Questions (And a Greetings to everyone.)

[Argus Wolfe]

Greetings.
So... After lurking around here for a week, I finally took the plunge today and signed up for an account here.
However, despite spending a week reading over the whole RP guide and Help threads, I still have several newbie questions in my mind, which I hope some experienced players here could help me with.

The first problem that arose when I was trying to write the profile was my backstory. Now, I would absolutely hate to type up a grammatically-correct, beautifully-worded bio just to be turn down because there are some major realism problems or logical inconsistencies which I managed to overlook. (I'm sure everyone would as well, no?)
So... I would really hope that some helpful members could let me PM a rough outline of my character's backstory to them for a look first? I don't really want any mistakes. (Or maybe I should post the outline here for everyone to judge take a look at?)

Secondly, I'm actually having problems choosing which pack my character should join. Again, should I post the personality of my character here or PM them to interested and helpful players?

Thirdly, I do have a few questions related to the Souls world in general.
- I know the example I included is only recently published, but there must be a few (Or rather a lot) of these books around at 1988. I mean, it is in the middle of the Cold War, where everyone is worried sick about the Holocaust, right? Even if they are in bad conditions/missing pages, one of these could jump start luperci culture ahead quite a lot.

- How about gunpowder? Or sulfur-based products? The Chinese invented them quite early, and while they are not invented in the Bronze Age, the existence of modern-day bullets(And other inoperable explosive devices left behind by humans, and saltpeter manufactured by us as well.) could potentially render a small but reasonable amount of gunpowder. (And let's not forget about crude oil, which we mined quite a lot, are highly combustible. If humanity died in several weeks, we won't get to refine all the oil and use them all up, right? Not to mention the large list of chemicals that explodes) This could, again, jumpstart luperci technology(Granted not guns as they do not have the metallurgy yet to make them yet.), but maybe some kind of alchemy could appear? Or, at least, easier fires?(Or maybe even lamps(oil) or matches(sulfur)?)

-How about solar panels? They last pretty long, and I think there are some street lights that have solar panels in-built into them as well? Aren't they a source of power

-Is there a reason that there are so many threads yet so little replies? Am I missing something with the modus operandi here? Please do enlighten me.

Sorry if I seem blunt, or at worst, disrespectful, in this post, but it is currently at the middle of the night and I still haven't had my daily dose of coffee.
Also, I apologize in advance if any of the above stuff is already skimmed in the Wiki or the Guides, but that's a lot of information and I don't really remember them all.
Thank you all.

[Semini]

So I'll just attempt to do a really light response to get something going, but others please help out because I am not in any way an expert (on really, anything)!

1. I wouldn't be afraid of having an application go into pending status because of a few hiccups (this happens very often, actually!), but it's definitely appreciated that you'd rather do your work first and get some feedback! I think your best shot is to post your backstory here and get a bunch of different perspectives on it, rather than singling out a few people who might have limited knowledge on a subject.

2. You can PM players of packs that you are interested in, but there is also no pressure to join a pack right away! You can spend as much IC time as you want exploring your options. You can also later post in the thread requests forum and people will happily come in to do some recruiting. ^u^

3. (please note all my answers are completely personal and not speaking from a mod-perspective)
A. I think the thing that gets a lot of advancement questions shot down is purely time. There could be a lot of good reasons for a combative species to try and find ways to dominate each other, but things going against them are their short life spans, the low literacy rates (granted this is increasing), and the interest of exploring an option that will take a lot of time versus simply resorting to older, easier ways that are already established. Even if a Luperci got a hand on one of those books, a. can they read it?, b. if they can read it, can they understand any of the concepts without having any context? c. where/how/why would they even start trying to implement the ideas? Human culture built itself slowly, even if they had the remnants of other cultures to guide them. I mean, even the ancient Romans were baffled by ancient Greek culture (if their art is anything to go by), and then things take a huge setback during the Medieval Ages too. It would take a whole lot to build culture of a dog-species into something advanced with their limited lifespans.

B. I think on an OOC level, bringing gunpowder/explosives into the game pushes the entire game into a whole new genre, and would require a whole new set of rules to avoid godmodding/powerplaying. I hesitate to "jumpstart" luperci civilization. Some forms of alchemy are acceptable, for instance, character Loki played by Raze uses a certain naturally occurring chemical (I don't recall what it was, exactly) to change the color of his fire for a spiritual ritual. This is the type of acceptable (and desired) realism for the site. It would however be unreasonable for say, Loki to go around exploding the houses of his enemies. Some packs do utilize the advantage of oil (like whale oil) for lighting purposes, and matches are in my opinion, one of those highly coveted/valuable trade items because of their rarity. I imagine most characters go with flint/steel, which is easier to find naturally, and can be used more than once.

C. What did you want to do with solar panels?

D. There's no secret thing going on, haha. We all have lives. I consider this site to be pretty stable and active. Sometimes threads take a while to take off. Sometimes people will start a bunch of threads all in the same day and their partners haven't had a chance to reply. Sometimes partners take a while. There are all kinds of reasons there might be a thread without a response, but patience is definitely a virtue.

[Vesper]

Hi! :D I’m Raze, one of the administrators. Welcome! San already posted an answer (several great answers, actually!!), but hopefully another person's take on it might help! This is, also, a personal answer and not an "official admin answer," haha.

1) An alternative to filling out your character’s profile to join is to provide three RP samples (it’s fine if they’re from a previous game or personal writing, or made up on the spot). If you’re worried about expending effort on a biography that will need tweaking, you could show samples instead and just list your character’s information briefly on your profile. :) However, you can feel free to post an outline in this forum, and I’m sure several members would be willing to help look it over.

2) We do encourage that new members join packs right away, but you can also have your character be a loner for a while and develop connections ICly. If you put up a thread request mentioning that you would like to find your character a pack, you should get several replies of people willing to help! It might also help, after checking out the Active Pack Summary and statistics, to look at individual pack websites to learn the finer points of pack rules and culture.

3) If it helps, the technological age that ‘Souls is in is mostly Stone Age, with some Bronze Age technology at the very fringe of Luperci ability: blacksmithing, for example, is at the limit of what Luperci can do. The Post Apocalypse and Realism pages of the RP Guide might help.

• Books degrade, and while we do allow characters to find books and take knowledge from them for the sake of fun, I am not sure if a “rebuilding the world” book would capture the interest of most Luperci. In the example you offered, several chemicals are mentioned. A Luperci wouldn’t know what they are, or be able to make use of the chemicals -- and, honestly, most would be concerned more with hunting and surviving with tried-and-true technology (like bows and arrows, or candles, or parchment) than attempt to create a society that is humanlike. A wilderness-survival book that teaches you how to make use of animal products, pelts, etc. would be far more valuable and interesting to Luperci than one that talks about manufacturing cars or lightbulbs or anything else. :o
  
• Gunpowder and heavy ordinace are not allowed at ‘Souls. Again, there is little reason to attempt to invent something so dangerous -- and it is also an issue of balance. If Luperci ran around with cannons or firearms, it would cause a severe imbalance in the game. Luperci can potentially extract oils from animals and plants; there are Luperci who have used whale oil for lanterns before. As San mentioned, Loki figured out that shavings from iron and a certain rock thrown in a fire created a chemical reaction, but that's basically it. He went "Oh, sparks and colors are pretty," but he didn't research potassium chloride compounds or anything like that.
  
• I am not an expert on solar panels, but we do not allow electricity in this game. Even if everything magically ran fine (I would think that it wouldn’t be self-contained and that humans would have to do maintenance or something), dust and grime, as well as the effects of weather, would render them pretty weak/useless. I am skeptical that they would be able to work, however?
  
• I do not know what you mean about “so many threads yet so little replies,” but I might take a stab? Other than San's answer, which is true -- we're all human and have lives outside roleplay -- I know that some RPGs will focus on longer threads, carrying a “storyline” over several hours, days, or weeks. At ‘Souls, there tend to be more threads but shorter ones, focusing on one single activity or conversation, with most “completed” threads averaging between eight and fifteen individual posts. I might have misunderstood, though.

Generally, when you think of ‘Souls and the capabilities of its societies -- think medieval at most, and know that “tribal” societies are much more common. ‘Souls has already technically advanced over the years that the RPG has been around, with Luperci using their two-legged forms more, domesticating livestock, and forming slightly more complex societies (i.e. anything more than a simple family pack or alpha/beta/etc. concept). Again, I think that the post-apocalypse and realism parts of the RP Guide would be a good read.

I apologize if I in turn seem blunt or haven’t answered your questions adequately!

[Kiri]

Gonna jump into your third question here with things to consider:

There might be numerous resources and artifacts that would help Luperci "jumpstart" civilization, but it's important to remember that human civilization was never theirs, and learning about an entire civilization and their technologies through an old book is more limited than you might think. Consider the page you linked and its explanation of photography -- even its first paragraph is huge, uses long and sometimes obtuse words, and strings together a description that would be difficult to understand by someone who literally has no idea what photography is.

The words and language we use to roleplay Luperci are not indicative of Luperci's actual reading levels or comprehension. I don't really want to generalise and say that Luperci are only at a certain grade reading level, since that will obviously vary between individuals, but even though they mature more quickly than humans, I think it's worth considering the amount of time they actually have to learn/read/comprehend/truly understand subjects which are not natural to them.

Even if an individual did come to understand most of what was in a book about rebuilding civilization, many things require lots of initiative and resources. Crude oil may exist in certain facilities, but how have those facilities lasted through the years? Leakage and spills have certainly happened. What are the chances a Luperci in possession of the knowledge to use the oil happens to live near, or be able to find, that oil?

That said, I don't think candles or simple lamps are beyond our current Luperci. Oil is not hard to obtain through natural means (animal fat). Matches might be a bit too precise/scientific for them right now, but it's not hard to transfer small fires from a big fire, so lighting a candle is feasible. Scavenging pieces to make a usable lamp is also not impossible either.

Re: chemicals and explosives. Lots of things can explode, yes, and the risk of them doing so is more likely to scare away Luperci than anything else. An uncontrollable loud noise and light that destroys? No thanks, say wild animals. Even if a Luperci does conceive that they may be able to control and harness explosive power, there is a lot of risk in the experimentation and testing it would take to successfully do that -- Luperci would injure themselves and die, and their fellows would be less likely to make another attempt. After all, for what purpose does that serve for them? They could scare prey, they could damage enemy structures... but they can already do these things, perhaps less efficiently, but certainly with less risk. Luperci populations aren't as high as humans were -- they would be less willing to throw away individual lives for the sake of destruction, I think.

The original solar panel was "co-created in 1988," hardly enough time for them to spread anywhere before the apocalypse.

A lot of the argument against very advanced technology does come down to "why would they want to do this" but I think it's an important question. Luperci aren't humans and while certainly every species wants more advantage in some way, technology can be unpredictable and dangerous, and Luperci have more natural capabilities than humans, so the risk-reward ratio for them is very different.

Replies to threads vary a lot. :v It's been a little quieter around here lately, but activity ebbs and flows. School's just started again, so I imagine lots of people are still re-settling into schedules and such, that's all. :O

ETA: SHADOW POSTED BY EVERYONE GDI. Raze and San mentioned a few OOC/game culture-related reasons certain things haven't happened, whereas my answer here mostly focuses on IC/in-game barriers to advancement. Both are important, imo. Gradual advancement has and probably will continue to happen, but slowly. :3

[Argus Wolfe]

Thanks for the timely reply! That was actually one of the fastest replies I had from another member/admin.
So, from what I could see, the biggest problem with introducing new tech into the RP ICly is because that tried and true ways work while OOCly it may pose a problem with OP characters..
I think see the point of you guys. Actually I just wanted very little gunpowder-products for my character to amuse or imitate others. (Well. He could be a legitimate fire wizard then.) Not enough to cause OOC issues though. I'm definitely not trying to introduce guns and cannons into the RP yet.

And yeah. The solar panel one is actually just me spewing nonsense. Without maintenance it would be hard-pressed for something to exist that long. Sorry about that.

However, for books. Although the example I chose may not be that good, how about other simpler contraptions, such as sundials and such? Or maybe even a Wilderness Survival book, where it teaches traps which are not known before?(Knots in particular)

Sill, thanks a lot. I am beginning to grasp the idea of the RP more.

And for the backstory... I shall post it here then.

We start from 1980, where a bunch of scientists are developing a program which directly rivals the animal genes splicing project. Instead, they did the vice versa. Instead of splicing animal genes into humans, they installed neural implants in animals, hoping that they could attain enough intelligence to act as spies. They chose a wolfhound first, and the experiment eventually succeed, elevating the intelligence of a normal wolfhound. However, that was when Z456 struck, and soon, everybody died, leaving the wolfhound in the base.
The wolfhound then contacted Z456, and soon he discovered that he could shift at well. The implants, as well as the shift, granted him slightly more intelligence than other Luperci. However, the wolfhound still stayed within the base, hoping that the scientists would come back. (As one of them was in fact his owner)
It wasn't until he ran out of food that he began to research ways to leave the base, and even after managing to escape, he returned and made the base a temporary HQ for himself.
It was one of the places with electricity after the death of humanity, and as the wolfhound was armed with enough knowledge to maintain the base, he was able to keep the base running..
Soon, the optimal living condition of the base (With lighting in the night and climate control) attracted other loners there, and with the huge influx of loners, the wolfhound gradually established a pack there, with himself as the alpha.
The wolfhound soon died, and passed his title to another loner.(He never had any puppies.) As the base was quite isolated, there weren't any other contact with other Luperci for a long time, and with the digital and physical database in there, the civilization and technological level there manage to remain higher than the rest of the world. (However, the isolated community made it quite impossible to pass the knowledge off.) Still, the Luperci there, despite the extensive database of knowledge, didn't necessarily know everything about the base, and so in the third generation or so of Alphas, most of the maintenance procedures have been gradually corrupted into religious practices, and the base and knowledge within interpreted as a gift from the gods.
Fast forward to present day, the base was still running quite well, although breakdowns are already happening, despite all the procedures. There have been a few blackouts already, and despite causing great panic, the issue was resolved in a few hours or so.
However, the aging electric systems have created several other problems, and one day, one of the many wires in the facility short-circuited, and went unnoticed, it eventually started a fire.
The fire redudants systems were already long broken at that time, and without power, the electric doors in the base would not open, effectively trapping the pack inside the facility.
My character, Argus Wolfe, along with his parents, were hunting with a hunting party outside when the disaster struck, but they got back just in time to see the fires at their biggest. Everyone inside the base would have died of smoke inhalation by now, but still Argus' parents and the other Luperci in the party dived right into the burning facility to save their packmates. [Note: I don't think Luperci know too much about smoke inhalation yet, right?]
The heat has destroyed several walls, granting access to the rescue party into the base. However, while they were still in, the age of the facility, worsened by the fire, caused a structural failure. And so, the whole building collapsed, with the whole pack inside.
Argus didn't participate in the rescue due to his young age, and so he was spared from the disaster. He was now all alone, however, as all of his packmates are either dead or missing. Now, he wanders around the lands, waiting for a purpose.

Well, that's the best I could think of.
I would use better vocabularies when I finally put this in my bio, but I would like someone to point out if there are any out of line stuff that I would have to edit first.
Thanks a lot in advance!

[Kiri]

how about other simpler contraptions, such as sundials and such?

Can they make sundials/similar things? Definitely. Would they have a use for them? Maybe not.

Or maybe even a Wilderness Survival book, where it teaches traps which are not known before?(Knots in particular)

That is definitely something that would be more useful/practical/likely for a Luperci to want to learn, yes!

I don't think Luperci know too much about smoke inhalation yet, right?

Nope. A lot of what we as humans consider general knowledge and common sense would be completely lost to Luperci. We take for granted that as a society we have a lot of knowledge that our predecessors learned and made common knowledge. Luperci populations are much more isolated, so even if something became common knowledge in one area, it wouldn't necessarily travel far or quickly. For example, most Luperci wouldn't know what "germs" are.

As for your history, this is an unofficial/not-administrative response, but my gut reaction is no, the technological assumptions in this history would be allowed. I'll skip the spiel about "heightened intelligence" not equating automatically knowing how to maintain a "base" (that's pretty vague, and it sounds a bit like the tech at the base might be more advanced than realistic for the 80's), but even with maintenance knowledge, I don't think Luperci would have the capabilities or resources to maintain electricity and climate control for almost 30 years. Generators don't last that long. Water-powered sources would degrade, and are highly suspecible to natural disasters. As you mention, knowledge degrades too, and I think community chaos would've come to such a pack far sooner than the fire would.

Aside from electricity and climate control though, the history is pretty vague on the kind of society the pack kept, so I'm unsure how important this specific history would be to your character. If "advanced knowledge" had already corrupted into religious beliefs, that opens up a lot of possibilities. The true history could have been warped along the way. They might believe they're advanced but aren't really. If they're so isolated from the rest of the world, how would they know? They could think they're maintaining this human structure, but it's really just continued to fall apart. The electricity might have only lasted for a year after the humans died, but stories of electric light could have been carried down through the generations (and there could be SO many generations in 30 years) and warped in that time, etc.

It doesn't seem like the tech you want in your character's history is actually that critical, in my opinion. :>

[Argus Wolfe]

Can they make sundials/similar things? Definitely. Would they have a use for them? Maybe not.

Well. Maybe not a sundial. But as a civilization gradually progresses into farming (and domesticating animals), they usually begin to develop some kind of calendar for seeding and harvesting. Knowing the summer and winter solstice helps cultivating crops easier.

the technological assumptions in this history would be allowed. I'll skip the spiel about "heightened intelligence" not equating automatically knowing how to maintain a "base" (that's pretty vague, and it sounds a bit like the tech at the base might be more advanced than realistic for the 80's)

Well, there are certain maintenance documents on site, and said Luperci could have gleaned the knowledge off it. As he gained sentience at around 1988, there is still electricity around for him to learn.
And, in terms of technological levels, the base is about the same as the facility stated in the lore. (They are competing projects after all.)

even with maintenance knowledge, I don't think Luperci would have the capabilities or resources to maintain electricity and climate control for almost 30 years. Generators don't last that long. Water-powered sources would degrade, and are highly suspecible to natural disasters.

Again, nuclear generators may prove possible if the power needed isn't too much. Also, with proper maintenance, I'm sure solar power or wind power may prove plausible as well, as they do not require much maintenance knowledge.

As you mention, knowledge degrades too, and I think community chaos would've come to such a pack far sooner than the fire would.

Aside from electricity and climate control though, the history is pretty vague on the kind of society the pack kept, so I'm unsure how important this specific history would be to your character. If "advanced knowledge" had already corrupted into religious beliefs, that opens up a lot of possibilities. The true history could have been warped along the way. They might believe they're advanced but aren't really. If they're so isolated from the rest of the world, how would they know? They could think they're maintaining this human structure, but it's really just continued to fall apart. The electricity might have only lasted for a year after the humans died, but stories of electric light could have been carried down through the generations (and there could be SO many generations in 30 years) and warped in that time, etc.

Well, this is an interesting spin to it. Never thought of it before. (And that is why I constantly struggle thinking of new and unique plot ideas...)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you are suggesting something along the line of this idea?: they view the humans as gods(They did give the wolfhound intelligence), who perished in the apocalypse but left behind a wealth of knowledge and technology for the Luperci, hoping that they could survive the apocalypse instead.

That sounds pretty nice actually. Might use that instead.

(However, with the electricity generation methods stated before, it may sustain the base long enough.)

It doesn't seem like the tech you want in your character's history is actually that critical, in my opinion. :>

Actually I'm planning for a character which is a tinkerer and constantly picks up stuff of human origins. (He even has a normal human toolkit for removing nailed down or screwed down things) Sometimes he keeps it, sometimes he examines it, and sometimes he finds ways to use it. (I'm actually planning for him to have a repeating crossbow as a weapon. And so he would need at least a little bit of tech info to know what he is doing and to explain why he does that.

And that is also the followup to my question to pack choosing as well. Is there any packs who would accept a tinkerer/inventor in their ranks?

[Kiri]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you are suggesting something along the line of this idea?: they view the humans as gods(They did give the wolfhound intelligence), who perished in the apocalypse but left behind a wealth of knowledge and technology for the Luperci, hoping that they could survive the apocalypse instead.

I was definitely suggesting an alternative to Luperci actually and properly maintaining a human facility for 30 years, yes. It would be highly preferrential, if not ultimately required, pending an official ruling on your proposed history.

I'm not an expert off-hand of course, but I'm still pretty dubious of Luperci being able to maintain such a facility, even with instructions -- but if that's what you want to push for, the administration would need to discuss it in detail, and any documentation or research you can provide regarding maintenance would be helpful in an evaluation.

If we can skip that whole process ('cause honestly, it's a pain in the ass for everyone) by finding an alternative that hits all the history/plot points you want for your character without toeing our game's realism/acceptable tech lines, then that's for the best. ;)

Actually I'm planning for a character which is a tinkerer and constantly picks up stuff of human origins. (He even has a normal human toolkit for removing nailed down or screwed down things) Sometimes he keeps it, sometimes he examines it, and sometimes he finds ways to use it. (I'm actually planning for him to have a repeating crossbow as a weapon. And so he would need at least a little bit of tech info to know what he is doing and to explain why he does that.

And that is also the followup to my question to pack choosing as well. Is there any packs who would accept a tinkerer/inventor in their ranks?

You can definitely have a tinkerer-type character without your currently proposed history. Plenty of Luperci communities have done tinkering and learning basic technologies to some extent, so it wouldn't really be out of place at all. Sapient might be a pack suitable for your character, though many other packs have a considerable degree of humanisation, including animal domestication and limited agriculture.

If you haven't already, I recommend checking out the Active Pack Summary for the general run-down of each pack.

[Argus Wolfe]

Thank you all for your helpful contributions and answers! It has certainly helped me a lot in gaining an more in-depth insight into character building in Souls.

Sorry if I seems to be troublesome in any manner during this whole discussion. It has never occurred to me that my ideas may be too grand for the premises of Souls, and frankly, it has been quite a while since I had to make such an elaborate character.

Well, guess all that's left for me to do is to write up the character bios. I hope to see you all again in the RP!

EDIT: So... I would like to clarify one thing. Are explosives, even small ones that are not intended for harm, such as firecrackers and sparklers, not allowed? As said above, I would like my character to have them for intimidation/amazement(?) purpose?

[Vesper]

So... I would like to clarify one thing. Are explosives, even small ones that are not intended for harm, such as firecrackers and sparklers, not allowed? As said above, I would like my character to have them for intimidation/amazement(?) purpose?

I would lean toward no. It is unlikely that firecrackers and sparklers would have survived the ~30 years since humanity's fall. While they do have a decent shelf life, that is in optimal storage conditions; it's unlikely that they would have been kept dry all these years with the effects of weather, rotting buildings, and overall deterioration.

However, iron filings tossed into flame can cause sparks, I believe. :> A character of mine, a "witch," used these as "magic." It wouldn't be a super concentrated spark, and the administration would probably have to confer on whether to allow such a thing to be "invented," but it is a more realistic alternative all the same!

[Argus Wolfe]

I don't want to stretch this out for too long, but still...

From what I can see from the Internet, it says that sparklers could survive moisture, and although they may not burn that well.
(I understand that Yahoo Answers might not be the best place for info, but the search for 'wet sparkler' only gave this result.)

And not to mention that fireworks in general can be waterproofed...

Well. This is going to be my final take on this subject. If it is still a 'no' on this matter, I will gladly remove it from my bio in-making.

Sorry for any inconvenience caused.

[Vesper]

I imagine for sparklers, they would be very well rusted by this point, since it's rain accumulated over decades. It might also not even occur for a Luperci to attempt to light one, honestly. I also don't know how likely it would be for fireworks to be waterproofed? It's not as if it would occur to most people. :O The cling wrap would probably degrade also, or get chewed by rodents, or any number of other things.

In this case, since there is an alternative realistic to 'Souls, it might be better to take that route. :) The iron shavings bit would have the added bonus of being replenishable, whereas any scavenged items would be extremely limited even if miraculously found and in working order.

[Nivosus Moineau]

Just my two cents and what I found, since I was curious on the subject myself.

Direct water damage and exposure isn't the only factor that can influence fireworks, as far as I can tell. Weather changes and humidity can also disrupt them and prevent them from working, which is a significantly more likely to have happened on 'Souls, without someone maintaining the storage of such things since humans were around (and how would they know how to appropriately store them; that early on, human texts would be kinda hard to read for them, I'd think?)

Essentially fireworks are filled with explosive material and there are ways to disturb this material and affect its properties. This is why storing fireworks correctly is the most important thing to do.

The biggest threat to your fireworks is moisture. The gunpowder inside the fireworks only remains stable if there’s no moisture inside the cartridge. As soon as the powder is in contact with water, for instance, the powder becomes unstable
.
Therefore, if you do stumble across an old firework, it’s crucial to check whether it has been in contact with moisture. Note that this could include any extreme temperature changes, not just contact with water.

Fireworks have an extremely long shelf-life so long as they are kept dry. For ideal storage, keep your fireworks in a non-humid environment with a fairly consistent temperature, stored in a cardboard box.

If I do not use my sparklers straight away will they expire?
This will depend on how long you plan to store them. Storage should always be in a cool, dry place.

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[Kiri]

Sorry if I seems to be troublesome in any manner during this whole discussion. It has never occurred to me that my ideas may be too grand for the premises of Souls, and frankly, it has been quite a while since I had to make such an elaborate character.

Don't worry, man, it's good to ask questions like this, especially prior to joining.

Tech/realism-wise, we're always open to listening to player ideas, especially if they've already done some of their own feasibility research. But most players want x tech/weapon/gadget because they want their character to have y sort of history or plot, but in many, many cases, easier/more feasible/less complicated alternatives exist and their character can still have y sort of history/plot without x tech. And that's always easier, not just for us, but for the player, too. Complicated stuff requires more research and often the need for "realism checks" carry through a lot of threads, and no one wants roleplay to be a chore.

And yeah, I agree with Raze re: "no" to scavenged human-made explosives of any type. Take that easier alternative. ;3

[Argus Wolfe]

Ah well. Knew it was too good to be true. XD

Anyway, thanks again. Hopefully I can post my character bio this week.

In this case, since there is an alternative realistic to 'Souls, it might be better to take that route. :) The iron shavings bit would have the added bonus of being replenishable, whereas any scavenged items would be extremely limited even if miraculously found and in working order.

Tech/realism-wise, we're always open to listening to player ideas, especially if they've already done some of their own feasibility research. But most players want x tech/weapon/gadget because they want their character to have y sort of history or plot, but in many, many cases, easier/more feasible/less complicated alternatives exist and their character can still have y sort of history/plot without x tech. And that's always easier, not just for us, but for the player, too. Complicated stuff requires more research and often the need for "realism checks" carry through a lot of threads, and no one wants roleplay to be a chore.

And yeah, I agree with Raze re: "no" to scavenged human-made explosives of any type. Take that easier alternative. ;3

I actually was aiming for the portability of firecrackers and sparklers, and I don't think anyone could carry a large fire around, so it won't really work. Also, I wanted to use them as some kind of flashbang to scare away others, and I don't think iron shavings in a fire would do much in scaring off others. XD

And I'm not trying to compliment my character's history with this actually. I was planning for Argus to be someone who doesn't fight that well (Or much), and when approached by hostiles, it is actually easier for him to bluff as a powerful wizard and scare off potential attackers then to fight. Guess I could buff up his fighting skills/physique then.

Anyway, not going to pursue this further. Just replying so this thread has a proper end to it.

[Juliette Grimm]

I am going to give a little alternative for your intimidation techiques about something I thought for a character of my own.

If he doesn't fight he could still carry a weapon around, wrap it with alcohol soaked bandages (or another flamable-easily obtained substance) and light it on fire! I can picture many luperci being intimidated by that.
Ofcourse, your character should be very careful when doing this because the risk of lighting himself on fire would be incredibly high, but if he experiments first for quite a hile maybe he can come up with a safe technique.

(I really hope it isn't too out of place for me to reply now, if so I am really sorry)

[Argus Wolfe]

I am going to give a little alternative for your intimidation techiques about something I thought for a character of my own.

If he doesn't fight he could still carry a weapon around, wrap it with alcohol soaked bandages (or another flamable-easily obtained substance) and light it on fire! I can picture many luperci being intimidated by that.
Ofcourse, your character should be very careful when doing this because the risk of lighting himself on fire would be incredibly high, but if he experiments first for quite a hile maybe he can come up with a safe technique.

Not sure that would work actually...
Alcohol burns with a near invisible flame(A cool flame), and wrapping a weapon in bandages would render it effectively useless(?). Might as well use a Molotov cocktail instead.
I was initially aiming for the loud noise generated by the explosion, but oh well.
Still, an interesting idea nonetheless. Thanks for the input, I will see if I could adjust it accordingly and put it in.