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Fade Rift Mods ([personal profile] faderifting) wrote2020-01-06 09:45 pm
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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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only
aberratic: (Default)

ennaris "ness" tavane | d&d oc

[personal profile] aberratic 2024-07-11 11:14 pm (UTC)(link)

PLAYER

Name: Nina (formerly in game as Nat)
Age: 30+
Contact: [plurk.com profile] supersoldier or pm
Other Characters: None
Interests: Libby has promised me adoption and magic menteeing, and I will not be denied.


CHARACTER

Name: Ennaris "Ness" Tavane
Canon/OC: Dungeons & Dragons OC
Canon Point: Post-death on the nautiloid
Journal: [profile] tadfool
Age: 20

Canon World
The world of Faerûn is much like the world of Dragon Age—vaguely medieval setting, magic, elves, dwarves, the whole bit. It differs in a few key places, however:

Magic in the Forgotten Realms comes either from the manipulation of the Weave, which can be seen as Faerûn's equivalent of the Fade, or the gods. Anyone can learn to manipulate the Weave through rigorous study, some are born with the power to manipulate it, and still others learn to tap into its power by making pacts with powerful entities. While magic is somewhat unusual in Faerûn, it is not a source of fear and distrust like it is in Thedas—no mage in Faerûn is more susceptible to demons than anyone else.

In Faerûn, elves are much as they are in Tolkien's legendarium: ethereal, powerful beings who are longer lived than humans and have their own forest-dwelling societies away from the cities of man. If elves are ever enslaved or subjugated, it's definitely not a systemic problem. Half-elves carry features of their elven parents to a lesser degree, so a half-elf in the Forgotten Realms may have slightly pointed ears, be slightly taller than other humans, and so on.

Other than these points, the world of the Forgotten Realms will be very familiar to anyone familiar with Dragon Age; the differences are mostly cosmetic.

History
Ennaris Tavane's first memory is the argument her parents had when deciding which of them should be the one to raise her. Mother's life would be too dangerous, the woman claimed, while her father insisted that a library was no place for a toddler. Ness listened from a corner of the room and learned that she is a burden her own parents will squabble to be rid of.

She was four years old, and it's a lesson she never quite forgot.

Eventually, her father relented. Ness loved books, and seeing himself in her thawed Vazeiros somewhat to the idea of raising a child. Her mother left to continue adventuring, and neither Ness nor her father ever saw her again.

Growing up in Candlekeep, the library her father had escaped to after one hundred years of slavery in his native Menzoberranzan, Ness was a friendly, studious child. She excelled in her lessons and stayed out of trouble, certain that if she gave anyone reason to dislike her she would be sent away from the only home she had ever known. Throughout the years, she took on odd jobs around the library and its grounds to make herself useful, from cleaning to food prep to animal care, in hopes of making herself less of a burden. She made some friends, but there weren't many permanent residents of Candlekeep in her age range, so mostly she had pen pals.

When Ness was 15, Netherese wizards invaded the library. She survived the attack, as did her father, but many of her tutors did not, including one particular monk she privately considered her only real parental figure. She has had an intense and abiding hatred for all things Nether ever since.

At 20 years old, having reached maturity, Ness was faced with a dilemma: would she take orders and become Avowed, tied to the library forever, or did she want to leave and begin a new life outside the bounds of Candlekeep? She loved the library and always had, but was its care and preservation truly her life's calling? On the other hand, if she left Candlekeep without taking orders, she would be subject to the same rules as any other Seeker, and may never be allowed to return to her childhood home again.

In the end, she chose to leave, going with one of the merchant caravans headed for Baldur's Gate with intent to get a job, perhaps, or apprentice with a tradesman if she was lucky. Fate had a different plan, however, as she was abducted onto a mindflayer nautiloid on only her second day outside of the library. Before she could be implanted with a mindflayer tadpole, an attack rocked the nautiloid, sending her face-first into the tadpole brine. This contact with the brine gave her access to a new, strange magic—magic which she was unable to ever use, as she was murdered by the same githyanki whose attack saved her minutes before.


Personality
While Ness would be reluctant to claim that she had ever been mistreated in any way, the fact of the matter is that neither of her parents wanted her, and neither of them attempted to hide that fact from her. Due to this, Ness has what she would consider a very matter-of-fact understanding of her own worth; that is, that she's not special, she's no one's first choice, and she'll be lucky to find anyone who likes her half as much as she likes them. To her, this is a just the way her life is, and no more worth railing at than any other immutable fact of the world. Rather, she makes people like her by making herself useful and trying to be as little of a burden as possible, in hopes that it will forestall the inevitable moment that they find someone more engaging, more interesting, more pretty than her. This low opinion of herself can lead Ness to make self-destructive choices while simultaneously convincing herself that she's just being logical about having the least to lose.

Ness is a kind, idealistic person, rendered more than a little naïve by the ease of her upbringing—she never went hungry, she never lacked a roof over her head, and she knew only occasional periods of turmoil. Despite this, she has a degree of self-awareness, having had access to the journals and stories of people from all walks of life in Candlekeep, which keeps her from being entirely stupid about the rest of the world. This also means she can be, unknowingly, incredibly condescending, believing she understands people better than she does just because she's read a book. While this could easily be (and often is) very frustrating for the people around her, Ness manages to offset it by being extremely willing to learn, and very invested in doing right by people. When she's called out for being a condescending idiot, she may mope about it for a little while, but she comes back with a ready apology and a sincere desire to do better.

Though it's not her most defining characteristic, Ness does have a relatively strong sense of pride, which is one of the only things that can get her to become outright argumentative or difficult. She's not willing to debase herself, even if it would be the easier option, or might smooth over a botched interaction, and will balk at any suggestion that she should be willing to do so. She's not prone to tantrums when her pride is wounded, but it's very much a "Ness will remember that" situation.

aberratic: (Default)

[personal profile] aberratic 2024-07-11 11:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Strengths & Weaknesses
In her "canon", Ness is a level 1 sorcerer who died before she could even realize she had magic. Depending on the pace of a campaign, it could take anywhere from a few months to a year or more of lifestyle adventuring for a D&D PC to reach max level; however, max level in D&D comes with abilities that would be nerfed immediately as too powerful. Given that, Ness will max out at level 12, which she could achieve in two to three years with regular magical training, or four to five with less regular training. Given also that D&D PCs have more power than your average Dragon Age mage, I've trimmed the list of Ness' abilities from what she could have in D&D to what spells and abilities I'm most interested in playing with, as well as nerfed things like range and area of effect from the start so there's less ground to cover in the nerfs section. This is still going to be very long, and I apologize in advance.

Abilities she has immediate access to are as follows:
Drow Abilities— Ness can see normally in dim light to a distance of 60 feet and in shades of grey in non-magical darkness. She is difficult to magically charm, and can't be magically put to sleep. Her father taught her the Dancing Lights cantrip, which summons four small orbs which each shed bright light in a radius of 10 feet.

Cantrips— Ness has access to three cantrips: She can point her finger toward someone within 60 feet of her and Message them in a whisper only they can hear, to which they can respond; Mind Sliver drives a disorienting spike of psychic energy into the mind of one creature Ness can see within 60 feet of her, causing them a bit of pain and making them easier to affect with other spells and attacks for a brief period; Ness can Prestidigitate a minor magical trick, including creating harmless sensory effects, lighting or snuffing out small fires, cleaning or soiling small objects, chilling, warming, or flavoring a small area of nonliving material for an hour, making a small mark appear on an object or surface for an hour, or creating a trinket or image that can fit in her hand for six seconds.

Spells— At first level, Ness has access to three spells: Ness can call on the Arms of Hadar to cause tendrils of dark energy to erupt from her and batter all creatures within arm's reach of her, incurring damage and possibly dulling their reaction times; Charm Person compels a target Ness is in conversation with to treat her as a friendly acquaintance for an hour, but is more easily resisted if the target is in combat with Ness or her companions, and when the spell ends the target knows it was charmed; she assaults a target within 60 feet of her with Dissonant Whispers, wracking it with terrible psychic pain and forcing it to move as far as possible from her as quickly as possible.

Aberrant— Ness can form a telepathic connection with someone she can see within 30 feet of her, allowing her to speak telepathically with them while they're within 4 miles of each other for one minute. The connection ends if she's incapacitated or dies, or if she forms a connection with someone else.

With training, Ness will have access to the following abilities:
Drow Magic— At third level Ness gains the ability to cast Faerie Fire, which causes objects and creatures in a 10 foot cube within 60 feet of her to become outlined in violet light, making them shed dim light in a 5 foot radius and rendering them easier to hit and preventing them from moving stealthily. Later, at fifth level, she can create a 10-foot-radius sphere of magical Darkness for up to ten minutes, which cannot be illuminated by nonmagical light and can't be seen through even by creatures with darkvision.

Spells— Starting at third level Ness can attempt to Calm Emotions in a 10-foot-radius sphere within 60 feet of her, either causing the people within the sphere to shake off charm magic or fear, or making them indifferent to creatures they would otherwise be hostile toward; a jagged iron Crown of Madness afflicts someone within 60 feet of her for one minute, which allows her to choose a creature within reach for the target to attack; for up to a minute she can Detect Thoughts by focusing her mind on any one visible creature within 30 feet of her, learning only surface thoughts unless she attempts to probe deeper, at which point the spell ends and the creature knows its mind has been read, or if there is a hidden creature within range of the spell, she can detect its presence by reading its thoughts; Hold Person paralyzes a target within 60 feet of Ness for up to a minute.

By fifth level she can make someone within 60 feet of her believe that Enemies Abound, so that they can't tell friend from foe and must choose their next target at random from among all the creatures they can see; a Hypnotic Pattern of colors appears inside a 10 foot cube within 60 feet of her for a moment which incapacitates any creature in the area which sees it.

At seventh level Confusion can assault each creature in a 10-foot-radius sphere, spawning delusions and provoking random actions; Evard's Black Tentacles fill a 10-foot square on the ground within 60 feet of Ness for up to a minute, making the area difficult to traverse and battering and attempting to restrain anyone caught within.

At ninth level Ness can attempt to Dominate Person, establishing a telepathic link with someone within 60 feet of her for up to a minute, through which she can issue commands they must do their best to obey; Rary's Telepathic Bond forges a telepathic link among up to four willing creatures within 30 feet of Ness for one hour, during which time the targets can communicate telepathically over any distance; she can cause Synaptic Static to explode in a 10-foot-radius sphere within 60 feet of her, causing psychic pain and muddled thoughts to any creature caught in the blast.

At the height of her power at level 12, Ness can attempt to plant a Mass Suggestion in the minds of up to twelve people within 60 feet of her for up to 24 hours after the casting of the spell. The suggestion must be limited to a sentence or two, and must be a reasonable course of action which does not incur any damage to the suggestees. If affected by the spell, the suggestee will follow the course of action described to the best of their ability, ending the spell on them once the appointed task is complete. If the suggested activity is not triggered before the spell ends, it is not performed.

Suggested Nerfs
Barring an adjustment and training period lasting no longer than one AC period at the beginning of her time in Thedas, which would be opt-in for any parties involved, all psychic/telepathic abilities must be turned on, so to speak—Ness would not be in anyone's head without consciously and deliberately choosing to be. For any charm/enchantment effects, they would be immediately ended if Ness or anyone allied with her attacked the target of the charm, and there would be a visual marker such as a glow or aura that surrounded her and her target so that it would be possible to connect her with the sudden debilitating headache her target is experiencing. Arms of Hadar could have the tentacles spring from her anchor shard, while Evard's Black Tentacles could function by opening a small rift through which the tentacles appear.

These abilities, while powerful, track neatly with blood magic in Thedas, which in my view is a nerf in itself and is in fact what I'm most interested in playing with: if Ness uses these abilities too much, or in front of the wrong people, she will be considered a blood mage and her life will get Much Harder. That tension between knowing she can help, and knowing what may happen to her if she helps in the wrong way or in front of the wrong person, will keep her from utilizing most of these abilities unless not doing so could mean the death of herself or someone she wants to protect. She'll primarily use her psychic abilities only with people she trusts, and wouldn't offer them up as a way to make missions easier for fear of being labeled a blood mage. The more powerful spells she could gain—Dominate Person, Rary's Telepathic Bond, and Mass Suggestion, plus any others you deemed appropriate—would be as taxing for her as mending a near-fatal wound might be for a spirit healer, and would wipe out her casting ability for hours if not days afterward while she recovered from the massive energy expenditure.

As for Mass Suggestion, I know that it affecting up to 12 people for 24 hours are both very high numbers, but I wasn't sure what more appropriate numbers would be. There is also the lower level D&D spell Suggestion, which operates on the same principles but only affects one person and only lasts for eight hours. As this would be her "capstone" ability, achieved only after years put into training her magic, I thought it would be appropriate to have the suggestion affect more than one person for a more extended period of time, but I also understand that this is a collaborative game and that may make her too powerful, so if it has to be nerfed down to plain Suggestion levels, that would be entirely fair. Were that the case, it would still remain her capstone ability.

I would also put up an opt-in page for people to consent to her telepathy being used on their characters.

Arrival Inventory
Ness will arrive with the clothes on her back and nothing else. She could, if you're feeling frisky, bring a newborn mindflayer with her for Riftwatch to kill, but other than that she's got nothing but herself.

Humanization
Ness is a half three quarter elf in Faerûn, with the attendant pointy ears. Due to her father's drow elf coloring, her skin is faintly purple, and her blonde hair is streaked with white. Her connection to aberrant, mindflayer-tinged magic turned her right eye, normally lavender, pitch black, and left a sort of creeping darkness emanating from it. In Thedas, she'll arrive as an elfblooded human, with peachy skin and two blue eyes instead of lavender, and none of the creeping darkness caused by the aberrant magic.

Fit
Ness is dead in Faerûn, and even if she wasn't, she didn't leave behind any great quest or anyone she feels obligated to. In light of this, she has no reason to want to go back, and will be very determined to make Thedas her new home. Despite being broadly progressive as far as Thedosian politics go, she'll be invested enough in assimilating and avoiding notice as a faux-blood mage that she's not willing to rock the boat by trying to effect any change in the world. She will also be fairly harsh on blood magic, as a way to divert suspicion from her own less than savory magical abilities. As far as day-to-day activities, she considers chronicling historical events for posterity one of the most important things any society can do, and will want to either start or join in on any effort to collect first-hand accounts of the events that have taken place since the Conclave. Additionally, even though her elfiness was never a large part of her identity in Faerûn, she may lean further into that elfiness in response to losing the visible markers of her heritage.

SAMPLES

TDM top-level
Midnight Texting meme tag-in
Edited (misremembered a spell name, mind spike -> mind sliver) 2024-07-17 20:52 (UTC)
faderifting: (Default)

ACCEPTED + NOTES (correct location version)

[personal profile] faderifting 2024-07-18 03:33 am (UTC)(link)
WELCOME

Your application has been approved. Your proposed nerfs work for us—it's almost like you've had to deal with us trying to nerf D&D before!—with a couple notes
↠ Arms of Hadar doesn't need to be specifically tied to her anchor, and Evard's Black Tentacles won't be able to come from an open rift; for plot reasons, opening a rift is in itself a difficult feat, and one we'd prefer happen rarely and not necessarily on command.

↠ We're going to cap Mass Suggestion at six people and twelve hours, just to somewhat cut down on the number of problems/plots Ness could single-handedly solve with that one ability. (Of course you'll also need to work with us and other players to find reasons to avoid that when a given situation only involves six or fewer enemy NPCs who are all within 60 feet of each other at once who could be fully thwarted by a simple suggestion, but there should be fewer situations where that's an issue this way.) Additionally, while she won't need to keep these people directly in her line of sight, the suggestion's strength and staying power will depend on her continued proximity and focus. If she or the targets leave the area or if she stops devoting active attention/energy to enforcing the suggestion, the targets could continue acting on the suggestion by rote, but it may be disrupted—for example, by someone asking the influenced person what they're doing and why and causing them to directly think about whether it makes sense.

↠ She'll find that any ability that exerts mental control over another person can't override the blight-based control used by the Old Gods and Corypheus & Co.

↠ Ness' spells will all be affected by the use of Templar abilities, native mages' anti-magic spells, and magebane.

↠ It probably goes without saying, but everything will need to come with a chance of failure or resistance. You don't have to roll for anything (unless you feel like it), but the possibility of a spell missing its target or someone shaking off her control will still be there and can be used whenever narratively fun.

↠ Due to the strength/broad utility of her listed abilities, she won't have additional specialization slots that can be used to bring in more spells in the future—though she can of course pick up additional nonmagical skills through RP. If you decide in the course of playing her here that you want to trade some of her yet-unlearned spells for something else, drop by the Mod Contact page to let us know!
Welcome back to Fade Rift! Before you start playing, please:
↠ Read the Rifter FAQ and particularly the sections relating to Arrival and Anchors.
↠ Join the Log, "Network," OOC, and (optional) Meme comms.
↠ Reply to the Taken List.
↠ Reply to the Player Contact List.
↠ Take a look at the most recent mod post concerning the state of the game and any plot sign-ups that may be ongoing.
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.
aberratic: (Default)

[personal profile] aberratic 2024-07-18 03:40 am (UTC)(link)
ty mods, these notes sound fine to me! only one question, is she coming through with the newborn mindflayer or no?
faderifting: (Default)

[personal profile] faderifting 2024-07-18 03:42 am (UTC)(link)
That’s fine! As long as it’s killed during the arrival.
aberratic: (Default)

[personal profile] aberratic 2024-07-18 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
thedas doesn't need mindflayers added to all its other problems, this squid is getting so murdered. thank you!
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