Got a Character Concept to Run By You Guys

[Sylentmana]

Hey guys! So I have this character concept that's been jostling around in my head for a couple days and I wanted to see what others think. Obviously, the character is still in an extremely rough and bare state, so please keep that in mind. Still, I'd like your guys opinions, so have a look!

 

Name: Yomi no Yuko/Yuuko

Race: Au Ra, Raen

Age: Early to mid twenties. 26 max

Birthplace: Hingashi, somewhere in the mountains

Starting Class: Thaumaturge

 

Basic Character Concept: Witch/Occultist She's interested in all things dark and spoopy. Things like dark magic, voidsent, ghosts and other spirits, and ancient forbidden lore. She would fall into the neutral-chaotic neutral alignment. Her name mean's something like "Yuko of the Underworld" if my translation is correct.

 

Physical Description: Max height for a female Au Ra. Thin and pale. Grey eyes with purple limbal rings. Hair color undecided (white, black, dark blue, and dark purple are options).

 

Personality Traits: A bit macabre and gloomy with a black sense of humor but not hostile or outright unfriendly. Not easily rattled. Naturally curious and intelligent, but tends to underestimate threats. Has a tendency towards apathy regarding things outside her interests/studies. Not naive, but largely ignorant of the world outside her purview. Poor sense of direction leads to frequently getting lost.

 

Background: Abandoned/orphaned as an infant, she was taken in by an elderly Hyur woman who was outcast as a witch. This woman lived in a small shack in an area that was an ancient burial ground, known colloquially among the local villagers as "The Underworld." Hence the surname "Yomi." This woman raised her and trained her in the occult arts. Yuko referred to her as "Grandmother." Recently, Grandmother has passed away of old age, but before she died, she told Yuko to travel to Eorzea to further her studies in the dark arts.

 

Type of RP and Goals: As far as RP goes, I think she would do well with other characters interested in magic, particularly the dark and forbidden type, as well as those interested in exploring ancient ruins for magical secrets.

 

For goals, I'm thinking of several possible options:

1st, she manages to discover lore about Black Mages and after extensive searching, manages to find a soul stone.

2nd, she is unable to find a soul stone, but meets a Black Mage PC who takes her on as an apprentice and eventually gifts her one.

3rd, she manages to piece together enough disparate lore to craft her own soul stone or at least a functioning facsimile of one.

4th, she is unable to accomplish any of those things. Faced with the possibility that she will be unable to further her studies and increase her power, she decides to supplement her power by taking up the Red Mage discipline (lore willing). Thought the somewhat flamboyant style of the Red Mage goes against her nature, she decides its better than stagnation even if she must balance her magicks.

 

So there you have it folks, my initial character concept. I would appreciate any constructive criticism and feedback. Any potential lore breaking should be pointed out as well as any area that needs to be further fleshed out before I move on to a more solid 1st draft. If you have any question about the character, please ask them. Questions will force me to think about aspects and qualities of the character that I haven't thought of yet. Thank you for your time, should you choose to give it!

[Sylentmana]

Well, no responses so I'm just going to assume she's solid and move on.

[Nebbs]

Good to see more witch

 

Edit - ah was going to say stuff about our witch group, but we are on Balmung. If you want to chat about witch RP you can catch me on discord

[Nero]

Overall background looks decent. It might be interesting to integrate some folklore into the background.

 

The question I have for you is why specifically you want this character to be a Black Mage or Red Mage? What facet of your character does being a Black Mage or Red Mage express? Is it to be an expert in forbidden magics? Why specifically some form of black magic? Why does this character need to be a black mage as opposed to someone who's learned a different form of thaumaturgy?

 

Further, if your character isn't trained as a thaumaturge, how would she be able to use black magic? She's trained in the "occult arts", but that seems to be more along the line of things like alchemy and divining rather than destructive magic.

 

The wisdom contained in a soul crystal' date=' however, is not so easily drawn forth- an untrained neophyte can not simply pick one up one of these gems and expect his mind to be flooded with the knowledge of advanced spellcraft or combat techniques. Without first attaining sufficient proficiency and tempering one's soul to mirror the maturity of the crystal's contributors, a prospective student will be denied even the slightest glimpse of enlightenment. Thus, as is the case with the more contemporary disciplines, the key to mastering the secrets of a soul crystal lies in diligent study and training.[/quote']

 

As for your goals.

 

Finding a black mage soulstone seems a bit contrived. Your character would have to be looking in very specific places; the ruins of Mhach in Yafaem, perhaps. If you go this route, bear in mind the ,"when, why, how" of travelling to these places.

 

For your second goal: think about what the role of a mentor would represent. What reasons would a Black Mage character have to adopt your character as a potential apprentice instead of, say, someone already well-versed in thaumaturgy? What kind of person would this potential Black Mage have to be in order to accept your character over others?

 

The third goal is simply implausible to me. Black mage soulstones (which may or may not be called Gems of Shatotto, depending on your interpretations) are required to use black magic without dying; if it was possible to make a functioning replica, I think someone else would have done so by now.

For the fourth goal, see above: why is it necessary for this character to learn black magic in some form?

[Sylentmana]

Overall background looks decent. It might be interesting to integrate some folklore into the background.

 

The question I have for you is why specifically you want this character to be a Black Mage or Red Mage? What facet of your character does being a Black Mage or Red Mage express? Is it to be an expert in forbidden magics? Why specifically some form of black magic? Why does this character need to be a black mage as opposed to someone who's learned a different form of thaumaturgy?

 

Further, if your character isn't trained as a thaumaturge, how would she be able to use black magic? She's trained in the "occult arts", but that seems to be more along the line of things like alchemy and divining rather than destructive magic.

 

The wisdom contained in a soul crystal' date=' however, is not so easily drawn forth- an untrained neophyte can not simply pick one up one of these gems and expect his mind to be flooded with the knowledge of advanced spellcraft or combat techniques. Without first attaining sufficient proficiency and tempering one's soul to mirror the maturity of the crystal's contributors, a prospective student will be denied even the slightest glimpse of enlightenment. Thus, as is the case with the more contemporary disciplines, the key to mastering the secrets of a soul crystal lies in diligent study and training.[/quote']

 

As for your goals.

 

Finding a black mage soulstone seems a bit contrived. Your character would have to be looking in very specific places; the ruins of Mhach in Yafaem, perhaps. If you go this route, bear in mind the ,"when, why, how" of travelling to these places.

 

For your second goal: think about what the role of a mentor would represent. What reasons would a Black Mage character have to adopt your character as a potential apprentice instead of, say, someone already well-versed in thaumaturgy? What kind of person would this potential Black Mage have to be in order to accept your character over others?

 

The third goal is simply implausible to me. Black mage soulstones (which may or may not be called Gems of Shatotto, depending on your interpretations) are required to use black magic without dying; if it was possible to make a functioning replica, I think someone else would have done so by now.

For the fourth goal, see above: why is it necessary for this character to learn black magic in some form?

 

Thanks for the feedback. You've given me plenty to consider. I do want to clarify that when I say "dark" or "occult" arts, I was thinking of some form of far eastern thaumaturgy equivalent. As for Black Mage, I suggested it because I couldn't think of any other form of high dark magic that exists within the Final Fantasy framework.

 

Again, thanks. I think this character is going to take some serious work before she's ready for public RP.