Link to INT Check that holds basic RP ConceptBased on the new TV Show and the three movies preceding the show that have the same name. While this RP will not have the exact same characters or setting, it will be based on the concept of the show itself. A place that has people that seek out and contain magical artifacts that are used for evil that have varying potential for destruction and chaos to make sure that said magic either does not fall into the wrong hands or, if already in the wrong hands, stays out of the wrong hands. I am looking for 3 - 6 players that will either be Guardians or LITs (Librarians in Training) who will go about solving various incidents while growing more experienced so that they can be ready for the bigger cases that come along.
The RP will have a fairly simplistic game system attached to it to make combat and other instances a bit less 'automatic' per say, meaning you will have to be strategic and careful with how you do things, as your characters can die. Of course, when a Librarian dies, they are immediately replaced, but you all should try your best to not die anyway. It will also allow for incredible customization of your various abilities and areas of expertise. Of course, unlike the movies and the show (so far anyway) you will gain access to magical artifacts and actual magic (small stuff anyway, not the apocalypse causing/world changing stuff) as you solve more cases and that will also play in to your character's abilities.
This will be sort of a Call of Cthulu/Sleepy Hollow style game, solving supernatural incidents and combating various forms of dark or evil powers. Of course, it may go beyond just fighting evil as well, but either way this will be a mystery and intrigue RP that involves around a modern world filled with all sorts of secrets, magic, and creatures.
In my players I am looking for good grammar and decent writing ability who can write one or more paragraphs per post, preferably more. Of course, I understand that it is impossible to get more in some situations, but I do want the writing to be decent (I am also for quality over quantity as well). I also want players who are active who can post at least once per day. I understand if you happen to be busy, but please tell me when you are.
The Game SystemPerhaps its best to get this out of the way first. There will be a game system attached to this RP, as I mentioned in the Interest Check. It will be pretty simple, more as a means of giving suspense and mystery to the outcomes of events as well as offering a deeper sense of customizing your character's abilities exactly rather than just listing some basic crap that they can do.
Character CreationThe first thing to do is to create your character. To do so, you must assign their Stats and decide their overall abilities. So with that all said and done, lets get started on creating your character.
There are really only two to choose from. Guardian and Librarian. Originally there were always only one of each in the employ of the Library, but there is always room for change and thus, due to recent events, more than one of each has been or can be called. I will ask though that the number of Guardians be less than the number of Librarians by at least half for specific reasons.
"The Guardian protects the Librarian. They are the brawn to the Librarian's brains or... the common sense to the Librarian's head-in-the-clouds".
Guardians are selected for their combat ability as well as their sense of how to properly act in the face of danger. Their duty is to protect the Librarian and thus are often skilled with various weapons, know how to fight hand-to-hand, and often possess other certain skills such as survival or tactics. They are tougher and definitely more skilled in the ways of combat than most ordinary people. It is for these skills that their existence to protect the Librarian, who is not so skilled, is highly essential.
Guardians get a +1 to Might, Fortitude, and Finesse.
Guardians pay 1 less XP for Expertise Levels in the Combat category.
Guardians get 2 free Levels in Fisticuffs and 1 free level in three other Expertise Levels in the Combat category.
Guardians start off with base 12 HP instead of 10, plus they get one additional HP for each point of Fortitude they have above 6. They are of a tougher stock than most.
"Librarians are selected for what they know".
Librarians are incredibly smart. They possess an incredible amount of knowledge in either a single field or perhaps possess knowledge in multiple fields. This can sometimes be simply book smarts or perhaps they possess incredible skill in some other category (like in the TV show, one of the Librarians is a master thief). A Librarian fights smarter, not harder, and thus their mind is their weapon and their knowledge is how they employ it.
Librarians get +1 to Aptitude.
They pay 1 less XP for Expertise Levels in the Knowledge Category as they are known to have potential for learning many things.
Choose a field/profession that you would want your character to excel at (historian, chemist, thief, doctor, religion, mythology, mathematics, etcetera). You pay 1 less XP for Expertise Levels that relate to this and start off with 1 free level in three Expertises that relate to this field/profession.
Based on their background, Librarians can start off being able to speak extra languages other than English and the native language of their country (if that language isn't English already).
These are the basic measured qualities of your character and there are six of them. Might, Fortitude, Finesse, Aptitude, Will, and Charisma. You start off with 24 Points to put into these 6 Stats, and they can be at 0 if you don't want to put points into any of them. None of them can be any higher than 6 at Character Creation (before Stat Bonuses from Class are factored in). After character creation, your Stats can be raised with XP. It costs 1 XP if they are at 4 or lower and 2 if they are at 5 or higher. After Character Creation, the highest any of your Stats can get to is 10, and it costs 3 XP to raise a Stat from 9 to 10. You can only raise any particular Stat once every other case. Meaning if you raise it after one case, you would need until two cases later to raise it again.
Might is your character's overall physical strength. The higher this is, the stronger physically you are. Might is also added to your Character's Health just like Fortitude since a stronger body usually means a tougher body.
Fortitude is your character's bodily constitution. The higher this is, the tougher you are and thus you are able to take higher levels of punishment. Your Fortitude Score is added to your Health. Guardians start off with 12 and Librarians with 10. If you had 5 Fortitude, then that would be added to your Health.
Finesse is how swift your character's body and mind are. Essentially allows them to react more quickly to their surroundings and determines physical speed and coordination.
Aptitude is how smart you are and is a general assessment of your knowledge.
Will is how strong your mind is. This may not have any purpose in the beginning, but will have a purpose later on. Is also used to resist mental affects.
Charisma is how good you are in various social situations, those with high charisma able to charm or outwit others easily with just their charms.
Everyone has things that they are good at. This is true for Librarians and Guardians as well. At Character Creation you start off with 40 + Aptitude XP, which can be used for acquiring levels of Expertise, which represent the various things you can do or know. As you complete cases and grow more in knowledge and ability, you will gain more XP and be able to grow more in expertise. Just remember to consider your background and character class as well. Sure while having a character with good combat ability may make sense from a game-play perspective, someone who has been spending their life studying won't necessarily know how to fight hand-to-hand.
I am not saying that Librarians can't get Combat Expertise and Guardians Knowledge Expertise, I am just saying when you purchase Expertise, give your character some form of reasonable reason that they would have said expertise.
There are three types of Expertise. Knowledge, Combat, and Practical. Knowledge represents various forms of smarts or skills that rely heavily on the knowing rather than the doing. Most of the time any knowledge based challenge that calls on a Knowledge Expertise will use your Aptitude Score.
Combat represents your various forms of knacks for fighting. Whether its the operation of firearms, proficiency in melee weaponry, or the know-how of hand-to-hand combat. For Guardians, these are highly necessary since they will be the primary combatants of the group. That isn't to say that Librarians can't fight or can't know how to fight (as sometimes one needs to fight smarter, not harder), but generally a Guardian's combat ability will be greater since their previous life/profession before becoming Guardian may have called for such on a day-to-day basis (whether its cop, soldier, bodyguard, etc). Most of the time, these will rely on your Finesse Stat, with Might being necessary if you plan on fighting up close and personal, which is great for humanoid enemies, but other enemies maybe not so much.
Practical is a bit different from the other two. It involves skills that are more know-how than knowing, but don't necessarily involve beating people up. From being able to pick a lock or being able to smooth talk your way out of a situation, Practical Expertises are very useful.
Expertise can only get up to Level 10. They all have a varying XP Cost, but this will go up as you level them more. This cost will go up by 1 XP at every 3rd Level (so at Levels 3, 6, and 9 the XP cost to level them will go up by 1). You can have as many forms of Expertise as you desire and if you really want, and if you are a Librarian you can start off with any Knowledge Expertise at Level 10 and the same goes for Guardians and any Combat Expertise. Otherwise, Expertises from the other two categories can only start off at Level 5 for you.
The names themselves should be explanation enough, but if you have any questions about what any of these Expertise do then just ask. Of course, you may want something that isn't listed. Feel free to offer suggestions, as they will be highly needed and appreciated. This goes for the other two Categories as well.
Animal Studies (2 XP)
Appraisal (3 XP)
Art History (2 XP)
Botany (3 XP)
Chemistry (4 XP)
Engineering (4 XP)
First Aid (3 XP)
Forgery (3 XP)
Linguistics (4 XP): A special one. For every 3 Ranks in Linguistics you possess, you gain fluency in another language.
Hacking (4 XP)
Machinery (4 XP)
Mathematics (4 XP)
Mythology (3 XP)
Physics (3 XP)
Religion Studies (2 XP)
Survival (3 XP)
World History (2 XP)
Bows (2 XP)
Brawling (3 XP)
Combat Tactics (4 XP)
Clubs (2 XP)
Dodging (4 XP): A special one. How good you are on your feet and how quickly you are able to react to an opponent to attempt to dodge in time. Used mainly to dodge ranged weapons, since for melee your own score in what you are using will be applied for dodging other melee attacks. Can be used for Melee though.
Grappling (3 XP)
Handguns (3 XP)
Improvised Weaponry (3 XP)
Machine Guns (3 XP)
Knives (2 XP)
Rifles (4 XP)
Shields (2 XP)
Shotguns (2 XP)
Spears (3 XP)
Swordplay (3 XP)
Thrown Projectiles (2 XP)
Acrobatics (3 XP): Used also for dodging melee. Great if you are not too well versed in forms of melee fighting.
Bluffing (3 XP)
Climbing (2 XP)
Disguise (3 XP)
Negotiation (3 XP)
Manipulate Device (3 XP): Fancy term for lock picking and tinkering with more mundane devices.
Observation (3 XP): Using your various senses to examine people, objects, or just the area around you.
Sleight of Hand (3 XP)
Stealth (3 XP)
Swimming (2 XP)
A long time ago when Magic used to fill the world it could do more than just change reality. There were those who were blessed with extraordinary gifts and abilities. Of course, with magic being so little in the world now that doesn't exist anymore, but there are still those who do possess abilities outside of the ordinary. This is where Gifts come in. While none of these will be magical, you can still possess something that goes a bit beyond the ordinary, some sort of natural trait or special knack that some others wouldn't have. For instance, in the show the female among the three Librarians has all of her senses crossed and she experiences strange sensory hallucinations that are her brain solving various problems using math and physics. Of course, in the show that is just due to her brain (and she also has a tumor in her brain which is also the cause of it I thin, this isn't a spoiler, you find it out a few minutes after meeting her).
But for the sake of this RP, Gifts are essentially extraordinary or slightly special traits or knacks your character has. I will not be writing out a huge list, but I will be giving a few examples. You purchase Gifts using XP. At the beginning none of these will be magical, but they can become magical later on. These can be anything from a small damage resistance (Reduce all damage taken by 1) due to a tougher than normal body or perhaps having a keen sense for danger. Of course, your Stats or Expertise levels should somewhat display that you could have this gift.
You are free to give whatever ideas you'd like, and I will see whether or not ill allow it, balance it out, and tell you how much XP you would need to spend to get it. Gifts can be purchased at any time, but right now you can only start with 3. Note though that Gifts are pretty expensive and there are no XP reductions on them.
Just a few examples. They are pretty basic and just show some enhanced basic capabilities, but feel free to go a bit into the extraordinary if you so desire. As long as it isn't too unreasonable, ill accept it.
Danger Sense (6 XP): You have a sixth sense for danger. If there is some sort of imminent danger in the area from anything and your character is able to get a feeling from it, I will tell you in a PM (this usually being a secretive Observation Challenge made by me. See Challenges in 'Gameplay' for details). Requires Observation Expertise Level 4.
Heavy Hitter (4 XP): You are quite strong, able to put more force behind your blows than most. All melee attacks you perform deal an extra point of damage. Requires 5 Might.
Lucky (7 XP): You are quite lucky. You get an additional Luck Point and when you use a Luck Point but it doesn't give you a good result, you can keep the point or you can use it again to try and get a different result. You can only do this mulligan once, and whatever you get you must go with.
Quick Healer (4 XP): You heal a bit quicker than most. Whenever you would recover HP you gain 1 extra. Also any and all Challenges that involve healing you get a +2 to their Score. Fortitude 5.
Resilience (6 XP): You are a bit tougher than most, and thus are able to take more punishment. Reduce all damage taken by 1. Requires 7 Fortitude.
And this is all of the basics of character creation. Its pretty basic, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Game System All games of course require a system in which they will be played. It will be pretty basic.
We will get to the most important aspects. The outcomes of all tasks and various situations will be determined by Challenges. Whenever you post and you would want to do something big you would not resolve the situation yourself. Instead you would post what you want to do (like if you are searching a room, attacking an opponent, etc) and perhaps a detailed explanation (in awesome RP format) of how your character is going to go about doing this task.
Then I will post the outcome of that action. This is what is called a Challenge. I will be making the rolls for all Challenges. A d20 is rolled, then the Challenge Score is added, and then any bonuses or penalties for that situation are factored in, the result of this being the result for the challenge. The Challenge Score is the Expertise Level you have that applies to the situation. For instance, if you are attacking with a handgun, then the Handgun Expertise would be applied and then the value of whatever Stat is necessary for that situation would be applied. In this case, for using a Handgun, it would be Finesse.
Now sometimes the Stat used is obvious, but other times situations can call for multiple Stats or Challenges. For instance, lets say you are trying to diagnose a wound and then stitch it up. They would both be First Aid Challenges that use the First Aid Expertise. However, the first challenge would call for the use of Aptitude, while the second would call for Finesse. In cases like these, where multiple challenges are being made (sometimes different Expertise Levels being used or different stats) succeeding or failing on not all of them won't make you automatically fail, but may alter the final result (although failing on the majority of them will usually result in a failure).
Of course, I support good RPing. This is a primarily RP and story driven game. Meaning if you RP a character's action well enough and provide good detail or just be plain awesome, I may give you bonuses or may make the result better.
Of course, good and bad luck are both rewarded or penalized. If you get a 20 on the dice, this is known as a Critical. You will not only automatically succeed on the task, but the result will be a bit better than normal. Plus, if it was an Expertise Challenge one free point of XP will be applied to that Expertise, allowing you to either have it Level or at least get a bit closer to Leveling it (meaning if you wanted to level it after that, the amount of XP needed would go down). Expertise can be leveled this way.
If you get a 1 on the dice this is a Fumble. It means you royally screwed up beyond normal and usually something really bad will happen. No XP will be gained.
I will usually not tell you straightforward whether you got a Critical or a Fumble, but you will be able to tell from the result post that it is either something really bad or good. (Although if its a Critical, you will be told from the XP gain to the Expertise used).
Sometimes you just get Lucky. All characters start off with 1 Luck Point. You can spend 4 XP to get another Luck Point, able to have up to 3. What Luck does is it gives you a chance to acquire a different result through 'luck'. Luck can be used to do one of three things. I will tell you OOC when something pretty bad is going to happen due to a failure of a Challenge (but I won't tell you exactly what). You can use a Luck Point to either reroll the challenge or add +5 to the Challenge Score (whichever you think would be better). The same goes for if you see a Result Post you don't like, you can ask me to use a Luck Point to attempt to get a better result.
There is a third use for Luck as well. You can use Luck to alter events in your favor. For instance if you are in need of a gun or some extra ammo, then perhaps luckily the enemy you just knocked out had one on him. This can only be used to make small things happen, but nonetheless they can be used to alter events in your favor.
Luck has a fourth use as well. Cheating death. If your character were to die, you can permanently spend a Luck Point to avoid that scenario if you only have one (meaning it won't come back, you are reducing your Luck by 1 essentially), or you can temporarily spend two points that will come back after the case ends.
Once you use Luck, it doesn't come back until the next case. Meaning you should save it since you won't be getting it back until after the case is over. In the event that you have to permanently spend it, you can spend XP to get more. Sometimes some events may increase it as well, but it can never go above 3 (unless you have something that gives you an extra point due to some reason).
Will be updated once the characters get it.
CombatA highly important section. For when trying to contain magic, you will sometimes come across situations where a fight is unavoidable. Of course, that doesn't mean that you may be able to fight everything you come across, but still this section is important in those situations regardless.
This is simple. It depends on the situation. Usually I will allow the players to go first (which will involve whoever posts first going first) but certain situations may allow the enemy to go after certain players move or go before the players move.
As for Turns. On your Turn you get one 'Action'. This is essentially something quick, but still something that would take a few seconds. Whether its climbing onto something, attacking an enemy, or attempting to get away are all considered Actions. Of course, there are other forms of actions, and in the case of the Librarians sometimes fighting isn't always the best course of action, since often you will come across fights you cannot win through conventional means.
Minotaurs, Medusa, and other such magical creatures often cannot be killed through conventional means. Sometimes in cases you will come across hostile magical creatures. Instead of fighting them with weapons, you have to fight them with knowledge, using your various skills to quickly ascertain their weakness and attempt to come up with a way to beat them quickly. For instance, if you ever fought Medusa you would simply need to find out how to get her to look at herself.
Fights like these will involve trying to ascertain how to stop the creature through clues gathered previously or during the encounter with the creature and then using whatever means you have at your disposal to enact upon it. That does not mean that you are completely helpless against them, but Librarians must always fight smarter, not harder.
In the event though that you can attack something conventionally, this is how it will play out whether it be a human or perhaps using a specific form of weapon on a creature that it can destroy. Attacking is a Challenge. You use the Expertise that would go along with whatever weapon or means of attack you are using and your Finesse Score (unless it calls for something else). in order to hit, you must beat the enemy's Defense Roll.
If its melee, then if they have their own weapon they use the Expertise with that as their defense (parrying essentially). They can use Fisticuffs if they are unarmed, but this gives a -5 to their Roll. Otherwise, they must use Acrobatics or Dodging.
If its ranged, then Dodging or a Shield must be used. Using any other form of Expertise for Defense will result in a -10 to the roll. Naturally for any Defense Roll I will be employing (again, I do all of the rolls) whichever result would be the highest unless you set a preference before hand.
If the Attack Challenge has a higher result than their Defense Challenge, then it hits. Essentially, Attacking is an opposed challenge, meaning whoever opposes it sets the difficulty for the Challenge with a Challenge of their own.
When an attack hits, damage is dealt. The amount of damage is dependent upon the weapon. For melee strikes, your Might is added to the damage. For Unarmed Strikes, they deal no additional damage outside of your Might score (and if they drop an opponent below 0 HP, then they only fall unconscious).
For Ranged Weapons, nothing is added, but they usually do a bit more damage than most weapons anyway (guns are pretty powerful).
Any damage dealt though is directly decreased by any Damage Reduction you or a foe may have. Armor, certain items, or even certain abilities may provide damage reduction for either you or an enemy. If that is the case, then that decreases the amount of damage dealt from any attack.
And that is all in terms of gameplay, although more may come later if I think of anything else that needs to be added.
Name:
Age: (Minimum of 20)
Gender:
Appearance: (Anime pic, realistic pic, description, I really don't care what you use).
Class: (Librarian or Guardian)
XP Total: (How much XP you have ever had, right now its 40 + Aptitude)
Earned XP: (How much XP you have earned in game)
Might:
Fortitude:
Finesse:
Aptitude:
Will:
Charisma:
Health:
List what Expertise Levels you decide to get here.
If you get any Gifts or have Gift ideas, put them here.
When your character gets anything, it'll go here.