ooc Salem University OOC (Open)

[Duality 10,738]

 

4 hours ago, Lektra Bolt said:

To understand how I've implemented Magitek, you'd have to read how I've explained and defined it for Equestria setting. It's all outlined in the profile and I'll work with you to make it viable here 

It would be an absolute pleasure to read how you've explained and defined it, but I don't actually have your character's bio or even their name. I could make some fairly solid inferences from your username and profile theme, but what with this character database overhaul I'm not sure whether I'd find the right bio even then. 

4 hours ago, Lektra Bolt said:

A Magitek object in a non pony setting is a combination of technology and magic. Magic is applied to the technology to improve it's function, such as a simple boosting spell enchanted to a CPU to make it faster

Magitek as my character implements it is not a new form of magic, but a branch of enchanting by applying and converting an existing spell to enhance a machine

Once enchanted, the object doesn't need the practitioner anymore, except for maintenance and repair. Anyone can use it

This sounds much like how enchanting already works in this setting, so you should be fine on that count. I think the only real restriction on enchanting that's been established is that the enchantment only works if the practitioner knows what they're intending to accomplish with it on a physical level, meaning that your character would have to understand the workings of a range of technologies right down to the function of patterns in their circuitry before being able to enchant them to any practical standard (in other words, they can't enchant anything they're clueless about but as long as they have theoretical knowledge of how the object to be enchanted works their enchantment will also work). This is pretty standard as restrictions go, though, so again you should be fine.

4 hours ago, Lektra Bolt said:

So as I'd like to do it, she has electromagnetism (this alows for lightning generation and control, magnetism, as well as electronic technology manipulation as one power) and is an enchanter specializing in magical engineering and design. She would be teaching this to students with similar inclinations

This sounds good - electromagnetism powers (light, electricity, magnetism) coupled with enchanting abilities and a good dose of engineering skill to put it into practice. They'd be quite a modest multipower as multipowers go, so there's plenty of room for specialisation. Lightning as a commonplace power is mostly restricted to weather mages channelling it from existing thunderstorm clouds, though, since the raw amount of electricity needed to actually create lightning from scratch (1,000,000 kJ per bolt, or enough to power the average human body for half a year without food) is enough that your character would be able to punch charred holes through an awful lot of folks at Salem.

[Lektra Bolt 2,337]

1 hour ago, Duality said:

It would be an absolute pleasure to read how you've explained and defined it, but I don't actually have your character's bio or even their name. I could make some fairly solid inferences from your username and profile theme, but what with this character database overhaul I'm not sure whether I'd find the right bio even then. 

I was actually one of the first forum users to not only convert to the new system after almost a complete deletion by the staff of an important section, but overhaul and refine from a paper backup. I keep my main character as my namesake linked to in my signature, but of course you can also check my profile content. Should have no problem finding the right one 

1 hour ago, Duality said:

This sounds much like how enchanting already works in this setting, so you should be fine on that count. I think the only real restriction on enchanting that's been established is that the enchantment only works if the practitioner knows what they're intending to accomplish with it on a physical level, meaning that your character would have to understand the workings of a range of technologies right down to the function of patterns in their circuitry before being able to enchant them to any practical standard (in other words, they can't enchant anything they're clueless about but as long as they have theoretical knowledge of how the object to be enchanted works their enchantment will also work). This is pretty standard as restrictions go, though, so again you should be fine.

Right. That's fair enough, and she already does have a lot of knowledge on as much tech as she's able to consume information about on a daily basis, constantly expanding. Then there's also just doing scans of unknowns, as scans usually go 😉

1 hour ago, Duality said:

This sounds good - electromagnetism powers (light, electricity, magnetism) coupled with enchanting abilities and a good dose of engineering skill to put it into practice. They'd be quite a modest multipower as multipowers go, so there's plenty of room for specialisation. Lightning as a commonplace power is mostly restricted to weather mages channelling it from existing thunderstorm clouds, though, since the raw amount of electricity needed to actually create lightning from scratch (1,000,000 kJ per bolt, or enough to power the average human body for half a year without food) is enough that your character would be able to punch charred holes through an awful lot of folks at Salem.

So is that a no I can't generate electricity at all, or it would be too weird and not possible as implemented in the setting? Both? I was thinking more along the lines of just being able to generate/manipulate it on a smaller scale, with the electricity portion being based on Static. I'm not literally going to have the same potential as an actual bolt of lightning that strikes from the sky.

That was probably a poor choice of words? I mean along the lines of AC, so it could still kill if misused, but not make holes in things or people

The idea is a magical combination of Static, a not unfair for RP Magneto, and fairly standard technology manipulation granted by a having combination of both of these. If one has power of electrical and magnetism, one can manipulate and affect regular modern electronic technology

The electricity would be used to charge an object for manipulation like Static does or just solidify the electricity into a solid object like a spear, ball, or chains

I then add enchanting as applied to technology to make it magical because I enjoy the science, and engineering because before I add the electronic components and enchantment, the mechanical components must work properly as well. So there's a fair bit of Gear in here as well in practical form

Of course we're pretty much agreed this is too much for a student

What do you think?

Edited July 18, 2019 by Lektra Bolt

[Duality 10,738]

3 hours ago, Lektra Bolt said:

I was actually one of the first forum users to not only convert to the new system after almost a complete deletion by the staff of an important section, but overhaul and refine from a paper backup. I keep my main character as my namesake linked to in my signature, but of course you can also check my profile content. Should have no problem finding the right one 

Ah, no wonder I couldn't figure it out - signatures aren't shown on the mobile version of the site. I couldn't find any links in your About Me either, so do correct me if this is the wrong bio:

A few questions about what's in the bio - would she still be a company heiress? What level of personal technology would she use? Emotional processing units and similar seem ill-fitting to the setting, but did you have any other original ideas for types of technology she might dabble in?

3 hours ago, Lektra Bolt said:

So is that a no I can't generate electricity at all, or it would be too weird and not possible as implemented in the setting? Both? I was thinking more along the lines of just being able to generate/manipulate it on a smaller scale, with the electricity portion being based on Static. I'm not literally going to have the same potential as an actual bolt of lightning that strikes from the sky.

The electricity would be used to charge an object for manipulation like Static does or just solidify the electricity into a solid object like a spear, ball, or chains

Of course we're pretty much agreed this is too much for a student

What do you think? 

Oh, my mistake, I thought you meant actual lightning powers on top of the aforementioned electrical abilities. Generation of electricity is quite all right, along of course with the abilities to manipulate it, charge objects to manipulate and so on, although 'solidifying' electricity into objects seems a bit beyond the scope of the power - force projection or telekinesis seems more that way inclined.

Teacher status is fine and dandy, too, but could I get all this compactified into a character application? The template is at the bottom of the first post in this thread, just for easy reference and to make sure I haven't rolled any nat 1 perception checks. 

 

 

@Denim&Venom

I'm going to be away from the internet for the next two days starting late tomorrow, but I intend to post as soon as I get back - looking forward to it, in fact. I would have done it today but my packing for the weekend took much longer than expected.

[Lektra Bolt 2,337]

33 minutes ago, Duality said:

Ah, no wonder I couldn't figure it out - signatures aren't shown on the mobile version of the site. I couldn't find any links in your About Me either, so do correct me if this is the wrong bio:

A few questions about what's in the bio - would she still be a company heiress? What level of personal technology would she use? Emotional processing units and similar seem ill-fitting to the setting, but did you have any other original ideas for types of technology she might dabble in?

Oh, my mistake, I thought you meant actual lightning powers on top of the aforementioned electrical abilities. Generation of electricity is quite all right, along of course with the abilities to manipulate it, charge objects to manipulate and so on, although 'solidifying' electricity into objects seems a bit beyond the scope of the power - force projection or telekinesis seems more that way inclined.

Teacher status is fine and dandy, too, but could I get all this compactified into a character application? The template is at the bottom of the first post in this thread, just for easy reference and to make sure I haven't rolled any nat 1 perception checks. 

 

 

@Denim&Venom

I'm going to be away from the internet for the next two days starting late tomorrow, but I intend to post as soon as I get back - looking forward to it, in fact. I would have done it today but my packing for the weekend took much longer than expected.

Funny thing I discovered, you can see signatures on mobile if you turn your device sideways, and yea it's the right profile

I mean if you aren't alright with making solid objects out of electricity, that's fine, we'll nix that here no problem

She would use personal technology that is a bit more advanced than what we have IRL (due to the magical element making it work better than it does for us), since she tends to try to look inconspicuous to regular humans most of the time. I've actually described the tech she uses in the EG version, so we'll kinda meld the two in a way I guess if you want to take a look. That's what tends to happen when I convert to a non pony RP that is also non EG. Parts of the pony make it into the human and the reverse is also true 

Look here 

Don't actually think of it as mostly original technology. Think of it as Magitek being magical implementations of IRL or sci-fi technology, then it makes sense as to why things are called what they are. They don't exist in Equestria, so I have to create them. So we could also just nix that as well, since that's in pony version and pony version only, for a world that doesn't already have it implemented. Since it's implemented we could go with another idea, below

What if she doesn't necessarily make original technology per se, but prefers to enchant what already exists? She will build her own high powered CPU for example, enchant it to be even more powerful, and then use it. So all her stuff is self made and self enchanted, but its not new technology in the sense that most of it would probably already exist

Her business is actually largely 'mods', even in the pony version, where she makes things work better by adding enchantments to it. There is very little actual original technology, and what I've already described is pretty much all she has on her person. Everything else I'll probably make up as I go, if that's OK with you

I'll fill in an actual form soon, and we'll decide on a history to see if she's gonna be a company heiress in this or not

Edited July 18, 2019 by Lektra Bolt

[Duality 10,738]

On 7/18/2019 at 10:09 PM, Lektra Bolt said:

She would use personal technology that is a bit more advanced than what we have IRL (due to the magical element making it work better than it does for us), since she tends to try to look inconspicuous to regular humans most of the time. I've actually described the tech she uses in the EG version, so we'll kinda meld the two in a way I guess if you want to take a look. That's what tends to happen when I convert to a non pony RP that is also non EG. Parts of the pony make it into the human and the reverse is also true 

So the on-her-person tech is pretty much a jetpack, AR goggles, a holographic watch, and a robot buddy? That sounds pretty reasonable - AI is relatively hard to get right even with magic involved, but a one-of-a-kind personal assistant type is pretty close to what I've given my character.

On 7/18/2019 at 10:09 PM, Lektra Bolt said:

What if she doesn't necessarily make original technology per se, but prefers to enchant what already exists? She will build her own high powered CPU for example, enchant it to be even more powerful, and then use it. So all her stuff is self made and self enchanted, but its not new technology in the sense that most of it would probably already exist

Her business is actually largely 'mods', even in the pony version, where she makes things work better by adding enchantments to it. There is very little actual original technology, and what I've already described is pretty much all she has on her person. Everything else I'll probably make up as I go, if that's OK with you

I'll fill in an actual form soon, and we'll decide on a history to see if she's gonna be a company heiress in this or not

Ah, so she's more of an enhancer than an inventor. That's certainly an interesting character premise; most people go for full wish-fulfilling originality in their created technology. I look forward to approving your form. 

 

 

 

@dragon4111

Only Duality and Deedah know about Mental Voice so far, which is most of the reason why he was confident enough to prank Ghalan. He'll be revealed eventually, but until then I want to sow plenty of seeds of general antagonism between him and the staff to interplay with the flourishing general protagonism between Duality and the other staff.

[Lektra Bolt 2,337]

I feel like your character and mine would be fast friends, or maybe rivals? 🤔

Nah let's go with friends, I just need to establish a time line. I tend to do history last so eh 🤷🏻‍♀️

I'm not seeing an in universe profile for her. Did you ever make one? 

She is an inventor in the sense that she makes Magitek which tends to be a melding of magic and technology, but as this isn't Equestria the majority of her work is building her own versions of what non magical humans have and then adding magic to it

I plan to start with what I got, but the idea is she can create basically whatever is necessary within reason and the rules of fair play. I just don't have it planned out specifically until an idea strikes 

I guess it technically is wish fulfillment? I will create what I need to when I need to and the story calls for it, but I can't just create out of thin air and it takes time, but some is already made. Think of it like I'd pull materials from the surroundings, so basically she has to carry materials or find them. She will create technology to enchant rather than buy it, but it's not actually new technology in that sense. She will want to procure the raw materials for the pre-enchantment technology rather than just buy it, because she enjoys the build itself as well

Think of it like this:

If I obtained the basic manufacturing materials for a desktop computer that a company like Dell or Apple made then made one from scratch using existing known processes using a combination of engineering and magically manipulating the parts how I want, is it new technology even though I just built all the parts from scratch? Of course not. Is it a newly created item that I can then soup up with enchantments and create a monster rig for a fraction of of the price? Yes lol

Now we just apply this to tech she makes. A lot is just slightly more advanced than what we have IRL and souped up with enchanting, but a good amount will also be Sci-fi stuff as well. I really don't know what I'll make or need to make as the story goes, so I can't really account for everything. We'll just see as I go along, if that's OK? You're a good GM and we'll work stuff out

Edited July 22, 2019 by Lektra Bolt

[Lektra Bolt 2,337]

@Buck Testa I'm going to borrow your character form if that's OK with you. Don't see why it wouldn't be. I rather like the way you did this and actually feel your character is awesome too, as a fellow enchanter

Combination and mix of:

 

And

Just say she looks like the human but aged to her 20s, and has ears, tiny whiskers, claws and tail. Refer to the profiles for anything detailed and not already stated here, as modified by the setting and what's allowed/not allowed

Consider this a Work in Progress still, as I'd like us to discuss her history together and what feels fair to pull out of Hammer Space

Age: 40s physical age (appears early to mid 20s)

Status: Teacher 

Race: Neko (Feline) Pelajae

Spells/Abilities:

Main: Core powers

- Electromagnetism

- Enchanting compatible metallic substances with created, known, or researched spells

- Engineering - Mechanical, electrical, and computer. Creating and designing technology to then be enchanted

- Animal instincts - Compared to humans she is faster, stronger, and has the senses of large felines IRL, on the level of other Anthros who are more animalistic than her. Nothing too crazy

Sub: Powers as a result of the Core powers

-- Technomancy (Using electromagnetism to manipulate circuits, electronics, and electrical signals)

-- Electricity generation and magnetism

-- By slowing down the deterioration process of the electrical signals of the cells in her body, she is prolonging her life. She only ages when she sleeps, as while she doesn't need any energy to do this passively while awake, she needs to actually be conscious to do this 

Personality: please refer to the MLP profile

History: TBA

Fighting Style:

Lektra will summon her inventions to her using a combination of reaching into a Magitek Hammer Space and a Bag of Holding. While her bigger inventions are back in her lab and must be summoned this way (not a true Hammer Space, more of a portal), the smaller ones can be pulled out of Sparky's storage compartment. The storage compartment is where she keeps the smaller stuff (Bag of Holding, as the compartment is a bit larger on the inside), while Sparky can create a Hammer Space to reach directly into her lab for the larger stuff. Sparky is extremely hard to destroy, but not out of the question. If this happens her inventions will just make the trip the long way, and she'll later rebuild or repair what was lost or damaged

She will not initially have any materials if the area doesn't already contain metal, but given enough time she will summon the metal she needs the same way she summons her inventions. She prefers to just rip metal out of her surroundings though, which is highly destructive

She will manipulate magnetic fields to exert control over metallic substances in the area

Using her power over electromagnetic forces she will generate electricity from her hands and body, limited by her stamina and energy of course

Class: Electrical Magic

- This class is for mages who specialize in generation and manipulation of electricity. Students will learn to hone their skills and study the history of this affinity

Class: Magnetism

- The same kind of class as electricity, but for those with a skill in magnetism. Students learn to hone their skills and learn the history of this specialization

Class: Technology Manipulation

- A class for mages who specialize in control of electronics and modern technology. As with the above two, students will also learn to hone their skills while studying it's history

Class: Engineering 101 - Mechanical Engineering

- Lektra teaches how to create machines, ranging from the simple pulley to very complex gear based contraptions commonly seen in Steampunk

Class: Engineering 102 - Electrical Engineering

- Lektra teaches how to build circuits, diodes, and other electronics including computer systems. This will include building robots and AI theory, as well as how to make sure your stuff actually works as intended. Programming is a separate class

Class: Engineering 103 - Computer Engineering and Science

- Lektra teaches modern programming languages to be applied to the things built in Engineering 101 and 102, and how to make sure the item is compatible with said programing

Advanced Class: Engineering 104 - Enchanting and Magitek

- Lektra will teach how she creates her own brand of Magitek, which is slightly different than but also similar to others. One must first understand how to build and program technology, only then will they be able to understand how to apply enchantments to it. This class will explain how to create technology that is compatible with enchantments, and how to soup it up using said enchantments for cost effective alternatives to non magical technology

- There is a lot of independent but supervised study here. Many students who take this class choose to continue working with her after class hours, in her off hours, and basically whenever the heck they need a consultation for whatever they want to work on. Stop bothering me, I have my own ongoing research to do!

- One doesn't simply pass/fail this class and move on or have a couple of years then call it done. As an advanced class, there are always new things to discover once you learn the concepts, and she has students who choose to use the school facilities to advance their Magitek education past the regular curriculum. This class is ongoing for late year students and graduates who chose to stay in the school, and is more of a supervised study group, as students will be less or more along in their studies

-- Entry into this class requires stellar performance in her other Engineering classes, a recommendation from existing compatible classes, or demonstrating knowledge of the concepts taught in those classes

Edited July 22, 2019 by Lektra Bolt

[dragon4111 914]

@Duality

Ah I see damn it I really don't want to redo my whole post.

[Buck Testa 5,503]

16 hours ago, Lektra Bolt said:

@Buck Testa I'm going to borrow your character form if that's OK with you. Don't see why it wouldn't be. I rather like the way you did this and actually feel your character is awesome too, as a fellow enchanter

Which character are you talking about. I'm assuming you mean Druantia but I have a few of them running around in here. 

[Passion 3,478]

Just to give an update, I'm in works for replacing Ira with someone more comfortable for me to play, so my focus was a bit in different place since I'm speaking with Duality if I'd be able to pull it off.

[Lektra Bolt 2,337]

2 hours ago, Buck Testa said:

Which character are you talking about. I'm assuming you mean Druantia but I have a few of them running around in here. 

Actually I just happened to catch Sahalia the lizard girl as I was scrolling around, though don't remember how I ended up there lol. She's awesome and I believe Lektra and her would maybe be friends 😉

I'm also skimming over a couple of characters just random, and we seem to have a couple of enchanting teachers around here. @Denim&Venom you seem to have one too?

Don't suppose we could make some kind of enchanting club? Lol that would be something 

2 hours ago, Passion said:

Just to give an update, I'm in works for replacing Ira with someone more comfortable for me to play, so my focus was a bit in different place since I'm speaking with Duality if I'd be able to pull it off.

Dunno, I kinda liked Ira from what I read. She doesn't seem that bad that warrants her just ceasing to exist, but I mean it's your character.

Did you want to discuss Ley though? I'd like to figure something out with her and Lektra that isn't silly, cause just I personally like Ley and just gotta request something within the realm of possible

-

Just twiddling my thumbs waiting on @Dualityand had a read on the other character trying to do Magitek that left. Glad we don't have to deal with that any more. Gosh that was such a mess, and so many allowances were made. I'm seeing a bit of disrespect to the GM as well as the RP itself (you're ruining my character, I know better since I've done this before), and just all around Op that had to be worked out. People have to understand that the GM has final say on what's considered fair, and someone with that amount of far reaching ability due to pulling basically a cartridge out of thin air and suddenly adding a power needed balance. That and there was so much bull about being a young genius that didn't make sense, as well as no explanation that I saw for having all this stuff.

'I just just built it' is not an explanation, because then when you have to explain it to someone else, people realize just how Op it is that even you the designer of the concept can't explain it. I like to have my concepts, theories and head canon laid out already. It's only fair

IIRC it was said a whole story had to be created for explaining the character with blood donations to not have umpteen infinite powers, and here I am just an enchanter using what exists in media and most people's understanding of it 😉

I mean if I have to make changes I will, I don't mind. I just found it interesting how restrictive people try to be about changes, then complain the GM is ruining their fun, not realizing the GM is just trying to make sure everyone has fun including the character being balanced

Also as an aside, it's nice to see people I'm familiar with and comfortable around here. Buck, Denim, and Nexus 👋🏻

Really have high hopes for SU. I know quality when I see it

Edited July 22, 2019 by Lektra Bolt

[Passion 3,478]

The issue I'm having with Ira is that... I actually hardly enjoy her. I cannot juggle three characters at once to be honest if I wanted.

And for the sake of herself I've been spending a lot of time trying to figure out a motivation for her as well as end target. It was here when Rouen was around and it seemed like a fun dynamic, but unfortunately it died out due to Rouen becoming inactive. Ever since then it was much duller for me to play her.

 

As for Ley, it depends what you actually want to suggest and if it lies in realm of possibility and my roleplaying capabilities and skillset.

[Lektra Bolt 2,337]

7 minutes ago, Passion said:

The issue I'm having with Ira is that... I actually hardly enjoy her. I cannot juggle three characters at once to be honest if I wanted.

And for the sake of herself I've been spending a lot of time trying to figure out a motivation for her as well as end target. It was here when Rouen was around and it seemed like a fun dynamic, but unfortunately it died out due to Rouen becoming inactive. Ever since then it was much duller for me to play her.

 

As for Ley, it depends what you actually want to suggest and if it lies in realm of possibility and my roleplaying capabilities and skillset.

Oh, I see. I'm sorry that happened. I feel bad for Katara, I mean Ira. Just powers wise I feel like she's cool and I liked the water bender in Avatar, but it's up to you really. I mean RP is about the interactions, either social or fighting, and if you get none of either it's boring. I can't offer much personally, since there's no intersection unless she wants to learn some enchanting and you think she would have the ability for it. I should probably add that as a class by itself, but dunno

Does anyone think she should have a class on enchanting itself? She applies it to metal and stuff that's built, so it's not necessarily a solo thing. Plus there's already a couple of teachers who teach enchanting on its own, so personally not sure it's necessary

Ley I was thinking pretty simple. Lektra is a gamer. She isn't always researching. By random chance for convenience sake, let's say she plays the Grand Chase mobile game and sees this student who looks and functions like her favorite character. Um, shenanigans ensue? That's my way of saying, I have no idea what will happen after this and we'll let things develop

Is this ok?

[Passion 3,478]

Yeah, sure, I'm game. But I will still be trying to keep it inside her personality. And yeah, we can have different images of her, so not everything will be up to your expectations

[Lektra Bolt 2,337]

25 minutes ago, Passion said:

Yeah, sure, I'm game. But I will still be trying to keep it inside her personality. And yeah, we can have different images of her, so not everything will be up to your expectations

Thanks! 

But well yea, I mean she was adjusted and changed from the game to fit the RP, so it's not the same person and as far as our characters are concerned it's just going to be a fun cosmic coincidence that someone so much like the game character exists 

Edited July 22, 2019 by Lektra Bolt

[Duality 10,738]

On 7/22/2019 at 12:19 PM, Lektra Bolt said:

Animal instincts - Compared to humans she is faster, stronger, and has the senses of large felines IRL, on the level of other Anthros who are more animalistic than her. Nothing too crazy

Does she have a tall/chönky build to match her strength? Pelajae may have a physical edge on humans but it's supplied by muscles, not magic.

On 7/22/2019 at 12:19 PM, Lektra Bolt said:

By slowing down the deterioration process of the electrical signals of the cells in her body, she is prolonging her life. She only ages when she sleeps, as while she doesn't need any energy to do this passively while awake, she needs to actually be conscious to do this 

Cells deteriorate via deterioration of their physical DNA, not by any electrical process, so you'd have to be more of a biomancer type to pull off slowed aging with willpower alone. Denim has some funky ancient magic lore addons to his character to give her enhanced age, though, so there are other ways to get to it if you want teachers with the bodies of students.

On 7/22/2019 at 12:19 PM, Lektra Bolt said:

Class: Electrical Magic

- This class is for mages who specialize in generation and manipulation of electricity. Students will learn to hone their skills and study the history of this affinity

Class: Magnetism

- The same kind of class as electricity, but for those with a skill in magnetism. Students learn to hone their skills and learn the history of this specialization

Class: Technology Manipulation

- A class for mages who specialize in control of electronics and modern technology. As with the above two, students will also learn to hone their skills while studying it's history

Class: Engineering 101 - Mechanical Engineering

- Lektra teaches how to create machines, ranging from the simple pulley to very complex gear based contraptions commonly seen in Steampunk

Class: Engineering 102 - Electrical Engineering

- Lektra teaches how to build circuits, diodes, and other electronics including computer systems. This will include building robots and AI theory, as well as how to make sure your stuff actually works as intended. Programming is a separate class

Class: Engineering 103 - Computer Engineering and Science

- Lektra teaches modern programming languages to be applied to the things built in Engineering 101 and 102, and how to make sure the item is compatible with said programing

Advanced Class: Engineering 104 - Enchanting and Magitek

- Lektra will teach how she creates her own brand of Magitek, which is slightly different than but also similar to others. One must first understand how to build and program technology, only then will they be able to understand how to apply enchantments to it. This class will explain how to create technology that is compatible with enchantments, and how to soup it up using said enchantments for cost effective alternatives to non magical technology

- There is a lot of independent but supervised study here. Many students who take this class choose to continue working with her after class hours, in her off hours, and basically whenever they need a consultation for whatever they want to work on. Stop bothering me, I have my own ongoing research to do!

- One doesn't simply pass/fail this class and move on or have a couple of years then call it done. As an advanced class, there are always new things to discover once you learn the concepts, and she has students who choose to use the school facilities to advance their Magitek education past the regular curriculum. This class is ongoing for late year students and graduates who chose to stay in the school, and is more of a supervised study group, as students will be less or more along in their studies

-- Entry into this class requires stellar performance in her other Engineering classes, a recommendation from existing compatible classes, or demonstrating knowledge of the concepts taught in those classes

This list could probably be condensed into the subjects of electromagnetic magic and magic as applied to engineering. Students tend to progress through subjects very linearly in Salem, since Salem's subjects are tailored to particular forms of magic and the students' magic remains constant no matter what their interests may be, so it's more of a Year 1 Electromagnetism, Year 3 Electromagnetism, Year 4+ Technological Magic sort of deal when it comes to naming classes (Salem teaches magic first and foremost, after all, so it's most probable that the mechanical, electrical, and computer engineering classes will be teaching principles of technological manipulation and Magitek as relatively fundamental parts of their curricula too). Easy to remember for OOC purposes, too. 

Besides the above and the working out of history/hammerspace mechanics, all looks well in order. Let me know what you have in mind with the latter two character aspects.

 

 

 

 

On 7/22/2019 at 1:50 PM, dragon4111 said:

Ah I see I really don't want to redo my whole post.

Don't worry, what you've got now looks good. Ghalan's definitely low-key paranoid enough that he'd instantly assume someone's pranking him. 

[Lektra Bolt 2,337]

7 hours ago, Duality said:

Does she have a tall/chönky build to match her strength? Pelajae may have a physical edge on humans but it's supplied by muscles, not magic.

I didn't mean to imply that it's magical, sorry

What would you consider tall? If you mean taller than the average for adult females when compared to IRL, then a bit, yes. If you mean such a tall girl that it becomes along the lines of a family genetic mutation or some kind of enhancement/enchantment, then no. So please tell me what you consider tall or what you think I should do here

Listing her Anthro stuff as an ability is just meant to pretty much say this: Just because she is not as animalistic as others and just has ears/tail/claws/tiny whiskers as visible features, she is no less capable

I wasn't trying to imply she is actually better in some way than other Anthros, in fact being someone who researches a lot she's not all that athletic. It's just the absolute bare minimum to stay in shape and keep her pretty figure

Let me know if you need that section changed somehow or clarified

7 hours ago, Duality said:

Cells deteriorate via deterioration of their physical DNA, not by any electrical process, so you'd have to be more of a biomancer type to pull off slowed aging with willpower alone. Denim has some funky ancient magic lore addons to his character to give her enhanced age, though, so there are other ways to get to it if you want teachers with the bodies of students.

I had kinda hoped I could pull that off, since cells do have an electrical component. I don't want to just cop out to yet another power type or say I built the fountain of youth, as she's looking a bit stacked already. What do you suggest, as yes, it had been my goal to have a teacher with the body of a student?

7 hours ago, Duality said:

This list could probably be condensed into the subjects of electromagnetic magic and magic as applied to engineering. Students tend to progress through subjects very linearly in Salem, since Salem's subjects are tailored to particular forms of magic and the students' magic remains constant no matter what their interests may be, so it's more of a Year 1 Electromagnetism, Year 3 Electromagnetism, Year 4+ Technological Magic sort of deal when it comes to naming classes (Salem teaches magic first and foremost, after all, so it's most probable that the mechanical, electrical, and computer engineering classes will be teaching principles of technological manipulation and Magitek as relatively fundamental parts of their curricula too). Easy to remember for OOC purposes, too. 

See here's the thing. I don't believe everyone will have the full suite the same way she does, and it's quite probable that the vast majority have one or two of the three, but not electromagnetism like her. If someone has only electricity, they can't be in a class that teaches electromagnetism, as they can't do magnetism or technology manipulation. If someone has only magnetism, they can't be in a class that teaches electricity or technology manipulation. On the other hand, I believe technology manipulation comes mostly but not entirely as a result of having a combination of the ability to manipulate electricity and magnetism, since many computer components are electrical and also metallic in their composition.

Circuit boards also have different components than just metal or electrical. I actually looked this up to confirm what I remembered: The substrate most commonly used in printed circuit boards is a glass fiber reinforced (fiberglass) epoxy resin with a copper foil bonded on to one or both sides. To be able to create or manipulate this using magic to build something that has circuit boards, someone has to have technology manipulation specifically. That or it has to be done the non magical way or simply purchased premade, because the fiberglass is neither conductive nor metallic

If you look closely at the way she does this in Sky High (great movie by the way that I feel needed a sequel or two), not all parts of the machine are electrical components or metallic parts: 

Spoiler

For a pure technology manipulator mage like this girl who has it as a superpower, I would implement this without the electricity or magnetism portion and just hand waving or thinking. So a mage technology manipulator would hand wave or think, but there would be no electricity coming off like her

Are you absolutely positively sure I should condense that? Just doesn't seem to make sense to me, please elaborate

Now about the engineering progression. Are you sure about condensing this? I wanted a logical progression that doesn't immediately teach the magical concepts but makes sure to leave it open to be compatible, especially since building Magitek as I implement it is a branch of enchanting. It's quite possible that there are some people who might want to learn to build and program initially non magical machines for others to then enchant runes into/onto. I wanted to leave the possibility open for some people going to her classes to not necessarily be into Magitek themselves, but building enchantment compatible technology. Remember that Magitek can be used by anyone once built and the enchantments put in place, so one needs to know how technology works to be able to then meld the two. While it may seem that some of the classes are non magical, the idea is that it's taught with the intent to have the end goal of having items compatible with enchantments. The programming class also teaches runes and rune writing (pretty much programing for enchanters), directly flowing into enchanting technology for the Advanced class

How should I clarify that the building classes that seem non magical are actually technically magical, since the stuff built is made to be compatible with enchantments?

Also as an aside, at least for Lektra herself as compared to other enchanters, she is unable to enchant non metallic substances. Magitek she makes is mostly metallic, and the non metallic portions are just there due to how stuff is built

What do you suggest I do here though?

----

Also just to clarify, are you implying you've built the world so anyone can learn and eventually do any magic, regardless of what kind of proficiency they'd actually have in it? So someone who has darkness can actually study say, fire and eventually after a period of sucking at it to be able to do fire magic with practice to become as good as someone who is more natural in it? I figured specializations are more rigid, in that people have a proficiency and are unlikely to be able learn magic not affiliated with whatever they discover they are more proficient in, so most people don't bother. So an electromagnetism class sounds like it would not be good for anyone who only has magnetism, electricity or is just a tech manipulator, which is why I had split the classes up

As an example, I have gotten the impression that while 'The Avatar: Master of All Elements' cases are possible here, it's extremely unlikely unless someone discovers they are very good with multiple elements. Even HP mages tend to specialize, since they discover they naturally suck at certain magics while being much better at others. Like someone is good at Charms but not as good at Anti Dark Arts, while another can be amazing at Transfiguration, but suck at just about everything else so they don't bother

Confirm or deny? Or explain please? 

I guess what I'm trying to ask is can anyone learn and 'get' any magic? How rigid are specializations? With proper time to study learn if it's not something they happen to be a natural at, of course. This has probably been asked and gone over in the 70 some odd pages I can't be bothered to read, sorry for potentially repeating something

Edited July 23, 2019 by Lektra Bolt

[Buck Testa 5,503]

@Lektra Bolt

No not anyone can learn magic. The ability to even use magic is a One in a Million trait, meaning among every sentient being on the planet, there are only a few thousand magic users. Your chance of becoming magical doesn't have a connection to you being a human or Pelijae either, both have the same odds on being born that way.  Of those few thousand, not all of them are even that powerful. The ones that attend the school are more the exception rather than the rule. 

Also We've made a point of saying that Pelijae aren't significantly better than humans in any way physically. They would tend to have better sensory abilities and some Pelijae can live longer, but in terms of physical ability they are rather comparable to a human. A pelijae can be athletic certainly, and their magic can help them be stronger, but that wouldn't be a race wide trait. 

On 7/22/2019 at 11:43 AM, Lektra Bolt said:

Actually I just happened to catch Sahalia the lizard girl as I was scrolling around, though don't remember how I ended up there lol. She's awesome and I believe Lektra and her would maybe be friends 😉

 

Sahalia would definitely get along with Lektra. As would her husband. I have 3 other characters in the RP besides them though. 

My main would be Druantia: 

The youngest student to have ever attended Salem University, Dru has left one hell of a first impression on her fellow classmates and faculty. On her very first day attending school on the campus she ended up getting into a magical duel with the janitor that was so intense that all of the teachers had to get involved. The Gymnasium building was also utterly destroyed in the process. 

Druantia possesses an abnormally large magical aura and has very little control over her magical abilities as of yet. Before she had started going to the university, she had merely been willing her magic to do things intuitively with varying degrees of success. Her Magic has also seemed to have developed a personality of its own comparable to a barely trained dog, and it can get easily excited causing Dru's magic to go on a rampage much like during her duel with the Janitor. As such she currently has inhibitor bracelets that restrict her down to 1% of her normal magical levels, which places her more in line with the rest of the student body. She's still quite powerful even in this severely hampered state, but she's much more manageable for the faculty now. 

Unlike other magic users whose power revolves around elemental affinities like lightning or fire, Dru's domain is that of Flora. She seems to have complete control over plant life in all its forms and is frightfully creative on how they can be utilized even with her limited intuitive control over her magic. Though she did not know a single spell when she first arrived at the University, she hopes to formally learn magic and take control of her power entirely, instead of letting it run wild like it does without shackles. 

 

[Lektra Bolt 2,337]

21 minutes ago, Buck Testa said:

No not anyone can learn magic. The ability to even use magic is a One in a Million trait, meaning among every sentient being on the planet, there are only a few thousand magic users. Your chance of becoming magical doesn't have a connection to you being a human or Pelijae either, both have the same odds on being born that way.  Of those few thousand, not all of them are even that powerful. The ones that attend the school are more the exception rather than the rule. 

That's actually not what I was asking. My musings and eventual question is this: Can an already magically gifted being who has a specialization and fondness for a certain area, like let's use your character with plants as an example, decide they want to learn another type like say my electromagnetism? Can anyone with enough time eventually learn anything they want to or cast any spell from books, or are people limited by what they're born with? If she was interested, can Dr go to my electromagnetism class and learn everything, eventually becoming as competent at it as my character is?

 

21 minutes ago, Buck Testa said:

Also We've made a point of saying that Pelijae aren't significantly better than humans in any way physically. They would tend to have better sensory abilities and some Pelijae can live longer, but in terms of physical ability they are rather comparable to a human. A pelijae can be athletic certainly, and their magic can help them be stronger, but that wouldn't be a race wide trait. 

Maybe I should rewrite that then? The point of listing it as a power was to say that she isn't any physically weaker than other Anthro characters just because she has less animal features than usual. Should I just state it like that? 🤔

 

21 minutes ago, Buck Testa said:

Sahalia would definitely get along with Lektra. As would her husband. I have 3 other characters in the RP besides them though. 

That's pretty cool cool. I mean if they happen to meet that would be cool, but they're all probably busy most of the time?

 

21 minutes ago, Buck Testa said:

My main would be Druantia: 

The youngest student to have ever attended Salem University, Dru has left one hell of a first impression on her fellow classmates and faculty. On her very first day attending school on the campus she ended up getting into a magical duel with the janitor that was so intense that all of the teachers had to get involved. The Gymnasium building was also utterly destroyed in the process. 

Druantia possesses an abnormally large magical aura and has very little control over her magical abilities as of yet. Before she had started going to the university, she had merely been willing her magic to do things intuitively with varying degrees of success. Her Magic has also seemed to have developed a personality of its own comparable to a barely trained dog, and it can get easily excited causing Dru's magic to go on a rampage much like during her duel with the Janitor. As such she currently has inhibitor bracelets that restrict her down to 1% of her normal magical levels, which places her more in line with the rest of the student body. She's still quite powerful even in this severely hampered state, but she's much more manageable for the faculty now. 

Unlike other magic users whose power revolves around elemental affinities like lightning or fire, Dru's domain is that of Flora. She seems to have complete control over plant life in all its forms and is frightfully creative on how they can be utilized even with her limited intuitive control over her magic. Though she did not know a single spell when she first arrived at the University, she hopes to formally learn magic and take control of her power entirely, instead of letting it run wild like it does without shackles. 

That's um, a lot of a lot. Wow. Did she start out with those bracelets? Who made them? Did you guys ever decide who made them?

Edited July 23, 2019 by Lektra Bolt

[Buck Testa 5,503]

2 minutes ago, Lektra Bolt said:

 That's um, a lot of a lot. Wow. Did she start out with those bracelets? Who made them? Did you guys ever decide who made them?

They're from Professor Duality and was placed on her after the duel in order to bring her powers under control. Dru's magic quite literally has a mind of its own, and if it gets to excited it drags the girl along for the ride and almost killed her for it. With the bracelets, her magic is effectively shackled and she is able to better handle it as well as the extreme moodswings that it can induce. Before the bracelets were placed on her, she had dangerous moodswings induced by her magic's emotional state that caused her to be quite terrifying. Now it's much less intense, though she still is rather unstable. 

Think of her Magic like an Untrained Clifford the Big Red Dog. Normally Clifford does what the girl wants, but if it decided to go off on a full sprint and she had him on a leash, she ain't stopping him at all. The Bracelets bring that "Clifford" down to a much more manageable size for her. 

[Passion 3,478]

Now, let's replace Ira with something more fitting my affinities. Yes, I bet you know where this is going already. And since I love adapting characters from different franchises and trying to put myself into their shoes... the application for now is an outline and might be a subject to change.

Yes, no, maybe D: say something the suspense is killing me!

Spoiler

 

Name: Velvet Crowe

Gender: Female

Race: Human-ish

Age: 31

Position: Self-defense/martial arts teacher;

Affiliation: Villains - or at least so do they believe.

Appearance:

Description: ... I'm lazy, just look at the pictures k? Thxbai.

Apparel: Velvet is not the one to follow fashion trends. In fact, she's not the one to follow fashion. Or trends. Her worn out, raggedy costume is all she needs on a daily basis and, even in spite of many remarks of various nature towards it, doesn't plan on changing. It is a life-hardened shell reminding her of everything she's gone through and by now has become an inseparable part of herself.

Personality: Having many of her positive traits erased or washed out over years, Velvet is remorseless and knows not mercy nor pity. Consumed by long cherished hatred and despair, she will not stop at anything to achieve her goals. Having her way is worth any sacrifice. This, however, does not mean she is a mindless brute forcing her way through every obstacle. Velvet is fully aware that sometimes, in order to achieve something, one must take a way around. Her patience, although limited, dictates her to play her cards carefully to ensure she is on the winning side.

Velvet tends to express indifference towards all events, knowing they are nothing but temporary nuisances in her quest for vengence. She rarely allows her emotions to surface, and even then they tend to be shallow. She's practical, and even though her instincts developed a healthy dose of carefulness in her actions, she will not hesitate to take any shortcuts leading her closer to her goals. Even if it means removing inconvenient people on her way out of equation.

Backstory: Velvet was born as a second child to a family of five in a small village of undisclosed location. She was the middle child, having an older and younger brothers on her sides. Sadly, her younger from her by 5 brother was born with an inexplicable disease, which was quickly connected to magical energies developing in an inexplicable way within his body. Due to that, he was very fragile form his first years and throughout his entire life required constant care and attention. Their parents could not handle this burden and the family was split, with children deciding to fare for themselves with the help of villagers. Their parents left to be never seen again. At the time, Velvet was a sweet child, always taking care of her younger beloved sibling and cherished by her small village for her deeds. Her much older sibling was always fascinated with magic and all the good it could do for humanity. Over years he studied subcategories belonging to light magic, with all its healing, protective and offensive aspects used against potential evils of this world. Velvet however did not know much about his studies, as she was busy cherishing younger brother and spending time with him on a dialy basis.

It was during one of the nights, not different than any other, that her life changed forever. For reasons inexplicable, she woke up past midnight only to find both her brothers missing. Her initial search was fruitless, until she remembered the seaside shrine of unknown origin they used to visit to moongaze, situated at the top of the cliff. As she reached the location, she could not find any words to describe the horror she witnessed. Her younger brother, hovering in limbo above the seemingly endless abyss of the shrine's vast orifice reaching deep into the ground. Her older brother, wearing odd tunic. A number of shadowy figures with darker tunics surrounding the shrine. And unearthly voices and sounds coming out from the shrine's abyss itself. She tried to confront her older brother, who explained that in order to gain power capable of fighting evils of this world, a sacrifice of a pure heart was necessary. It was then when she realized her older sibling was a fanatic and attempted to stop him, however she was quickly pinned down with immobilizing magic. She was forced to observe how everything developed, thrashing about in desperate attempts of freeing herself and saving her closest family. It was all in vain and she had to witness the entire ritual. As the sacrifice was complete, rays of powerful bright energies were sent into the sky. The distraction caused her bindings to disappear as the men observed the event. Velvet did not waste time and, with her heart full of despair and resignation, throw herself into the abyss to save her brother. As she stepped past the ledge, all she saw was darkness, with damned voices coming from below. She fell. And as she fell, her memories became more and more chaotic.

She remembered being rejected, she remembered her core self being altered, her most negative emotions of hate combined with despair being amplified and overwhelming many other emotions she used to feel. She remembered searing pain pulsating through her left arm, awakening powers inside her she never knew she had. And then she remembered being thrown out of the pit back onto earth in front of her brother. What happened next was all foggy to her. She knows she went berserk and, using her newly acquired powers and deformed arm, removing a few of the shady cultists from the surface of earth. Eventually however, her experienced older brother had subdued her and forcefully send her into dungeons situated in one of the ruins nearby, the main headquaters of the cult he belonged to.

Velvet spent about 4 years in ther prison, being kept as a gift from the demonic powers in hopes of every turning her to the cults side, but she thrived in her aplified hatred, never forgeting the betrayal she suffered from the hands of her brother, keeping herself alive just for revenge. She became consumed and obsessed with this idea. At once, she spent these years discovering new facts about herself. Most notable change was in her appearance. Her left arm was now charred, pulsating with red/violet smoke while uncovered. Initially, it was a giant claw, one that made her look like a monster. With pass of time, she learned how to control this transformative power and although she was never able to fully restore her arm to her regular flesh, she was able to at least regain its original shape. Ever since then, she would cover the arm with bandages.

Other changes she noticed were of various natures. She felt stronger and faster, her reflexes seemed to have accellerated. But at once she lost any sense of taste and no food would be able to satisfy her. Instead, she began feeling a hunger. A truly maddening over time need for feeding herself with life force of other beings. No matter how much she consumed however, she would never be sated. Her arm would always demand more, feeding her the life force of creatures she consumed. Animals were a mere substitute, what she required was living, sentient beings. She felt that should she encounter beings powerful enough, she could grow in power just by consuming them. The question of morality did appear in Velvet's mind at initial stages, however she discovered morality ceased having any meaning to her. She did not feel compassion, guilt or shame. It was as if she was turned into a merciless predator, performing the deeds to keep herself alive. Over the years, the cult has provided her with sustenance in form of sacrifices. What she once tried to prevent and found despicable now became her own ritual repeated over time. She became a monster. A being that would by all accounts be considered evil beyond the scope of imagination of many. And she quickly accepted it. However she never ceased understanding that in order to survive in this world once she regained her freedom, she would need to keep a low profile.

Eventually, she was released by one of the higher rank cultists. He turned out to be one of the villagers from her home village and informed her that her brother has gotten mad the power promised to him was not enough and left in search of ways of accessing the mytical demonic realm, to use the demon's powers against them. Provided it existed. The only reason Velvet did not strike the man down at the time was because she needed a guide to lead her out from the dungeon without raising too many alarms. As they reached a safe place however, she quickly turned against the man and promptly assimmilated him, feeling no guilt whatsoever. She needed his strength to go on, and he turned out to be just in her reach at the moment.

Over years, Velvet travelled the world in search of traces of her older brother to enact her revenge. She would search for clues in towns and cities, but then stick to the woods, feeding off of wild animals. From time to time, stories of tourists mysteriously vanishing in deep forests or mountain ranges would surface, but Velvet would never leave any traces for anyone to pick up on. With time, she understood that searching for her brother via conventional ways would be futile and she required a different approach. And what would be the best source of information if not the owners of the mystical energies that were granted to him? By then, the possibility of gaining access to demonic realm seemed more real to her with time than the ones of finding her brother. That's when she was found by the one called Shahal Blackrose, or rather one of his lackeys. Before being robbed of his life, he attempted to bargain for it by providing her details of the madman who wished to merge the demonic plains with real world. And Velvet instantly picked up on this idea. It would allow her to gain the information she required, then enact her revenge on demons themselves and consume them, and finally reach her brother to pay him back for everything he's made her suffer.

Getting into Shahal's plan was not hard at all for her. The fact she removed one of his subordinates in cold blood, not even flinching, and the fact she made it visible she emanated with pure hatred towards the so-called Salem University seemed to be a free entry ticket for her. Her poker face, devoid of many emotions, also seemed to be a strong card to play. Or was it? She was not actually sure if she managed to fool anyone, nevertheless the end result mattered. She was in, and it so turned out that infiltrating the University would not be as hard as initially planned. At least on the surface. The University seemed to suddenly fall short on martial combat instructors, and Velvet's skill showcase quickly proved her to be an adequate candidate for the position. And she never truly mentioned the real reason behind her joining the viallinous crew. To eradicate the demon vermin her brother served and then to eliminate her own brother, so her revenge can be complete. Evil? Villains? University and students? World safety? It meant nothing to her. She would eliminate anyone who would stand in her way. Foe or ally alike.

Nevertheless, the stories and legends of a beast roaming the world with surprisingly accurate description of her transformed, demonic arm spread across various corners of the world, as even she was not able to avoid one or two witnesses being left alive. This forced her to not bring out her arm in public view, what would put her in danger of being recognized for ruthless killer she could become if she wanted and instantly persecuted.

Abilities:

Velvet is not your regular magic user. Her transformation granted her a few abilities that actually help her in dealing with magic herself. Her regular, non-transformed form shows itself in augmented strength, speed, reflexes and stamina. This change allowed her to learn various martial arts over the course of her travels, however her abilities far exceeding those of regular humans allowed her to develop her own fighting style, unachievable to vast majority of Earth's beings. She also seemed to develop minor nullification of weak magical energies, which seemed to passively emanate from her at all times. It proved an interesting defensive and offensive tool she took time to master, although had very few chances of actually testing in practice. The University could turn out ot be a good testing ground for that innate ability. Even in her physical state however she is able to use her demonic arm powers to augment her physical abilities a bit further, but the extent is heavily limited in that form.

Her transformed state however turns her into a real monster, literally and figuratively. Velvet's shadow arm increases her strength exponentially to earth-shattering levels. It becomes her main shield and weapon. Her arm contentrates her nullification aura and becomes a tool for dispelling magical energies directed at her. It also grants her access to specific, innate shadow martial arts she seems to known instinctively now. This effectively increases her reach by the range of a few specific magical assault abilities projected over her arm. The arm itself is also her main tool for devouring life force. Should she get a firm grasp at her victim, Velvet can proceed to drain their life energies. An eventuality of this action is the victim being devoured by being transmorphed into particles of pure energy and drawn into her arm, provided they are weakened to a point they are no longer able to resist.

The form however has its flaws. Being the weapon and shield alike, it means Velvet is not very great at deflecting attacks that aim to trade the damage inflicted or dealing with multiple enemies all at once. Additionally, the arm can be used for a limited time and requires short breaks between each reactivation (short as in it can be reactivated in the same combat mulitple times, but there are moments her defenses and offensive abilities are weakened).

 

[Duality 10,738]

On 7/24/2019 at 2:24 AM, Lektra Bolt said:

I didn't mean to imply that it's magical, sorry

What would you consider tall? If you mean taller than the average for adult females when compared to IRL, then a bit, yes. If you mean such a tall girl that it becomes along the lines of a family genetic mutation or some kind of enhancement/enchantment, then no. So please tell me what you consider tall or what you think I should do here

Listing her Anthro stuff as an ability is just meant to pretty much say this: Just because she is not as animalistic as others and just has ears/tail/claws/tiny whiskers as visible features, she is no less capable

I wasn't trying to imply she is actually better in some way than other Anthros, in fact being someone who researches a lot she's not all that athletic. It's just the absolute bare minimum to stay in shape and keep her pretty figure

Let me know if you need that section changed somehow or clarified

No, no, I know you weren't implying magical or somehow superior physical strength compared to other Pelajae, it's just that Pelajae strength comes from muscle, so if you want any sort of strength beyond the norm associated with your character's Pelajae type instead of with their magic it requires that your character is physically bigger, taller, or generally more muscly than the norm. There are a couple of Pelajae in the RP who are very strong indeed, but one's a 7-foot chönkily built athlete (big cat) and the other is 8-foot and built like a bag of cement (elephant). Obviously it doesn't have to be that drastic, but non-magical strength has pretty much the same rules of physiology in Salem as IRL, Pelajae or otherwise.

On 7/24/2019 at 2:24 AM, Lektra Bolt said:

I had kinda hoped I could pull that off, since cells do have an electrical component. I don't want to just cop out to yet another power type or say I built the fountain of youth, as she's looking a bit stacked already. What do you suggest, as yes, it had been my goal to have a teacher with the body of a student?

If you think that's stacked you should see the guy who chucks around black holes for fun. 

She's not technically a multipower yet, so you could go that route if you so chose, but Denim's lore was, I think, quite a novel circumvention of such a necessity (read from that post to the bottom of the page for the full story; most of the more out-there lore propositions have some debate around them when introduced). If you want to try adapting it or coming up with something along similar lines, I'm sure he'd enjoy discussing his take on immortality with you.

On 7/24/2019 at 2:24 AM, Lektra Bolt said:

See here's the thing. I don't believe everyone will have the full suite the same way she does, and it's quite probable that the vast majority have one or two of the three, but not electromagnetism like her. If someone has only electricity, they can't be in a class that teaches electromagnetism, as they can't do magnetism or technology manipulation. If someone has only magnetism, they can't be in a class that teaches electricity or technology manipulation.

The thing is, though, all electrical currents generate magnetic fields and all moving magnets generate electrical currents in nearby conductive materials. Electricity and magnetism are quite closely bound into a single phenomenon, and even if someone could only directly control one or the other it would only take a bit of training and technique to be able to manipulate both with ease.

On 7/24/2019 at 2:24 AM, Lektra Bolt said:

On the other hand, I believe technology manipulation comes mostly but not entirely as a result of having a combination of the ability to manipulate electricity and magnetism, since many computer components are electrical and also metallic in their composition.

Circuit boards also have different components than just metal or electrical. I actually looked this up to confirm what I remembered: The substrate most commonly used in printed circuit boards is a glass fiber reinforced (fiberglass) epoxy resin with a copper foil bonded on to one or both sides. To be able to create or manipulate this using magic to build something that has circuit boards, someone has to have technology manipulation specifically. That or it has to be done the non magical way or simply purchased premade, because the fiberglass is neither conductive nor metallic.

For a pure technology manipulator mage like this girl who has it as a superpower, I would implement this without the electricity or magnetism portion and just hand waving or thinking. So a mage technology manipulator would hand wave or think, but there would be no electricity coming off like her

Wait, what are the specifications of what you call technology manipulation? I assumed it was just a specialisation of electromagnetism manipulation, but if it extends to non-magnetic/conductive materials it seems to be delving into earth elementalism or similar. 'Technology' is a very broad concept, after all.

On 7/24/2019 at 2:24 AM, Lektra Bolt said:

Now about the engineering progression. Are you sure about condensing this? I wanted a logical progression that doesn't immediately teach the magical concepts but makes sure to leave it open to be compatible, especially since building Magitek as I implement it is a branch of enchanting. It's quite possible that there are some people who might want to learn to build and program initially non magical machines for others to then enchant runes into/onto. I wanted to leave the possibility open for some people going to her classes to not necessarily be into Magitek themselves, but building enchantment compatible technology. Remember that Magitek can be used by anyone once built and the enchantments put in place, so one needs to know how technology works to be able to then meld the two. While it may seem that some of the classes are non magical, the idea is that it's taught with the intent to have the end goal of having items compatible with enchantments.

How should I clarify that the building classes that seem non magical are actually technically magical, since the stuff built is made to be compatible with enchantments?

Also as an aside, at least for Lektra herself as compared to other enchanters, she is unable to enchant non metallic substances. Magitek she makes is mostly metallic, and the non metallic portions are just there due to how stuff is built

What do you suggest I do here though?

As long as the core idea is technology compatible with enchantment it should be fine. Technology by itself can be taught at any old university, after all.

The point of keeping classes condensed is that they're relatively power-specific and similar enough that people with that specific power can go through all of them linearly. Someone who can control water doesn't have much else to do with their studies except go through the Hydromancy subject from Year 1 to Year 4+. Someone with electromagnetic/enchanting/technology-manipulating abilities and with such an inclination doesn't have much else to do except go through the 101-104 technology/Magitek classes linearly - hence it's more descriptive and convenient to just call it all Magitek Year 1 to Year 4+. It's mostly a matter of convention, but it's a lot harder to keep track of 6 different classes IC than a couple of subjects with specialisations/year levels tacked on when necessary.

On 7/24/2019 at 2:24 AM, Lektra Bolt said:

The programming class also teaches runes and rune writing (pretty much programing for enchanters)

Hah, you'd be up against my character on that one. I've been building the lore of runes since the start of the RP, and so far it draws on Plato's Theory of Forms, Christian theology, symbology, the theory of meaning, and aspects of linguistics, coding, and the study of human intelligence. Dr Duality only teaches runic theory classes, so there shouldn't be any conflict in subject matter, but it might be worth giving the IC thread a once-over to see what's already been established about what runes can do.

On 7/24/2019 at 2:24 AM, Lektra Bolt said:

Also just to clarify, are you implying you've built the world so anyone can learn and eventually do any magic, regardless of what kind of proficiency they'd actually have in it? So someone who has darkness can actually study say, fire and eventually after a period of sucking at it to be able to do fire magic with practice to become as good as someone who is more natural in it? I figured specializations are more rigid, in that people have a proficiency and are unlikely to be able learn magic not affiliated with whatever they discover they are more proficient in, so most people don't bother. So an electromagnetism class sounds like it would not be good for anyone who only has magnetism, electricity or is just a tech manipulator, which is why I had split the classes up

As an example, I have gotten the impression that while 'The Avatar: Master of All Elements' cases are possible here, it's extremely unlikely unless someone discovers they are very good with multiple elements. Even HP mages tend to specialize, since they discover they naturally suck at certain magics while being much better at others. Like someone is good at Charms but not as good at Anti Dark Arts, while another can be amazing at Transfiguration, but suck at just about everything else so they don't bother

Confirm or deny? Or explain please? 

No, my apologies, I didn't mean to imply anything of the sort. What you're born with you're stuck with, basically, although plenty of people discover new powers as they push the bounds of what they can do. Since mages are so rare and powers so diverse, though, it's best to merge classes and generalise subject matter as much as possible to make sure that you don't end up with no students in any of them because so few people actually have the particular power the class is tailored for.

 

 

 

On 7/24/2019 at 10:35 AM, Passion said:

Now, let's replace Ira with something more fitting my affinities. Yes, I bet you know where this is going already. And since I love adapting characters from different franchises and trying to put myself into their shoes... the application for now is an outline and might be a subject to change.

Yes, no, maybe D: say something the suspense is killing me!

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Name: Velvet Crowe

Gender: Female

Race: Human-ish

Age: 31

Position: Self-defense/martial arts teacher;

Affiliation: Villains - or at least so do they believe.

Appearance:

Description: ... I'm lazy, just look at the pictures k? Thxbai.

Apparel: Velvet is not the one to follow fashion trends. In fact, she's not the one to follow fashion. Or trends. Her worn out, raggedy costume is all she needs on a daily basis and, even in spite of many remarks of various nature towards it, doesn't plan on changing. It is a life-hardened shell reminding her of everything she's gone through and by now has become an inseparable part of herself.

Personality: Having many of her positive traits erased or washed out over years, Velvet is remorseless and knows not mercy nor pity. Consumed by long cherished hatred and despair, she will not stop at anything to achieve her goals. Having her way is worth any sacrifice. This, however, does not mean she is a mindless brute forcing her way through every obstacle. Velvet is fully aware that sometimes, in order to achieve something, one must take a way around. Her patience, although limited, dictates her to play her cards carefully to ensure she is on the winning side.

Velvet tends to express indifference towards all events, knowing they are nothing but temporary nuisances in her quest for vengence. She rarely allows her emotions to surface, and even then they tend to be shallow. She's practical, and even though her instincts developed a healthy dose of carefulness in her actions, she will not hesitate to take any shortcuts leading her closer to her goals. Even if it means removing inconvenient people on her way out of equation.

Backstory: Velvet was born as a second child to a family of five in a small village of undisclosed location. She was the middle child, having an older and younger brothers on her sides. Sadly, her younger from her by 5 brother was born with an inexplicable disease, which was quickly connected to magical energies developing in an inexplicable way within his body. Due to that, he was very fragile form his first years and throughout his entire life required constant care and attention. Their parents could not handle this burden and the family was split, with children deciding to fare for themselves with the help of villagers. Their parents left to be never seen again. At the time, Velvet was a sweet child, always taking care of her younger beloved sibling and cherished by her small village for her deeds. Her much older sibling was always fascinated with magic and all the good it could do for humanity. Over years he studied subcategories belonging to light magic, with all its healing, protective and offensive aspects used against potential evils of this world. Velvet however did not know much about his studies, as she was busy cherishing younger brother and spending time with him on a dialy basis.

It was during one of the nights, not different than any other, that her life changed forever. For reasons inexplicable, she woke up past midnight only to find both her brothers missing. Her initial search was fruitless, until she remembered the seaside shrine of unknown origin they used to visit to moongaze, situated at the top of the cliff. As she reached the location, she could not find any words to describe the horror she witnessed. Her younger brother, hovering in limbo above the seemingly endless abyss of the shrine's vast orifice reaching deep into the ground. Her older brother, wearing odd tunic. A number of shadowy figures with darker tunics surrounding the shrine. And unearthly voices and sounds coming out from the shrine's abyss itself. She tried to confront her older brother, who explained that in order to gain power capable of fighting evils of this world, a sacrifice of a pure heart was necessary. It was then when she realized her older sibling was a fanatic and attempted to stop him, however she was quickly pinned down with immobilizing magic. She was forced to observe how everything developed, thrashing about in desperate attempts of freeing herself and saving her closest family. It was all in vain and she had to witness the entire ritual. As the sacrifice was complete, rays of powerful bright energies were sent into the sky. The distraction caused her bindings to disappear as the men observed the event. Velvet did not waste time and, with her heart full of despair and resignation, throw herself into the abyss to save her brother. As she stepped past the ledge, all she saw was darkness, with damned voices coming from below. She fell. And as she fell, her memories became more and more chaotic.

She remembered being rejected, she remembered her core self being altered, her most negative emotions of hate combined with despair being amplified and overwhelming many other emotions she used to feel. She remembered searing pain pulsating through her left arm, awakening powers inside her she never knew she had. And then she remembered being thrown out of the pit back onto earth in front of her brother. What happened next was all foggy to her. She knows she went berserk and, using her newly acquired powers and deformed arm, removing a few of the shady cultists from the surface of earth. Eventually however, her experienced older brother had subdued her and forcefully send her into dungeons situated in one of the ruins nearby, the main headquaters of the cult he belonged to.

Velvet spent about 4 years in ther prison, being kept as a gift from the demonic powers in hopes of every turning her to the cults side, but she thrived in her aplified hatred, never forgeting the betrayal she suffered from the hands of her brother, keeping herself alive just for revenge. She became consumed and obsessed with this idea. At once, she spent these years discovering new facts about herself. Most notable change was in her appearance. Her left arm was now charred, pulsating with red/violet smoke while uncovered. Initially, it was a giant claw, one that made her look like a monster. With pass of time, she learned how to control this transformative power and although she was never able to fully restore her arm to her regular flesh, she was able to at least regain its original shape. Ever since then, she would cover the arm with bandages.

Other changes she noticed were of various natures. She felt stronger and faster, her reflexes seemed to have accellerated. But at once she lost any sense of taste and no food would be able to satisfy her. Instead, she began feeling a hunger. A truly maddening over time need for feeding herself with life force of other beings. No matter how much she consumed however, she would never be sated. Her arm would always demand more, feeding her the life force of creatures she consumed. Animals were a mere substitute, what she required was living, sentient beings. She felt that should she encounter beings powerful enough, she could grow in power just by consuming them. The question of morality did appear in Velvet's mind at initial stages, however she discovered morality ceased having any meaning to her. She did not feel compassion, guilt or shame. It was as if she was turned into a merciless predator, performing the deeds to keep herself alive. Over the years, the cult has provided her with sustenance in form of sacrifices. What she once tried to prevent and found despicable now became her own ritual repeated over time. She became a monster. A being that would by all accounts be considered evil beyond the scope of imagination of many. And she quickly accepted it. However she never ceased understanding that in order to survive in this world once she regained her freedom, she would need to keep a low profile.

Eventually, she was released by one of the higher rank cultists. He turned out to be one of the villagers from her home village and informed her that her brother has gotten mad the power promised to him was not enough and left in search of ways of accessing the mytical demonic realm, to use the demon's powers against them. Provided it existed. The only reason Velvet did not strike the man down at the time was because she needed a guide to lead her out from the dungeon without raising too many alarms. As they reached a safe place however, she quickly turned against the man and promptly assimmilated him, feeling no guilt whatsoever. She needed his strength to go on, and he turned out to be just in her reach at the moment.

Over years, Velvet travelled the world in search of traces of her older brother to enact her revenge. She would search for clues in towns and cities, but then stick to the woods, feeding off of wild animals. From time to time, stories of tourists mysteriously vanishing in deep forests or mountain ranges would surface, but Velvet would never leave any traces for anyone to pick up on. With time, she understood that searching for her brother via conventional ways would be futile and she required a different approach. And what would be the best source of information if not the owners of the mystical energies that were granted to him? By then, the possibility of gaining access to demonic realm seemed more real to her with time than the ones of finding her brother. That's when she was found by the one called Shahal Blackrose, or rather one of his lackeys. Before being robbed of his life, he attempted to bargain for it by providing her details of the madman who wished to merge the demonic plains with real world. And Velvet instantly picked up on this idea. It would allow her to gain the information she required, then enact her revenge on demons themselves and consume them, and finally reach her brother to pay him back for everything he's made her suffer.

Getting into Shahal's plan was not hard at all for her. The fact she removed one of his subordinates in cold blood, not even flinching, and the fact she made it visible she emanated with pure hatred towards the so-called Salem University seemed to be a free entry ticket for her. Her poker face, devoid of many emotions, also seemed to be a strong card to play. Or was it? She was not actually sure if she managed to fool anyone, nevertheless the end result mattered. She was in, and it so turned out that infiltrating the University would not be as hard as initially planned. At least on the surface. The University seemed to suddenly fall short on martial combat instructors, and Velvet's skill showcase quickly proved her to be an adequate candidate for the position. And she never truly mentioned the real reason behind her joining the viallinous crew. To eradicate the demon vermin her brother served and then to eliminate her own brother, so her revenge can be complete. Evil? Villains? University and students? World safety? It meant nothing to her. She would eliminate anyone who would stand in her way. Foe or ally alike.

Nevertheless, the stories and legends of a beast roaming the world with surprisingly accurate description of her transformed, demonic arm spread across various corners of the world, as even she was not able to avoid one or two witnesses being left alive. This forced her to not bring out her arm in public view, what would put her in danger of being recognized for ruthless killer she could become if she wanted and instantly persecuted.

Abilities:

Velvet is not your regular magic user. Her transformation granted her a few abilities that actually help her in dealing with magic herself. Her regular, non-transformed form shows itself in augmented strength, speed, reflexes and stamina. This change allowed her to learn various martial arts over the course of her travels, however her abilities far exceeding those of regular humans allowed her to develop her own fighting style, unachievable to vast majority of Earth's beings. She also seemed to develop minor nullification of weak magical energies, which seemed to passively emanate from her at all times. It proved an interesting defensive and offensive tool she took time to master, although had very few chances of actually testing in practice. The University could turn out ot be a good testing ground for that innate ability. Even in her physical state however she is able to use her demonic arm powers to augment her physical abilities a bit further, but the extent is heavily limited in that form.

Her transformed state however turns her into a real monster, literally and figuratively. Velvet's shadow arm increases her strength exponentially to earth-shattering levels. It becomes her main shield and weapon. Her arm contentrates her nullification aura and becomes a tool for dispelling magical energies directed at her. It also grants her access to specific, innate shadow martial arts she seems to known instinctively now. This effectively increases her reach by the range of a few specific magical assault abilities projected over her arm. The arm itself is also her main tool for devouring life force. Should she get a firm grasp at her victim, Velvet can proceed to drain their life energies. An eventuality of this action is the victim being devoured by being transmorphed into particles of pure energy and drawn into her arm, provided they are weakened to a point they are no longer able to resist.

The form however has its flaws. Being the weapon and shield alike, it means Velvet is not very great at deflecting attacks that aim to trade the damage inflicted or dealing with multiple enemies all at once. Additionally, the arm can be used for a limited time and requires short breaks between each reactivation (short as in it can be reactivated in the same combat mulitple times, but there are moments her defenses and offensive abilities are weakened).

 

Looks good! The merging of the daemon and normal realms may or may not be Shahal's end goal, but what he tells his minor lackeys hardly has much bearing on the truth. 

[Lektra Bolt 2,337]

5 hours ago, Duality said:

No, no, I know you weren't implying magical or somehow superior physical strength compared to other Pelajae, it's just that Pelajae strength comes from muscle, so if you want any sort of strength beyond the norm associated with your character's Pelajae type instead of with their magic it requires that your character is physically bigger, taller, or generally more muscly than the norm. There are a couple of Pelajae in the RP who are very strong indeed, but one's a 7-foot chönkily built athlete (big cat) and the other is 8-foot and built like a bag of cement (elephant). Obviously it doesn't have to be that drastic, but non-magical strength has pretty much the same rules of physiology in Salem as IRL, Pelajae or otherwise.

I see. No no I'm good just being average. I had just wanted to make sure it's listed that she's not any weaker than a full animalistic Pelajae, or somehow handicapped. Is that OK or I need to write it differently?

5 hours ago, Duality said:

If you think that's stacked you should see the guy who chucks around black holes for fun. 

She's not technically a multipower yet, so you could go that route if you so chose, but Denim's lore was, I think, quite a novel circumvention of such a necessity (read from that post to the bottom of the page for the full story; most of the more out-there lore propositions have some debate around them when introduced). If you want to try adapting it or coming up with something along similar lines, I'm sure he'd enjoy discussing his take on immortality with you.

Yeah the janitor. I saw how you made sure he doesn't suck things up and kill everyone immediately by tossing a microscopic one at them. Magical fields

But ok how would you suggest I do? I actually read that discussion, and I'm not actually sure why she's long lived except as a species trait. Just seems weird that Neko live long too

Can you think of a way to manipulate her into slower aging that doesn't add another power or proposes her building the fountain of youth?

5 hours ago, Duality said:

The thing is, though, all electrical currents generate magnetic fields and all moving magnets generate electrical currents in nearby conductive materials. Electricity and magnetism are quite closely bound into a single phenomenon, and even if someone could only directly control one or the other it would only take a bit of training and technique to be able to manipulate both with ease.

Fair point. Well just go with electromagnetic as one class, as is her power being the same

5 hours ago, Duality said:

Wait, what are the specifications of what you call technology manipulation? I assumed it was just a specialisation of electromagnetism manipulation, but if it extends to non-magnetic/conductive materials it seems to be delving into earth elementalism or similar. 'Technology' is a very broad concept, after all.

It is as you had surmised, sorry for the confusion. As I implement it, it's definitely a specialisationsm instead of a separate power and doesn't work on non magnetic/conductive materials

I just figured there might be other mages who aren't Lektra and aren't electromagnetic that can still manipulate electrical signals, no? Would you say it's impossible? 

Technology in this case is any modern electrical technology that has circuits and stuff that that we have IRL, and manipulating them to my advantage. Purely mechanical technology with no electronic components is controlled by exerting control over the metallic parts like metal gears, not simply cause it's being technical

5 hours ago, Duality said:

As long as the core idea is technology compatible with enchantment it should be fine. Technology by itself can be taught at any old university, after all.

The point of keeping classes condensed is that they're relatively power-specific and similar enough that people with that specific power can go through all of them linearly. Someone who can control water doesn't have much else to do with their studies except go through the Hydromancy subject from Year 1 to Year 4+. Someone with electromagnetic/enchanting/technology-manipulating abilities and with such an inclination doesn't have much else to do except go through the 101-104 technology/Magitek classes linearly - hence it's more descriptive and convenient to just call it all Magitek Year 1 to Year 4+. It's mostly a matter of convention, but it's a lot harder to keep track of 6 different classes IC than a couple of subjects with specialisations/year levels tacked on when necessary.

Alrighty so how do you recommend I rewrite them? Make it a progression of more of the same rather than spit up like now?

Enchanting is a bit broad though (How many enchanters do we have lol) but still separate from electromagnetism. Lektra specializes in enchanting to make Magitek, not enchanting in general. Maybe she should still teach this as a separate class? 

5 hours ago, Duality said:

Hah, you'd be up against my character on that one.

Orly? Sounds like they would spend a lot of time chatting and discussing theories. Friends

5 hours ago, Duality said:

I've been building the lore of runes since the start of the RP, and so far it draws on Plato's Theory of Forms, Christian theology, symbology, the theory of meaning, and aspects of linguistics, coding, and the study of human intelligence. Dr Duality only teaches runic theory classes, so there shouldn't be any conflict in subject matter, but it might be worth giving the IC thread a once-over to see what's already been established about what runes can do.

I'll take a look when we get me figured out. Did you ever have a full in universe profile for your character and what she can do? I'm just seeing the pony profile

Also I'd like to decide history together when we iron out the powers. I'd like her to fit in, so she may not be a company heiress in this. I don't know yet 🤔

5 hours ago, Duality said:

No, my apologies, I didn't mean to imply anything of the sort. What you're born with you're stuck with, basically, although plenty of people discover new powers as they push the bounds of what they can do. Since mages are so rare and powers so diverse, though, it's best to merge classes and generalise subject matter as much as possible to make sure that you don't end up with no students in any of them because so few people actually have the particular power the class is tailored for.

Oh okay good, not everyone can do everything 

[dragon4111 914]

@Lektra Bolt

Umm if I may interject Ghalan is a normal strength man but keeps his body built thanks to the rigors of his military training.

[Passion 3,478]

8 hours ago, Duality said:

Looks good! The merging of the daemon and normal realms may or may not be Shahal's end goal, but what he tells his minor lackeys hardly has much bearing on the truth. 

Well I just followed what I managed to find in OOC, but hey, betraying someone whose whole existance is dictated by betrayal. What could possibly go wrong?

Then again, she would not tell her story to anyone so easily so he probably cannot know.