[Kaitou Kage]

Welcome to the Djinnborn setting! This is a homebrew, non-standard fantasy setting with tones of steampunk/magitech, swashbuckling adventure, and, most importantly, skyships!

I realize Djinnborn is a brand new setting and I understand there are a lot of holes in the information. I encourage everyone to do the best they can. I've distilled each of the five races and cultures into brief profiles. Each profile covers that race's appearance, government, and some cultural tidbits. The profiles also cover some of each nation's trade and relationships with other countries, and a little about the cultural psychology.

Each racial profile has a "Playing a..." section to help you get into the head of these people. These sections provide examples of the archetypal member of that race. Your character does not have to exhibit all of the traits described here, but you should keep this information in mind when determining your character's personality. Culture helps define the individual, so I'd like to see your character exhibit some traits common to his or her race. These sections should inform your character creation process, not dictate it.

The profiles also have a "Character Ideas" section at the end. This is a short list of racially-appropriate characters that fit the theme of this game. This is not meant to be a complete list, but I wrote it there to help you get ideas that fit within the setting and within this particular game.

Finally, each racial profile has some sample characters listed. These characters are posted to provide visual and narrative examples of each race. The specific examples provided are not all acceptable for a skyship campaign, but should give you a little insight into the look and feel of each race.

Take a look at the profiles in the Setting Info forum. This will suffice until I finally get the DjinnWiki up and running!

About Me: I'm brand-new to GMing MnM games. I've GMed tabletop D&D before and I've tried my hand at PbP but it's been a long time. This is my first attempt to get back into it all and share Djinnborn with everyone! I hope you all can bear with me as I stumble through this and make a general mess of things

Setting Tone: Swashbuckling adventure, skyships, magitech/steampunk. Since this game uses MnM and since it's intended to have a pulpy, larger-than-life action feel, there will be some superhero genre elements included.

Applications!

Think this is the game for you? Here's how to apply!

Character Name:
Race:

Physical Description: (Pictures optional -- I will be drawing all accepted characters)

Who is your character? This is combined personality and background -- and the most important part of the application. Here are some questions to consider. You don't have to answer all of these, and you can add other information if you feel it helps. I want to get to know your character better, so whatever you think will help. Questions marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory

• What does your character usually do on the ship?*
• What does your character think about his or her job on the ship?*
• How did your character come to be part of the ship's crew?*
• What hobbies does your character have?
• What does your character aspire to be?
• When the ship pulls into port and your character gets shore leave, what does he or she usually go to do first? The bar? The bordello? Shopping spree? A walk in the park?

One Other Crewman: I'd like a short (2-3 paragraphs MAX) overview of one other member of the ship's crew. This can be anyone. A deckhand, a cook, someone that helps man the ship's weapons array. It could be a friend of your character's, or someone your character knows only in passing. This character will become an NPC on the ship if your character is accepted.

Please post your apps in the Applications Forum!

Once you have posted your application, I'll work with you to do any tweaks needed to give your character that proper Djinnborn feel.

As you can see, there is one character, Raavik, who is pre-approved. I've been working with him and his player on getting this game organized and put together, so he's an automatic in.

At present, character sheets are NOT required. This is due in part to the fact that I will still be working on some mechanics ideas during the application process. There will be time after the application process for everyone to make their sheets, so we'll look at it more in-depth then.

For those that want to pre-plan character sheets a little bit, here are some notes:

• PL 5, 75 PP. PL is not likely to go up much during the game, so the amount of PP awarded may eventually exceed the 15 PP/PL scale.
• Variable is not allowed.
• Due to the very physical nature of magic and magitech in the setting, several Effects are not readily available. These include, but are not limited to: Alternate Form, Comprehend, Duplication, Extra Limbs, Growth, Immortality, Luck Control, Mimic, Mind Control, Mind Reading, Morph, Shapeshift, Shrinking, Summon, Teleport, Variable. Some specific option are also not available (for example, the Precognition option for Senses).
• Most other Effects are available, but most of these Effects must have the Removable or Easily Removable flaw. Aside from sorcery, most meta-human Effects must be provided by devices, gear, and equipment.
• Please use Effects within reason since many of them will be gear-based. Don't give your character more equipment than he or she can reasonably carry!
• All characters are assumed to know their race's language. Non-Ropoldi characters get the Benefit: Ropoldi Language advantage for free. Ropoldi is the "Common" language for the Golden Wing's crew.

The Mess Hall

After your application is tweaked to my satisfaction, I will clear you to start posting in the Mess Hall. The Mess Hall is a pre-game IC posting section that gives you the chance to exercise your creative drives, and gives me a chance to see your character in action. You'll be given an open environment to RP with other potential characters, and with assorted NPCs.

The Mess Hall is NOT an indicator that your character will be in the game. Participation in the Mess Hall can help your chances, and is highly encouraged, but please don't mistake Mess Hall clearance for acceptance to the game.

Once all characters have been accepted and finalized, the Mess Hall will be closed.

Important Stuff!

Please make sure you read all the following boxes! It will help you know what I'm looking for and should improve your chances of getting in!

Things to Note

• There is one pre-approved character who will be playing a sorcerer. However, sorcerers are very rare (less than 1% of the world's population) and have a special situation in the Djinnborn world. In order to maintain the unique feel of Djinnborn magic-users, I will only accept ONE (1) other sorcerer character, period, and only if that application just blows me away. If you want to use magic-like abilities, I strongly encourage you to apply with an magineer or alchemist character.
• I'd like to see a fairly well-balanced group. While there is no explicit niche protection, I am going to try and select a variety of archetypal roles (some fighters, some engineers, some rogues, etc.). If you see a lot of apps for Magineer characters, you might improve your chances by applying as a warrior type, for example.
• The above being said, quality of the apps will still be considered. If I receive five really high-quality Magineer apps that far outstrip anything else in the thread, then I may unbalance the party a little bit.
• Even if your character is not a primary combat character, I recommend you meet all your combat caps and have at least one or two attack abilities. Combat will happen in this game and I'd like to see everyone able to participate and hold their own.

What I am Looking For (a.k.a., things you must have)

• Characters should be willing to work with others. I am not expecting a happy hippie commune, and I'm not expecting all the characters to like each other all the time. However, I prefer it when my characters and players can work together instead of against each other.
• An explanation of how your character came to be part of the crew. You can be a brand-new member or you could have been around for a while. It can be something simple as "the captain was hiring and I took the job." I just want to know how you landed a spot on the crew.
• Characters and players with a sense of humor that enjoy some epic swashbuckling adventure on the high skies!

What I am NOT Looking For (a.k.a., this will get you denied)

• Characters and players that have a hard time working as a group. Like I said, I don't expect everyone to get along and be happy and sunny all the time always. I do want to know that when push comes to shove, the characters can count on each other. You're all shipmates, after all.

Q&A

I love questions! If you have a question, please ask here in the thread (not via PM). Chances are, someone else has a similar question. Djinnborn is a unique setting that nobody but me really knows thoroughly (and even I don't know all of it yet!). I'll do my best to answer questions about the game, the setting, and anything else you'd like an answer to Plus I've never made a game ad here before so I probably forgot something very important! I'll keep this space updated with answers that should help everyone out.

Q: What are skyships like in this setting?

Good question, something I probably should have covered.

Skyships in this world look less like flying boats and more spaceship-like. They have a bridge, an engine room, all that stuff. Since sky travel is exponentially more widespread than water travel, skyships didn't have seafaring vessels to be modeled from (there are no oceans that people sail on, just some rivers and large lakes -- I guess I should detail the world a little better). So unlike normal steampunk where most of the airships resemble their ocean-going relatives, skyships in Djinnborn look like they were made for the sky.

I don't have any that I've designed myself, but think of a starship to get a general idea. Many areas of a skyship are enclosed. However, since skyships sail through breathable (and sometimes even comfortable) atmosphere, many skyships have open decks.

I'll try to get a skyship design sketch hammered out before the end of the application period.