Thanks Thael~!
And Cheyne, too! Lol, how can you do this all by hand? I remember my days of trying to get a D&D character out by hand...I am now addicted to Heroforge, lol. I guess I can make a character by hand if forced, but there would be kicking and screaming involved o_O =-O.
I really plan on pounding out these rules issues during the break, but I really appreciate all the help from you guys in straightening things to a rough resolution right now. I am sorry if I ask things that have already been resolved on the boards, though (I hate doing that!); I usually try to peruse the thread before I post anything to see if my questions have already been answered.
Okay, as for my history, here goes:
Asa (AY-sah) is a Human born on the rimward (backwater) planet of Heimat. The planet spends a good deal of its orbit along the fringes, and sometimes even within the outer layers, of Iridihelios: a large nebula that is the remnant of a star that went supernova approximately three millennia in the past. The short-ranged radiation emissions from Iridihelios bombard the northern pole of Heimat (because of the tilt of the planet's axis, the north pole is the portion of the world that receives, by far, the highest exposure to the nebula). The synchrotron emission from the supernova remnant annually showers the northern hemisphere with very low concentrations of a broad spectrum of EM radiation: from radio waves to gamma rays. The pole is inhospitable due to the sheer saturation of radiation; the bold, adventurous, or those who are just missing a fews cogs (it's amazing how often these three are found hand-in-hand!) visit the poles for short trips, if only to see the beautiful auroras that occur at all times of the year, but no permanent settlements are there.
Asa was born in the northern hemisphere of Heimat, within the more southern latitudes (the inhabited latitudes). People who hail from this region of Heimat have a (relatively) high incidence of psionic abilites; scientists speculate and hypothesize that it is because the radiation incurs mutations within the genome of people that dwell there. This theory is validated by the high incidence of cancer and other mutation-derived pathologies on that continent. Individuals of the planet considered having a mass emigration to the southern continent, thus re-locating everyone to the relatively radiation-free hemisphere, but then the inherent problem of over-crowding could not be resolved.
It is believed that about 1 in 1,000,000 births results in people who have some form of psionic talent; Asa is among this figure. He displayed at a young age eidetic memory: at age 5, he was able to recite, verbatim, an entire chapter-book that he had read only once.
Asa was born into a wealthy upper-middle class family: his father, Caedmon, was a popular politician and his mother, Eir, was a physician. Caedmon supported and legislated bills that cemented the economical stability of his province (he was the provincial governor that resided over the Günstig province of the small eastern state of Silberstadt, a port state on the eastern shoreboard of the northern continent). Eir was a renowned neurosurgeon who served in the capacity as the Dean of the Neurology department of Lyfia, the most renowned medical school and healthcare centre on Heimat. Eir was well-known for her near miraculous treatments; she also was reputed for her successful implementation of alternative medicine (such as herbal medicine) in her practice (at first she was highly criticized for the usage of so-called "quack" medicine; but her antagonists could not deny the effectiveness of her treatments).
Asa was part of a large family: he had four older brothers, and two younger sisters who were twins. He was always close to his siblings throughout his childhood.
At around 19 years of age, when his psionic powers began to manifest in earnest, Asa began to have vivid dreams, nightmares so life-like that it was as if he was experiencing them. He would wake up each night shaking, in a cold sweat. After a year with these recurring nightmares, he began having life-like visions while conscious. These visions and nightmares all depicted experiences that were so alien to him: those of combat and suffering. He would dream of an eclectic montage of horrific scenes that would all defy everything that had been his idyllic reality until now. He had never been in a battle in his life; war was anathema to his society. History courses in school always talked about socioeconomic patterns in planetary civilizations, or trade agreements, or technological developments. These images of suffering disturbed him beyond the ability for words to describe, and he was determined to figure out what he was seeing. He felt he was going crazy; he did not dare tell anyone about his dreams and visions.
Until he came across a history text in the Günstig Provincial Library, a text that pre-dates the formation of the Galactic Federation. He found a historical figure in that text named Lancelot Iscariot (lol...I had to use the name somewhere in the history), who plunged Heimat into its last Dark Age (~700 years ago, before the planet joined the Galactic Federation). The photograph of that man matched perfectly the likeness of the man whose viewpoint Asa's dreams come from (in one dream, Asa's "dream-self" goes to a lavatory facility and stoically washes blood from his hands, while looking up into the mirror at his own face; this is one instance where Asa sees his "dream-self"). He researches more about Lancelot, and does not find much texts on him. History seems to have erased him, as well as every era that pre-dates the Federation.
However, the few texts that had information on Iscariot portray him as a fascist tyrant how usurped power from Heimat's then-centralized planetary government through treachery and deceit. He was painted as one of the most nefarious and vile people to have ever lived. However, Asa knew for sure that these dreams and visions were not mere dreams: he had viewed specific events that were only speculated upon in the few history texts that mentioned this Dark Age, secrets that were lost to the sands of time and known by no one living (e.g. whatever happened to a certain population of prisoners that were being kept at a large fortified prison camp, etc etc). He witnessed first-hand things that actually happened, that were only referenced in passing in a few texts.
Asa came to the conclusion that this depraved excuse for a person, this Lancelot Iscariot, was indeed a past life of his. He delved into religious texts that elaborated upon the belief of reincarnation in order to derive a feasible, if weakly feasible, theory. He never believed in reincarnation before; in fact, his religion precluded the belief in reincarnation. However, the more he read about this spiritual belief, the more he believed that Iscariot was one of his prior incarnations. He surmised that this was perhaps his last reincarnation, before this life, and that his soul was in some purgatory-esque place within the Void until now...being held in check due to his many crimes. Or perhaps he *had* reincarnated as certain "lesser" creatures between his incarnation as Iscariot and his present incarnation; a certain demotion due to the horrible amount of bad karma he accrued as Iscariot. This seemed more likely, as he viewed his current life as far from being a "low-karma" state. Even so, he definitely could not definitively prove any one theory. What he did know, to his satisfaction and deep relief, was that he was not going crazy: mentally unstable individuals such as those suffering from schizophrenia do not have vivid dreams of past events in history.
Thus, his impetus for medicine was conceived. Until now, despite ample prodding from his parents, Asa's ambitions for his future floundered in the indecision of youth. His interests waxed and waned like the phases of the moon; his dedication to one field lasted all of a few months, if that. However, after finding out about Iscariot, he actually believed that he was meant to atone for the grievous sins of his past life. Whether right or wrong, whether or not he really *is* the reincarnation of a cruel and oppressive tyrant from a long-forgotten era (a fact that neither science nor religion nor philosophy can prove or disprove), he *believes* he is; this, in and of itself, is of utmost importance.
He drove himself to pursue a career in medicine. He was accepted into Lyfia, and his eidetic memory certainly helped him with his academic studies. His exceptional manual dexterity, and his telekinetic powers, imbued him with the capacity for exquisitely fine control in surgery. He graduated Lyfia summa cum laude, valedictorian of his class. He became a neurosurgeon, like his mother.
The nightmares still continue to this day. He occasionally has flashbacks from this "past life," as well. These flashbacks can be quite debilitating. Interestingly, the flashbacks and the nightmares have lessened greatly in frequency since he has attained an altruistic and selfless lifestyle. He traveled nearby Federation planets in a kind of intergalactic analog of Doctors-Without-Borders. He did not know that living this selfless lifestyle would lead to a diminishing of the frequency of his visions from the past (admittedly, these nightmares and visions may be lowering in frequency due to a. the natural process of his aging, and the natural re-modeling of synapses that occurs with this process, or b. the distance he is from his planet, and the radiation inherent with living on Heimat), so this definitely was not his motivation for living such a lifestyle. He would like to belief that his being selfless has lessened these "attacks," as he is atoning for his deleterious karma; however, his rational and very intellectual mind allows for the complete denunciation of this rationalization. Asa is a rare and unique mix of intellectuality and spirituality...he does not ascribe to any one religion, but fervently believes in helping those in need, and spreading goodwill.
His soul yearning for adventure, and exploration of the unknown, Asa joined an expedition group tasked with the quest to explore the empty blackness of space. Although he has never been in an actual combat, he is wary of any violent confrontation; during the simulation preparations for the journey, he experienced combat paralysis and and post-combat shakes after each simulation (although he knew fully well that they were mere simulations to prepare against threats). He was trained how to shoot during this training, and took to shooting like a fish does to swimming: naturally. However, in an actual combat simulator, he would be ravaged with mental images from the "past," and would have to fight against paralysis. He is currently 30-years-old. First and foremost, he's a doctor...
Okay, I know it's really long, but please tell me what you guys think of it, k? Thanks!