College of Magic Comments 3

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

And don't pay any attention to what I'm doing. I'm not with the group right now.

[Philote]

With Vault on his way to join the group, we should be able to get through the main part of the information we are receiving with out anyone missing anything now.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

From the Private Notes of Billy Bishop:

Undead Assistant Number 01
[Below is a crudely sketched picture of a spider]
Species: Spider? Spider Doll? Pseudo-spider.
Name: Clatterclaws

History: One of the spiders who attacked the school, and went limp after the queen spider was killed. I collected several of these for study, but shuffled one away for private use. Upon learning that the spiders were never 'alive' in the traditional sense, I abandoned my plans for this one. Upon rethinking matters and reviewing the efforts of one of my betters during the battle, I decided to try anyway, and was surprised to find that the spell worked just as intended. Whether this is the result of the spell that gave the creature a pseudo-life in the first place, or do the the doll at it's base being wood and hair (things that were once alive) is still unknown.

Note: Mr. Seven: clearly alive, though wood. Mr. Tiberius: clearly alive, though metal. Thorn fairies and Plant Like Creature: alive, though exact material they are composed of is sketchy. Can necromancy animate anything that was once "alive", and to what extent?

Note: Find dead tree, test hypothesis.

I made no modification to Clatterclaws, though I originally intended to. I fear that even cracking it's shell a little would undo the magic keeping it in it's useful form. I fear this creature may be of no use in direct combat given the ease of which I crushed it's brethren. It's strength is also in question. Though bigger than Gob, the creature did not fair well in the pushing match set up for the two.

[Below is a crude rendition of a spider and Gob standing in a ring, locked in a struggle. Gob is wearing a cape and small sweat mark shoot from his head. Off to the side is a sketch of Billy. He is holing pom-poms.]

Though it defeated Gob, he was able to hold it at bay for some time, slowly giving up ground. I did not attempt to match my own strength, for fear of damaging it. In the end, I do not think Clatterclaws will be of much use in the long run.

Plans for Undead Assistant Number 02, "Peepers", will be put on hold until after dinner.

Note: How many can I keep running at once? One? Several? Is having more a different spell?

[Marvelous Miscreant]

It always amazes me how well you delve into a character.

[Philote]

Agreed, share your secrets Vault  I need to be that good.

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Indeed, I only wish I had that kind of commitment to a character.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

It might be a product of my childhood. I lived in a rural area, fairly far for any friends to come visit. So, whenever I went outside to play pretend I just sort of played all the characters. There's this one home movie from when I was about 7 where my parents filmed me doing this. I'm talking to someone who isn't there, you can't make out what I'm saying. Suddenly, I stop mid sentence and swing around to face the opposite direction and point dramatically, then I start talking again. It looks like I'm straight up crazy, but that was probably me swapping characters.

If you want to be better at getting into your characters heads, there are a few tricks I've learned. The first is to plan out your characters background in detail. It doesn't have to be a lot, but I've found having three to ten really important memories helps you build a personality for them.

Another is to have a list of their likes and dislikes. Specific likes and dislikes. Favorite food, least favorite food. Favorite animal, least favorite animal. Favorite color. Favorite Genre of story, music, art. What do they like most about themselves? What do they like least? Something that I feel also falls under this is hobbies. What do they do in between scenes, when the cameras are off and nothing interesting is happening?

The last, and most, important thing is to have Goals. The very best baseline to build someone on is "what do they want, and what lengths are they willing to go for it?" Divide it out like a video game, with a main objective and a bunch of sub objectives as they come up. If you ever find your character working in opposition to their goals, ask yourself why they are doing it. The answer can tell you a lot about them.

[Philote]

That sounds good, though I think I would have trouble deciding things such as favorite food without choosing randomly. The way I've usually gone about it is designing the way a character looks and the way their powers work, because I think more visually, and then letting their character sort of develop depending on how the story goes and what they experience. This has not really helped me create deep personalities like the ones you use though.

For the RP: I don't think I've had Zauber catch up with Piper yet, and I don't think I told Billy that I was, just that I was going to inform everyone as a whole that we defeated Kyrse.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Billy's the one that asked you to apologize to her on his behalf. You know, for grabbing her.

Because just grabbing someone, even to get their attention in the heat of combat, is rudeness in Billy-Land.

[Philote]

Right, I remember that now, that slipped my mind.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

I still do it. In the confines of places where I can't be seen, of course, but I come up with some of my best material that way.

I'll try to add tomorrow. We're still at the point of the headmaster announcing something important, right? (I'll check tomorrow)

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Well, now it's more telling something important. But you haven't missed much of it.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Marv, I have an attack. I have an attack I want to use on that Mana stealing monster, or any late story enemy who Billy has a personal grudge against. It seems really high level, but I think I have mitigating circumstances that would make it possible for him to pull off. Check your email to see if it seems possible.

I am really sleep deprived right now, but it looks cool in my head. It's a right proper "Finishing Strike."

[Marvelous Miscreant]

I definitely approve of that attack. Use it with my blessing when the time comes.  

[The Junkyard Cat]

I'm so lost in this rp @_@

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Maybe if you read through it on a regular basis instead of showing up every few weeks and saying you don't know what going on...

Not much has changed since the last time you checked in.

[The Junkyard Cat]

I know heheehehe I'll see whats going on then and if I can jump in at some moment

[Philote]

Marv?

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Phi?

[Philote]

We need you to move things forward