The Isolative - Horror, Mystery, Supernatural

[Duskclutch]

Hello there.

This is an idea which I am publishing once again, as the first presentation, so to speak, was doomed by my internet connection being interrupted. This time, the setting is refined slighty better.

SETTING
This roleplay will be set in a fictional version of the 1940's United States, influenced by retrofuture and medieval themes. The east coast is prospering in trade and industry, but the rest of the country lies in a state which ranges from moderate growth to isolation.

PLOT
There is no specific plot, yet. It will form and develop as your characters solve mysteries and come across unsettling situations. The players begin scattered from each other.

RULES

• Each player may only have 1 character at a time.
• You are to play mostly by stating what you intent do to while my duty is to determine the outcome. Of course, minor actions like movement are excluded by this. Do not let this concern you much, as this rule will probably solidify as we play.
  For example
  Bad - Player: I shoot mr Green. He collapses on the wooden floor like a fragile doll.
  Good - Player: I attemp to shoot mr Green.
  Me: You do hit him, and you injure his right shoulder.
• Do not be afraid to be creative! This means that character restrictions are minimal and that technology applies as much as magic does. The same goes for actions and common role playing, provided that this is within reason.
• All rules may be altered or occasionally ignored in order to enhance the experience. The greatest rule of all is to have fun.
• Feel free to ask for clarification, or disagree with anything. I promise to consider all input.

CHARACTERS

• Each character has a number of attributes which are employed upon determining the outcome of several actions, besides combat. Each character can choose to have a positive inclination towards 3 attibutes upon creation.
  
  • Each character has a stamina value. It is depleted during being awake minimally, but even moreso during intese actions, such as combat, running etc. There also is a similar value of sanity. Health, stamina and sanity can be replenished by resting. You will also have to eat and drink. Depending on whether your character uses magic, he/she/it might also have a mana value.
  • Strength - Affects damage output during hand to hand combat and weapon usage, as well as success rate of tasks that require anaerobic physical strain. It also affects maximum stamina and health.
  • Endurance - Affects maximum stamina and health, moreso than strength.
  • Agility - Affects attack and evasion success rate.
  • Speed - Determines who strikes first, as well as movement speed.
  • Intelligence - Affects damage ouput of attacks that target the foe's spirit or mind, as well as maximum sanity and mana.
  • Willpower - Affects maximum sanity and mana, moreso than intelligence. It also affects hunger and thirst.
  • Charisma - Affects social procedures, manipulation and creativity.
• Besides atrributes, characters also have skills. These increase when in use. You may also choose to begin with a bonus in a maximum of 7 skills you are interested in.
  
  • Hand to Hand: Affects hand to hand combat. Governed by: Strength and Agility.
  • Bowmanship: Affects damage and accuracy when using bows. Governed by: Agility.
  • Gunship: Affects accuracy when using guns. Governed by: Agility.
  • Chemistry: Affects the creation of explosives, among other things. Governed by: Intelligence.
  • Sneak: Affects the use of successful sneaking. Governed by: Agility.
  • Security: Affects lockpicking. Governed by: Agility and Intelligence.
  • Athletics: Affects runningand swimming. Governed by: Endurance and Speed.
  • Acrobatics: Affects jumping, landing and climbing. Governed by: Agility and Speed.
  • Speechcraft: Affects persuading and influencing others trough speech. Governed by: Charisma and Intelligence.
  • Crafting: Affects the quality of makeshift products. Governed by: Charisma and Intelligence.
  • Cooking: Affects the quality of cooked food. Governed by: Charisma and Intelligence.
  • Self Control: Affects the ability to minimize the effects of fear or panick. Governed by: Willpower.
  • Tracking: Affects the ability to track down entities through subtle enviromental modifications. Governed by: Intelligence.
  • Enchanting: Affects the ability to empower ammo and weaponry through magic. Governed by: Intelligence and Willpower.
  • Shapeshifting: Affects the ability to modify oneself's body. Governed by: Willpower.
  • Destruction: Affects the usage of offensive spells. Governed by: Willpower.
  • Polearms Lore: Affects the usage of spears, pikes, rakes, scythes and other such makeshift weapons. Governed by: Agility.
  • Dagger and Knife Lore: Affects the usage of daggers and knives. Governed by: Aglility.
  • Short Sword Lore: Affects the usage of swords. Governed by: Agility.
  • Shield Lore: Affects the usage of shields. Governed by: Agility.
• Characters level up when they have 10 skill increases, in which case the character can choose to increase 3 attributes. The modifier is determined by which attribute governs the increased skills.
  More skills might be added later, depending on the contribution of entrants.
• Your character might also posses some specific abilities. These can be passive or may require activation.

PARTICIPATION FORM
Name: What is your character called?
Gender: What is the gender of your character (if any)?
Age: What is your character's approximate age (if any)?
Bio: Describe the past of your character.
Appearance: Describe the appearance of your character. You may use images.
Occupation: What does your character do for a living? (It doesn't have to be a standard job.)
Skils: What are your character's skills? May or may not be already included within the original post.
Abilties (Optional): What are the abilities of your character, centered around combat or otherwise? Abilities may require activation (Invokable) or be Passive.
Inventory (Optional): Does your character carry anything noteworthy? (All characters have 500$ by default.)

Spots Reserved so Far: 1/5

• Artsydaze

[Kokurokoki]

Hmmm sounds very interesting. I might be up for it since the other RPs I'm in are moving a bit slow at the moment. One issue I would like addressed is the distinction between bows and guns. There should be some advantages that the bow has over the gun to keep people from just using guns all the time. Maybe make the bow more suited for sneaking missions as the gun is loud and bulky, or something like that.

Also, what are the limits to what we can do with magic in this RP?

[Artsydaze]

I would like to reserve a spot please. This sounds promising !

[Duskclutch]

@Kokurokoki

You do raise a very interesting point. I think that the main advantage of bows over guns would also lie in the existance of self bows. Self bows can be made from wood in a day's work and would be much more economic to reproduce whereas guns might either be too expensive or absent. The same goes for arrows, which can be produced by one man using countryside materials.

Nevertheless, I have to thank you, because you have inspired to incorporate more survival concepts.

Then, there is what you thought of, that they are silent, although handguns tend to be far more discreet than bows in the size department.

As for magic, I really haven't thought about it. I suppose that we could begin with more simple and basic spells and increase their potential slowly and steadily. I do believe however that most spell concepts will be viable in this RP. Perhaps you could clarify about what it could be that you have in mind?

@ Artsydaze

Very well!

[Kokurokoki]

Well, a bow can be worn across the chest like a strap as they show in Assassin's Creed 3 so it can be carried rather easily as well. Just throwing it out there... xD

Well... as far as magic goes, from the fantasy genre and more recently anime, the power of magic can get to ridiculous levels. This is especially true in anime where there are spells that can tear entire continents in half and make people immortal. But besides the point, I was speaking more along the lines of more elementary magic. Such examples would include weapon enchantment to increase the damage of weapons (enchanting bullets, blades, w/e). We could also incorporate different classes of magic, such as chi-energy manipulation (asian/eastern) vs mana-manipulation (european/western) that clash as different cultures come together via immigration.

Haha, just some ideas I"m throwing out there. xD

[Duskclutch]

Ah yes, enchanting should be perfectly viable in this RP. However, I was thinking that some elements would be more easy to incorporate than others. For example, the elements of earth or water do not have the immediate, offensive effects of fire, electricity or ice. Maybe enchantments could include some minor elemental effects based on offensive natural elements, as well as spiritual effects.

In regards to destructive spells, they would be perfectly viable provided that their power begins limited and scales gradually. Their power would be dependant on the related skill. One such skill could be the "Destruction" skill from the elder scroll games.

Then there is the elementary magic of Pyrokinesis, hydrokinesis etc. That would also be viable.

Pardon me if I am wrong, but are you thinking of making some sort of an Archer who fires elementary arrows?

[Kokurokoki]

Hmm... I'm thinking about it. At the moment I'm not sure what character to make yet, but I'm thinking of trying for characters I'm not used to normally writing as a good challenge. I haven't done an archer before, so maybe I'll make one.

[Duskclutch]

I see.

Bump.

[Artsydaze]

I was wondering, is there a specific type of character you would like to see? I draw a blank right now but am willing to try something new...

[Duskclutch]

Not at all. However, if I do happen to have any objections, I shall notify you so that we can reach a solution.