[OOC]Streets of Rage: Baptism of Fire

[3278]

And she's blind in one eye.

[JetPlane]

Yeah, of course I realize that double emphasis after someone else notices it first.

[3278]

It's okay: it just means we'll be making lots of pirate noises around Nash, is all. <i>Arr![/i]

[JetPlane]

She has a quick temper and a lot of problems with male authority figures, that might be a bad thing if you want her on your side. But, she does approve of hugs, so if you give her a hug and an "Arr!", I think it might be all right.

[Ares]

I think she and Ares might go at it a few times.

[JetPlane]

Well, she was thrown out of her house for getting pregnant when she was 14. Had an abortion which the father of her child paid for. Therefore, she's not too trustful of men, let alone, ones who want to get into her pants.

[3278]

If he tries anything, stab him.

[3278]

Deke's been around as long as anybody can remember. No moms, no pops, just Deke on the street by himself. He was always a little off, a little reserved, a little mean. A couple of years back, pain drove him to the cellar of one of the old offices, hiding in the dark like a dying cat. When he came back a few weeks later, he wasn't the same. He was still Deke, but he was an ork. One day, he's just gone, and the next time you all saw him, /bam./

He was never quite right after that. He's more social than he used to be; he can hang out with the gang now, but he doesn't say that much, mostly just laughs with everyone else, or yells with the mob. He's more quick to anger now, more prone to violence. He spends a lot of his time running or lifting cement blocks on pipes. He's bigger. He's /way/ stronger. And sometimes, it's just like he disappears, and all that's left is anger.

The ghoul trade was the best thing that ever happened to him. More and more, he's "finding deaders," and it's gotten to the point where everyone's starting to wonder if maybe he's not making them dead himself. They're right to wonder. They're right to wonder how he got his "used" cyberware, too. There's his new muscles, his cue-ball plain white cybereyes, and a pair of smartlinks, one in each hand, and there's no way he /bought/ those things. But Deke's been around as long as anybody can remember, and besides, are /you/ going to ask him?

His fighting style is brutal and swift, and he doesn't ever, ever stop until everyone who's fighting him is dead. He carries a pair of [stolen] sawed-off Remington 990s, and a massive [stolen] combat axe. His presence would discourage opposition, if he weren't so intent on provoking it.

Deke has privately been amassing stolen money for some while now, and has stolen credsticks, bonds, scrip, and other valuables stashed all over the Playground. Even he doesn't know how much he has; he's ceased hoarding against emergency and started just hoarding. In reality, he has around 20,000 nuyen worth of stolen goods and cash, hidden in secret places throughout the wreckage of the neighborhood.

His main interests are motorcyles and violence, and thus also Combat Biker. Privately he hopes someday to compete; the reality - that he'll never survive that long - escapes him. He spends most of his time cruising alone or in pack, or lifting weights, or watching CB on the scrounged trid. He's an expert at survival in the city, and how to find anything you need in the dirt under other people's feet. He frequents junkyards and scrapyards and dumps of all kinds, and treats everyone but the gang as if they were just more scraps of garbage to be torn apart, scavenged for anything useful, and discarded, preferably for money.

Next time I catch you online, Paul, I'll send you both my character and the one you e-mailed me today.

[Nash]

Oh, here's the new account.

-

32: I like 'em.

[Sticks]

Okay, two questions for Jetplane and 3278:

1) How did Nash and Deke end up with the gang?

2) How do Nash and Deke feel about Sticks as leader? Since the former has male authority issues and the latter appears to be sort of a loner (and slightly more amoral than the rest of the gang).

[3278]

1) How did Nash and Deke end up with the gang?

Deke's been there as long as anyone else. He's basically in the gang 'cause they're the people who live in his neighborhood. [Come to think of it, how'd you all end up in my neighborhood, unless we all grew up here?] That's how gangs work, in my experience. I would assume the gang grew out of some people who knew each other; he was just one of them. Since he's always been a good fighter - tenacious, if nothing else - he's better to have in the gang than just squatting in your hood.

2) How do Nash and Deke feel about Sticks as leader? Since the former has male authority issues and the latter appears to be sort of a loner (and slightly more amoral than the rest of the gang).

Deke loves to do what he's told. Like many fairly simple-minded people, Deke wants and needs guidance. Without his friends, his childhood neighborhood friends, he's just some little boy living in a volcanic waste. [Deke is actually younger than most of the other kids [he's 14] but bigger and older-looking, because he's further along in his lifespan than anyone else except UG. Mentally, he's basically a feral little boy in the body of a giant.]

Sticks is the leader and everyone knows it. Deke doesn't want to lead, and he doesn't really ultimately care who leads; he just admits - like another dog in the pack - that he is led.

I want to compile a list of everyone's player, character, and short bio, since we have so many to keep track of in this game, but I don't think I'll do it just now. But I'd like to be able to go through the list and think about how Deke feels about each of you. You're all his pack/family/friends, and in a game like this, it's the relationships between people that define the events. So I'm also going to post that for Deke, in that sort of White Wolf "how Clan A feels about Clan B" way.

[MissTeja]

I think if we get a character list citing some brief bio's, it may be helpful for us all to do one of those, 32. It will be good for each individual to have it pre-set for themselves how they feel about each other character. As well, it will help the others to know where they stand.

[3278]

And if they try anything, we can stab them.

[Nash]

1) How does Nash end up with the gang?

-After Nash got kicked out after the pregnancy, the father of her child paid for an abortion and she was left on the streets. She fended for herself for a while, but eventually fell under the good will of "Papa bear." He started having her run odd jobs, errands and such, which helped her get really cozy with the city's darkest alleyways and well-to-do scumbags.

Nash saw Chopper regularly on the streets when she was passing goods and started watching him regularly. Once he caught her spying on him, he confronted her and she spit on him. He left her with a broken jaw. A couple of weeks later, she approached him in one of the rare times she saw him alone. That fight ended up with her stabbing a ball point pen into the top of his foot. Feeling that the score was settled, he offered up a truce and they became friends. Soon after he introduced her to Ares and Sticks.

While Nash is wary of men, she has never had any female friends, and is therefore, drawn to them. She finds Speed irritating half of the time, but she's not a man, and therefore, infinitely better. Even though she has long hair, she is usually taken for a boy for her small, shapeless body and brusque, rude manner in her dealings with others outside the gang. She also uses the prospect of sex as a tool for putting others in vulnerable positions. The last fellow who said, "I'd like a piece of you," she pushed into a back alley, undressed him and then fish-hooked him.

She's quiet and calm normally among her fellow gang members. She likes reading and is sometimes overly sensitive to criticism, but craves comfort and support from those around her since her parents kicked her out.

2) How does Nash feel about Sticks as leader?

-While Nash doesn't like Sticks on principal, she's comfortable enough around him not to mouth off when she understands he's saying a good thing. Whenever he's being an obstinate asshole, she calls him on it and they've been known to have the occasional verbal blow out. Usually, it's ended pretty well, but sometimes, it's broken into week long battles where neither one has been able to sleep. She thinks he's a prick, but a decent leader and since nearly everyone else likes him, she's all right with it-most of the time.

[3278]

Deke also knows the neighborhood in a way no one else does. He's never had a home, so the time most people spend sleeping in the same bed in the same house, or even moving from place to place, he spent sleeping somewhere different each night. When he was younger, most of his time was spent crawling in and around and through the ruins and leftovers of the neighborhood. He knows all the stashes, all the fire escapes, which sewer accesses still have workable ladders, virtually anything there is to know about the hood. He has a fair idea of which gangs have turf bordering the Playground, but beyond that, nothing. The world ends for Deke outside the neighborhood.

This information would be more useful if he would share it, but other than sometimes saying, "This way," or "I know an exit," he doesn't. His knowledge is severely limited, too, by his intellect; though he is fairly perceptive - "attuned" might be a better word; he frequently knows when someone's trespassing before anyone else - he is not mentally well-developed, having had no education or exposure to complexity. His life has been simple, brutal, short.

He's only really comfortable on his own turf. He doesn't like to leave the neighborhood, but obviously does when he needs or wants to. [Like, you know, to kill someone, and steal their eyeballs.] Still, there's no place he feels as connected to life, as capable and comfortable, as the ruins he's always played in.

In game terms, he has a high knowledge skill of the neighborhood, as well as the Home Ground edge. I had considered taking the "Perceptive" edge to reflect his unnatural sense of the neighborhood, but given his lack of brain power, it kind of comes out a wash. But he has that sense of neighborhood that you have about your house; you know its sounds, its rhythms, the pressure of the air, and when something isn't right, you can tell.

While his mastery of the combat axe he carries and his twin shotguns is impressive - or terrifying, depending on your perspective - he has virtually no experience with other weapons. He also has no real ability to fight unarmed; he has always felt it would be absurd to fight without the most effective tools to do so. If he has to fight someone without his axe or shotguns, it means he has already lost, is already dead. In his mind, at least. His skill with the combat axe, though, is near-supernatural, and it is in combat with this fearsome weapon that he is most brutal and cruel. He seldom kills an enemy outright - unless they present no challenge at all to him - but rather beats them to death, as much with the flat "hammer" side of his axe as with the blade. The fight is what fuels him, so he prefers to fight as long as he can.

Socially - and I'll get to the details later - he's that guy who's always there, but no one really notices or cares. [The "Steve."] He likes to hang out with Chopper and his buddies and fix bikes or talk about combat biker, but even they aren't that affectionate toward him. He's okay, he's just not that cool. He's the kind of guy who isn't anyone's "best friend," even though a lot of people know him. Still, he's always been around, and he's loyal and doesn't fuck with you, so most everyone thinks he's pretty okay.

From elbow to wrist, knee to ankle, his arms and legs are covered in the gang's semi-trademark skin bracelets, most of them twisted and uneven. When the idea was first posed, Deke was the only person stupid enough to let everyone try on him, first. He's also covered in tattoos, some of them beautiful and complex, others the equivalent of doodles. He'll let anyone tattoo him with anything - so long as it's not on his face or hands - and so everyone practices their developing inking skills on his body. He doesn't seem to mind the pain, or even feel it [3 points of edge Pain Tolerance], and does seem to enjoy the attention.

[MissTeja]

Sticks (Ancient)
Age: 15
Sex: Male
Race: Human

Sticks has spent his whole life in the Barrens. He got his name from his skill with a pool cue...both on the table and in the occaisonal brawl. Sticks doesn't really like to fight, though, he prefers being the "Face" of the gang, where his intellect and keen wit usually leave him more victorious and less scarred.

Sticks has made a living scrounging from local junkyards and doing petty crimes with the gang. He's made enough for to maintain his cheap apartment, and hopes one day he might become a runner or join the Yakuza to earn some real cash. For now, he's happy playing pool and hanging out with his friends.



Chopper (Buzzed)
Age: 17
Sex: Male

Billy Womchomp. Billy loves junk food and never refuses a "cram." A very heavy set male with a tatooed head and shoulders. Noticably large bonestructure for his jaw. Likes to wear black leather and chains. Transportation of choice is a Harley Scorpion. Likes to play with basically anything intimidating, like chainsaws, axes, bats. Shotguns are perferred when it comes to firepower. Keeps a street sweeper handy on his Harley for those pesky pedestrians in his way or to damage the occational sign to get someone's attention.

Ares (Coasini)
Age: 15
Sex: Male
Race: Human

He's a self-proclaimed 'God of War', standing about 5'10", roughly 150 lbs, with dark brown eyes. His black hair is unkempt and falls into his face fairly often. A few missing teeth are shown by a strange grin he wears. He looks generally unwashed, and even his clothes are shabby. Yet he keeps his guns meticulously polished. His eagerness to fight made him adopt the name 'Ares', after some greek myth. His venomous tongue earned him quite a few shiners, but one kid stepped up and forced him to back down from the fight without ever raising a fist.

He enjoys getting his hands messy in the more violent parts of gang life to a fault.
He considers himself better than most because he knows he's "touched" by the adept way. However, he maintains a fierce loyalty to the gangers he's grown up with and a particularly keen respect for Sticks. When he's not whipping his guns out to lay waste to someone, he is usually willing to listen to reason. Regretably, this is not often.
Over the years as a ganger, he's scrounged up a number of gadgets that seemed useful.

Speed (Teja)
Age: 14
Sex: Female
Race: Human

Jillian Alexandra Day. "Speed" stands 5'1" tall, weighs 112 lbs., has shoulder-length blonde hair, has two tattoos - one of a vine going up the left side of her neck and another around her right bicep. She has a strong natural talent for the game of Poker. She got along well with everyone, even though she was very kept to herself and quiet. Speed was never one to relish in the limelight. Most of her time is spent mastering her skills with non-gang members, and making money. In the six years since she joined with the gang, she has blossomed into a beautiful young woman, though it is rather masked by her almost mysterious demeanor. She is regularly dressed in a black tank and khaki's which she keeps rolled up mid-shin. She keeps her locks stuffed under her black ball cap whenever out and about, as she has found it easier being less noticeably female in these parts, not drawing the attention she would otherwise.

Her name "Speed" come both in part from her ability to run long distances very quickly, as well as her skills pick-pocketing. While she remains not much of a skilled fighter, she brings her financial gain and speed to the gang, which have proved useful on more than one occasion.


Toyman (Ang)
Age:
Sex: Male
Race: Human

Gunter Spielzeugmann has had a comparatively easy life in the Barrens, meaning he hasn't been beaten on daily. His family was poor. Because of this, he has ended up staying fairly small. He barely tops 4 feet and has never been one to command the attention of room with his physical prowess (from a reasonable distance, he still looks like a young boy). Instead, he survived by running and hiding most of the time. Since he never fully grew up, it isn't surprising that he still loves his toys. Those toys are all he's ever had in life, and he protects many of them as fiercely as he does his remaining sister who also happens to be about the only person he actually gives a damn about.

Toyman has trouble interacting with many adults, though he is unusually good with kids. He also seeks his escapist world of games, online personas and well-behaved robots whenever he has the time available. He has a minor case of agoraphobia. When Gunter has free time which is spent with his sister or making toys, he often tries to get out to the Rat's Nest to find spare parts for his toy-weapons. His affection for his toys has spread to the local kids as well. He now has a few who regularly visit him to have toys repaired, get new toys and to just hang out. He occasionally goes out and plays with them.

Hock (Cain)
Age:
Sex: Male
Race: Human

Reginald Orenthal Jameison. A gangly fifteen-year old with greasy black hair, acne scars, and a huge nose. He's about 5'11, and about 135 lbs; he doesn't seem to eat enough but maganges somehow.

Reginald was a corp brat. Spoiled rotten for most of his life, he had no clue about the amount of privledge and weath he enjoyed. He showed early signs of magical talent. When he was discovered by the gang, he had become well-known for trying to sell junk at the local pawn shops, and had become good at surviving and stealing. The gang saw that he could be useful, and gave him a chance to "earn his keep" by giving them a portion of his earnings. After a year or so, he earned a place as a full member. The nickname "Hock" stuck, though-- an unfortunate reminder of all the time he spent in pawn shops. He also developed an uncanny ability to negotiate with people-- it wasn't until he tried this trick on a talismonger that he realized he was magically active, a raccoon shaman. He has a huge Ruger Warhawk in a nice soft holster.



Tiger (Bishop)
Age: 16
Sex: Male
Race: Human


Jimmy. "Shiroi Tora, or White Tiger, or just plain Tiger depending on who's talking to him", grew up on the streets.At least on the streets he knew who was gonna try to beat him up; pretty much everybody else. Jimmy’s a pretty big kid,at 5’8”, and 197 lbs. He’s into weightlifting, and can often be seen around wherever the gang happens to be hanging out, just lifting big heavy things, including some of the bigger gang members, sometimes. He’s also into music. He’s pretty good with a guitar, and is often just plucking away. At all hours of the night, he can be seen playing some made up spur of the moment song, bringing a delightful smile to Billy’s face.

Jimmy’s had to kill before. He didn’t like it; in fact he hated it. He doesn’t show a lot of emotion. He tries to follow the Samaurai Code. He has a three tattoos - a rose, a tiger, and the hal, along with the skin bracelet. Jimmy has a small day job, working at the local Stuffer Shack as a stocker. It’s very part time, averaging like 10, 15 hours a week. But it’s sometimes enough to get food for the rest of the gang, especially the outdated and damaged goods.He’s picked up some general mechanical skills along the way. Not very much, as he’s learned from experience, but given enough time, he can usually figure /something/ out to fix just about anything.


Deke (32)
Age: 14
Sex: Male
Race: Ork

Deke's been around as long as anybody can remember. He was always a little off, a little reserved, a little mean. He's never been quite right since his transformation. He's more social than he used to be; he can hang out with the gang now, but he doesn't say that much, mostly just laughs with everyone else, or yells with the mob. He's more quick to anger now, more prone to violence. He spends a lot of his time running or lifting cement blocks on pipes. He's bigger. He's /way/ stronger. And sometimes, it's just like he disappears, and all that's left is anger.

The ghoul trade was the best thing that ever happened to him.There's his new muscles, his cue-ball plain white cybereyes, and a pair of smartlinks, one in each hand, and there's no way he /bought/ those things.His fighting style is brutal and swift, and he doesn't ever, ever stop until everyone who's fighting him is dead. He carries a pair of sawed-off Remington 990s, and a massive combat axe, both stolen. Deke has privately been amassing stolen money for some while now, and has stolen credsticks, bonds, scrip, and other valuables stashed all over the Playground. His main interests are motorcyles and violence, and thus also Combat Biker. He spends most of his time cruising alone or in pack, or lifting weights, or watching CB on the scrounged trid. He's an expert at survival in the city, and how to find anything you need in the dirt under other people's feet. He frequents junkyards and scrapyards and dumps of all kinds, and treats everyone but the gang as if they were just more scraps of garbage to be torn apart, scavenged for anything useful, and discarded, preferably for money.


Nash (JetPlane)
Age: 15
Sex: Female
Race: Human

She's blind in one eye, 15, 5'0, about 95 lbs., and likes knives. Even though she has long hair, she is usually taken for a boy for her small, shapeless body and brusque, rude manner in her dealings with others outside the gang. She also uses the prospect of sex as a tool for putting others in vulnerable positions. She has a quick temper and a lot of problems with male authority figures, that might be a bad thing if you want her on your side. But, she does approve of hugs, so if you give her a hug and an "Arr!", I think it might be all right.

She was thrown out of her house for getting pregnant when she was 14. Had an abortion which the father of her child paid for. Therefore, she's not too trustful of men, let alone, ones who want to get into her pants.While Nash is wary of men, she has never had any female friends, and is therefore, drawn to them.She finds Speed irritating half of the time, but she's not a man, and therefore, infinitely better.
She's quiet and calm normally among her fellow gang members. She likes reading and is sometimes overly sensitive to criticism, but craves comfort and support from those around her since her parents kicked her out.

[MissTeja]

Oops, I missed the last little bit on Deke there. I didn't do a bio on Crone or Scamp's characters yet, but I can add them as soon as they're up. Hope that helps. As 32 suggested, I think it would be good for each of us to post something from our own character's P.O.V. on how they interact with each other gang member.

[Serious Paul]

Crone is playing a character called Amber, however I'll let her relay whatever details she wants everyone to know. By the way thanks Teja, that is a very handy little reference for me.

[3278]

Damn, that's awesome, hon!

[Sticks]

That's really cool Teja. Handy, too.

---------

Chopper
Sticks gets along pretty well with Chopper. Chopper and Sticks both know how to use Chopper's size to their advantage, especially when intimidating somebody. On the other hand, Sticks is careful not to "use" Chopper too much or tell him what to do constantly, because he doesn't want to start anything with the big lug if he can help it. Chopper pretty much keep Billy fed with "snacks," which is just as well because Sticks' idea of dinner for the two of them is Asian takeout...pretty much anything that can be eaten with chopsticks, which Billy hasn't quite mastered yet.

Ares
Sticks trusts Ares with his back. Sticks also trusts to be Ares, and gives him the room he needs, only calling him back from a fight or a provocation when it looks like something neither of them can handle. So far as Sticks can tell, only Billy can really get Ares to crack a non-maniac grin.

Speed
Sticks respects Speed for her skill, but tries to keep her to the back in combat. Not so much because she's a girl, but because she's not as keen as other gangers in combat. More than once, Sticks has had her go get reinforcements while he and others held someone else off. When the rest of the gang is off at a rumble, Sticks is more likely to trust Billy with Speed than anyone else.

Toyman
Sticks and Toyman are on good terms and familiar with each other's scrounging habits. They easily fall into cityspeak scrounging jive and argue over where the best junkyards are. Sticks is still surprised by the weapons that Toyman comes up with, and even more surprised by how often they work. Sticks swears and grumbles whenever he accidentally steps on one of the toys Toyman makes for Billy, but is pleased that Billy likes them enough to take them out and play with them all the time.

Hock
Sticks respects Hock's magical ability, and he's picked up enough jargon to ask Hock to do something tactical, like "Turn on your astral perception! Where are they?" Sticks likes how well Bily and Hock get along; they just seem to click. On the other hand, Sticks also keeps a close eye on Hock. He doesn't say anything or openly stare, but Sticks takes careful note of everything Hock does whenever he's around.

White Tiger
Sticks understands Tiger's code of honor and respects his strength. Personally, Sticks figures Tiger has the best chance of going completely legit, if his job ever picks up. Sticks hasn't come down to a staredown, one inscrutable oriental to another, over Tiger's code yet, so Sticks has kept Tiger away from any potential conflicts of interest. They're most likely to come to conflict over the necessity of Tiger's killing someone.
Sticks smiles when he sees Tiger telling Billy a samurai story, which Billy loves.

Deke
Deke's big, and Deke's dangerous, and Deke has a tendancy to feed people he doesn't like to the ghouls. But when Sticks asks Deke to do something, Deke does it. Sticks hasn't had to talk down to Deke yet, and wants to keep it that way. Sticks is also less than happy with the whole ghoul situation, but it's not worth it yet to try and press Deke about it. Besides, it could be an advantage if the gang needs someone to dissapear...
Sticks is worried that one day Deke might hurt Billy, but Deke has been gentle with 'im so far.

Nash
Sticks and Nash have bumped heads more than a few times. He doesn't know what she's got against him, but she keeps her past quiet and so does he, so Sticks doesn't dig. He's half-convinced that Nash is a lesbian, or else was hurt pretty badly in the past, maybe raped. They often don't talk. When he needs her to do something, he asks her to do it, except in combat when he gives an order and expects her to follow it, and weather her outburst about it afterwards (half-expecting a knife in the back, one of these days). Her best feature in Sticks eyes is how well she gets along with Billy.

UG
Sticks has a soft spot for UG. The troll's size and strength make Sticks cautious, but no one'll stick up (literally) for UG faster if the big palooka's being belittled for his intellect or effected armor. Sticks also recognizes the value of UG's incredibly accurate memory, and has used him more than once as a scout and a scout (who's going to hassle the massive troll that just strolls past, eyeballs thing and smiles?). Sticks likes to watch UG and Speed play cards with Billy (which usually ends with UG memorising the deck and telling Billy and Speed what their cards are).

Amber
Sticks sees Amber as a likeable kid, even though she's older than him. More than that, he's seen her use a gun. Sticks' only wariness around Amber is her brother--specifically, her brother's ties to the Mafia. The gang sticks up for its own, but Sticks isn't about to let his friends become foot soldiers to bleed and die in some mob war. Still, Billy likes her, and that counts for something.

[Cain]

Sticks: Hock secretly worships Sticks. He wishes he could be as cool, as calm, and as effective in a brawl. He gets the feeling that the respect isn't returned, so Hock pushes himself even harder to be more impressive.

Chopper: Hock is very relaxed around Chopper. His open, blunt style took some getting used to, but Hock learned to adjust. Hock tries to emulate Chopper's style and attitude, but usually fails.

Ares: Hock doesn't know what to make of Ares. On the one hand, he's always losing his cool. On the other, the guy knows his shit, and Hock thinks Ares is the best shot he's ever seen. Overall, Hock likes Ares, but is nervous of him.

Speed: Hock feels vaugely parental towards her, because her and Billy are the only ones he's helped defend in a fight. He respects her abilites, but he's also aware that her fighting skills are less than his own, and he's nervous enough about his skills. He knows better than to give her orders, but he'll step up to the plate more for her than others.

Toyman: Hock and Toyman get along great. He loves to go scrounging with him, since he can find all kinds of stuff. He respects Toyman's technical abilites, but doesn't understand them in the slightest. One of Hock's favorite games is to set low-force city spirits to play tag with Toyman's toy cars-- watching a rolling ball of trash jump around an RC car always makes Billy giggle.

White Tiger: Hock doesn't really "get" White Tiger. While Hock's plently familiar with Japanacorp ettiquette, he's not used to dealing with the street version. He finds Tiger to be cold and distant; but he respects Tiger's code of honor, and will back him up. Also, he loves it when Tiger plays the guitar.

Nash: Nash and Hock used to butt heads a lot. Hock is still keenly aware that he's not a "real" street kid, and he overcompensated by trying to hit on Nash, mistaking her blunt sexual innuendos as offers. Hock's gotten better since; it only took a few flesh wounds to convince him that she's good in a fight, and probably more street-wise than he is. Things have improved to the point where he can give her a hug without her going for a knife.

Deke: Hock is scared of Deke. The sheer anger and violence that Deke faces the world with intimidates the hell out of him; and whenever he astrally percieves Deke, Hock's Inner Raccoon starts dropping pellets. He respects what Deke can do, but he gives him a wide berth. In his mind, Deke is a deadly weapon that you point at the other guy, then run away.

Billy: Hock adores Billy. He's been known to trade in some of his scrounge for old video games for Billy to play, and he frequently summons weak spirits as playmates for Billy.

[edit]
UG: Hock really likes UG. He's very relaxed around him, and tries to keep others from playing practical jokes on the troll.

Amber: Hock has a small crush on her. For some reason, she seems to be geniunely impressed by him, so he tries to show off more for her.

[TheScamp]

Ok, here is what I just whipped up for UG, take a gander and tell me what y'all think.

At 17, UG is one of, if not the oldest member of the gang. He's been around the neighborhood the longest, and most people there recognize him easily. Sure, the time spent living there helps, but three meters of ambling simpleton is pretty hard to forget.

His mother was a prostitute, also a troll, and a drug and BTL addict to boot. His father was maybe a John, maybe her pimp, her boyfriend of the month - who knows? The important thing is that he's not there now. Not that you could blame him; life with a drug addict and her addicted baby (whose "firm baby grip" on a human finger threatens to give it a compound fracture) isn't all that pleasant. As a result, UG grew up mostly with a bare minimum of care, if he got any at all.

As soon as he was old enough to talk, it was apparent that his brain wasn't working quite right. Whether it was the troll blood, the drugs in eutero, the lack of any stimulating environment, or any combination of those is anybody's guess. By the age of 10 he was the size of a full-grown male. He had also taken to hanging out down at Papa Bear's stuffer shack. The older troll had seemed to take a liking to him, and let him help clean up around the shop and help take the sporadic deliveries in from the trucks when they actually showed. By the age of 12, he was practically living there; spending all of his free time away from the basement flop his 'mother' slept in.

At 15, he was nearly fully grown. That was also when his mom vanished. One day he came back, and she just wasn't there. He felt weird sleeping there without his mom, but that was ok. His new friend Tiger, who also worked sometimes down at the Shack, had shown him the old library where a bunch of other kids hung out and lived! All this for just chasing away a group of kids from another part of town who were bothering Tiger. (Tiger had actually been ambushed by four or five members of a rival gang, and UG happened to be walking by at the time. When a bellowing tower of bone and muscle sends two of your buddies flying into a wall, you scatter.)

So, for the past couple of years, UG's been with the Angels. That's where he got his handle. His given name is Eugene, and he's friggin' 'uge, so it seemed rather logical to everyone involved. It is NOT a shortening of U-G-L-Y, as some try to imply. They don't try for long.

UG is now 17, and fully grown. He is quite likely as big or bigger than any troll the other gangers have ever seen, barring extensive cybernetic modifications. His intellect is perhaps not quite as debilitating as people would say. The other gangers know that in fact, he has a frighteningly exceptional memory. (It is, in fact, photographic.) The problem is that he seems almost completely unable to make connections between the facts and memories that he has. His grasp of cause and effect is almost nil, limited to the most immediate consequences of his actions.

His ability to remember parts and where they go has actually made him a pretty good mechanic, albeit limited to the motorcycles that members of the gang own. UG has none of his own, but is trying to assemble a monstrosity capable of carrying him from scratch. The heap of tubes and chrome is far from completed, and most of the gangers have doubts as to whether it will ever run.

When the inevitable dust-ups with other gangs occur, UG is an absolute juggernaut. Over the years, he has developed an a fascination with stories of knights and medieval warfare. This is reflected in his rumble gear, which is a pitiful junkyard approximation of field plate. Old tires for pauldrons, sheet metal sandwichboard breastplate, manhole cover shield – you get the picture. His weapon of choice is an enormous “mace,” which is really just an old metal parking meter. Firearms are out of the question; the few guns available in this part of the city are all but unusable by someone with fists the size of a human head. As rudimentary as the weaponry may be, he is an unholy terror. As long as he can close with the other gang, it’s just about over. While the enemy gang tries to bring UG down (and their blows roll off him like water off a duck’s ass) he’s sweeping that parking meter in murderous arcs, and he absolutely does not stop until they’re finished. (combat monster) Once the other bruisers like Deke and Chopper wade in beside him, it’s all over but the screaming.

UG’s fearsome battle demeanor is the exact contrast to his behavior during the rest of his life. He is usually quiet and interminably kind to those he considers friends. There are really only two things that can set him off; a threat to his friends or home, and general confusion. He has been teased relentlessly about his slow, plodding thought process, and still doesn’t really understand why people do it. Thus, when it does happen, he gets confused and lashes out. Violence is generally his solution to any particularly vexing problem, though the more time he spends down at the Stuffer Shack (which is still a lot, despite the home at the library), the less that seems to be the case.

[crone]

OK, here's Amber:

Anna grew up in the care of her older brother Frankie. A small-time thug, looking to become a big-time thug, he taught her to be his scout, lookout, and backup. He was a demanding instructor, making little allowance for the age difference between them. Frankie was eventually recruited by the Mafia, bringing on a happy and prosperous time for the two of them. Through his Mafia contacts she even got some ‘ware installed. As his reputation grew, he began to have less and less time for her. Hating to be alone, she looked around for kids her own age, and found Sticks, Toyman and the others. She enjoyed spending time with them, not having to keep up, being able to play. Then Frankie went away, on some big operation in Tacoma maybe. She hasn’t heard from him in months. She has moved into the library, so that she can be near her friends, bringing along her extensive music and video collection. She doesn’t like to be by herself, ever.

She is as proficient with a pistol as another kid might be at reading and writing but it holds no particular appeal. Her dream is to become a famous singer, or rock star, or maybe actress. She avidly follows the lives and activities of these celebrities. She uses the name Amber, as it sounds more exotic. At 16 she is one of the older members of the gang but being an elf, she seems to be growing up slowly.

Height: 5’ 10”, weight: 130 lbs
Hair: currently brown, cut and styled like Passion Synclaire’s
Eyes: violet contacts

[crone]

Sticks (Ancient)
Amber respects Sticks leadership. He’s more easygoing than she’s used to, and it took her a while to realise she didn’t have to do every little thing he said. Now she defies him sometimes for fun, but it never takes him long to make her see things his way, and she would never do it in a fight.

Chopper (Buzzed)
Chopper is a really fun guy. She loves to cheer him on in a cramming contest. In a fight or a shakedown, she covers him from the rear with her pistol when he wades in.

Ares (Coasini)
Ares always reminds Amber of her brother and that confuses her. She is pretty quiet around him and has a tendency to go along with whatever he says.

Speed (Teja)
Amber tries hard to make friends with Speed, but if she is continually rebuffed she will puzzledly let her go her own way. She wonders if Speed is up for a game of Tag around the old Precinct House (though not at night, of course).

Toyman (Ang)
Toyman is a bit geeky sometimes, but she appreciates everything he does for her. She has always wanted a simsense deck and is thrilled he has one. She is happy to stand guard while he scrounges through junkyards but she isn’t much help at finding stuff. She has some samurai movies in her collection, and when she is buying/stealing more, she keeps an eye out for ones she thinks he might like. Any spare cash she has, she hands over to him for his gadgets.

Hock (Cain)
Amber is hugely impressed by the casual way Hock summons up spirits to play with. She is always asking him about his former life of luxury, and uses the details to fuel her fantasies of when she makes it big. She just assumes he will be a part of that (along with the rest of the gang, actually).

Tiger (Bishop)
Tiger also reminds Amber slightly of her brother, in a good way, because he seems dedicated and reliable. That is why she trusts him. She likes to sing along to his guitar playing, and thinks they should start a band. Maybe they could get Chopper to play drums and Nash could sing backup.

Deke (32)
Deke scares Amber a little, but she admires his ruthlessness. He brings out the warrior in her. She stays out of his way when the gang is just hanging, but in a fight she often ends up near him.

Nash (JetPlane)
Wow, a female friend! Amber loves to hang with Nash, and will try really hard to find something they have in common. She tries to do Nash’s hair, and show her her latest Entertainment Weekly, but if that doesn’t work, then she will try something else. She doesn’t quite realise that Nash likes her best when she isn’t trying at all.

UG
Amber appreciates UG not just for his kindness, but his flair for the dramatic as well. She helped him put together his battle gear, and sometimes calls him Sir Knight, or Baron. When he gets tired of reading stories, Amber will make some up. Though she doesn’t have his memory for historical detail, they are generally pretty exciting.

Billy
When Billy is around, Amber suddenly acts a lot calmer, and less frenetic. She sings to him sometimes in a soft, crooning voice, quite unlike the normal way she belts out a song. Most often, she just keeps an eye out for him, as if making sure he isn’t going anywhere.

[Sticks]

Updated with UG and Amber, above.

[TheScamp]

Sticks likes to watch UG and Speed play cards with Billy (which usually ends with UG memorising the deck and telling Billy and Speed what their cards are).

See, the best part about this collective character/group building thing is that other people come up with shit for your character that you wouldn't have thought of on your own. Nice one, dude.

[Buzzed]

I will post an updated list of Chopper's relationships tomorrow.

Question: Has anyone ever done a "collective character/group building thing" like this before in a forum game? Is it common, or are we breaking new ground?

[Sticks]

Scamp: Thankee.

[Speed]

Sticks (Ancient)

Speed has gotten along well with Sticks from Day One. She goes to him when seeking advice, and he is always good about supplying her with it. While she sees him as an equal, she still feels indebted to him and Chopper for saving her life that day six years ago. If he says jump, she will ask how far. Sticks often finds random things done, like having his bed made or a $5 bill stuffed into his shoe, and while he suspects Speed, she will never admit to having done it.

Chopper (Buzzed)

Speed doesn't always understand Chopper. Under other circumstances, she probably would have never found herself hanging out with the likes of someone like him, but as she does Sticks, she feels as if she owes Chopper her life. He does make her laugh, going on with his stories about crams, though. Chopper has a remarkable skill of getting Speed out of some very sticky, sometimes dangerous situations that she commonly, accidentally gets herself into. No matter how hard she tries to stay in the shadows, some force always drives her out into the open. Luckily, Chopper is usually there.

Ares (Coasini)

Speed sticks her tongue out and crosses her eyes at Ares...a lot. Anything to get the guy to smile. Never seems to work though. She'd tickle him, but she's afraid he'd probably swat her. He takes life so seriously, succumbing to his violent tendencies. She sometimes feels disappointed because she does not know if Ares truly enjoys the good things that life has to offer. She tries to encourage him, but is often met in return with a blank stare.

Toyman (Ang)

Speed is enchanted by the resident Toy-boy, and has formed a special friendship with him. They play poker together on occasion and Speed will offer to go help him get scraps for his new weaponry. He is the one member that she feels a sense to protect, when it is usually the other way around, and she makes a concerted effort to do so. Though she will admit that, especially for a little guy, he's quite capable on his own.

Hock (Cain)

There's a silent respect between Hock and Speed, one almost like that of a big brother and his little sister. They rumble a lot, challenging each other to wrestling matches. Of course, Hock always lets her win, but he also makes a point of ensuring he is the only one who "rumbles" at all with her. In combat, he seems to make a pointed effort of shielding her, without getting overly authoratative.

Tiger (Bishop)

Speed just adores the Tiger. She sees a very selfless side to him, as he always seems to be working toward the betterment of the gang as a whole. He's really strong, which she thinks is cool, and he has a /real/ job, which is even cooler. While his lack of emotion often makes it hard to get him to open up, it's the little things, like him bringing jerky back from the Stuffer Shack just for her, and the night's he plays his guitar for Billy, that convinces Speed he's not completely "cold."

Deke (32)

Speed cowers to Deke and tries not to spend too much time around him. They make occasional small talk, but whenever she tries bringing up anything about cards or games or anything fun, he gets this "off" look on his face, as if he was subconciously somewhere else. Though she won't admit a word of it, she's actualy a tad scared of him. Her loyalty is strong, though, and if the situation called for it, Speed would be no less hesitant to fight for him than any of the others.

Nash (JetPlane)

Speed really likes Nash. The two, close in age and size, share a commoness in their gang life in the Barrens. As well, they'll both rather quiet - Speed a bit moreso, though. Sometimes Speed pushes Nash's buttons, but Nash is usually quick to diffuse her temper because of their friendship. The two share secrets with one another. Nash's distrust of men yields their biggest difference, since Speed often looks up to the guys. They compliment one another though, as Nash shields Speed from men's ill ways, Speed works to help rebuild Nash's confidence in the opposing gender.

UG (Scamp)

UG is the only person Speed doesn't like playing /her/ game with. Whenever she breaks out the poker deck, UG swears he won't cheat, but he can't help from memorizing all of the cards. She knows the tricks of the game, so she can usually still walk away with the win, but UG definately makes it more difficult. Speed and UG are friends and have an uncanny ability to make one another laugh, even just by exchanging glances. Though she was very intimidated of UG at first, it has withered away over time.

Amber (crone)

Speed and Amber don't get along as well as it would be nice to think. It's not that they dislike one another, but that they are so very different from one another. Amber is the oldest girl in the gang, while Speed is the youngest. Speed is quiet and almost mysterious, enjoying her time being a cardshark under the red light, while Amber is vivacious wanna-be rock star, in love with the world beyond. When in need, each girl would always have the others' back, but despite both of their continued efforts to form a close friendship, they continue to just not really understand one another.

Billy

Speed is very maternal to Billy, most often being the one doing his laundry, making his bed, and getting after him to brush his teeth. She sets aside a significant portion of the sizeable cash flow she brings in to give to Sticks for Billy's care, specifically. She tries to read to him every night before bed, providing she can keep his attention for that long. Often, Billy will get a worried look and point to something over Speed's shoulder, but when she turns around, there's nothing there. She calms him with a hug, which makes him smile.

[Anguirel]

Something I haven't gone into too deeply before is Toyman's pyromania. He doesn't like to fight, but if he lables someone as an enemy in need of killing, he's damn vicious. He burns his victims alive. His current weapon of choice if he's given an option is a Molotov Cocktail (because it's cheap and effective). He also packs a Gyrojet pistol, since if he can't burn, he goes for explosions (and incendiary rounds are way over availability ). In any case, that may figure in to how some characters view him, though it only really shows up in combat, and even then only when he's serious. When he isn't serious, he'll use his hand-coptor flash-bangs, metal-edged throwing cards, caltrops, and other such things to distract the enemy while everyone else does the real work.

Also, Toyman's Toys:
He has a pair of micro roto-drones which (when fully assembled) look like nothing so much as a hexagon of soda cans with a pair of counter-spin rotors on top. The canisters around the sides contain the chemicals for a smoke-screen projector, lending the pair their names - "Haze" and "Mist". They can be flown with 6, 3, 2 or 0 cans attached, and the main drive system collapses down, allowing the drone to be folded up and the blades to snap down along the sides and the whole thing to be slipped into a somewhat modified gun holster, which is how Toyman usually stores them when he's on the move.

He also has three former R/C cars, heavily modified, though only one sees any regular action. That one is named "Black Ice". It's a standard looking toy car with two surprises for opposing Go-Gangs - Oil Sprayers and Smoke Projectors. The second, nicknamed "Baby Thunder", resembles a tank-turret on wheels. The turret holds grenades, which is why this one doesn't come out often -- in fact, it's only been used twice, once against a Go-Gang that was harrassing the Blazing Angels, and once against a pair of assholes who bothered his sister -- the latter were decorating the walls by the end, just before the walls burned down. The last and most recent hasn't even been used yet for anything real. It used to be Toyman's car for just playing around, but with Powderkeg's help he attached a launch control unit. It can hold a single rocket at any given time and has been dubbed, "Lightning" as a companion to Baby Thunder. (Exact details of how it looks are still being worked out -- I had seen it as using a spring-launcher to toss the rocket up and forward before it ignited, but it may end up needing a tube which would extend four-feet or so sticking way out over front and back and likely some method of bracing itself)

[Nash]

Sticks (Ancient)

Nash will deal with Sticks, but only to the limitations of his leadership. Once he steps out of line, poking into her personal life or making suggestions about her sexuality, her temper is quick to flare. She'll listen and follow orders, but beyond that, she avoids him. The only thing she does appreciate about him is his sense of humor. He's always one to settle the gang with a well-put joke and he's stopped many blows from happening between the two of them with a good witticism. He's even made her laugh so much that she's given him a hug without placing a knife between his thighs.

Chopper (Buzzed)

Chopper is the only male Nash talks to on a regular basis. She trailed him for weeks before he caught her, and what she saw was a nice guy trapped in a brute body. She likes him and respects him. Sometimes, when she has a bad dream, or can't sleep, she curls into Chopper's bed and he always nicely moves over. She sees him sort of like the father figure she always wanted.

Ares (Coasini)

Ares bothers Nash. She caught him torturing a squirrel one day. Ares had such an odd intensity, like something about the squirrel's pain entranced him. The moment stuck with her and she never mentioned it to him. If he didn't show such a high level of loyalty to the rest of the gang, she thinks he'd flip out and kill everyone horribly-and enjoy every minute of it. Therefore, she's wary of him and keeps out of his way.

Toyman (Ang)

Something about him compels her to watch him sometimes, and she always does so, quietly and unseen. His innocence reminds her of her own lost innocence, and her lost child. They hang out sometimes, playing "darts" with her assortment of knives and quietly absorbing the noise of the other band members around them. They have a quietness to their moments together that Nash appreciates and his random hugs that nearly always knock her over always bring a smile to her face.

Hock (Cain)

There were issues between the two of them at first. Particularly because his unfounded arrogance left her wanting to make him vulnerable and stupid. Unfortunately, he took her too seriously and she left him with a couple of marks he won't be forgetting too soon. Things remain all right. She even hugs him back now, and every now and again, she gives him a kiss on the cheek for making such a good turn around.

Tiger (Bishop)

Nash would see him around sometimes at the Stuffer Shack between running errands. She's talked to him a couple of times, but found his stand-offish attitude hard to break through. She found him interesting and, oddly enough, attractive.

The nights she's fallen asleep next to Billy while reading him a story, she always woke to Tiger playing his guitar and Billy smiling so bright she thought she'd never seen him so happy.

Deke (32)

She is curious about him. Half of the time, she wants to close his mouth and stop him from laughing that horrible false laugh he does when he's just doing it to go along with everyone else. Sometimes, she wishes she was bigger and better so she could take him underneath her wing and maybe make him smile a little, but she gets pretty insecure pretty quickly and wonders what the hell would ever make her think that taking him underneath her wing would change anything.

Sometimes, when he's sleeping, she tucks him in.

UG (Scamp)

UG is Nash's reading companion. Nash likes book and UG likes those shitty medieval stories, but at least he's someone who knows when to keep his mouth shut and just read. He stutters when he's fascinated about things sometimes, but she's always patient with him and he always ends up telling her something she's interested in as well. She likes his company, but sometimes he pans into asking her questions about "women," which she would answer in the beginning, but now closes her book and just walks away.

Amber (crone)

Nash and Amber like similar types of music, but Amber is move involved with what she likes than Nash is. They don't have much in common, but Nash is always a good listener and knows that Amber is trying. Nash likes Amber most when they find a rare pack of cigs. They just sit and smoke, inhaling and exhaling so slowly, and the moment will extend so perfectly. After a smoke break, Nash will do anything to spend more time with Amber- even read her entertainment weeklys. Nash sometimes gets the suspicion that Amber has a crush on her, but it usually fades.

Speed(Teja)

Speed helped Nash start allowing for some men to be all right. She pushed her admiration for Chopper into something valuable and helpful and even slowly worked her into hugging some of the male members of the gang. Speed understands Nash's vulnerability under her tough guise moreso than anyone else does. They understand each other incredibly well, but some of Speed's motivations are lost on her. They keep each other in check and they almost have a weird 6th sense about how the other is doing.

Billy

Nash loves Billy. Every chance she can get, she reads to him, sometimes pulling him away from the others just so she can continue a story. She loves the way he looks at her when she reads, so focused and content. She loves children, even though she has problems with having any sort of contact with them at this time, and therefore, Billy is her stand-in. She's incredibly maternal towards him, always wiping the dirt off his face and re-arranging his hair. She sometimes even sits down and braids it, because she likes the way he touches her face while he does it, smiling so widely as she runs the brush through his hair. She's happiest in her moments with him.

Edit: Toyed a little with the Toyman/Nash relationship.

[Anguirel]

Sticks (Ancient)
Toyman and Sticks get along famously when scrounging. Toyman's small size lets him crawl in and under things more easily, while Sticks is often a better judge of value for anything not part of a small vehicle or a toy. Toyman respects Sticks greatly for trying to avoid combat when possible, but being willing to wade in when necessary. Toyman's most recent set of pool-ball grenades were quite successful, even if they couldn't be played with quite yet -- he's working on a better activation system than making the numbers also triggers. He's also still working on making a pool-cue that functions as a weapon more effectively but has had trouble getting the balance and weight to be proper.

Chopper (Buzzed)
Toyman gets along reasonably well with Chopper these days, though when they end up together they mostly talk about bikes if anything. Toyman has challenged Chopper to crams before (and nearly always lost), though it's unlikely Chopper will accept anymore challenges from him unless it's done at the store since in the last one Toyman prepared the food to make Chopper foam at the mouth.

Ares (Coasini)
Toyman respects Ares skill with a pistol, but doesn't like his violent temper. Toyman is afraid that at some point Ares will piss off the wrong people and bring everything crashing down on him, but at the same time, likes having Ares around to shoot the people who'd otherwise be kicking Toyman around.

Speed (Teja)
Toyman gets along quite well with Speed, since neither particularly like being noticed they stay in the background together. Toyman respects and envies Speed for her sprinting abilities, seeing as running was always his own personal solution to most of the problems encountered in the Barrens. She no longer lets him use his own deck when they play poker ever since she realized at least one of them was marked.

Hock (Cain)
Toyman likes having Hock around when he goes out to the junkyards. The city spirits Hock can summon find the best stuff hidden under the piles, as long as Toyman can describe what he wants well enough. Hock is still a favored target of Toyman's pranks, mostly aimed at Hock's previous corp life and his old way of looking at things though few of them work now that he has gotten used to life on the streets.

Tiger (Bishop)
Shiroi Tora is a minor idol of Toyman's. This probably comes more from having seen a few too many sims and anime on feudal Japan than anything else, but the whole idea of acting in a proper and honorable manner really garnered Toyman's respect. He figures anyone who can manage that while living on the streets deserves some. They watch Samurai flicks together whenever Toyman can find one. (Incidentally, does Tiger speak any Japanese? Toyman has a bit, garnered from anime and pirated japanese versions of games, probably enough to understand most of a movie in Japanese, though he'd miss some parts -- if Tiger knew more then he could help translate.)

Deke (32)
Deke scares the hell out of Toyman. Ares is kinda violent, and Chopper is a little crass, UG is big and strong, but Deke is just scary. Thus far Deke has been on his side, and Toyman more or less tries to stay out of Deke's way when Toyman isn't being useful in some fashion; he figures the minute he stops being useful in Deke's eyes he may be the next one fed to the ghouls or stripped apart for cyberware and Deke's intimate knowledge of the region means even Toyman would be hard pressed to find a hiding spot. He has never been a target of Toyman's pranks.

Nash (JetPlane)
Toyman's childish nature puts him below Nash's anti-male radar, allowing him to be a little closer than any other guy in the gang. That and his tackle-hugs from her blind side. Besides the usual games and pranks he does with nearly everyone in the gang, Toyman will play the throwing-knife equivalent of darts with her. He's also found several books for her to read, and has asked for her help teaching his sister to read and write. ((Edit: I was writing when you posted, evidently -- we'll need to work out the specifics, but I think the two descriptions aren't mutually exclusive, just different ways of looking at the same relationship. Toyman certainly doesn't know when she's watching him, and she may take his general social awkwardness as applying to her personally.))

UG (Scamp)
Toyman, being the smallest, gets along surprisingly well with the giant UG, who is litereally over twice Toyman's height. In particular, he often likes to ride up on UG's shoulders. He has been hard at work modifying things for UG's enormous hands, and has made several over-sized toys (among other things, including a deck of very large cards) for UG in the past. He really likes UG's armor (it shows up all the time in games ) and has done some work designing the troll's bike, though he has yet to find an appropriate motor for it in any scrap yard and hasn't got the skill to put one together from scratch -- and he doesn't want to piss off any Trolls in Go-Gangs by swiping the engine from one of their bikes. Of any gang member, Toyman probably most enjoys being with UG for two reasons: one, they're both child-like, in their own way and two: when you're with a giant troll like UG, no one notices you in combat which makes Toyman's hidden weapons all that much more surprising to anyone hit by them.

Amber (Crone)
Amber is probably the one to use Toyman's sim-deck the most (besides Toyman himself). Being able to step inside the life of a simstar for a day sounds like something she'd just love. All in all, they get along quite well; though Toyman has no interest in the lives of celebrities, he loves tooling around the Matrix for random information. He's also set up a corner (or room) of the main floor in the library as a stage for her (and Tiger, if he wants, and anyone else) to practice on. He's working on getting decent wiring, lighting and sound up for it, but it's functional. The only part that really works well are the pyrotechnics.

[crone]

I was in a rush when I posted this morning, and left out a few things. So my previous 'gang relationships' post has just been edited a bit.

[Ares]

Sticks (Ancient)
Sticks is the only person that Ares clearly admires. The guy 'walks on air'. He seems to walk through life with a careless attitude and have an air of cool about him.
Ares admires this silently, but his actions show it plainly enough. All the signs say that the two of them should not get along at all, but Ares changes around Sticks. He becomes a more subdued person. Sticks is the only person who can talk Ares into backing down from a fight, though it's very difficult for even him to do. None of this changes the fact that Ares thinks pool is a stupid game and cannot play it at all.
Ares gets Sticks into trouble sometimes. Well, fairly often. But he does make up for it when Sticks finds his own trouble. If someone seems even vaguely to be threatening Sticks, Ares is more than anxious to zipper them up the chest with bullets.
In a fight, Ares always keeps one eye on Sticks. -Always-.


Chopper (Buzzed)
Chopper and Ares can bullshit for hours about different things. Ares finds Chopper's easygoing nature appealing. Chopper doesn't judge Ares, and doesn't look down on him. The two also share a common talent in intimidating others, and fight alongside each other wonderfully, then laugh about it later.
Chopper's use of chainsaws and bats and other frightening personal weapons makes a devilish smile appear on Ares' face.
Ares tried cramming against Chopper once. Vomitting ensued. He found he didn't have the body type for it. But, simply having tried made Chopper warm up to him a lot more.


Speed (Teja)
Speed is unique. She has a wonderful talent of being overlooked by the world, and has often overheard or seen things without others knowing. While it may seem odd, Ares respects this about her. He is also impressed with her ability at card games. He loves a good card game, and she is one of the few people who can continuously beat him.
She has odd habits though, and makes faces, and stands on her head, and leaves him strange things. Probably these are to make him laugh, but he simply does not understand her efforts. To Ares, life is an opponent. To Speed, life is an experience.
On a personal level, they get along fine. He actually talks with her more than most of the other members of the gang. She is, in fact, the only female he has found himself able to talk to. And even though she grimaces when he opens up some of his thoughts to her, she puts up with it because she knows it's far better than forcing him to bottle it all up.


Toyman (Ang)
Toyman is endlessly useful. Ares loves to try to help out where he can, with his limited knowledge of electronics and such. He finds the toy weapons to be amusing, and amazing when they work. His use of explosives and fire are remarkably entertaining as well. Ares tries his damnest to keep Toyman out of the line of fire when fights begin, though.
The only time they don't get along is over matters of patience. When Toyman is building something, Ares has to try to forget about him, otherwise Ares will repeatedly pester him about when it will be done.
Ares is presently trying to get Toyman to make something that will interface with the smartlink system on his ingrams.


Hock (Cain)
Ares' view on Hock is very simple, and he makes it known. Hock is not from here. Hock is not a Barrens kid. Hock does not fit in. Hock is tolerated only because of his magical ability.
He is ignored on a personal level, but protected fiercely and brutally on the battle field. Ares knows enough about mages to know that they go down easily, so he terminates anyone who so much as /looks/ at Hock wrong. Ares is also trying to teach Hock how to shoot, so that he doesn't have to rely entirely on magic to get by.


Tiger (Bishop)
Ares likes music. Ares likes Tiger playing music. Ares finds most everything else about Tiger to be irritating and foreign. His insistance that there are rules to fighting is unthinkable. Tiger usually ends up siding with Sticks when it comes to deciding whether to fight or back down, which also drives Ares up the wall. Tiger is clearly good at fighting, and Ares does not understand why he doesn't use his talent.
Ares has argued with Tiger relentlessly about the so-called "Way of the Gun" versus Tiger's so-called "Samurai Code", but neither of them are really willing to compromise their ways, so it just ends up as heated words and some insults.


Deke (32)
Deke and Ares are a dangerous pair. While it's not apparent that they "get along" at all, their relationship maintains an uncanny professional level. The two also share a common belief that "outsiders" are useful only as corpses. Ares shares also Deke's view on fighting - There are no rules. Only that you need to survive. The two rarely actually "talk", but instead express a lot of their thoughts silently with one another simply through subtle body language.
Sticks knows better than to let the two go off together, anywhere. Once they were sent to get some drinks from a convenience store, but between Ares' instigating of fights and Deke's natural violent nature, a bloodbath ensued. They did manage to bring drinks back, but as the cans were stained with dirt and other people's blood, no one much wanted to drink them.
Hell's fury pales compared to Deke and Ares when they are unleashed and allowed to go about things 'their way'.
Also of note, Deke brings out the strategist in Ares. Normally it's a wild shoot-em-up while grinning the whole time. When Deke is part of the equation, Ares finds himself analyzing the situation more, identifying targets and their vulnerabilities, and calling them out. There's a very cold and calculating air that he breathes around the Ork of fury known as Deke.


Nash (JetPlane)
Ares has very little interaction with Nash. She has some personal issues he knows nothing about, and doesn't care to ask about. But he knows she lets it affect her, and has been taking, in his opinion, way too long to get over it. He finds her natural ability to deceive others disturbing, especially when it is used sexually. He confronted her about it once, telling her she should just let people know that she hates them and wants them lying six feet under... Heated words were exchanged Both his and her own temper flared up and something of a Mexican standoff ensued. He had a knife at his stomach, and she had two guns in her face.
Thankfully, Sticks stepped in at the right moment and spent the next half hour talking them into backing down. After that, he began avoiding Nash as much as possible, and really only interacts with her in the midst of a fight.


UG (TheScamp)
UG is slow and big. He's very unconventional with his arsenal. He is also some kind of idiot savant.
Ares does not really interact with UG, even in a fight. He half expects the troll to just keep swinging at everything that moves, not paying attention to whether it's a gang member or not, due to his seeming mental dimness.
However, Ares does use UG's memory to his advantage. He uses UG as something of a personal diary, telling him secrets and thoughts that no one else knows, and asking him to remember it for him. Ares' memory tends to be very short-term, but he has no patience for writing things down, so having 'the troll' (as Ares calls him) memorize things is much more appealing.
UG probably misinterprets this unusual openness as a close friendship, which suits Ares just fine.


Amber (crone)
Ares thought he would get along with Amber when she joined up, toting her pistol and being a pretty good shot with it. However, the elf held no passion for shooting, she was simply trained at it, or had a natural talent. Instead, she has a passion for singing and acting, which, while amusing, Ares does not believe is her inherent natural talent. His views of course are biased towards shooting.
He finds her insistance on always needing to be with someone strange. Oftentimes, when everyone else has gone to sleep, she comes to him. He tasks her with different minor things and talks to her, and tries to convince her that life here is far better than life in the spotlight. However, usually their time spent together is a long full silence.


Billy
This kid is the only one who cools Ares' fire. He makes Ares remember that life isn't out to get him. However, the good vibe he gets from Billy makes Ares a bit uncomfortable, so he never hangs around the kid for long periods of time.
He's also not allowed to spend much time alone with Billy, since the time he tried to teach Billy to shoot a pistol.

[3278]

Sticks (Ancient)
Deke doesn't have any special feelings about Sticks one way or the other. He listens to what Sticks has to say, and loyally follows his orders, but there's no real connection there. Deke can't seem to understand the facets of life Sticks centers himself around, and most of what Sticks has to say is simply too intelligent and too human for Deke to understand or mimic understanding of. Deke feels exactly the way any pack dog feels about the alpha male.

Chopper (Buzzed)
Chopper is the closest thing Deke has to a role-model. They're interested in the same things - combat and motorcycles - and spend most of their time doing similar types of activities. They work on their motorcycles together, ride together sometimes, and fight together. Still, there's a distance between them founded on Deke's inherent anti-socialism. Chopper can't help but think Deke's just a little lame, as a person.

Ares (Coasini)
Deke understands Ares, mostly. They have the same hunger for the fight, although Ares has more control over his craving. Sometimes, they talk, but usually they're more interested in mutually contributed-to destruction. Increasingly, Deke is beginning to become concerned that Ares isn't willing to follow him to the next step, from vandalism and combat to outright slaughter, and Deke is starting to watch Ares for signs of weakness.

Speed (Teja)
As with most females, Deke finds Speed a complete mystery. He's very nearly afraid of her, because this is one portion of animal biology life hasn't prepared him for. Prolonged solitude has made Deke wary of anything alien. He doesn't understand her games, or her way of life. Still, he finds something compelling about her, but is unaware of what it might be.

Toyman (Ang)
Of all the people Deke doesn't understand, he understands Toyman the least. They have virtually nothing at all in common, like a wild dog and a chimpanzee. Still, they have made a peace through common respect, where "respect" mostly means leaving each other alone. Deke is wildly excited by the capacity of Toyman's toys, but remains completely unable to comprehend them.

Hock (Cain)
Magic is as beyond Deke as electronics, if not moreso. Deke feels a deep and abiding respect for Hock, founded mostly on his fear of the magic Hock wields. To Deke, the notion of something-from-nothing is terrifying and shocking, like fire to a wild animal; technology makes sense, has an order. Hock does not play by the rules of order. Still, they have made their peace, too, as animals sometimes do.

Tiger (Bishop)
Deke likes Tiger. They work on bikes together. Sometimes, Tiger makes music, which Deke enjoys. Tiger has a sense of honor too human for Deke to relate to, which Deke mostly finds strange and bewildering. [Deke is confused by a lot of things.] Deke sees possibility in Tiger, but worries at what Tiger might see in him.

Nash (JetPlane)
Deke isn't certain about Nash. Deke thinks of Nash more as a small boy than as a girl, which Nash doesn't seem to mind. He respects her ability with knives, or more appropriately, thinks her ability is "cool." Though he has no fear of her, her capacity for violence - always somewhere just immediately below the surface - makes him wary of her. In a way, he considers her kindred.

Billy (Paul)
Deke tries to avoid Billy. Deke and Billy used to get along okay, but recently, when he's with Billy, there's this horrible stillness in the room, like Billy is looking through him, feeling bad for him. Deke's face tends to lose all expression, and he usually departs quickly. The contrast between Billy's seeming innocence and Deke's growing anger is simply too much for him.

UG (Scamp)
Deke understands UG. Besides Chopper, UG's the person Deke relates to the most. There's nothing in his life that compares to the feeling he gets when he and Ares and Chopper and UG wade into a crowd. UG is also the only person who's really capable of spotting Deke when he lifts weights; even UG isn't quite as strong as Deke.

Amber (crone)
Amber brings out something in Deke he's not familiar with: the sense of being a protector. Whether it's because she's so much smaller than he, whether because of her scouting talents, or because she's so frail-looking, Deke feels almost as if Amber is a little sibling. He feels uncomfortable enough with that to avoid her socially, although he tends to keep an eye on her, and who she's with, but in combat, he likes having her near him, where he can make sure she is behind him, and not in front of him. As a result, Amber is also the person most aware of Deke's lapses of control in combat.

I think I got everyone. Quite the group we've amassed here.

[Serious Paul]

First very freaking cool. I really like the character relations-very nice and handy reference. It will help me out immensely.

Second I have the next four days off starting tommorrow. So I will be getting things done starting tommorrow.

3278 if you have some time free tommorrow, would you and Teja like to go to a Luau?

[Serious Paul]

Okay some business to take care of here. First I have received characters fromt he following:

• 3278, Ancient History, Anguriel, Bishop, Buzzed, Cain, Coasini, Crone, JetPlane, and Scamp.
• MissTeja has her's on the way as I last spoke to her.
• Gyro has withdrawn from the game.
• Matt McS: you have yet to reply to this thread, and have yet to have sent me anything beyond your initial expression of intrest. So here's the deal. You have until Monday when I start posting to the game to get me soemthing. Anything. Otherwise I will consider you a withdrawal.

Okay I start my real IC posting Monday sometime. I am reviewing Toyman and Ares right now. The character dynamics int his group is amazingly well thought out, and I am damn impressed as a whole with all of you-You've put a lot of work intot his game.

I hope I am worthy of this!

[TheScamp]

Hey Paul, in my last PM that had character info, I had a few questions as well. Still waiting for some answers on those.

[Buzzed]

Paul, I just hope I'm worthy for this. Chopper seems bland in comparison to all the other characters I have seen so far. I'll try to spice him up tomorrow, sorry about the procrastination on his relationship list, tomorrow I will definately put effort into it.

Would you have any objections if I said UG likes to use Chopper as a giant 250 lb. bowling ball? The reasoning is Chopper learned how to wipe out on his motorcycle, by rolling up in a ball. Due to his figure, he becomes rather "round" and rolls nicely.

[Sticks]

Hell, I like Chopper.

[JetPlane]

Chopper's my buddy.

[Serious Paul]

The point isn't to be unique. The point is to be real. Chopper is real. Thats what I want. he simulates what I see as an intergal portion of the gang-as do the rest of the characters.

As for the bowling ball thing. Well all I can say as your Game Master in this particular game is "Well you can always try it."

[Serious Paul]

I believe at this point I have caught up with everyone. I believe I have answered all PM's. If I have missed oyu, please let me know.

One Exception: Ang. I have to finsih reviewing Toyman. My apologies for the delay.

[3278]

I like Chopper because he's real. The bowling ball thing isn't real.

[Buzzed]

I'll scratch the bowling ball idea. No pun intended.

[Chopper]

Sticks (Ancient)
Chopper sees two sides of Sticks. The cool collected professional side when he first met Sticks over the game of pool. Chopper saw the other side of Sticks when he first went with Sticks and Ares to the library, which they used after breaking into a car to lay low. At the library, Chopper saw how Sticks cared for Billy, and saw the joy in Sticks' eyes when Sticks played and tended to Billy's needs. Chopper didn't know why, but he shed a tear that day. Afraid that someone might see, he complained about a headache to cover his eyes.

Ares (Coasini)
Chopper connected with Ares the first time he met him at the bar. Although Ares was roughly an entire belt length smaller then him, he showed a tough additude toward Chopper. Chopper kept a mean face, but in the back of his mind enjoyed the refreshing change of someone actually not afraid of him. Chopper and Ares exchanged words and ended up throwing a few punches. Sticks of course was quick to break it up. To Sticks suprise, Ares and Chopper laughed the moment Sticks stepped in. Chopper immediately offered drinks to Ares and Sticks. (The drinks led to Chopper's bad judgement in deciding to challenge Sticks to some games of pool.) Chopper sees Ares as the brother he never had. Causing havoc together and bulldrekking about nothing and swapping stories.

Toyman (Ang)
Chopper has gained respect for Toyman's ability to stand up for himself and others. Although this respect didn't come quickly. Chopper did his best to make life miserable for Toyman, constantly trying to beat on him. Chopper had it coming plenty of times when Toyman ingeniously played embarrasing pranks on him. The story Toyman still likes to tell others about is the time Toyman planted laxatives in Chopper's food and sprayed sillyglue on Chopper's toilet seat. To this day, Chopper still checks his toilet seat for glue before using it, and thinks twice about eating anything served by Toyman.

Speed (Teja)
Chopper doesn't really communicate much with Speed. The two of them don't have much in common. Chopper has nothing against her though. Speed is a friend on a mutual basis. Chopper does feel he needs to protect her to honor the code of the gang. Although they don't get along, Chopper still finds it nice to have Speed around, simply because she is a good looking female.

Hock (Cain)
Although Chopper doesn't like to admit it, he is impressed with Hock's magical ability. He sometimes feels that Hock is mocking him. Almost to the point where the puny kid deserves a severe beating, but something inside Chopper tells himself that it wouldn't be a good idea.

White Tiger (Bishop)
To Buzzed, Tiger is one of the quiet ones. Only when asked a direct question, will tiger ever seem to talk. Buzzed occasionally asks Tiger about the latest junk food to hit the shelves at the Stuffer Shack, but makes a point to not ask too many questions, as it seems to put tiger in a bad mood, well, if you can call it a mood. In a fight, Chopper doesn't know what to expect from Tiger. Unlike the rest of the gang, Tiger is hard to read, making it difficult to predict what his next move is.

Deke (3278)
Chopper finds Deke to be a great listener, dispite his lack of social likeness. When tinkering around on bikes in the shop, Chopper usually dreams up interresting ways to modify the bikes, not really knowing how to do it, or if it could be done. Chopper likes to talk about bikes, but doesn't know anything beyond refueling and taking bends out of the spokes. Chopper always assumed Deke distances himself from others cause he is the only Ork in the gang. Chopper doesn't mind though, he is used to growing up exposed to all sorts of folk, usually drunk folk. Chopper sometimes wonders if Deke can really see out of those white voids where eyes are supposed to be.

Nash (Jetplane)
Chopper feels alot of guilt when Nash is around him. How could he have been so mean as to break her jaw? Dispite that incident, Nash has developed a dialog with Chopper. Nash and Chopper are really good friends now. Chopper still doesn't understand why they are friends, but is glad he can express his feelings with her. Nash showed Chopper that the world is not such a harsh place, that even through pain, people can forgive. Chopper has vowed never to hurt Nash again, and to protect her from people like himself.

UG (Scamp)
Chopper likes to watch UG work on his super bike and sometimes offers UG help in aquireing the necessary parts he needs. Due to the scale of these parts, they usually come from large trucks, rather then motorcycles. Chopper finds UG an invaluable resource in finding out how many flavors of the SqueezyCheese he has not yet tried, and considers information like this as a fair exchange for the stolen parts.

Amber (crone)
It's hard for Chopper to be mean to Amber. Amber seems to always be in a cheerful mood. Chopper greets Amber in ways to give her confidence in her singing, like, "Give it up to, Amber!", or, "And now the moment we have all been waiting for! It's Amber!", but that is when Chopper is in his best moods. Most of the time, he simply says "Hi."

Billy (Paul)
Chopper's mood always improves when Biolly is in his presense. Chopper can't help but give Billy food everytime he sees him. One time, he gave Billy an ammo clip. Sticks gave Chopper the eye of disapproval, untill Billy ejected a CocoRocket from the clip and joyfully ate it. "You should see what else I can do with candy in guns.", Chopper said.

[Chopper]

I think I am missing someone, for I only count 10 gang members in my list, 11 if you include Billy. Who is missing?

[Bishop]

Paul: Mack Bolan? Nice.

[Ares]

I'm not sure exactly when we're allowed to start acting.

[Buzzed]

I'm waiting for Paul to give the official word.