[Rail] Academy City OOC Thread III: Electromagnetic Hyper-cannon Go!

[Felyndiira]

Hello guys. Would this be a good time to express interest in joining Academy City? The character that I have planned is as follows (the ability is derived from Rikou's ability in Railgun and inspired by the fact that most of the main ability types are already taken):

Spoiler

Show

Name: Shiho Akiyama
Level: 4
Gender: Female
Age: 14

Appearance: Shiho is about 5'2" in height, willowy in frame and decidedly unathletic in nature. Her hair is a deep shade of black, often kept hidden under a white, cat-eared hooded jacket (worn over her uniform) and adorned with a pair of butterfly hairpins. When not attenting school, her dress is usually more functional than stylish; a soft and comfortable t-shirt underneath her jacket, a plaid skirt, black tights, and red traditional girl's shoes.

Personality: Meek, quiet, and with just a touch of a nihilistic view on life; Shiho is a girl that is slow to make friends and has a difficult time keeping up with the social requirements, often unintentionally appearing confrontational and covering for any perceived mistakes - whether valid or imagined - with a stream of apologies. As she has only recently been allowed to attend Tokiwadai proper after serving for a few years as a laboratory rat, she is still a new student to many of the girls in the middle school; as such, she keeps to herself for the most part, although she will frequently also stumble forward in an awkward attempt at social interaction.

Shiho is a bit curious about the outside world; she's been exposed to many of the common courtesies and traditions of normal life in Academy City, although her reclusive life has given her few opportunities to explore the current fads and trends amongst Tokiwadai's students.

Ability: AIM Resonance
Shiho's AIM field allows her to create a resonance with the AIM fields of other espers within the area. At low levels of this ability, AIM resonance allows the user to pinpoint and identify the powers of any espers within a set radius of the user. When using AIM Resonance at a low level, the user will typically generate phenomena consistent with resonance, such as "poltergists" that are functionally harmless.

As a level 4 user, Shiho can tap this resonance to directly interfere with the personal realities of the espers within an area in a more potent manner compared to a AIM Jammer. While she is not powerful enough to directly induce RPSK, Shiho can match her personal reality against the realities of other espers and inject her own calculations into their ability activations. Practically speaking, this allows her to raise the powers of attacks made by friendly espers and interfere with ESP attacks made by enemies.

When this ability is used against multiple people (up to 5 in a 250m radius around Shiho), the effective increase and decrease is about equivalent to one level. If she concentrates on one esper, she can either disrupt the esper's attack altogether resulting in an effective three level decrease in any activation of her ability, or enhance the esper by two levels (up to a maximum of level 5). Effectively, her own mathematics assist or interfere directly with the espers that she is currently resonating with; as such, the effect is temporary and ends when the resonance subsists, either through Shiho ending the effect or when the target exits the effective radius of the ability.

Scientific Theories: As AMP-affecting abilities are rare, Shiho is under close study by scientists in Academy City. Theories estimate that her ability may be similar in nature to the documented "AIM Stalker" ability, and that if she was to reach level 5, her resonance may be able to directly affect an Esper's power, or perhaps alter an Esper's personal reality and cause a RPSK syndrome, rather than indirectly enhancing or re-directing them. Other theories speculate that AIM resonance, when pushed, can temporarily push a single activation of a powerful (high level 4 or level 5) esper's ability to a scale consistent with level 6. Because of this, Shiho has frequently been traded between the Level 6 shift project and the general AIM researchers for various experiments.

Physical Traits: Shiho has a good stamina, although years inside a lab has left the girl weak and unathletic, and she is easily outmatched in these fields by the other girls in her class.

Mental Traits: Shiho is still a bright girl; her favorite (and in fact, only) pastime in the labs was reading and drawing, and she has developed a bit of a knack for comprehending and utilizing information from books and manuals. She is also apparently good with computers as a whole, although she is quite ignorant of web slang and internet know-hows.

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Sure. Only problem I have with it is increasing someones' power to Level Five-This is an incredible accomplishment by any measure. Psychic power in ToAru isn't measured on a linear scale, either; a Level Five possesses several degrees more power than a Level Four, larger than the gap between a Level Three and a Level Four.

[Lady Serpentine]

Considering how many level fours we have, though, it's kind of useless if that's not an option.

Anyway, regardless of what we decide about her powers, everything else seems good, so welcome to the game!

[Felyndiira]

Considering how many level fours we have, though, it's kind of useless if that's not an option.

Anyway, regardless of what we decide about her powers, everything else seems good, so welcome to the game!

Thank you :).

Sure. Only problem I have with it is increasing someones' power to Level Five-This is an incredible accomplishment by any measure. Psychic power in ToAru isn't measured on a linear scale, either; a Level Five possesses several degrees more power than a Level Four, larger than the gap between a Level Three and a Level Four.

I understand this quite well :). Shiho's abilities isn't just a linear boost in effective attack power like a generic MMO buff, but a flexible general boost covering any/all of the range, accuracy, magnitude, and scale of force for any esper power.

Her power also explicitly has a lot of social consequences, including basically making her Academy City's lab rat for most of her elementary and middle school career. It's also because of her ability to increase an esper to level 5 that Shiho was states as one of the research paths for the level 6 project as well.

[Anyr]

Seconded with regards to the non-power traits; They all seem fine. However, there are a few potential issues with her 'metapower':

1) As Lord-Cao-Cao pointed out, 'Level' isn't a linear term. Having the power to increase an ability by 'one level' is like having the power to jump over 'one building', regardless of whether it's a bungalow or a skyscraper. In particular, being able to cross the vast gulf between Levels 4 and 5 seems excessive, to say the least.

2) Having a wildcard like this around could make it harder to balance the game. When an Esper character is submitted, we have to determine whether their ability has any potential problems; However, this examination need only cover the levels of power which they'll actually possess in the RP itself. It doesn't matter whether an ability would be broken at (for example) Level 4, if the character will never advance beyond Level 3. With AIM Resonance in play, we might have to ask for details about the whole progression; A fact which leads to the next point.

3) A lot of players aren't interested in mapping out a complete progression for their character's ability. Character sheets will often contain only details of the ability's current level, rather than its full development from 0 to 5. Thus, if someone comes along and says 'Your character is now one level higher/lower', the player may honestly have no idea what that entails. Furthermore, doing such a thing practically forces them to go back and create the write-up which they previously deemed to be not worth the trouble. I for one wouldn't enjoy having to work out the specifics of a character's past ability, from before they even entered the game, for the sake of one oddball metapower.

I'm at a loss as to constructive solutions for these problems. 2 and 3 in particular seem so integral to the ability's concept, that removing them would throw the baby out with the bathwater.

[Felyndiira]

Seconded with regards to the non-power traits; They all seem fine. However, there are a few potential issues with her 'metapower':

I understand your concerns, and I do also want to clarify a few things that I intended with the character.

I also apologize if I seem a bit overly defensive, as it's certainly not my intention. While I really do want to keep this character (I am really fond of the concept), if it really would not work out, I can start over as well.

1) As Lord-Cao-Cao pointed out, 'Level' isn't a linear term. Having the power to increase an ability by 'one level' is like having the power to jump over 'one building', regardless of whether it's a bungalow or a skyscraper. In particular, being able to cross the vast gulf between Levels 4 and 5 seems excessive, to say the least.

I didn't define her power very well; apologies for that.

Shiho's ability works by enhancing ability uses rather than the esper herself. If an esper starts to create a ball of fire, for instance, Shiho can add her power to the ability to create a bigger, more accurate, less exhausting, and/or more powerful effect. There's some meta-wording in there about connecting personal realities, but that's mostly in there for future potential.

Shiho can't really turn an ability into a different or related ability. Hydro hands (Railgun) is a sub-type of telekinesis, but if she enhances the water control of a hydro hands user, the user may be able to control more (volume/clumps) of water, but she still cannot control other objects. Her enhancements and debuffs are all numerically related: range, accuracy, size, power, refire rate, voltage, volume, spectrum length, and the likes; it's possible to create other uses of an ability based on one of these increases (a lightning bolt user sending a smaller, more accurate bolt to break a precise part of a circuit), although that depends entirely on the coordination of the beneficiary and Shiho and, if it occurs, is basically a creative, on-the-spot use of a esper power.

Because the enhancement is on an ability rather than on the esper herself, this gives Shiho control on what type of enhancements she wants to add on to any ability use. If she wants to make the bolt have more range and more current, the recipient can't force her to increase accuracy instead; the user can use abilities in a way that resist her enhancements, although this effectively produces the same effect as the jamming part of her power.

When the effect is used on its maximum number of targets (5) at once, the enhancements and debuffs are less significant (a few attributes by a factor of about 1.5x). Her enhancements can become more potent if she's using it against less targets; when used on only the abilities of a single esper, it can turn abilities from a level 1s into effectively a level 3, level 2-3 into level 4, and medium-high level 4's to level 5. She can jam abilities as well, though that also counts against her targets.

Bridging the gap between 4 and 5 is very important to the character; the consequences of having such an ability is one of the biggest points of her backstory, and changing it would mean that she is no longer the same character (Academy City would have much less scholastic interest if she can only make abilities go up to level 4 - her involvement as a test subject for the Level 6 project is a direct consequence of the ability).

2) Having a wildcard like this around could make it harder to balance the game.

I actually don't think this is a problem. I've been looking through the powers that were already taken on the wiki, and the ability would not make any of them any more imbalanced than a combat-based encounter between a level 2 and a level 4 would. "Overpowered", I think, also is difficult to apply in a free-form roleplay; in context, even someone with a equivalent of a level 2 power can wreck havoc with his powers and a bit of scenery manipulation:

Player: I have my level 2 esper with limited warping powers to spend an entire day weakening the foundations of this base. Then, I use this cell-phone that I stole from this anti-skill to announce a meeting in that building and collapse it on top of them by breaking the remaining foundations, thus wiping out a large portion of anti-skill.
Everyone Else: No, you can't do that.

Scenarios like the one described above are negated mainly due to fair play procedures. Just like how no one will rp the above scene without ostracism from the populace, I don't think anyone will suddenly discover world-blowing ways to abuse Shiho's power in-game without prior approval. It's ultimately similar to having a level 4 and a level 0 in the same scenario; the level 4 will generally play in a way that allows the level 0 to roleplay her character and won't just rip the level 0 in half for no reason.

On the issue of NPC and environmental destruction, Misaka has already proven that even a powerful and versatile level 5 can't easily shake any of Academy City's organizations by herself. Thus, if the players are against an organization, they should still be a major threat.

The only other problem that could arise in free-form is if a character is written to eclipse everyone else in the story. Shiho's powers is written to only work with other espers, so that is also not a problem.

3) A lot of players aren't interested in mapping out a complete progression for their character's ability.

The ability would not require any progression mapping at all. Shiho's power doesn't boost the esper as much as it magnifies the abilities that the esper uses. Let's use, as an example, a level 3 esper that can toss out a lightning bolt: his natural ability might allow him to throw the lightning bolt with a certain degree of accuracy, and only effectively damages one target. With AMP resonance, Shiho can boost the size, accuracy, power, or other attributes of the attack to a degree that it can fry a semi (level 4). However, her ability cannot allow the esper to hack computers or gain any other sub-abilities of electromasters. Thus, if a level 4 esper with lightning bolt is boosted by her ability, he may be able to throw out huge bolts of lightning that strikes a area the size of a large lake without error. He does not gain any versatility or temporarily become Misaka.

The power, when used on the abilities of most espers with limited ability, produces a more powerful ability that is still usually similarly limited. A particularly savvy individual may discover more tricks that he can perform with augmented abilities (like having the lightning user create a small, fine bolt to paralyze electronics without visual harm), but that is on the other character's prerogative.

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Well, now that you've clarified, I really so no problems with that. Your character appears to be quite well-made and plausible for this setting, so feel free to jump in at any time.

[Anyr]

Well, now that you've clarified, I really so no problems with that. Your character appears to be quite well-made and plausible for this setting, so feel free to jump in at any time.

Basically seconded. Felyndiira has clearly put a lot of thought into the implications of this ability, and taken great pains to ensure that it doesn't get out of hand. The section in spoilers which follows has nothing to do with approving the character; It's just my reply to an interesting tangent raised in Felyndiira's post.

Spoiler

Show

"Overpowered", I think, also is difficult to apply in a free-form roleplay; in context, even someone with a equivalent of a level 2 power can wreck havoc with his powers and a bit of scenery manipulation:

Player: I have my level 2 esper with limited warping powers to spend an entire day weakening the foundations of this base. Then, I use this cell-phone that I stole from this anti-skill to announce a meeting in that building and collapse it on top of them by breaking the remaining foundations, thus wiping out a large portion of anti-skill.
Everyone Else: No, you can't do that.

Scenarios like the one described above are negated mainly due to fair play procedures.

This is partly true, but also misleading. If the aforementioned character has legitimate reasons for wanting to destroy Anti-Skill, then a flat OOC denial probably isn't the best solution. Yes, they can't actually be allowed to kill all those people (at least, not usually); But the reason why they don't should ideally be an IC one. The more powerful a character is, the harder it becomes to find ways to stop them from taking actions which, while disruptive, make complete logical sense. For instance, here's an IC solution for your example scenario:

Player: I have my level 2 esper with limited warping powers to spend an entire day weakening the foundations of this base. Then, I use this cell-phone that I stole from this anti-skill to announce a meeting in that building and collapse it on top of them by breaking the remaining foundations, thus wiping out a large portion of anti-skill.
Everyone else: Anti-Skill phones are equipped with security measures (password, voice recognition, etc) which verify the user's identity. This plan won't work.

Now, compare it to this:

Player:: I have my Level 4 Esper with very strong warping powers collapse the foundations of this fully active base in seconds, thus wiping out a large portion of Anti-Skill.

Everyone else: Uuuuuhhh...

IMHO, situations like this make the concept of 'overpowered' carry plenty of weight, even in freeform. To me, it's when a character sacrifices too much of their own logic and consistency for the sake of making their powers fit into the plot.

[Lady Serpentine]

Speaking of powers, I've been looking for ways to make Kasai's powers not be Tobio's but used in the opposite manner, without turning them into magic, and I think I may have found something; would it be acceptable for her to have telekinesis which affects most objects on the atomic level in a manner which allows her to control gasses which are hot enough to be emitting light, and affect the rate of vibration/energy level of the electrons in most objects?

[Felyndiira]

Thank you :).

I'll play Shiho a bit passively for the moment being, and just interact in minor ways with other characters. When the time comes, I'll introduce her on the next day as a former part of class (hopefully in the same class as everyone else so I won't have to fudge her age =p).

[Anyr]

Thank you :).

I'll play Shiho a bit passively for the moment being, and just interact in minor ways with other characters. When the time comes, I'll introduce her on the next day as a former part of class (hopefully in the same class as everyone else so I won't have to fudge her age =p).

Welcome to the game! It might be a while before we get to see Shiho in school, since the IG weekend has just begun. Also, if she's entering the same arcade as Crocell and co, then she doesn't need to worry about her uniform standing out. That arcade is located in the School Garden, so pretty much every student there attends a prestigious school.

[Terry576]

oh god

work is terrible

we rp now

Spoiler

Show

This is the endgame of the Shiki Sidestory by the way. Then I can finally write Hajime with regularity again, because Shiki really threw me for a loop.

[Mina Kobold]

I'm here, too. I'm just waiting for Keveak to reply, so we can get on with Saturday.

Sorry, I was in Dublin for most of the offline days and got so far behind with everything that I forgot I was needed here. Many apologies. m(_ _)m

I shall try to reply soon, but feel free to poke me if I seem slow in doing so. I may be busy, but I will do my best. ^_^

EDIT: Ah, you moved on without me. Great! Sorry for not being around to agree to move to the next day. ^_^'

I shall instead try to figure out if there is anywhere I can jump in again Saturday. If not, then no worry.

[Anyr]

Welcome back, Keveak. If you're having trouble finding an encounter for Katsu/Yua, then Moroe and Jirou are at your disposal; Along with GATE, of course, should you be looking for something on the darker side.

[Mina Kobold]

I shall look to that first thing in the morning (post school and homework, unfortunately.)! ^_^

Who were GATE, again? Neither Yua nor Katsu seems to have met them yet, so I kind of forgot them.

[Anyr]

I shall look to that first thing in the morning (post school and homework, unfortunately.)! ^_^

Who were GATE, again? Neither Yua nor Katsu seems to have met them yet, so I kind of forgot them.

They actually might have encountered GATE without knowing it, since Ishimaru Moroe is a member. GATE is one of Academy City's secret 'troubleshooting' groups. When trouble needs be shot, strangled or tortured slowly to death, these are the people to call. Needless to say, official encounters with them don't tend to be very pleasant.

[Mina Kobold]

They actually might have encountered GATE without knowing it, since Ishimaru Moroe is a member. GATE is one of Academy City's secret 'troubleshooting' groups. When trouble needs be shot, strangled or tortured slowly to death, these are the people to call. Needless to say, official encounters with them don't tend to be very pleasant.

Neat. Yua would probably be terrified of the fact that Academy City has groups for torturing and killing, while Katsu would be more curious than a cat. :3

Thus, I propose Katsu shall encounter Jirou and Yua shall be the one to encounter/spot GATE!

...

Yup, no sarcasm there. Katsu is a bit too goofy yet to be involved with secret groups* and Yua could use an interesting change in circumstances. Plus, not being noticeable works perfectly with stealth.

*Now, fighting giant robots? That was just perfect for our local Flash. ^_^

[Anyr]

Neat. Yua would probably be terrified of the fact that Academy City has groups for torturing and killing, while Katsu would be more curious than a cat. :3

Thus, I propose Katsu shall encounter Jirou and Yua shall be the one to encounter/spot GATE!

...

Yup, no sarcasm there. Katsu is a bit too goofy yet to be involved with secret groups* and Yua could use an interesting change in circumstances. Plus, not being noticeable works perfectly with stealth.

*Now, fighting giant robots? That was just perfect for our local Flash. ^_^

By all means. Just put Katsu and Yua wherever you like, and I'll follow suit.

[Felyndiira]

@KerfuffleMach2: I couldn't really add anything eventful to the previous post, so feel free to drag Shiho into Krystal's room as needed to advance the scene :)

I have a bit of time, so I hope you don't mind if I introduced another character and added mercenary groups (similar to ITEM, GROUP, and the likes) to academy city. Rie is a side character at the moment and purposely thrown into an unlisted school so that she would not play an active part in the story. She will likely come into her own as a character later on, but will only be briefly mentioned for the moment being (and perhaps in a few 1 on 1 interaction scenes with Shiho - I really want to flesh her out as a characterbefore I go Uroboshi Gen) and for the purpose of introducing mercenary groups to the setting.

The other members of FRIEND, and the other underground organizations in academy city, are purposely unmentioned. Please feel free to add to it if you'd like (although in Index/Railgun, most of the operative groups only have four core members, so it would be nice to keep that trend).

Spoiler

Show

Name: Shinohana Rie
Level: 4
Gender: Female
Age: 16

Affiliation: "FRIEND", Student of Nagatenjouki Academy
Nicknames: "Silent Sylph", "Ojou-sama"

Appearance: Rie is relatively tall at 5'10"; she has long, straight auburn hair that falls just below her shoulders, large brown eyes, and a face that is rather obviously the product of years of continuous vanity. She's rather toned and athletic from her vocation, although she is prone to hiding these features under long-sleeved blouses and long dresses. Her FRIEND outfit usually changes, but consists of simple and practical articles of clothing such as t-shirts, shorts, boots, and athletic socks. Oftentimes, this will be complemented by a layered flak jacket disguised as an ordinary overcoat for added protection.

Personality: Rie has two sides: her student side is what you would expect from the acclaimed Nagatenjouki academy (in Railgun, this academy is supposed to be equal in prestige to Tokiwadai despite not producing any level 5 espers); cheerful, graceful, charismatic, and friendly towards most of the academy's other students. Rie is sometimes known by her underclassmen as "ojou-sama" in reference to her good manners and amicable attitude. Even as a student of one of the top 5 schools in Academy City, Rie never looks down on lower-level espers and always tries to mediate any arguments between a higher and lower-level esper, both within and outside the academy.

Which would be expected, given how many dangerous level 0's she has met in her line of work.

FRIEND Rie is still kind towards her comrade-in-arms, regarding most of them as sisters rather than friends and often hanging. Her good girl facade often disappears when she's in private with her comrades; she complains (jokingly) quite often, is very laid back, and emits none of the "proper lady" aura that she keeps within her academy. When in combat, Rie is ruthless and efficient; if a mission requires extracting information from an individual, she will take the quickest and least dangerous method to solving the problem, even if it's choking the victim until he finally coughs up a response. If the mission is to kill...she will not hesitate to use some of the more deadly applications of her power, although she will almost always save "corpse explosion" for when she has no other choice.

Rie has a friendly relation with Shiho from their early days; they both drop their proper facade and speak very informally with each other, and usually keep in contact. As a "researcher" Shiho is qualified to request a job from FRIEND's manager, although she will usually contact Rie directly if a problem has escalated to such a level.

Ability: Sylph Point
Rie is a level 4 wind user, and a powerful one at that. A bit similar to the related ability "Aero Hands" that Railgun's Hongou possesses, Rie's abilities allow her to place "ejection points" that propel wind and displaces air molecules. Rie's ability is more flexible, however - her ejection points are not limited to solid surfaces and may be placed anywhere within a radius of 500 meters, and the direction, power, duration, and other aspects of the air discharges are fully controllable. This level of control allows her to fly, float, and attach herself to walls with just enough propulsion to not make a sound, earning her the name "Silent Sylph" and making her the go-to person for a lot of FRIEND's covert operations. Her wind points are not limited to visual range - she can place points outside of her vision area, although this tends to be inaccurate even if she has the layout of the area memorized unless if it's just barely outside of vision range.

Sylph point has several uses. For scouting, she could enhance speed with a tailwind or simply carry multiple individuals with a powerful gust of wind, By controlling where she places the points and continuously repositioning a single point, she could fly (and allow other people to fly) at high speeds and maneuver almost perfectly in the air, suddenly switching directions as necessary by placing an additional point. Offensively, she could cause her points to blast a point of wind in any direction; by stacking multiple points, she can propel large objects (such as semis or small buildings) into the sky or create gusts and hurricanes to barricade an enemy. She could also arrange points in creative ways to create a prison of wind where a victim is trapped between strong winds blowing in every direction, or basically knock any number of targets around in the sky. For defense, Rie is usually surrounded by an aura of swirling winds; when a threat comes within her AIM field, the winds deflect or neutralize the threat (up to low-calibur bullets are stopped or made harmless; high-calibur bullets are usually deflected). She can increase this aura to five simultaneous points, which will usually deflect even the strongest of shots fired against her.

Rie's wind points can also shoot shaped winds, such as razor-like winds that can slice an opponent.

Organization: Think of FRIEND as an equivalent of one of To Aru Majutsu's underground groups; similar to the likes of ITEM or GROUP.

To get into a bit more detail, FRIEND is a mercenary group working for Academy City; the defining point of the group is that the core members, while prone to undergo solo missions, treat each other akin to brothers and sisters rather than simply comrade in arms. The main purpose of FRIEND is not fully clear - occasionally, like GROUP, they would be called to take over for disturbances and warrants that are beyond the skills of JUDGMENT and Anti-Skill. More often, however, FRIEND serves as one of the dark sides of academy city; they would take care of internal affairs for Academy City scientists and VIPs, often tasks that would otherwise be outright illegal. In this way they are similar to GATE, although FRIEND does not engage in research; they are strictly operatives and limit their main membership to a core of four extraordinarily skilled agents. They seem to keep close watch on some of the more prominent members of the city, although they do not usually act upon this information unless otherwise prompted.

FRIEND is not the only such group in academy city. Like any such group, however, it is well-supported by sub-organizations, and have extensive access to technology that would assist them in fulfilling their jobs. Like GATE and the To Aru Majutsu equivalents, members of FRIEND have their bank profiles reconfigured, many even hidden from view altogether. As such, without some outside source or direct witness, it would be impossible to identify the members of this organization or their abilities. Data, communications, and other technologies within FRIEND are similarly secured, and would be difficult to hack barring a very powerful esper with a related power.

Most residents within the city do not even know that organizations such as FRIEND existed in academy city. As with all such underground organizations, even the ones that know about FRIEND will only interact with their handler, keeping the identities of the members a secret. It is inferred that some of the sub-organization members of FRIEND do know the identity of the core FRIEND members from interacting with them on missions, although these sub-organizations are similar phantoms within the city grounds. Anyone who wishes to hire FRIEND usually knows that they generally do not act against the best wishes of Academy City; capturing a VIP or a top-rated scientist, for instance, would be a no-no unless if a very good reason is given.

In specific regard to GATE; FRIEND and GATE interacts just as any two other major secrecy groups do. Both knows each other's existance and basic functions, although neither knows anthing in-depth about the other group.

Physical Traits: As a skilled operative, Rie has a good grasp of martial arts and can utilize most modern weapons and technology. Her hand-to-hand combat skills is very good, and she will almost always keep a few weapons as backup, including (despite being an esper herself) tools such as an AIM jammer and explosives.

Mental Traits: Rie is good at improvising solutions on-the-spot, a skill required for anyone in her line of work. She could satisfactorily balance schoolwork and her missions as an operative, although she is not excessively skilled at academics. She's experienced with technology as a part of her work, however.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Okey dokey. Post edited.

Also, quick review of new character says that she's good to me.

[Anyr]

I have a bit of time, so I hope you don't mind if I introduced another character and added mercenary groups (similar to ITEM, GROUP, and the likes) to academy city. Rie is a side character at the moment and purposely thrown into an unlisted school so that she would not play an active part in the story. She will likely come into her own as a character later on, but will only be briefly mentioned for the moment being (and perhaps in a few 1 on 1 interaction scenes with Shiho - I really want to flesh her out as a characterbefore I go Uroboshi Gen) and for the purpose of introducing mercenary groups to the setting.

The other members of FRIEND, and the other underground organizations in academy city, are purposely unmentioned. Please feel free to add to it if you'd like (although in Index/Railgun, most of the operative groups only have four core members, so it would be nice to keep that trend).

Spoiler

Show

Name: Shinohana Rie
Level: 4
Gender: Female
Age: 16

Affiliation: "FRIEND", Student of Nagatenjouki Academy
Nicknames: "Silent Sylph", "Ojou-sama"

Appearance: Rie is relatively tall at 5'10"; she has long, straight auburn hair that falls just below her shoulders, large brown eyes, and a face that is rather obviously the product of years of continuous vanity. She's rather toned and athletic from her vocation, although she is prone to hiding these features under long-sleeved blouses and long dresses. Her FRIEND outfit usually changes, but consists of simple and practical articles of clothing such as t-shirts, shorts, boots, and athletic socks. Oftentimes, this will be complemented by a layered flak jacket disguised as an ordinary overcoat for added protection.

Personality: Rie has two sides: her student side is what you would expect from the acclaimed Nagatenjouki academy (in Railgun, this academy is supposed to be equal in prestige to Tokiwadai despite not producing any level 5 espers); cheerful, graceful, charismatic, and friendly towards most of the academy's other students. Rie is sometimes known by her underclassmen as "ojou-sama" in reference to her good manners and amicable attitude. Even as a student of one of the top 5 schools in Academy City, Rie never looks down on lower-level espers and always tries to mediate any arguments between a higher and lower-level esper, both within and outside the academy.

Which would be expected, given how many dangerous level 0's she has met in her line of work.

FRIEND Rie is still kind towards her comrade-in-arms, regarding most of them as sisters rather than friends and often hanging. Her good girl facade often disappears when she's in private with her comrades; she complains (jokingly) quite often, is very laid back, and emits none of the "proper lady" aura that she keeps within her academy. When in combat, Rie is ruthless and efficient; if a mission requires extracting information from an individual, she will take the quickest and least dangerous method to solving the problem, even if it's choking the victim until he finally coughs up a response. If the mission is to kill...she will not hesitate to use some of the more deadly applications of her power, although she will almost always save "corpse explosion" for when she has no other choice.

Rie has a friendly relation with Shiho from their early days; they both drop their proper facade and speak very informally with each other, and usually keep in contact. As a "researcher" Shiho is qualified to request a job from FRIEND's manager, although she will usually contact Rie directly if a problem has escalated to such a level.

Ability: Sylph Point
Rie is a level 4 wind user, and a powerful one at that. A bit similar to the related ability "Aero Hands" that Railgun's Hongou possesses, Rie's abilities allow her to place "ejection points" that propel wind and displaces air molecules. Rie's ability is more flexible, however - her ejection points are not limited to solid surfaces and may be placed anywhere within a radius of 500 meters, and the direction, power, duration, and other aspects of the air discharges are fully controllable. This level of control allows her to fly, float, and attach herself to walls with just enough propulsion to not make a sound, earning her the name "Silent Sylph" and making her the go-to person for a lot of FRIEND's covert operations. Her wind points are not limited to visual range - she can place points outside of her vision area, although this tends to be inaccurate even if she has the layout of the area memorized unless if it's just barely outside of vision range.

Sylph point has several uses. For scouting, she could enhance speed with a tailwind or simply carry multiple individuals with a powerful gust of wind, By controlling where she places the points and continuously repositioning a single point, she could fly (and allow other people to fly) at high speeds and maneuver almost perfectly in the air, suddenly switching directions as necessary by placing an additional point. Offensively, she could cause her points to blast a point of wind in any direction; by stacking multiple points, she can propel large objects (such as semis or small buildings) into the sky or create gusts and hurricanes to barricade an enemy. She could also arrange points in creative ways to create a prison of wind where a victim is trapped between strong winds blowing in every direction, or basically knock any number of targets around in the sky. For defense, Rie is usually surrounded by an aura of swirling winds; when a threat comes within her AIM field, the winds deflect or neutralize the threat (up to low-calibur bullets are stopped or made harmless; high-calibur bullets are usually deflected). She can increase this aura to five simultaneous points, which will usually deflect even the strongest of shots fired against her.

Rie's wind points can directly kill her targets, as well. At its most basic form, the blast points can shoot razor-like winds that can slice an opponent. Creative uses of points can also create a prison where oxygen cannot enter and causing the victim to slowly suffocate, expel water vapors from an area to create dehydration effects, or drastically increase or decrease the speed of the air molecules in an area to generate heat or cold field. Her strongest attack is a trick learned from level 4 teleporters: placing a wind point directly inside an opponent in a similar fashion as a teleporter bisecting an opponent with a metallic sheet; stronger espers - even those that can't counter her ability directly - can resist this attack for almost a second with their own AIM, although the attack will still cause major pain and internal injuries. This attack, aptly named "corpse explosion", is almost never used even in her line of work.

Organization: Think of FRIEND as an equivalent of one of To Aru Majutsu's underground groups; similar to the likes of ITEM or GROUP.

To get into a bit more detail, FRIEND is a mercenary group working for Academy City; the defining point of the group is that the core members, while prone to undergo solo missions, treat each other akin to brothers and sisters rather than simply comrade in arms. The main purpose of FRIEND is not fully clear - occasionally, like GROUP, they would be called to take over for disturbances and warrants that are beyond the skills of JUDGMENT and Anti-Skill. More often, however, FRIEND serves as one of the dark sides of academy city; they would take care of internal affairs for Academy City scientists and VIPs, often tasks that would otherwise be outright illegal. In this way they are similar to GATE, although FRIEND does not engage in research; they are strictly operatives and limit their main membership to a core of four extraordinarily skilled agents. They seem to keep close watch on some of the more prominent members of the city, although they do not usually act upon this information unless otherwise prompted.

FRIEND is not the only such group in academy city. Like any such group, however, it is well-supported by sub-organizations, and have extensive access to technology that would assist them in fulfilling their jobs. Like GATE and the To Aru Majutsu equivalents, members of FRIEND have their bank profiles reconfigured, many even hidden from view altogether. As such, without some outside source or direct witness, it would be impossible to identify the members of this organization or their abilities. Data, communications, and other technologies within FRIEND are similarly secured, and would be difficult to hack barring a very powerful esper with a related power.

Most residents within the city do not even know that organizations such as FRIEND existed in academy city. As with all such underground organizations, even the ones that know about FRIEND will only interact with their handler, keeping the identities of the members a secret. It is inferred that some of the sub-organization members of FRIEND do know the identity of the core FRIEND members from interacting with them on missions, although these sub-organizations are similar phantoms within the city grounds. Anyone who wishes to hire FRIEND usually knows that they generally do not act against the best wishes of Academy City; capturing a VIP or a top-rated scientist, for instance, would be a no-no unless if a very good reason is given.

In specific regard to GATE; FRIEND and GATE interacts just as any two other major secrecy groups do. Both knows each other's existance and basic functions, although neither knows anthing in-depth about the other group.

Physical Traits: As a skilled operative, Rie has a good grasp of martial arts and can utilize most modern weapons and technology. Her hand-to-hand combat skills is very good, and she will almost always keep a few weapons as backup, including (despite being an esper herself) tools such as an AIM jammer and explosives.

Mental Traits: Rie is good at improvising solutions on-the-spot, a skill required for anyone in her line of work. She could satisfactorily balance schoolwork and her missions as an operative, although she is not excessively skilled at academics. She's experienced with technology as a part of her work, however.

Ah, a new four-man cell? Excellent. It looks like FRIEND's camaraderie will provide a great contrast to the selfish loners of GATE. I do wonder, though, if Rie's power might have a few too many applications. She can fly silently in a variety of ways (and bring others along for the ride), stick to walls, target without line of sight, create wind prisons, control heat, drain oxygen and/or water, passively deflect attacks from all directions, and even kill people outright with a direct 'save or die'. All this is in addition to the standard applications of an 'Aero Hand' type power, which she also has. Does she really need quite this many strong tricks at her disposal?

[Mina Kobold]

FRIEND sounds like a very fun organisation, hope that I may get to interact with it at some point. Probably will not be making new characters for a long time, but perhaps I can get the chance to have one of my current ones meet them. ^_^

Rie seems mostly good to me, but I do agree that the power may be a bit too powerful and flexible. Most powers tend to either be very powerful, but limited in scope, or very flexible, but less able to cause great effect. Being able to send buildings and people flying is a pretty hefty ability, but may be a bit too strong when combined with suffocation, wall-crawling, slicing winds and high defences. May just be over-worry on my part, though.

[Felyndiira]

Ah, a new four-man cell? Excellent. It looks like FRIEND's camaraderie will provide a great contrast to the selfish loners of GATE. I do wonder, though, if Rie's power might have a few too many applications. She can fly silently in a variety of ways (and bring others along for the ride), stick to walls, target without line of sight, create wind prisons, control heat, drain oxygen and/or water, passively deflect attacks from all directions, and even kill people outright with a direct 'save or die'. All this is in addition to the standard applications of an 'Aero Hand' type power, which she also has. Does she really need quite this many strong tricks at her disposal?

Definitely. We just need to hope that FRIEND's leader doesn't turn psycho, turn on her own teammates, and get herself killed by some random level 0 .

I looked back at Rie's powers a bit and removed the "specific element-type controls", which removed her ability to drain oxygen, water, or create heat. Razor winds I'll probably end up keeping (since it can be duplicated by blowing around a few throwing stars), although most of the other abilities are more direct linked to having wind points.

The power is a bit less than the maximum output of Hongou's Aero Hands (iirc, Hongou has stated that her power can blow a mounted radio tower right through the ozone layer). I mostly tried to balance her against Saiai, although the oxygen/water/heat thing probably pushed her over the edge a bit.

Hope this is okay.

FRIEND sounds like a very fun organisation, hope that I may get to interact with it at some point. Probably will not be making new characters for a long time, but perhaps I can get the chance to have one of my current ones meet them. ^_^

It's probably easier to meet Rie outside of the organization as a student, and since she's the only known member of FRIEND so far, most of the encounters with her are probably solo in the middle of missions, as a student, or speaking with Shiho. The other three members, of course, would not be possible until someone creates them . Once the other three are defined (hopefully by other people), they'll probably be found hang out at social places more often.

I don't really know about FRIEND being fun, though. As sisterly as they are to each other, the primary functions of Academy City's four-man cells include such things as assassinating people, beating people for information, helping researchers eliminate threats to their projects, and other such unsavory things for the city.

[Lady Serpentine]

Personal issues have kept me from posting recently, but they should be mostly cleared up now, so I can probably have posts up for people by, at the latest, sometime tonight.

Lord C, are you up for continuing that scene with Ina and Kasai, or would you prefer to skip past it or something?

Also, in relation to FRIEND, would they have any use for a mid-to-high level silicokinetic with rather good (albeit mundane) hacking skills, and a fair bit of training in how to defend herself? I have a character who could use more screen-time, and since she was originally designed for a group fairly similar to FRIEND, it seems like it might be a reasonably good fit for her.

[Felyndiira]

Also, in relation to FRIEND, would they have any use for a mid-to-high level silicokinetic with rather good (albeit mundane) hacking skills, and a fair bit of training in how to defend herself? I have a character who could use more screen-time, and since she was originally designed for a group fairly similar to FRIEND, it seems like it might be a reasonably good fit for her.

I don't see why not. A technological expert would definitely be very useful to the group, and as long as she's okay with doing unsavory stuff there is no problem at all. In fact, FRIEND doesn't even necessarily act solo; Rie does so mostly because she can handle herself, and even then only on smaller tasks (and because there are still undefined group members).

Also, being in FRIEND grants access to a lot of the organization's subgroups if the character ever needs it for an assignment. Stuff like obtaining a car and picking up the operative in an emergency, access to some more useful technologies, or cleaning up after a messy execution are pretty much universal for the four-man cells.

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia will be fine with that. Would you prefer to have Rei recruit her on-screen, or just assume that something of the sort occurred at some point?

[Felyndiira]

I think it would be best to assume that it had occurred at some point. Also, Rei is not the leader of FRIEND, so she's not likely to be the recruiter (there is a reoccurring joke about her trying to get Shiho to join, but it's mostly just silliness).

Also, I did plan to play Rei as a side character at the moment (meaning that there will be very few interactions directly related to her), so Alia might have to initiate most of the scenes that you wish to enact.

[Lady Serpentine]

That's fine. This is more meant to set things up for potential things in the future anyway.

That said, since theoretically she knows Rei, might she know Shiho as well?

[Felyndiira]

I think most of FRIEND will. Rie and Shiho's friendship isn't really a secret, and since FRIEND has been hired in the past to protect Level 6 Shift interests, it's possible for her and Shiho to have met each other directly.

[Lady Serpentine]

Sounds good. Possibly we can have them run into each other once the scene Shiho is in wraps up, then?