OOC IS UP

The world is old. Very, very old. Civilizations have risen, peaked, fallen, been forgotten, rediscovered, and then the civilization that discovered them in turn rising, peaking, falling, and being forgotten. There are no nations these days, just scattered villages and fortified city-states. There is more legend than actual knowledge of the world, most old records having been lost. Even accurate maps are hard to come by- the world is a dangerous place, and being a cartographer is a risky occupation.

~~~

So the idea here is that it's a bigass world that isn't clearly defined- there's no map, no list of races, no codified magic system, nothing. You make a fantasy character in the style you want as long as it's at or below a certain power threshold, and you're fine. I will ask that people keep it to more western fantasy in general- everything west of Eastern Europe is fair game for inspiration, but I'm not really looking for any asian-themed stuff for this. That's kinda the only limitation though.

I have a plan for how to start the game and a direction to go with, but it's a fairly open world and if we all decide to pursue other objectives then that's also fine. You're free to toss out ideas for races, cultures, locations, ruins, etc, and unless I think it'll be game breaking or just really, really dumb, then it's probably fine to include.

Any takers?

EDIT:
Okay, because I'm not in the market for a furry RP, I'm going to lay down a few more rules for the setting: I'm not allowing races that could be described as "a humanoid version of _______", because so far it's just been furry race after furry race. Now, if it's a fantasy staple, i.e. minotaurs, then I'll allow it, but otherwise just leave it alone.

The same goes for vampires and werecreatures, since they are either broken overpowered if played properly, or really really stupid if played improperly. There's not really a balanced ground for them.

Sorry to put these rules down, but the RP was starting to look like a shitty forum version of Furcadia.

Two questions:
Why are asian themed things a no-go?
What is the plot, why would our characters interact? (I know you said you had somethinh planned, but that isnt much to go from for me or others)

The asian themed thing is just to give a feeling of some degree of cohesiveness to the setting- a grab bag of western styles will generally mesh a bit more believably than a random assortment of themes from around the globe.

The starting point for the plot, which we are free to branch off from, is that our characters wake up in a dungeon after being kidnapped by cultists. Working together they can escape, forcing them to learn to trust each other to an extent, and from there giving them the potential goal of pursuing the cult that kidnapped them.
...or we could wind up doing what so many D&D groups I've been in have done and say "fuck that I wanna go ________", where blank is anything from "be a pirate" to "take over towns" to "light random things on fire". Generally speaking, that last option usually leads to fairly predictably short campaigns :P

I love the idea!

Hell yeah. We talking custom races? Or the vanilla D&D Elves/Humans/Dwarves/Gnomes/Halflings/Half-Orcs set menu?

I'm interested.

Is there gonna be a main questline that will bring all of our characters together?

I wouldn't mind joining something like this, it does sound pretty interesting.

That is, so long as you are okay with a fairly new roleplayer taking part.

There's a starting quest line that will group everyone up and a lure to follow, but if everyone chooses to not follow the bait then that's fine too.

Custom races are probably okay, just run them by me first!

I was thinking of something like this? I always thought about bringing them into a D&D environment, but never got around to it.

Custom Race

Name: Mesocricetian (Meza-cry-seat-ian)

Race Bio: Humanoid rodents, akin to Skaven, but taller and bulkier. On average, whether female or male, they stand between 5 and 6 feet. They have large bearish heads, with big black eyes and leaf-shaped ears sprouting from both top corners of the skull. Their fur can vary in colour extensively from each individual, and there are several Mesocricetian subspecies dotted around the globe, each with their own physical characteristics.

They travel on padded feet with five toes, each mounted with a stubby claw. It is for this reason, that they seldom wear anything on their feet, unless a situation demands it. Their paws consist of four fingers, likewise attired with small but sharp claws, though this does not hinder their ability to grip things. In fact, they are renowned climbers, who often choose to settle in high places if they are unable to burrow into the ground.

Perhaps one of the most noteworthy features of the Mesocricetians is their ability to store food in large cheek pouches, which can then be preserved for some weeks. Legends read that long ago, armies of the species were able to march great distances without stopping for food, and that this advantage allowed them to outmanoeuvre their enemies on several occasions.

The Mesocricetians are an agile race, and strong too – however they are generally considered unfriendly, even towards each other. Many a Mesocricetian Kingdom has been torn down on the same day it was established; such is the mistrust and aggression they hold for each other. It is for this reason that they mostly keep to themselves, living far out in the wild and meeting up only to trade or procreate.

Perhaps the greatest weakness of these rodents on an individual level is their fear of magic; many believe it is an evil presence, unnatural and not suited for the hands of mortals. They will generally steer clear of magic users, or when they must fight them, they will opt to remove the threat before it has time to cast a spell.

In a Nut Shell

- Humanoid rodents, similar to Skaven.
- Agile and strong, making for good thief/ranger/assassin/swashbuckling style classes.
- Are aggressive towards everyone, especially their own kind. Not always with violent intent, however.
- Live out in the countryside as hermits.
- Dislike magic, and magic users.

How about the following for a monster race, not necessarily for players. More like a BBEG.

Noktwar- Night Lords

The Noktwar are the basis of all myths regarding vampires and werewolves, but their true nature is known only to a few learned arcanists and travelers. They are immaterial beings, demons, who draw power from darkness but are damaged, even destroyed, by sunlight. In their natural form they are a sentient vapor, a dark mist that travels quickly across the land and sky. However, they rarely take this form relying instead on their consummate shapeshifting abilities. They can assume the physical form of any creature active at night though they prefer predators such as wolves, owls, bats, and panthers. In order to take human form, however, they must possess a host and only those who have committed the gravest of crimes are susceptible to their invasion. Robbers and murderers who haunt the shadows of cities are an easy target, but the Noktwar prefer bloody tyrants for they then can draw on the political power of such people to serve their own ends.

While inside a human host, the Noktwar is still vulnerable to sunlight, but less for flesh shields his spirit. Light weakens such a Night Lord, but can not destroy him. When in human form and not crippled by the sun, he can still shapeshift but he must warp the flesh of his human form to do so, resulting in monstrous beast hybrids which have given rise to the myths of lycanthropy. Unfortunately for the Noktwar it can only mimic, not create life so to survive in their host without it degenerating it must feed on the lifeblood of human beings. Typically the beast achieves this by altering the physiology of their host to attain the blood letting saliva and fangs of a vampire bat, though some more crude predators will merely devour their prey with mouths full of gnashing teeth.

A Noktwar is powerful, ruthless and cunning. It's human host is empowered by the spirit's demonic strength, quickened by its energy and illuminated by it's immortal and cunning intellect. Still the beasts can be destroyed. A beheading or burning can stop the demon and force him to flee his vessel but only sunlight can destroy him utterly which is why those few who hunt the Noktwar only pursue their quarry at daytime and why the Noktwar seek refuge underground, often in mausoleums, during this time. Their taking refuge in such places, along with the immortality of their host bodies, have given rise to the false belief that they are the risen dead. In reality, much of the psychology and evil of the host remains alive in the demon hybrid created upon his possession and the heart within his chest, though corrupted, continues its beat.

As a bonus if you accept this it effectively cockblocks all lame and overdone vampire werewolf stuff from polluting the RP. And you'll never have to see someone use the word Lycan as if they think every game with such monsters is set in the Underworld universe.

SyrianHamster said
Snip

Hamster men, I like it! For what it's worth though, you describe them as being smaller then ratmen, but you say they're still around six feet tall- I think that even particularly tall ratmen would be like tops five feet or so. If you want them to be human sized fine, but I don't think comparing them to ratmen that way is accurate.

I ♥ Skaven.

Too Old 4 This said
Snip

Could well exist somewhere in the setting! That said, I wouldn't rule out the possibility of there being werewolves or vampires, but if anybody tries to submit a character like that I'm going to do some background checks on their RP ability to make sure that they don't become a problem with it- a lot of people RP that stuff quite poorly.

Primal Conundrum said a lot of people RP that stuff quite poorly.

Yep.

That's the biggest problem with allowing total player creativity. It's an open door to shoehorners who want to play the same thing regardless of setting whether that be vampire, werewolf, pokemon or gelatinous cube. Depriving them of the vampire/werewolf option by submitting both as an unplayable monster race is an admittedly devious preemptive strike on my part.

Well Primal, you know me, I probably just gonna be a Minotaur :)

Primal Conundrum said
Hamster men, I like it! For what it's worth though, you describe them as being smaller then ratmen, but you say they're still around six feet tall- I think that even particularly tall ratmen would be like tops five feet or so. If you want them to be human sized fine, but I don't think comparing them to ratmen that way is accurate.I ♥ Skaven.

Yeah it's funny, at the time of writing that I remembered Skaven being quit tall and brutish. Dunno where that came from. Two secs.

Edit: There we go. Think I'll keep the humanish height (put between 5 and 6 feet).

Steel fist said
Well Primal, you know me, I probably just gonna be a Minotaur :)

I expected nothing less :P

Too Old 4 This said
Yep.That's the biggest problem with allowing total player creativity. It's an open door to shoehorners who want to play the same thing regardless of setting whether that be vampire, werewolf, pokemon or gelatinous cube. Depriving them of the vampire/werewolf option by submitting both as an unplayable monster race is an admittedly devious preemptive strike on my part.

I just don't want to punish good players because of what bad ones MIGHT do. I'm going to keep an eye on submitted characters, and if they do seem questionable then I'll be doing background checks on the player's RP abilities to make sure they aren't going to be horrible.

I'm thinking about going with a humanoid panther. Panther morph? So would you like a race sheet for them or would they be generic enough not to need one?

Fluffy Warlord said
I'm thinking about going with a humanoid panther. Panther morph? So would you like a race sheet for them or would they be generic enough not to need one?

I'd want a quick description of them just so that they have established strengths and weaknesses, and aren't just human brains in enhanced bodies.

Very interesting! I like this... let me see if I can pull out an ancient race of mine... oh yeah, the old Guild got f*ed up... oh wait! Here's some info on them:
http://therpacademy.forumotion.com/t35-custom-races

But I'm going to be changing them up. They are the Ziorii (singular: Ziori). They are humanoid, but there legs have two knees, sort of like the Protoss from StarCraft (it's better if you Google it). They normally stand at about 6 feet, but if they extend their legs to full height they can reach heights of 7-8 feet. They have a striking balance between litheness and strength, and there bodies are naturally 'athletically built'. Males are typically stronger than females, but it just depends on the individual. There eyes are a single color, such as blue, green, purple, red, etc. A Ziori's skin color pigmentation's are directly affected by their thought processes. Usually the more aggressive and cunning Ziori release darker pigments, making them pitch-black. The typical Ziori, however, has hues of blue, even purple. Because most female Ziori are good-natured or more calm, they have lighter hues, usually purple in color.

All Ziori have a fearsome gnashing maw. They're carnivores and as a result they have rows of extremely sharp teeth, very beast-like. I'll leave it to your imagination to think of what they look like, but if I could draw it out imagine the most gnarly, tooth-filled, fearsome mouth possible. If these things bit you, you'd be in a world of hurt. Fortunately, due to religious reasons, Ziori do not show their mouths to anyone; they cover those things up like we cover our private areas. But they all wear an Azul, which is similar to a scarf or bandana that is tied around the face to cover the nose and mouth. Azuls have a religious aspect as well, part of their celestial god and goddess Zoruun and Zaria.

Their religion revolves two beings: Zoruun, the male, and Zaria, the female. Now this is all religion, possibly myth, so take it as you will. Zaria was an actual goddess, she didn't begin as a Ziori but would later take that form. Zoruun was the "first Ziori", the champion of the moon goddess Zaria, and later her lover. Together they spawned the Ziori race. Zoruun passed into godhood to be with Zaria forever, but he doesn't necessarily have the same god-like powers as Zaria does.

There culture is like a warrior-ethos. They live scattered throughout forests in various tribes, and are a nocturnal race. Some villages are on the ground, but others may build homes within caves, and some even build them high up in the tree-tops. These clans keep to themselves, and they'd be more advanced if they only united, but a united Ziori nation is seemingly impossible due to differences in culture and whatnot.

Ziori are natural warriors, and some are able to use powerful, but forbidden magic, usually associated with darkness, shadows, the afterlife, or 'voodoo' type of stuff. They value quality over quantity. There's never a lot of Ziori, but one is more than enough to handle, as they're extremely capable warriors.

Ziorii can live for up to a thousand years, and many of them hone their skills as warriors and it would seem they're all itching to learn as much as possible.

Inspirations include the Protoss, Predators, Boba/Jango Fett, Toa Nuva Kopaka, etc.

Race:


How's that?

With the influx of custom races, I just want to be clear: The Mesocricetians are not furrys. That is all :)