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  #1  
Old Jan 1st, 2021, 02:09 AM
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Monthly Character Application Contest

Monthly Character Application Contest (MCAC)

The Pitch
Do you love the challenge of creating a new, exciting character in response to a game prompt, but don't necessarily want to commit to playing that character over the course of an actual campaign? Are you looking for an excuse to try out a character construction with rules that most GMs would disqualify? Do you want to create a character using an under-played RPG system? Are you just bored and looking for something to do on a PbP RPG website?

Then you should try the Monthly Character Application Contest!

Put your (character) creative skills to the test by composing a character application in response to a unique monthly prompt for a campaign that will never take place. At the end of the month, a winner will be declared and their excellence will be recognized by their peers.

The Rules:
1. To participate in MCAC, submit one (1) publicly-viewable character application in this thread.
2. You may update your application at your leisure until the final 48 hours (GMT) of the month.
3. Do not roll dice in this thread, nor link to other posts for proof of dice rolls. The element of chance and random numbers are generally not necessary in this contest. Instructions on what would normally be randomly-generated numbers will be provided in the monthly prompt. The judge may include exceptions to this rule in any given MCAC prompt.
4. Do not use the in-house character sheets, nor link to 3rd party character sheets. All applications should be in text, either plain or formatted to present character stats in an organized, easily-readable manner.
5. You may include one (1) image in your application.
6. The Judge(s) ruling is final.
7. The Judge(s) of the current contest cannot submit an application for the current contest, and are disqualified from winning the current contest.
8. By participating in this contest, you are declaring that you have read the rules, agree to abide by the rules, and will not argue that your ignorance of the rules should result in an exception to the rules.

 


History
Contest Contest Name Winner Winning Submission
January 2021 Who Will Save Us? Starflier Lenny
February 2021 The Strange Replacement Maestrosity Gurfell Giantslayer
March 2021 It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's...  
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Old Jan 1st, 2021, 02:09 AM
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Game NameMonthly Character Application Contest
January 2021: Who Will Save Us?
Game SystemApplicant's Choice
ThemeFrom among the people, a champion rises to save them from impending doom
FlavourHeroic? Tragic? Dramatic Coming-of-Age
Plot SummaryYou've spent your whole life in the idyllic village of Ilderthera, a tight-knit community built on hard work, easy laughter, and mutual respect. Beyond the occasional disagreement or poor harvest, there hasn't been any significant strife in Ilderthera that you can recall.

But then the invaders came.

At first, they were just a rumor. Traders started to only travel away from the direction of "the trouble." Then, refugees began to pass through the village- though none seemed inclined to stop or resettle here. Some Ildertherans spoke of fleeing inland for safety, but it was decided that they couldn't abandon everything they cherished to avoid a threat that may never manifest.

The invaders arrived with superior weapons, armor, and numbers. The destruction began. Dismay quickly eclipsed hope.

Your people are facing harsh odds, and lack a champion to rally behind. They need someone to emerge from the small population, rise to the occasion, and lead the people to victory over the vicious invaders.
ApplicationYour application should creatively incorporate elements from the plot summary, provide basic details of the system and character traits used to create your character, provide a compelling narrative read, and answer the following questions:

Who is your character?
How does your character perceive themselves?
How to they perceive the village and the villagers?
How do the villagers perceive your character?
What makes them capable of being the champion that Ilderthera needs?

Bonus Points for:
Concision (500 words or less)
Contributive Worldbuilding
Interesting system use/character construction
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Old Jan 2nd, 2021, 06:30 PM
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Unsure of how much you want in mechanics, but here's something I had in mind.

left-aligned image
Character: Estia
System: Symbaroum
Concept: In Symbaroum terms, a Self-Taught Mystic barbarian using Sorcery techniques, particularly Unholy AuraFringe-dwelling magical prodigy

Context Note: There are two human civilisations: the 'conventional' civilisation of the Ambrians, and the 'barbarians' of Davokar.

Estia has spent her whole life in Ilderthera. Her forefathers have often dabbled in arts considered more suited to the Ambrians than the grounded 'barbarian' ways. Estia has inherited little direct knowledge, but a curiosity as to what the veiled words of her worldly grandfather meant. No one else in the village acknowledged him, believing him to be a dangerous deviant.

When the Ambrian invaders came, Estia was driven into the wilderness. Alone at first, she Bushcraft trait from barbarian ancestrysurvived and hid from roving scouts. She quickly honed her nascent talents out of necessity, and is coming into her own as a self-taught mystic. By the time she rejoined other survivors from her homeland, she had honed a way to terrify and enfeeble those who came near her. Her kin welcomed her back, but noted the change within her. But whether they thought of her as a deviant like her grandfather, they didn't express it, as her talents suddenly seemed useful in a desperate situation.

As the Ambrians draw closer to their new hiding places deep within the woods, Estia fights back with ferocity. She has brought scouts to their knees in terror, and has charged at small parties of soldiers with little regard to her own safety. Her mystical talents are a slight edge, as the Ambrians typically are the more disciplined in learning these arts - they don't expect barbarians to harness sorcery. So far few Ambrian mystics have graced this front line of the campaign, but Estia's days of supremacy in this regard are numbered. She'll have to face off against more scholarly experts of the craft soon, and she pushes herself in the meantime to be ready for it.

Not only does her extreme methodology risk alienating her from her fellow villagers, but mysticism comes with risk. The more Estia uses her gifts recklessly, the more she flirts with In Symbaroum, using magic is one way of accumulating Corruption, which taints the character with a growing darkness and risks turning them into an abominationcorruption from her excesses. Already she feels the pull of something darker and less human within her. And soon she'll have to make a choice - how much is she willing to sacrifice?
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Old Jan 2nd, 2021, 09:04 PM
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Thank you for your entry, Hotsu! You're currently the front-runner for the January contest!

With regard to your uncertainty about character mechanics, I've added a blanket answer to a Q&A section of the first post. For this particular Prompt, there is no requirement for character stats. It's purely optional. Since it's open-system, it'd be pretty hard for me to assess construction accuracy of all the potential systems.
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Old Jan 3rd, 2021, 04:59 PM
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*cracks fingers* ok, i've been rattling on about wanting to try FATE so this seems like a good opportunity to practice some character creation!

Eber Javali
right-aligned image
Name: Eber Javali
Race/class: Human
High Concept: 'Simple Pig Farmer - The Hog Whisperer'

Trouble: 'The Rage' Eber has a reputation as a man who might fly off the hook at any moment. When frustrated or upset he falls into a violent rage and cannot be reasoned with.

Aspect 1: 'Dr Dolittle" Eber can talk to animals. He has kept it a secret due to fear of ridicule and conflict.

Aspect 2: 'Everything is pigs' Eber is shy and he doesn't speak much at all, but when he does it's usually about hogs and their husbadary.

Skills:
Great: {Physique}
Good: {Fight},{Contacts} (I'm thinking wild animals)
Fair: {Empathy},{Rapport},{Provoke}
Average: {Will},{ },{ },{ }

BACKGROUND

The Past-
Eber was found in the woodlands near Ilderthera; a scared, feral child living alone in the undergrowth.
He was brought back to the village and raised by a loving farmer couple, but struggled to develop language and social skills. When frustrated, or teased by the other children, Eber would break into violent, uncontrollable rage, which earned him quite the reputation in the village.

Despite these growing pains, Eber grew up relatively happy. He showed an undeniable affinity towards animals and ended up taking over a hog farm on the edge of the village.
The local 'dire-boar' population had been an issue for Ilderthera- ravaging crops, trampling fences and hunters alike, and mating with the sows to produce violent un-domesticated offspring. That is until Eber took over. Almost overnight the boar started giving the village a wide berth, and the last litter of semi-feral offspring became relatively tame.

Scared of ridicule, Eber never admitted that he was able to communicate with animals and had simply asked the boar nicely not to harass the village. Instead he settled into a secluded but happy life on the fringe of the community. Over the years people became accustomed to him, and while they still handled him carefully due to his infamous temper, or spoke down to him due to perceived lack of intelligence, he became a valued member of the village.

The present- Eber, like so many others, naively believed that the troubles would somehow pass them by. How wrong they were.

The remaining resistance, armed only with rudimentary farmers' tools and a rapidly extinguishing spark of hope, were cornered by the invaders near his farm house.

They thought he might have gone mad when he suddenly started shouting and calling to his herd of swine...
But then they answered.
100 or so semi-wild pigs came charging towards them, easily taking out the fences of their enclosure, streaming neatly around the villagers and then closing on the invaders, hoof and tusk. The horde chased the confused army off into the woods before taking advantage of their well earned freedom.

The villagers were exhausted and confused, but overcome with gratitude. They turned to Eber with reverence. For now the facts of the matter were irrelevant. He was a hero.
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Old Jan 6th, 2021, 04:36 AM
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Let's give this a try.

Game SystemDungeons and Dragons 5th edition









RhiannonIldethera is her home, and her responsibility. The townsfolk treat her with deference and respect, but they are none too comfortable with her, whispering tales of the witch at the edge of town, almost into the forest.

But she was never an evil creature, just a bit capricious and odd. For one thing, she never seemed to age. And she lived alone, not doing the proper thing, and becoming betrothed to a man of the town, settling down, and having children.

The witch knew things, things about nature, about the weather, and about people. When the invaders came, their horses trampling the grasslands, it was an annoyance. But when they started destroying the town--HER TOWN--they had gone too far. Her countenance grew dark, and the darker it got, the darker the sky got. The clouds blotted out the sun. The air got cold, the winds gusted. The invading force was pelted from above. At first, the sleet, then hail. They never observed the witch, but there was a white stag that no one had ever seen in the area before. Some of the soldiers thought it might make a great meal for their platoon, and fired arrows at it, but as soon as they attempted it, their arrows would suddenly shoot up into the sky. At night, packs of wolves would worry the invaders, some of them being mauled.

Their horses would rear up for no apparent reason. It was all too strange, and they thought to find another route, one where they didn't need to pass through Ildethera. Some of their scouts went back into the hills, to tell their fellows to avoid this glen.


20th level druid. I don't think I'd ever get to actually play her, except as an NPC.
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Old Jan 14th, 2021, 07:50 AM
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Excellent submissions thus far!

We're at about the halfway mark for January. Plenty of time for new submissions and plenty of time for revisions.

Don't forget that all submissions and revisions must be complete by the final 48 hours of the month, meaning that January's deadline in Friday, the 29th!
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Old Jan 18th, 2021, 04:58 PM
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Lenny
right-aligned image

System: Cypher

Character: Lenny is a DescriptorBrash TypeExplorer with Technology Flavour who FocusWorks for a Living

The Broadcast: As though living in boring ol’ Ilderthera wasn’t bad enough already, what with the world’s largest junkyard and the endless shrimp farms, now there’s an army of reverse cyborgs rolling in looking for spare parts. Yeah, reverse cyborgs are a thing; who knew? Apparently some a-hole tried to teach a machine to be more human and… well, some things got lost in translation. Nightmare fuel right there, I tell ya, but then again Ilderthera sure as hell ain’t boring anymore!

Now, you might get the impression I’m not much of a people person, and hey, that’s fair. I keep the water plant working and the locals still try to charge me full credits for used parts, like they somehow wouldn’t all die of thirst if the place broke down. Honestly, if the townsfolk had an ounce of smarts between ‘em I could show ‘em how to run the plant and head off to a real town, but alas, poor Yorick! Their cup does not runneth over, and so here I am saving everyone’s lives as usual. For free, mind you.

Now I know you’re thinking, ’Wow Lenny, stopping a reverse cyborg army all by yourself is pretty amazing!. While you’re partly right, I am amazing, I’ve actually got some help with the reverse cyborg situation. There’s sweet, beautiful, dumb-as-the-rocks-he-was-carved-out-of Johnny, and then there’s Min-ko, who had best be keeping her peepers off my Johnny and her knives outta my back. Not exactly the dream team, but we’re making it work. We’ve taken to hiding in the scrapyard, because again I cannot stress this enough, they’re reverse cyborgs. Also, I can make bombs out of just about everything in this place, which is turning out to be really helpful.

So, anyways, if you’re hearing this and ain’t got nothing better to do, grab a gun, or two, or ten, and come on down to Ilderthera to help us out. Regular cyborgs welcome. Just watch out for the land mines and circuit scramblers and… on second thought, maybe call ahead.
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Old Jan 22nd, 2021, 07:26 PM
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There is roughly 7 days remaining to apply. There will be more, but this is your only chance to win the FIRST Monthly Character Application Contest!
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Old Jan 27th, 2021, 08:22 PM
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Akare
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System: Generic

Character: Akare is a local athlete turned adventurer.

Backstory: It seemed like just yesterday that Akare was training to take first place in as many of the national olympics as possible. Sprinting, marathon running, chariot racing, and horseback archery were among the events that he felt most prepared for. However, just a few weeks before he was set to leave, word reached his village that the games were cancelled and all able bodied young men were to report to their local garrison to prepare for battle against foreign invaders.

Stunned, disappointed, and terrified, Akare numbly went through the slapped together training sessions until their first orders came. His unit was to guard a caravan of supplies to the front lines, then support the units all ready there until new help orders arrived. When they were a mere two days away from their destination, the caravan was attacked by raiders. Soldier and noncombatant alike were slaughtered. However, it was in this moment that something snapped in Akare's mind, or maybe something clicked. For in the heat of battle, he broke one of the horses free from a wagon's harness, grabbed whip its driver had carried and charged the enemy, whip cracking all the while. His suicidal recklessness caught them off guard and he was able to wrap the whip around the leader's neck and drag him across the ground behind the horse. Only the leader's neck snapping from the force freed him from the whip. When Akare circled back for a second victim, the raiders broke rank and fled.

Unitless, and objectiveless, Akare decided not to follow through with his orders. There was no point. He had no unit, and the people he was supposed to protect were all dead. Rather than risk being punished for his failure, Akare returned home. it wasn't far from his position, and being so close to the battlegrounds, his family and friends were almost certainly in danger. If he could do something to prevent another massacre of those closest to him, he was going to take it.
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Old Jan 29th, 2021, 07:22 PM
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DEADLINE

Applications are now closed. Please do not modify your applications.

The review period will last 48 hours, at which point a winner will be announced.

Thank you to all participants for making the January 2021 MCAC a success!
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Old Jan 31st, 2021, 07:02 PM
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Wow, you all certainly made this a difficult decision. To determine the winner, I ended up having to carefully analyze and compare the exact wording of the prompt to carefully weigh how well the applications adhered to what was asked. Excellent work, everyone!

The WinnerThe Monthly Character Application Contest for January 2021 Gold One goes to the contestant that demonstrated a fun narrative spin, an expanded interpretation of the prompted setting, inventive worldbuilding, and even created a small party of side-kicks.

Join me in congratulating Starflier for their winning application: Lenny, who will save Ilderthera from the invading army of Reverse Cyborgs by making bombs out of whatever junk happens to be hanging around!


Great work, Starflier! Lenny is a really fun character to read, and I found myself drawn to the idea of their continuing adventures with Johnny and Min-ko.


Stay tuned for the February prompt!
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Old Jan 31st, 2021, 07:15 PM
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Woo! Congrats Starflier!

This is fun. I can experiment with different concepts and game systems here without worrying about whether I'd have time to actually play another character.
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Old Jan 31st, 2021, 08:22 PM
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I didn't know this was a thing... But I'm sure interested in it now!
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Old Jan 31st, 2021, 09:06 PM
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I didn't know it was a thing either until I saw it mentioned on the wishes thread.

Looks like fun
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