Forums » RP Discussion » Collaborative OC:Criminal in a desert city/Fantasy

Hello! It's been a long time since I've posted on this site; I hope that this event will stir me to become more active and interact with people again.

Here are my three traits:

• Fantasy genre
• Based in a desert city
• Is a key player of said city's underworld (crime scene).

I look forward to seeing what everyone comes up with, and I'll do my best to comment on topics over the next week!

I want to say that this person should be the child of the dead leader of a gang. Say their father was overthrown after a conflict between members; they believed he should act and take over more of the underground scene and father disagrees. This leads to the backstabbing of the father and YC being excommunicated at a very young age.

Groing up in bars and n the streets YC developes a cheeky and sly attitude, quiet and cunning with a seductive air. Growing up this way will do that to someone, and eventually learns a bit of magic along the way. Some conjuring tricks perhaps?

This would be a fun one!

Many desert peoples would dye their skin with pigments. I'm not 100% sure if this was to stop sweat, or keep skin from burning in the sun, or something else. That might be a fun way to add some colour to your character.

I was thinking they would have a very dark, vicious, and brutal side. Maybe not explicitly sadistic, but violent when necessary. Maybe they have some kind of trauma or very personal attachment to someone or something and, whenever it gets in danger or anything happens to it, a switch flicks and they entirely swap alignments and just go ham.

Thank you everyone for your great ideas! More ideas are welcome: whether they're completely new or building on top of the ideas from someone else, it doesn't matter.

I'm really enjoying this event so far!

When I was reading this thread, a few key details appeared in my mind's eye. Use them as you see fit!

• Has short, black hair and somewhat tanned skin
• Eyes are also brown
• Wears a black and red checkered bandana
• Shirt they wear is a light beige
• Flips a coin out of habit
• Wears sizable golden bangles around his wrists
• Often hangs around in alleyways away from the scorching sun

Thank you Shadow! I love hearing what other people visualise for a written character.

I'm imagining a cool cactus tattoo- hopefully that's not too unoriginal due to the desert thing haha. But maybe the tattoo has something to do with a gang they were/are a part of.
Maybe they have a lot of knowledge about desert plants. Not that there are a lot of plants out there, but this character is a master of knowing where to find edible fruit, where to find something medicinal (or poisonous), which succulents can give the most water in a desperate situation, and all that. Could even be that they use this knowledge to brew potions or remedies or something similar, either separately from their criminal activity (pretending they have a normal job to the public?), or as a part of their criminal activity (making drugs or poisons or something like that.)
Also, what if they really like hats? Hats are good protection against the brutal sun of the desert, so maybe this character really likes to collect all sorts of them ("if I have to wear hats to stay safe from the sun, I might as well look cool while doing it.") Maybe they spend a fair amount of their time mingling with other people, pretending not to be associated with crime, and hats could even be a key part of their disguises. On that note, maybe most people of their city see them as "a nice, charismatic, friendly individual" (or "kinda prickly but not at all suspicious", or any other personality) without knowing what kind of crime they get up to.
Speaking of which, what kind of crime DO they get up to? Maybe they help smuggle/make illegal substances? Maybe they're an assassin? Maybe they just do whatever job they're offered, because they need (or just want) the money.
Oh oh also!! Because it's in the fantasy genre!! I think they should be a desert elf! I also think it'd be cool if they were non-binary or something along those lines, but eh, you do you. :]
I'm also imagining them as someone who always goes by a nickname because, for whatever personal reason (probably safety/privacy, but could also be something deeper) they won't give out their real name to anyone, except for those they really trust.