Character Creation Kammight 2023/05/12(Fri)09:22 No. 1063598 ID: 4314ed
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But we’re getting ahead of ourselves with the current situation. We don’t even know YOU yet.

This is your story, & you are called [Franky/something else].
You are [male/female/other], and [tall & gangly/irritatingly short/something else].

You would describe yourself as [deadpan/cheerful & eager to please/easy-going/other].

Your goal is to [live it up/help people/get back home/learn everything/other], & maybe [hobby…] on the side.

Well, no. Your first goal is actually to make rent for the week. That other stuff can come later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~◃◅◁◯▷▻▹~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Make your choice the the main-character’s appearance & personality. The stuff in square-brackets is just a suggestion, feel free to come up with additional details. You could even doodle something, if you feel like it!

I'll use whatever gets the most votes, or what I like.

This is the first quest I’ve run, & the goal is to force me to practice my drawing skills. But failure is how you learn, so this can only go well.

You're called Franky

You're Male

You're medium height and feminine some might even say girly

You'd describe yourself as cheerful & eager to please

Your goal is to help people and build the ultimate Warslammer 90k Army!

name is unimportant - you are a feather person who delivers mail. A hard-boiled cosmic postie. Dedicate your life to spreading mail throughout the universe

You're called Dave

You are male and Large & bulky.

You would describe yourself as Flaky and kind of an asshole.

Your goal is to gain wealth And maybe see about owning the closet approximation to a car.

The main character is human, or at least starts out human.

The MC is new to everything that's happening, & humans are super rare, so this neatly explains why they keep needing stuff explained to them.

I'm not actually married to the idea, tho.

Apples 2023/05/12(Fri)10:40 No. 1063609 ID: d028b7
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>>1063600

>>1063609
I forgot to mention you have a big donger but you're shy about it.

>>1063600
I like this, but substitute warhammer with tiny small animal army. They’re so cute!

You are called Oliver.

You are Male, as well as Short & Stout.

You would describe yourself as Lazy, Easy-Going, and Friendly.

Your goal is to Carve out a niche that lets you live an easy peaceful life with a lot of free time, & maybe Sculpt suspiciously attractive figurines on the side.

Lessee.

Sure, Franky, male, tall/gangly sound right.
Easy-going.
You seek excitement, cool sights, etc. - nothing TOO dangerous, mind you.

Hmm - the Orb sounds potentially powerful. Like, can you ask it about e.g. "the nearest unclaimed valuable object worth enough to cover rent"? Or "the manual for my Cauldron"?

>>1063604
Truth. Justice. MAIL. https://www.homestuck.com/story/896

Frankie
Female
tall & gangly
opportunistic and profit-motivated
Your goal is to get back home & maybe do so with a boatload of advanced tech
Other details: Red hair, scrawny & ill-fitting clothes.

>>1063612
I like this tweak! Tiny Animal Fantasy Battles is the galaxy's most popular miniatures wargame.

Pascal the bird person war correspondent. Who wants to teach people about the perils of war with a collection of illustrative toy soldiers. And is also very mellow.

I love the name Oliver!

>>1063598

Frankie
Female
Short & Rotund
opportunistic and profit-motivated
Your goal is to get back home & maybe do so with a boatload of advanced tech ptobably involves Carving out a niche that lets you live an easy peaceful life with a lot of free time
Other details: Red hair, sweet tooth to the point of addiction towards pastries and especially cookies just generally tasty stuff & ill-fitting clothes.

OK, I've made a decision, & now I gotta work on the next update. That might take a bit during the work week.

[1/3] Kammight 2023/05/29(Mon)13:08 No. 1064752 ID: 4314ed
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>You're called Frankie
>You're Male
>You're medium height and feminine some might even say girly
>You'd describe yourself as cheerful & eager to please
Other people sometimes describe you as nervous.

>I forgot to mention you have a big donger but you're shy about it.
Normally it wouldn't be a problem, but your earth clothes aren’t vacuum rated. Your new friends supplied you with some hand-me-downs, but they’re all too big or too small. For now, you’re keeping the coat closed over your waist, so people don’t have to know how much you’re packing. Still, it was super-nice of them to spend time adapting these clothes to keep you safe in the event of a hull-breach!

>Your goal is to help people and build the ultimate Warslammer 90k TAFB (Tiny Animal Fantasy Battle) Army!
>... is the galaxy's most popular miniatures wargame.
> … suspiciously attractive figurines…
Just like similar games back on earth, some of the TAFB figurines are [/i]suspiciously[/i] attractive.

>Hmm - the Orb sounds potentially powerful. Like, can you ask it about e.g. "the nearest unclaimed valuable object worth enough to cover rent"? Or "the manual for my Cauldron"?
You’re already using it to figure out the CAULDRON. Unfortunately, the ORB doesn’t respond to questions, or give you information on things outside it’s line-of-sight. (Think of it like a scanner, not a crystal ball for scrying.)

You are sitting in the KCS ship’s cargo bay, where your CAULDRON was put during shipping. KCS are the wonderful people who gave you a ride here, & helped you move CAULDRON.

Since you obviously want to know more about what are basically magic artifacts, you are looking through the ORB, at CAULDRON. It’s been giving you a list of physical characteristics of CAULDRON, interspersed with explanations of how it can be controlled.

Since shortly after acquiring CAULDRON, something called a Monitor Drone has been hanging around. You don’t know what it’s doing, but everyone else seems only mildly curious and/or nervous. Supposedly it is controlled by The Monitor, the all powerful A.I. that safeguards the galaxy. Since people can’t stop it anyway, they let it do what it wants.

Then Cerendi pops up beside you.

[2/3] Kammight 2023/05/29(Mon)13:09 No. 1064753 ID: 4314ed
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"Hey Frankie, figure out where to find rent yet?"

"Oh, Hi Cerendi! Don't worry, I’ve been running some scans with the ORB on CAULDRON. It looks like CAULDRON’s got some incredible applications. Income shouldn't be an issue once it's working.”

“Sure. The right Artifact can set you for life, & you’ve got two. So what are these incredible applications?”

“The ORB tells me it stands for ‘Compact Accelerated Universal Logical Design Reconfiguration and Optimization Network’. Put something into it, & it can rearrange & redesign it. Even artifacts, I think!”

“Clarification: The Artifact ‘CAULDRON’ is capable of modifying itself & other Artifacts. This drone is present to block any modifications that threaten universal integrity.”

“Uh, yeah. Hate to puncture your air-tank, but messing with Artifacts is exactly what the Monitor doesn’t let people do.”
She says, side-eyeing the drone.

“Clarification: Many safe modifications to Artifacts are still permitted.”

“Wait what? CAULDRON can fix broken Artifacts?”
She is surprised.

“Affirmative. Note: The control process is… sub-optimal.”

“Sub-optimal?”

“Hold on, if it can fix Artifacts, then maybe it can help Ghann! “

“Who?”

“C’mon, follow me.”
She runs out of the room.

“Wait! Um…!”

[3/3] Kammight 2023/05/29(Mon)13:10 No. 1064754 ID: 4314ed
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"Yes?" Sticks her head back in the room.

"It still needs something called a 'Radiant Transmitter'. It sounds like it’s a kind of power-supply."

"You’re saying it won’t even turn on? Shoot. You start looking into that, I'm still gonna tell him."

Do you:
A: Start looking for a place that sells these things. Where do you look? The station you’re docked at is the size of a city, so there has to be a place around here somewhere.
B: Talk to somebody about this. Who? Someone on the KCS crew, someone who works around here, etc?
C: Look it up. The net is a pain to use, but would get you a result pretty fast. On the other hand, a library is free but you have to physically go there.
D: Follow Cerendi.
E: Something else.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~◃◅◁◯▷▻▹~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've created a discussion thread here: https://questden.org/kusaba/questdis/res/139801.html.
If you have any questions, theories, constructive criticism, fanart, etc, it can go there.

A

C, the library is fitting for someone who looks like a wizard

> not physically going to the library
> 5023

do you even lift

D: It'd be good to actually know our potential first client, and also to maybe curb Cerendi's enthusiasm a bit by explaining that we haven't found a power source just yet and while you're hopeful, it's just a little bit too soon to be making any promises.

Then C (physical library) - while sources are more limited here, they're also at least somewhat more reliable than the 'net.

(1/5) Kammight 2023/06/11(Sun)13:21 No. 1065627 ID: 4314ed
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> D - Know our potential first client, curb Cerendi's enthusiasm
You spend too long agonizing about how you'll find a Radiant Transmitter when you don’t really know what that is. By the time you get up to follow Cerendi, she’s disappeared around a corner.

You hover hesitantly at the door for a bit, but… you're a passenger, not crew. It just feels wrong to wander around in the back-rooms of a place that isn’t yours.

Before you make a decision, it’s made for you. Cerendi’s pet cat-thing pops up on a nearby monitor, & the hatch Cerendi went through swings closed.



Hm.

(2/5) Kammight 2023/06/11(Sun)13:22 No. 1065628 ID: 4314ed
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Well, she said to “look into it”. So you’ll do that instead of just standing around like a kid waiting for their mom.

> C - Physical Library
Yeah, the net is accessible almost everywhere cause it runs on Artifacts, but it's also a pain because it's inhabited by an entire ecosystem of Artifact programs. Things like Cerendi’s cat.

It's slower, but much simpler to go to a physical library. Or so you’ve heard. Makes sense. Easier to keep questionably-sapient spambots out of un-networked systems. Cheaper too.

(3/5) Kammight 2023/06/11(Sun)13:35 No. 1065633 ID: 4314ed
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As you make your way off the ship & ride the railcar down the gantry, the ORB hovers after you. That's normal for it, when you haven’t deliberately set it down somewhere.

You also get your first proper view of the station.

It’s breathtaking. Some dramatic music would be super appropriate right now. But honestly, complete silence except for the hum coming up through your boots is pretty cool.

Eventually, you reach the bottom, and step through an air-lock. On the other side is what can only be a security checkpoint.

(4/5) Kammight 2023/06/11(Sun)13:36 No. 1065634 ID: 4314ed
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Things are clearly labeled in multiple languages, and there aren’t many people in line, so it doesn’t take long to reach the booth.

“Interesting, I don’t recognize your species.” The guard's electronic voice doesn't carry a single iota of genuine interest.
“Well, I need your passport anyway, and a bioscan.”

Uhoh.

The next thing the guard says comes out without a single pause for breath.
“Empty your pockets & take off everything that might interfere with a scan, except life-support. No, you don’t need to strip, but if anything interferes with the scan, this will take a lot longer. Also, read the restricted item list on your left. Anything on that list needs to be declared & scanned, anything in the prohibited section needs to be surrendered. Keep in mind, all Artifacts need to be declared. Don’t worry, no Paladins are employed here, & your artifacts will be returned to you.”

(5/5) Kammight 2023/06/11(Sun)13:36 No. 1065636 ID: 4314ed
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All you have on you right now is your wallet equivalent, lucky figurine, rapid-deploy space-suit & air-supply, & the ORB.

1: The lucky figurine is the first TAFB mini you ever got, and it is [scuffed / pristine / still-unpainted]. It depicts a [insert description / picture / lore here].

2: Your wallet-equivalent, unfortunately, does not currently contain a passport belonging to you. [Where is it? / Do you even have one? Can you talk your way out of this?

3: [What do you say about the ORB?]

Bonus: [Does the restricted-list have anything interesting on it?]

“Hurry up, faster you’re in the scanner, faster I can help the next person.”

Empty your pockets and hurry through. People are waiting.

I'm gonna clarify stuff.
I was asking too much at the same time, & my questions also weren't clear...

1. A scuffed CATMARINE that you painted in BATTLE CAT SQUADRON colors. People say the Battle Cats are cheezy but they're a great beginner army.

2. You don't have your passport because it fell in the toilet and you have to dry it out in a bag of rice (it's an electronic passport).

3. Tell him the orb is your pet.

4. Elbow macaroni is a banned substance because it looks too much like dried tubeworms, which are also banned.

Clarification: Kammight 2023/06/12(Mon)18:18 No. 1065734 ID: 4314ed
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Only question 2 is actually important. The others can be ignored if you want.

1: What is Frankie's Favorite TAFB figurine?

2: What is a quick snippet of Frankie's backstory that explains why he doesn't have his passport? Some ideas I had were: [He doesn't have one yet. He's technically an undocumented alien. / He had one, but it was lost shortly before Cerendi & Co. rescued him. / He has one, but it's been damaged in an embarrassing incident.]

3: Do you want to try sneaking the ORB through/avoid drawing attention to it? Or do you want to just follow the rules & submit it for screening? Or something else?

The "bonus" question is just fishing for something funny or potentially plot-relevant on the ban list.

1: A yet-unpainted Shark Week chapter figurine - this one's a female brute unit, which is only slightly less jacked than the male version, and you find the contours of the skin-tight wetsuit to be somewhat intimidating just from a painting challenge standpoint.

2: It's funny, you're so fresh that you've technically yet to turn in the paperwork for a passport application. Hopefully, this guy is amiable to letting you do that here - odds go up if there's a separate guy they can dump us onto and move on from.

3: Declare it as an artifact, of course. No reason to do otherwise unless you're extremely paranoid of the local government. Maybe mention the omni-AI drone is keeping an eye on it just to be safe?

Bonus: Scuba gear; somebody had the bright idea of smuggling gaseous drugs in their no-permit-required oxygen tanks, and were only thwarted because one sharp-witted checkpoint agent realized that there weren't any suitable diving sites here nor on any of the planets one would obviously travel through here to reach.

1. An ACE PILOT figurine. It's ruggedly scarred as it's seen many a game and even an epic battle with a very bitey toddler.

2. It's shorn in half. You're carrying what's left of it, that is to say, only the photo and half the data strip (making it completely unreadable without specialized equipment). Therefore the passport can more-or-less prove it belongs to you, but doesn't say who you are.

3 Declare the ORB as artefact.