X-Men: End Times Sample Application
To help you give a better idea of some of the
things we’re looking for in an app, we’ve provided one
here, the app (at least section two, since the personal information is
confidential) of our first original character, Kirk. It’s not an
exceptional app, but it was good enough to approve on the first try.
You might also want to check out the Canon Sample App, if
you’re thinking of twisting a canon character.
Before reading the app itself, keep in mind that he
avoided many of the pitfalls appers fall into that give the appstaff
problems with what might be otherwise good apps:
1) The Psyche, Physical, Powers, Talents, and
Resources are divided into itemized and detailed trait listings. In
many apps we see, these sections are simply a listing of
characteristics, without any detail on a particular characteristic.
Slightly better but still troublesome are cases when there’s (for
example) a psychological profile that’s detailed but one
can’t separate individual traits easily because one may be talked
about in several parts of the description. We might conditionally
approve one of the latter examples, if it’s very well done, but
it will lead to more delays later. Before your character is ready to RP
you’ll have to be inputting their characteristics into itemized
trait categories anyways, so you might as well do it now. (For other
examples, you can use the +traits commands on other players while
online)
2) The background doesn’t contain the major
problem involved in having their powers revealed to the public (even a
reasonable portion of it), before the Symposium. There’s also no
reference of other mutants at all, because before the Black Prom the
idea wasn’t out in the public mind.
3) Background ties into skills and personality
traits. His search for an explanation for his powers lead him to an
interest in science, and also lead to his social isolation. This
isn’t an absolute must, except in certain cases. If you refer to
a certain skill in your background, it should be in the talents
section. Likewise, if you have a certain background that has skills
associated with it (for example, a character who was in the military
would know firearms use and an expert diver would know how to swim),
they should be included as well.
4) In terms of powers, he tries to answer
questions that might come into reviewers minds before they have to ask
them. Although this character has an unusual power, the same applies to
conventional ones. How fast can a flier fly? How much can the brick
lift? Does the rapid-healer’s ‘healing factor’
include regeneration of lost limbs, or just cuts and scrapes?
Also Take Note!: This app contains something we
are really sick of seeing in apps. It was okay in the Kirk app because
he was the first app, but if apped today, Kirk would likely not be
allowed with it (or at least, would have to have been a much better
app). This thing is a trait about being of above average intelligence.
We now usually say, by default, that if you include Intelligent in your
app, you require at least 3 more other psyche traits (that is, 8
minimum, and more would be preferable) in order to back it up,
especially if its not essential to your app. Intelligent would not
count against the minimum number (so, if you have Intelligent in your
psyche, that would be 9 psyche traits overall, if it was a skill, it
would be 8 psyche traits), unless it talks heavily how the intelligence
affects the character as a person.
At any rate, without furthur ado, the app...
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2;————
SECTION TWO
5. Character name:
Kirk Evanston Alias: None as of yet, possibly Conduit or Spirit-Box
6. Physical description of character: The young man before you seems relatively
straight-laced and clean-cut. He stands just above average
height, with black hair cut short, brown eyes, and a moderate build.
He has an all-around healthy look about him, and he clearly keeps
himself fit. His face, though pleasant enough, isn’t very
remarkable, not the type to stand out in a crowd. He wears a pretty
simple wardrobe. Blue jeans cover his legs, and as a top he wears
a white cotton buttoned shirt. Over this, when the
weather’s not too hot, he wears a thin black leather jacket.
Description of Avatar: Though
it possesses arms and a head and seems to have legs, this creature is
definately not human, definately not natural. It resembles a
creature made of pure quicksilver, very reflective and moving quickly
and very fluidly. Looking closer, you might be able to detect that the
creature has a hand made of three fingers and a thumb, but no
discernable feet. The legs just taper off to points. It more
often flits through the air rather than walking, moving with a slight
humming sound. Perhaps the most chilling aspect of the creature is its
lack of a face. No apparent eyes, nose, or mouth, just a slightly
convex mirror, reflecting back whatever it sees.
7. Psyche
Intelligent: Kirk
gets extremely good grades in school. Although much of this is
due to singlemindedness and hard work, he does have a lot of natural
intelligence behind him.
Loner: Due to his
“curse”, Kirk tends to keep people at arm’s length.
As such, a lot of the time he winds up alone, and he’s grown
comfortable with that. That’s not to say he can’t
have friends, but he doesn’t let people get too close to him, in
case he loses control of his avatars altogether. As such,
he’s learned to depend mostly on himself and to be
self-sufficient where possible.
Team-Player: Despite
being somewhat of a loner, he does work well with groups. He’ll
do assigned task and be happy with it, happy at being able to
participate. If it’s for some sort of good cause, all the
better. He’s not one of those people who needs to be the
leader. He doesn’t even like to be the leader if he can
help it.
Nice Guy: Kirk is
a generally, all-around nice guy. He likes to help people when he
can, and tries to treat people as he’d like to be treated.
He’s even polite. Of course, this also makes him feel
a lot of guilt when his avatars do something wrong.
Even-Tempered: Because
he knows his avatars tend to come out when he’s angry,
Kirk’s devoted a lot of time practicing controlling his emotions.
He doesn’t let little, inconsequential things bother him,
and tries to look at things in a detached, almost humorous way instead
of getting angry. Of course, he doesn’t always succeed, but
he tries.
Neat: He’s
certainly not a clean-freak or anything, but Kirk likes things to be
tidy, neat, and organized, with things in their proper place. He
can tolerate other people being messy, but he cleans up after himself.
It’s a way to impose a little order on his life. His
avatars don’t always conform to this trait, sometimes seeming to
delight in rearranging things.
Weakness: Isolated Kirk’s
hauntings have isolated him from other human beings. He has to try not
to get to too close to people, because he knows if he gets too close,
then they’ll have the ability to hurt him, and if that happens
his avatars might strike back. He’s talking to his parents
more, on the phone only, now that he’s what he feels is a safe
distance away (and that he needs them to send him money now and then).
The thing is, he WANTS to be close to people again, so it might
happen despite his best intentions.
Weakness: Guilt and Fear Kirk is always afraid his avatars will do something
completely unforgiveable, like killing somebody. He also bears
terrible guilt for the harm they’ve already caused, like putting
a friend of his in a brief coma. Since he’s so worried
about this, it’s possible he’ll believe his Avatars are
responsible for mysterious deaths that happen sometime when
they’re out, and that that means he is responsible for that death
as well. Also, someone might manipulate him by making him think
his avatars are responsible for something, and he’d be likely to
believe it.
Weakness: Passive Kirk
isn’t particularly aggressive, or violent. He doesn’t
like to take charge of situations, even though he will if he has to.
He’s more likely to follow someone else who seems to know what
they’re doing, and not question unless they’re obviously
out of whack (or evil). Even if forced to take charge and lead people,
he’s more likely to phrase things as suggestions, and let people
do what they’re going to do unless it’s critical they
don’t.
Weakness: Depression Kirk
is prone to occasionally getting very depressed over his situation.
He’s even been suicidal once, though he found his avatars
wouldn’t let him so he normally just bears it, resigned to his
fate, and, though not happy, at least not terribly unhappy, usually.
Still, during times of depression he’ll isolate himself
even more from people and doesn’t speak to others except in the
fewest words possible to answer a question. These events usually
strike him after his avatars come out and do something particularly
objectionable, but sometimes they just come out of the blue.
8. Physical
Fit: Kirk is no
superman, but he does keep himself in decent shape. His fitness is more
along the lines of endurance rather than power, so he may not be too
much stronger than average, he can exert himself for longer periods,
especially in running or biking. These are also the ways he
keeps his fitness.
9. Talents
Cooking: As one
of the things to occupy time spent alone, and as part of an effort to
make himself as self-sufficient as possible, Kirk learned to cook.
It’s mostly self-taught, but he can still make up
reasonably tasty meals, even if he doesn’t always have time to
make them.
Research: Kirk
has a knack for finding desired information quickly. He’s
especially good at doing this on the Internet, but he can also spend a
minimal amount of time in a library looking for stuff before he finds
something he needs. Of course, this doesn’t apply to
information that is actually secret or unknown to the vast majority of
the world, or for locating infromation only in one-of-a-kind books
(unless he has the book).
Speed-Reading: Kirk
can read and absorb written information at a rapid, though not
superhuman, rate, finishing an average-sized book in about an hour or
two of straight reading... and that’s taking time to savor it.
He also enjoys reading quite a bit, and has a large book
collection at home. This skill is also one of the reasons
he’s so good at research, and it helps quite a bit while
studying.
Computer Programming: Kirk
is currently a first year Computer Science student at Columbia
University. He’s got a talent for programming, and of
course does well in all his classes. He’s not one of those
people who dreams in code or can program viruses to take over the
world, but he’s a solid, good programmer.
Science: While
computers are Kirk’s major, he’s actually interested in
science as a whole. He keeps track of science magazines, and
knows a fair bit more than the average layman about most science
fields. Part of this has come from trying to look for a
scientific explanations for his hauntings, and failing, but he has
developed a genuine curiosity about the world. Partly because of
this, he also enjoys science fiction quite a bit.
10. Character Powers
Telekinetic Avatars: Kirk
has the ability to produce beings of telekinetic force. Kirk usually
refers to them as phantoms or shades, but as they’re controlled
by his subconscious, avatars is a more apt term (though he
wouldn’t use it until he has more control). At present,
Kirk can manifest two avatars at a time, though it is possible he could
make as many as five, after years of practice. Avatars all look like a
shiny, very reflective metallic creature vaguely man-shaped (Note, the
metal is only an appearance, they are not attracted magnetically).
If that’s not odd enough, there are two other
distinguishing characteristics. When avatars pass, they leave the
air slightly chill for a few seconds, and they are cold (but not
painfully so) to the touch. Also, when moving at any speed (but
not when stationary), there is a slight, but distinctive humming, like
a distant swarm of bees. The sound is very quiet, not loud enough
to be tracked at a distance by, but loud enough to be recognizeable to
those within a few feet. This is the only natural sound the
avatars can make (though they can bang on something to make noise as
well as anyone). These avatars last a varying amount of time. As
they have a sort of will of their own, once unleashed they last as long
as they feel they are needed, with one exception. Should Kirk
fall unconscious, the avatars fade out within a minute (and during this
minute become very defensive of him, abandoning all else). Beyond
that, they may be active for more or less time than Kirk would like
them to stick around. They have no specific range (other than how
far they can travel before Kirk goes to sleep), though if Kirk is taken
into another dimension while they’re ‘out’, the
avatars react as though he has fallen unconscious, only, being unable
to locate him, go berserk. When the avatars are unleashed, they appear
out of the ground or a wall, not directly from Kirk’s body.
If no wall or ground is nearby, they can just form out of thin
air a few feet away from him. When they disappear, they just sort of
fade out. All avatars have identical abilities. They can fly at
up to 60mph. They each can lift about twice what Kirk can (but
see Potential: Avatar Combination), and can do so without getting
tired. While they cannot pass through solid matter, they can
squeeze through openings down to 6 inches in diameter. An
avatar’s fingers are strong enough, and can be made sharp enough
to function as claws, should the need arise. Avatars have access to
Kirk’s knowledge up to the moment they are released (so if he
knows where someone lives, so do they), but they may not always act on
it rationally, and they have a continous sense of Kirk’s
emotional state and location so they can rush to him if he’s in
danger. An odd quirk is, they will almost never fade out if Kirk
is in danger (and conscious), even if they are too far to get there and
disappearing would give Kirk the opportunity to create a nearby avatar.
Only a very highly developed avatar would consider this. While avatars
cannot speak, they could be persuaded to communicate in other ways
(written notes, typed messages, e-mail) if they are controlled enough.
They can see and hear and feel at normal human level.
Avatars of course don’t require food, water or air. Kirk
currently has named his two avatars Phobos and Deimos. Because of his
belief that they are independant, if communicating they may actually
refer to themselves by these names. Although they look identical
to the outside world, because its his mind controlling them, he has a
sense of which avatar he’s looking at and can tell them apart.
Despite this, avatars do not have individualized lives or
personalities. Except for the most highly-developed avatar (see
below), they have no memory beyond the current incarnation, and
whatever Kirk himself knows at the time of their creation.
Weakness: Avatar destruction Kirk’s avatars can be destroyed. Although
they’re strong, their fields are in fact not much more durable
than an average human. However, things like bullets depend on hitting
critical areas, and so do not do much damage. But almost any
damage sufficient to kill a human outright (without having to hit a
certain area) will kill an avatar. They can be crushed, torn
apart, exploded, blasted, or shredded to bits. However, they seem
to ignore hard radiation and extremes of heat and cold. The sudden
‘death’ of an avatar has only a small effect on Kirk. There
is a slight backlash making Kirk unable to manifest an avatar to
replace it until he’s slept a few hours. He also would not
gain the benefit of added control or strength with an avatar still
alive. Should Kirk actually witness an avatar being destroyed, it may
cause him to consider that one ‘dead’, and this belief
might make him manifest one less in the future... but should he be in
serious danger, his full complement of avatars will appear again.
Weakness: Control As
stated above, Kirk’s control over his avatars is at present very
limited. They tend to protect Kirk first and foremost, but the
method in which they do this, and what else they do when they’re
free is difficult to predict. For example, the avatars might
decide the best way to ensure Kirk gets away from someone chasing him,
is to trip up Kirk’s best friend who’s also running away
from the same thing. That way, the people chasing them might be
satisfied with getting one person. Also, they’re prone to
striking out at people who Kirk is mad at but wouldn’t hurt,
stealing things he’s saving up for, et cetera. Also, although
they’ll protect him, they sometimes even do things that seem to
deliberately bother him, such as breaking his possessions, rearranging
stuff, beating his high score on a computer game, etc.
Weakness: Emotion, Alcohol, Drugs Generally, Kirk has the peace of being able to
control when to unleash his avatars. They don’t come out on
their own while he’s reading or writing a term paper.
However, during moments of strong emotions, the avatars can
manifest themselves against Kirk’s consent. This is generally
only during negative emotions like fear, anger, or hatred (A feeling of
overwhelming respect for someone doesn’t bring them forth).
Strong pleasant emotions like love don’t release them, but
sex or overwhelming hilarity might. Of course, there being no
immediate danger in these situations, the avatars are more likely to
just cause mischief on their own. A strong emotion of fear or
imminent personal danger will always unleash the maximum number of
avatars Kirk can produce. Also, alcohol and any kind of drugs which
lower inhibititions make it much easier for the avatars to come forth.
The avatars also behave as though inebriated at this time.
11. Magic
None
12. Tech
Computers: Kirk
has both a brand new (read: already obsolete) desktop PC to do his
schoolwork on, and a less new laptop. He also has full Internet
access.
13. Resources:
Family: Kirk’s
family sends him money to help him get by in university, and since
they’re relatively well off, this means he lives well too. He
doesn’t have to work and he has his own small apartment, as well
as some general spending money. Also, his father is a lawyer, and
should it become necessary that he needs legal aid, he could
conceivably call on this connection.
14. Character’s Background
Kirk grew up in Seattle as an only child.
His parents were reasonably well off. His father was a
lawyer and his mother stayed home. He had a relatively average
childhood, getting good but not stellar grades, and was well-liked by
his peers. Kirk’s powers first manifested when he was 14.
He was out late, and crossed through a bad area of town.
Someone came up to him and asked him for change, and when Kirk said he
didn’t have any, the guy pulled a gun. Kirk really
didn’t have any money, and the guy kept yelling at him and
threatening to shoot. It was then that two forms came from the
sides, knocked the gun out of his hand and started dragging the guy
away as he was screaming. It was very dark out, so Kirk
didn’t know at that moment that these guys weren’t human.
He just assumed that they were from an opposing gang or
something, thanked his lucky stars and hightailed it home. He thought
very little about the incident after that. Then, a few months
later, he and his best friend were biking out in the woods. His
friend confessed to him that he asked out a girl he knew Kirk liked.
Kirk was naturally angry, but when he started shouting these
shimmering quicksilver creatures emerged from the ground and charged at
the friend, knocking him off a steep hill. Kirk was immediately
reminded of the night of the robbery because of the distinctive low hum
they made while moving. After knocking the friend out, they hung
in the air in front of Kirk, staring at him, for a few seconds before
they faded out of existence. Naturally he was shocked and a little bit
terrified, but wasted no time in biking down to civilization and
getting help for his friend. His friend was badly injured, and
unconscious for a few days, but recovered, and in fact remembered
nothing about the few minutes leading up to it. Kirk said nothing
about the avatars, claiming that he tumbled off the path somehow. The
event freaked him out, but they weren’t the only such incidents.
They trashed his room once when he was grounded by his parents.
When he was sixteen, and his father told Kirk he wouldn’t
be getting a car like he wanted, he went up to his room, and slammed
the door. A few seconds later, the avatars appeared, left through
the window and broke the windshield and headlights. His father
attributed it to hooligans, but Kirk was beginning to suspect the
truth. These phantoms were striking out whenever he was mad. He
started to withdraw from people... his friends, his family. Now knowing
that he was responsible for wounding his friend, not to mention all the
other minor damage he’d caused, he was afraid that people he
cared about might be targets for the phantoms. He stopped hanging out
after school with his friends, and decided to lock himself in his room
most of the time, watching TV or reading a good book. On one of
the few times his old friends convinced him to go out, they had a few
beers and Kirk’s phantoms manifested, breaking the windows and
fleeing out on the town. A lot of windows were broken that night.
He decided that was the last time he’d risk it. He first
used the excuse that he had a lot of studying to do, and then, to ward
off the isolation he felt, he actually did do a lot of studying.
He threw himself into his schoolwork, because they never came out
while he was working on math problems or writing essays. During that
time, when he had no more work to do or needed a break, he’d take
long walks or bike rides in the woods, trying to sort out his
relationship with the phantoms. He assumes they’re some
kind of ghosts, and has looked up both his towns and family’s
history to see if he can connect any of them. They’ve come
out sometimes when he was out on his own, and he’s tried to talk
to them, but they have never answered him. Kirk was hit with bouts of
depression from time to time due to his isolation. He’d
pushed a lot of his friends away, and was only speaking to his family
when they asked him a direct question. He was on the Internet,
which gave him some human contact but not enough. His parents
forced him to see a counsellor, which he did for a few weeks, but told
her nothing about the avatars, just that he thought his studies were
important. During a particularly strong bout of depression he attempted
suicide by throwing himself off a high bluff. Before he hit the
bottom (naturally), his avatars appeared and lifted him back to the
top, one wagging its finger at them sternly. He tried a few more
times, more for an experiment than to kill himself, and they kept on
saving him until he went home. He hasn’t been suicidal
since (though still suffers the occasional depression), both on the
realization that it probably wouldn’t do any good, and that these
things seemed to be intent on protecting him, even if they caused
trouble for others. When he graduated from high school, he made
valedictorian because of all the work he’d done, and got high
enough on the SATs to win a full scholarship, being accepted to
Columbia and a number of other universities. He’s currently
just about to start his first year undergrad studies in Computer
Science at Columbia, with department ref. Prof. Gail Kaiser. He
decided on Columbia because it was about the farthest place from home.
He hoped that he could leave the phantoms behind, or at the very
least be far enough away from his family should he ever lose control.
He’s since learned that the phantoms have followed him, but
he’s slowly gaining more control over when they emerge, by
controlling his emotions. He takes pains not to let himself get
too angry, and though he doesn’t always succeed, he’s
getting better. Though he’d still be hestitant to getting
too close to anyone, he’s starting to feel more confident about
having casual friends, although as of yet he hasn’t made any.
15. Character’s Potential
Potential: Multiple Avatars Two is not Kirk’s upper limit (it’s not his
lower limit either, see Avatar combination). As he grows in skill
and power, he’ll be able to generate more Avatars at one time.
Five is his upper maximum, and this would only come after a great
deal of practice (years). The more avatars he releases at one
time, the less control he has over all currently released.
Presently he can’t produce three because he can’t
control two to any significant degree.
Potential: Avatar Control Control over the avatars is something that can increase
with time and practice. The amount of control he has over his
avatars is generally related to the number of avatars released compared
to his current maximum. The lower the ratio, the better the
control (see Avatar Combination). Eventually, avatars might
respond to his verbal instructions, and even communicate to a limited
degree by writing notes. At his maximum level (releasing a single
avatar but having the ability to produce up to five), an avatar will be
mentally equivalent to Kirk’s own mind, and will follow
Kirk’s desires because he shares them. This form of avatar
will also retain own independant memory through successive
incarnations, although if the avatar dies violently this memory is
wiped in the backlash, and starts anew. (Also, once he has reached this
plateau his control can improve over multiple avatars over time,
without any more being added to his total number available) At present,
were Kirk to learn to release only one of his two avatars, it would
know the difference between anger at somebody and wanting them hurt,
and might protect a friend of Kirk’s in danger, even if Kirk
himself is in no trouble.
Potential: Avatar Combination This is actually a little bit of a misnomer, since it’s
not the avatars themselves that are combining, but rather his
subconscious attention. When he has out less avatars than his
maximum, Kirk’s control over them increases. Also, each
avatar unleashed has its strength augmented by the strength of the
‘extras’. So, when when releasing one avatar out of
two maximum, it has four times Kirk’s normal strength. No
avatar can lift more than five times what Kirk can though. More than
that requires more than one avatar to lift together. Currently, since
he tries to avoid releasing his avatars whenever possible, when they do
come out, it’s always both of them, and he’s associated his
hauntings with the pair. As such, summoning only one avatar is a
trick he hasn’t learned, and would take some practice to pull off
reliably even if he learned it was possible.
16. What sort of plans do you have for
him/her?
Well, I want this character because I like the
idea of him being ‘haunted’ by his powers, with it starting
out as more of a curse than a benefit. Gradually he may
come to be thankful for his powers, but right now its more of an
annoyance, and it should be fun playing with that. Generally I like to
follow the RP, see where it takes me, but I would like to get involved
in a team of teenish mutants, like the New Mutants (or their
equivalents in this world), cause I think that’d be a lot of fun.
I don’t plan on developing his powers significantly for quite a
while, about the only thing that might come up in the forseeable future
is learning to unleash just a single, more controllable avatar. Even
that won’t be for a while. Developing more avatars will be
a long process, I just include it for completeness’ sake (or in
case of some plot where everyone’s powers get boosted or
something).
———————————————————————————————R
12;————
