[small]Spiritual successor to Thomas Barnsley's Silikon [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/540.877340-SILIKON-RICECAKE-WINS-Finished] and JoJo's Otherworld Gladiators [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/540.884458-The-Otherworld-Gladiators-A-Character-Competition-RP-Closed-started?page=1#comment_form][/small]

There is a world beyond ours. A world of strange spirits, and animals that decide the fates of mortals, many of them slave day, and night carefully looking over the deeds, and acts of your past before setting you back onto the ever-turning wheel of reincarnation. This land is ruled by 12 powerful spirits, spirits of unknown power, they are called The Zodiac. The gods had always planned large parties every year trying to up each other every time. Legendary were the parties Pig known for their great extravagance, and fine drink. One year Pig bringing up a keg of ale brewed in the heart of a dragon in the highest mount of that they knew of in their land, watched over by a dwarven god of brewing for two millennium, enchanted by ten gods of magic, and barreled through the emptiness of space before being slowly thawed out by a dry cleaning dragon... They say that the next two weeks went by in a drunken haze as spirits, and gods run amok the mortal realm building monuments to this mighty dwarven ale god, drastically changing the course of many histories. There was also the tales of Tiger, and Dragon's rivalry, they would always challenge each other during their respective years. One such year Tiger had challenged the other to a wrestling of arms... They were stuck locking arms with each other for three years as they stared with hatred in their eyes. Despite these many challenges there was never a clear winner to their struggle. The score staying roughly the same between the two, and when one had the advantage it did not last for longer until the other had got the upper hand. Yet another year has past by the spirits eagerly awaiting the announcement of the next theme. It seemed that the planner this year had been told by a fighter of rewound, a panda that excelled in the arts of drunken mastery told them of tournaments that were issued by gods... Tournaments testing not the skills of the spirit folk, but instead the mortals. Mortals did not often stay long in their land, and those who did enter were heroes that had entered to enlist help, or fight off some invasion... But it seemed this time that the gods should add a bit more of a variety this year. Mortal beings were often a wild, and emotional lot. There was no telling what they would do... Too many of the spirits thought these parties while enjoyable had become stale. They thirsted for something new.
Ask and ye shall receive.
[HEADING=2]The setting and your character[/HEADING]
You have died. Despite what your gods real or otherwise have told you, you have gone to The Zodiac's land of spirits. These gods have control over vast realms of existence. Time, and space is meaningless to them. All souls of their realms must go through them first until their place in the next life is decided. YOU have been chosen by one of the respective 12 animals of the Eastern Zodiac to champion them in the fight. This fight is to do the death... Technically. As you are already dead, the fight is instead to rebirth. At the moment you die in the arena, you are put back onto the spiritual wheel of reincarnation. The one who wins gets granted one wish, and returned back to their old life.
You, as a prospective player, would be making one of these contestants. They can be from any genre, from sci-fi to fantasy to modern crime. It's that simple, really. All I ask is that it's your own original character.
~
[HEADING=2]Gameplay[/HEADING]
I'll make it clear now; the objective is not to fight each other using combat tactics (that would probably be mechanically laborious and difficult), but to make a character who people will like and want to vote for. That's mostly it!
So here's how we play:
[li]You enter one or more contestants.[/li]
[li]I, the GM, will pair up the contestants as I see fit, mostly randomly.[/li]
[li]All players and the GM vote through PM to decide who wins in each pair, choosing based upon how appealingly each one is portrayed. If the time limit is reached and a match up has an equal number of votes, a coin flip will determine the result.[/li]
[li]The results are sent out to the players involved in each match-up, who then have a designated time in which to write out their battle. If the two players cannot agree how the battle plays out, the GM should be consulted. Usually the winning player's wishes will take precedence, unless they want the losing player's character to do something deeply out of character.[/li]
[li]The latter two steps are repeated until only one remains.[/li]
[li]There may be some 'fluff' events in between these steps to provide time for characterization if people are keen. The most important part is to write out your 'fatalities' after each victory though. Fluffing in this manner may make people vote for your contestant more![/li]
Also worth noting: Because you are champions of the 12 Zodiac Animals there must be exactly 12 characters in this. You can make multiple characters if we are short one or two, but it is not necessary.
~
[HEADING=2]Character sheet[/HEADING]
A very important part of this game, the character sheet. This is where you set yourself up for victory or defeat. Remember: you want to make a character who people will vote for! The next Ricecake or Katalxi, if you will.
Restrictions for what type of character you want to make are intentionally loose; they can be any genre. They don't even need to be sentient; you could just as easily make a Fulgore type killer robot that's sent in as a representative for some shady science company. Hell, you could spend half the sheet on this science company if you want.
Also, if you feel your character would be better expressed with a different type of introduction, by all means go ahead with it! I'm just putting this here to help start you off, feel free to use as much or as little of it as you please.
Name: Given name, nickname, code name, brand name, you choose.
Zodiac Animal: The animal of Chinese Zodiac that chose you as a champion. No two characters can have the same animal. Your character does not need to reflect your chosen Zodiac animal at all, Personality, or otherwise. If two users wish to take the same animal than try to talk among yourselves to decide who gets what. If you can not decide than I will come in, and decide for you.
Catchphrase: ie: GET OVER HERE! Although it is not necessary for your characters to actually say it often. This is more of a summation of your character into a phrase they might say.
Species: From human to fae to alien of your own design to robot of your alien's design to spirit to half-lobster-half-alien-cyborg-possessed-by-a-spirit.
Physical description: Age, gender, height, weight, prettiness. Feel free to include a picture if you like.
Time/Place of origin: No need to be exact, you could even just say the genre.
Special abilities: This could be signature moves, favoured weapons, favourite colour fireballs, etc.
How you have died: Think of this as the bio section, where you put the meat of your character's motives.
Theme: Choose some music you think would compliment your character, if you like.
So, that is the game. Think of it as something chill to get involved in alongside your other games; something to test the potency of your character building.
[HEADING=2]A short description of The Zodiac.[/HEADING]
Monkey was left out for spoilers later on.
Rat: Is basically Splinter. Seen with a clay chessboard.. Has shades of an absent minded professor.
Ox: Large, blunt, and often unimpressed. Is seen with a large, hefy pick-axe. Works out often, and carries a dumbbell with him.
Tiger: A Ronin in traditional Coolie hat! Has a verbal tick of Hai! Is seen with a katana with gold detailing on it. Has a deep-seated rivalry with Dragon for his self-satisfied attitude, and is very competitive. Sometimes suicidaly brave, and showy.
Rabbit: A geisha woman with a perfectly laid out table in front of her. The table has a golden tea cup on it. Offers tea before fights.
Dragon:A samurai in full armor. Is cool-headed and confident. Has a blue stone goblet which he is occasionally seen drinking out of.
Snake: A giggly, and somewhat narrow focused Jpop/Kpop singer/dancer. Often has flashes of intelligence, and paints wonderfully. Wears a predominately blue dress.
Horse: A centaur that carries a bow, and arrow. Is optimistic, and full of jokes most of the time. Often seen prancing around the contestants, and audience.
Goat: A monster type girl with horns. Definitely shyer than rabbit, and rather quiet. Drinks from a wooden bowl.
Rooster: A giant chicken wearing clothes. Chicken Boo style. A bit of a braggart, but very work oriented. Is often seen watching over the preparations, and everything. Is notably a very fiery red.
Dog: A martial artist that is worrying about the fairness of matches. Teaches some of the spirit folk with martial arts. Dresses like HONG KONG PHOOEY!(The number 1 super guy). Has a clay amulet around his neck.
Pig: A somewhat slovenly dressed, and looking boar. Enjoys a large amount of drink, with a large amount of food. Very good natured, and happy drunk though. Drinks from a large clay flagon.
[HEADING=2]Line up so Far:
Champion of the Monkey, Herbert Smith
Champion of the Rat, Psycho Psymon
Champion of the Dragon, The Beast
Champion, of the Horse, Simon Fisher
Champion of the Ox, Urlygg the Ulfsark
Champion of the Dog, Zu
Champion of the Rooster, Hercules
Champion of the Snake, Matt "Edge" Fletch
Champion of the Goat, Petra
Champion of the Rabbit, El Cabron
Champion of the Tiger, Sickle
Champion of the Pig, Jing-Sheng Harris[/HEADING]
Champion of the Monkey, Herbert Smith
Champion of the Rat, Psycho Psymon
Champion of the Dragon, The Beast
Champion, of the Horse, Simon Fisher
Champion of the Ox, Urlygg the Ulfsark
Champion of the Dog, Zu
Champion of the Rooster, Hercules
Champion of the Snake, Matt "Edge" Fletch
Champion of the Goat, Petra
Champion of the Rabbit, El Cabron
Champion of the Tiger, Sickle
Champion of the Pig, Jing-Sheng Harris[/HEADING]