Stratum's Bios

October 20, 2007, 12:35 AM

Name: Stratum (thinking of a last name still)
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Age: 24

Appearance:
- Hair: Stratum's has shoulder length black hair. He usually has his hair in a small pony tail in the back and lets his bangs hang around his face and ears.

- Eyes: He has light blue-gray colored eyes.

- Height: Stratum is 182.5 cm tall (6' 1")

- Weight: He weighs 75 kg (165 lbs)

- Complexion: His skin is a natural light bronze, tanned color. He is lean, and in great shape, working out daily. He also has no apparent birthmarks or scars.

- Build: Stratum has the build of either a runner/swimmer but not as skinny. He isn't huge, but mid-sized and toned, with endurance.- Noteworthy Features: Stratum's most noteworthy feature is his eye color, they are the color of a foggy grey-blue sky and also glow this color when he uses his magical
abilities (explained later)

- Attire: Stratum usually wears a white short-sleeved shirt under a red high necked type of tailcoat that buttons up to just under his collar bone. It has black details and the coat tails are triangular at the end and hang just under his knees, it is not a formal tailcoat, it is only called a tailcoat because of the coat tails. He wears black denim ( jeans basically) pants and black sturdy ankle-high leather boots with iron toes and a thin layer of iron in the soles. He has a belt that hangs on his waist(over his coat, unlooped), which carries two small pouches on the left side and his kukuri horizontally on the rear. On his hands he wears black gloves cut of at the middle knuckle of each finger.

Armor: His only armor is the clothes he wears.

Personality: Stratum is usually very friendly around people and can get along with almost anyone. He usually spends his time with his friends, and is rarely alone. He isn't at all the "lone wolf" kinda guy and willingly takes any help that is offered so as not to offend. He is always himself, even around strangers, and doesn't care how others view him. He speaks his minds, listens to what anyone has to say, and knows when he needs to be serious and agressive.

First Impression: Stratum is a generally easy person to walk up and talk to. He smiles a lot and has been told he doesn't seem himself when he isn't smiling. He helps others before himself but doesn't take lightly to being taken advantage of, being thought of as a fraud or having an ulterior motive.

Weapon(s): Stratum uses all three weapons well enough but he is best with the first listed weapon and his abilities are lower as the list goes down.

Guan Dao(spear or halberd):Stratum uses a type of Guan Dao ( halberd type weapon). It has a 5 foot long blue steel shaft and a 1.75 foot long blade at one end. The blade has a strange shape for a Guan Dao, instead of being curved and fanlike it is sharp and resembles a swords blade. The image of a tiger in the clouds is etched onto one side of the blade.
Kukuri: (or Gurkha Knife) Stratum’s kukri is of the Siropate type, meaning that it is used mainly as a weapon and not a tool in woodwork or other jobs. The blade itself is about 8 cm thick and about 30 cm long (length of blade including curve). The handle of the weapon is wrapped in black leather and has his name branded into it. He carries it on the back of his belt where it hangs horizontally, the handle on his right side. He uses it not only for fighting but also to carve meat from animals, chop firewood and to clear paths in dense areas of forest.

Horn Bow: Stratums’s horn bow is only used on horseback and he keeps it with his horse at all times, it is about four feet long and is made from oak. It is just a basic horn bow and has no special markings, his quiver holds about 40 arrows. The bow has a range of about 700 feet.

Magic:

Abilities/Skills:

Quick History:

Not done as of yet, I will finish either tonight or sometime this weekend. I have the whole thing written out but not typed.

October 22, 2007, 11:41 PM

Horn Bow: Stratums’s horn bow is only used on horseback and he keeps it with his horse at all times, it is about two feet long and is made from oak. It is just a basic horn bow and has no special markings, his quiver holds about 40 arrows. The bow has a range of about 200 feet at its maximum, when fully pulled and with little wind.

2 feet? Are you sure because that's really small. A smaller normal bow is already over 4 feet and the biggers ones are about 7 feet long. Specialized bows can be even bigger of course.
In your case I would go for 5 foot. This way it's not a toy but it doesn't get in the way while riding your horse either.

Also 200 feet is pathetic, though if it indeed is 2 feet long it might be an it's actual range. In comparison throwing a javelin would probably provide you with more range. I would increase the range to about 700 feet. At such range targets are to small to hit in one on one combat anyway.

October 23, 2007, 12:19 PM

Well then, let's have a looksee.

With your gloves, I do have a few quams.

Mainly, which knuckles are you talking about? The ones on top, middle, or bottom (you have three sets of joints per finger, each called a knuckle)? The latter two are part of the finger, so I am guessing that you are referring to the top, but it is unclear.

Also, since they are knucked (have hard knuckles in them), I believe that they should be more focused on in the Weapons section. They are technically classified as a weapon, and keeping them solely in your attire does not allow for much description of their attributes.

Now, with your bow: I 100% agree with Drach, way too small. A 2 foot bow = you'll get your ass kicked. A Shortbow is generally around 4 feet, and that's about the smallest you can go to get both good range and speed.

If you want to use your bow on horseback, 2 feet won't cut it. Not even the Mongol Mangudai (horse archers from the Mongol Empire) used bows that small from horseback.

You can keep the bow if you want, I'm not telling you to screw it over, I'm just saying (along with Drach) that it might be tactically disadvantageous for you to use it.

Once you finish the magic and stuff, I'll come have another look at it

I am not a mod: this is a critique, not a disapproval.

October 23, 2007, 1:53 PM

And i think you need to verify your vision of a guan dao.. a guan dao (from my quick looks at a few pickies) has a blade of around 60 cm... this due to the fact that a pole arm from that length would be completly unwieldable..

Imperial-->metric conversion issues perhapse?