping them. They treat her kindly and genuinely care about her well-being. She remains guarded but starts to let herself be kind to people in return.
• Lance is an avid investigator of the mysteries of Meadowlark. As people argue possibilities on the network, Ellie reads over Lance's compendium of info and does some investigating on her own. Then she floats a couple of theories. While they initially seem far-fetched, she actually hits the mark and turns out to be right about both.
• Ellie's second month in Meadowlark the entire game is thrown into an AU event, and Ellie participates and wins a Hunger Games style battle royale as a teenager. She's then found by Gene, her stepbrother in this alternate world, who adopts her. Gene is a warm and loving young doctor, and Ellie experiences a happy and stable family life. She also pursues a fledgling romance with Glimmer. They all exit the AU when they're killed by a bomb. While Glimmer and Ellie decide not to continue a romantic relationship (Ellie is still messed up from canon) they remain close.
• On return, Ellie's powers grow (she learns to make others invisible alongside her) and she gains more powers from the gods of Meadowlark's world. She discovers that Joel has arrived, and manages to reunite with him. They struggle to navigate their past together and what Ellie's been through since, while reconnecting.
• Ellie discovers that Abby has arrived in Meadowlark's world. While the meeting is extremely tense and they do threaten each other, they reach an uneasy truce and agree to leave each other alone as per the end of canon. Abby later shows up in one of Ellie's dreams and they are forced to work together to open a door, or drown.
Personality
Ellie grew up an orphan in a quarantine zone inside a military preparatory academy.
Ellie's personality made this hard on her from the get-go. She's headstrong, outspoken, comfortable in her own skin and in saying what she thinks and feels, often with colorful language. Pushing just results in her pushing back, often much harder. She refuses to be intimidated and doesn't always think through the consequences of her actions. She was thrown out of several schools for stealing, fighting, running away, and insubordination. One of her first scenes in American Dreams is her running her mouth, despite being caught in a headlock.
Given initial basic kindness and a chance to warm up, Ellie is an exceptionally loyal, thoughtful and caring friend. She's got a great sense of humor and an abiding love of horrible puns, and it's not uncommon for her to lovingly tease and rile the people she likes. Though she's quick to call others out on their shit (read: Joel) she also respects their feelings enough not to pry or poke at painful things without very good reason. Empathy is a core trait for Ellie if she isn't actively suppressing it. She's the first to reflect on the remnants of lives found throughout her canon, imagining and curious, sometimes saddened. Even if she's not the most overt in her affections she pays attention to the people she cares about, and will put herself on the line for them without a second thought. Whether it's jumping into a smashed, precariously dangling helicopter to retrieve a medical kit or stealing a toy robot to gift to a friend who wasn't allowed to have one, or carrying a photograph of Joel's late daughter in her pocket for months waiting for him to be ready to look at it, Ellie cares.
Joel, Ellie's father figure and the protagonist of the first game, was a violent and broken man who lost his young daughter in the outbreak. While Joel grew warm and loving towards Ellie over time, he was not a healthy example of how to deal with loss or grief, and his decisions undermined Ellie's sense of personal agency and trust in others. Though Joel wasn't her only influence growing up, he greatly contributed to her going from more openly friendly, curious and compassionate to more withdrawn, wary, suspicious and self-contained. These days she's far less willing to extend her warmth and empathy to strangers if they pose any kind of threat, though children and vulnerable people will always inspire her better traits.
Ellie's greatest fear is ending up alone, something she admits early in canon; and through ending up the villain in someone else's story, she hit rock bottom.
In Meadowlark she was able to gain a little trust in herself and begin to heal. While she still has difficulty and some days are better than others, it was good for her to be around better role models and people who encouraged her to talk to them.
Prior CR
• Lance Sweets: The first person in Meadowlark to gain Ellie's trust. She cares deeply about him, even if she makes a point of teasing him, and has a lot of respect for his emotional intelligence. He is a good person who cares a lot about others, and she worries that goodness will get him hurt. Lance went through a lot in Meadowlark and Ellie assumed the habit of distracting him with other things, like playing instruments with her, taking walks or just offering a listening ear. At the time she left Meadowlark, Ellie was starting to tell Lance a little about her past, and how conflicted she was over it.
• Glimmer: Ellie's first real friend in Meadowlark. They're close in age and bonded over various outings, and Ellie empathized with her over her mother's death. While they had romantic interest in each other, Ellie refused to enter into a relationship with her, both because she wasn't emotionally in a place to be able to handle that, and because their life experiences were so very different. Glimmer briefly stayed in Ellie's apartment when her roommates disappeared. When Glimmer disappeared too, Ellie didn't confide in anyone and only mentioned it in passing; but that didn't mean she wasn't quietly hurting over missing her.
• Eugene Hicks: Ellie met Gene while some of the Displaced were playing a drunken game of Never Have I Ever, and they immediately took to each other. In the AU, Gene was Ellie's stepbrother, and the age gap meant that he became her guardian. He was patient, warm, and loving with her, and Ellie has a lifetime's worth of memories of being close to him and looking up to him as a role model. When they came out of the AU, Gene still considered her family.
2/2
Strengths & Weaknesses
• Can draw, paint, play guitar and sing with some skill. (Guitar would be hampered by her missing fingers)
• Skilled with handling most modern firearms (handguns, shotguns, rifles, revolvers, etc) a bow and arrow, a switchblade and other knives/knife-like weaponry, and improvised club-like weapons.
• Modding and rigging weaponry with spare parts/using basic tools to improve her armaments. Basic care of guns and bladed weaponry. Knows fuck-all about armor.
• Some skill in chemistry focusing on homemade explosives; can craft things like smoke bombs, molotov cocktails, various pressure-activated explosives, explosive arrows and nail bombs. Can craft her own arrows.
• Ellie's a decent scrapper and makes the most of dodging, to the point of dodging away from multiple enemies at once. She can escape being grappled and fights dirty. She excels at stealth and stealth takedowns, especially when armed with a knife or a bow.
• A strong swimmer.
• Can operate a motorized boat, drive a stick shift, and use simple machinery/figure out tech like a tape player fairly quickly. Can siphon gas.
• Excellent horseback rider, including in situations that expose her to mounted combat. Experience in effectively riding double, knowledge of horse-related husbandry and care of the animals and equipment. Also thinks all mounts are awesome, so there's that.
• Canonically into video games, anime, comic books, music and reading, meaning she is somewhat genre-savvy, especially when it comes to sci-fi.
• Loves dinosaurs and space and is surprisingly knowledgeable about them.
• Excellent aim with a brick or bottle and will absolutely use these and other improvised weapons in combat.
• Knows basic first aid has some basic medical knowledge, can care for various adventuring injuries with confidence. Knows how to do stitches and can do them on herself or others, and has firsthand experience/deep familiarity with acid burns.
• Skilled at hunting for food, dressing game and surviving in the wild. Passable cooking skills.
• Basic gardening skills.
• Familiar with pregnancy and infant care.
• Sheep husbandry. (No. Not kidding. Baaa.)
MEADOWLARK POWERS:
• Invisibility: Ellie can become invisible and activates this ability by holding her breath. She can turn others invisible with her touch, and can turn objects invisible if they're something she has on her person or can lift in her arms. (Can't do a building, but could definitely do a chair.) (Taken as her Blue power; Ellie's chest glows blue immediately before and after becoming invisible)
• Perfect Aim: Ellie doesn't miss when she's using ranged or projectile weaponry, so long as the target is within range/something she would be able to realistically hit. (Taken as her Gold power; Ellie's eyes glow gold when this activates.)
• Battle Spirit: In situations of physical conflict, Ellie's eyes glow gold, and her strength, speed and durability increase to 3x their normal capacity.
• Dream-sharing: This was something Ellie could do with other Displaced only back in Meadowlark, but it would be cool if this translated to some minor extra stability in the Fade. (We can also nerf this and forget it!)
Suggested Nerfs
Limiting use of Perfect Aim and Battle Spirit to a specific number of times a day, or a rough amount of time she can sustain it before she needs rest would work well. Since the powers come from shards of god-power placed inside Ellie herself, she's not drawing from anything from another world.
In Meadowlark all characters who received powers from the gods had unique abilities that didn't work with natives but activated with each other. These include emotion-sharing, memory-sharing (touch-based for both) and dream-sharing, meaning they could wander into each others' dreams regardless of distance. They can also combine their battle spirit abilities to amplify the effectiveness of that power, and gain passive wound healing as well as the ability to intuitively fight together.
Since Ellie would presumably be the only one there from Meadowlark those things probably won't apply unless other characters from there show up. I would be fine with nerfing those abilities completely, or revisiting discussing them if the situation comes up!
Arrival Inventory
Ellie usually dreams of herself as she was in canon, with the clothes on her back, her backpack (complete with collectible pins) her mother's switchblade, her handgun, Joel's revolver, her rifle, a shotgun, her bow and some arrows, her hamsa bracelet from Dina, and her sketchbook and pen. She's also carrying a sketchbook from Meadowlark, two small palm-sized moon rocks from Joel, and an old coin from Gene.
She will NOT have her fingers or the robotic prosthetics she had installed in Meadowlark.
Humanization
Human!
Fit
I love Ellie and I'm not done playing her yet. She's a great fit in games that provide combat and exploration opportunities, and she always forms interesting CR. I'd love to see how she reacts to the various areas and faces of Thedas, as well as the lore of the world. She'll be extremely suspicious of the Chantry and take every person she meets on a case by case basis.
Meadowlark Dream Log
Fade Rift Swordplay
ACCEPTED + NOTE
Your application has been approved, with the following notes:
Welcome to Fade Rift! Before you start playing, please:
You're then welcome to post an introduction to the OOC comm! Since your character is arriving via rift, you're welcome to post a rift arrival log or to begin RP in the Gallows and simply handwave that members of Riftwatch met your character on their arrival through the rift, helped them close it, and brought them to Kirkwall. If you have any questions, let us know.
no subject