[center][i]Forever open![/i][/center] [center][img]http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g385/fatboykyle/swordart_zps377e8991.png[/img][/center] [center][b][u]Sword Art Online: Second Server[/u][/b][/center] [center][i]10,000 copies of Sword Art were sold and its unfortunate players became the headlines of news globally. 10,000 players became stuck in a virtual game where life and death were very real things. What was not so documented however were the pirate players… those that were stuck on second server.[/i][/center] [b]The setting:[/b] This RP is set in the word of [url=http://swordartonline.wikia.com/wiki/Sword_Art_Online]Sword Art Online[/url], which is an anime about players that get stuck in a virtual game. These players are told that they cannot log-out unless the game is cleared, and that death inside the game will cause death outside of the game. This RP will be set at the same time on ‘Second Server’, a server which the games creator set aside for players who purchased pirated versions of the game. This version of the game is similar in most ways but has 99 floors instead of 100 and is considered to be fairly harder, mostly because of the larger number of players (14,361). Players will initially write one or two posts sets at the start of the game when Kayaba Akihiko (the game’s creator) makes the announcement that players are trapped in the game. Following this the date will skip from November 6th 2020 (Day 1) to the 13th of June 2021, which will be five days after the 35th and 36th floors are cleared. At this point there is only around 9 thousand players left. Players have freedom to pretty much do what they want within reason. There are some plotlines I have ready to implement, some of which involve guild conflicts (therefore please consult me via PM if you wish to majorly involve any of the top-5 guilds in any plot-lines). Players can either go solo, command/be a member of their own guild, or be a low to high-mid member of one of the top-5 guilds. Players are encouraged to join the Braziers and to take part in the front-line battles. Players characters can die, but no killing characters unless you have let a GM know in advance. Also, no killing other player’s characters without first getting their agreement. If your character dies you are free to make another. For now I’m putting a two character limit in place, although players can make and kill NPCs as they wish. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [b]Main differences:[/b] Server differences:[list] [*]Due to Kayaba Akihiko not being present there are only 99 floors. [*]There are 14,361 initial players instead of 10,000. [*]Because of the two above points this server has been made harder, with enemies having slightly higher stats and with some challenges being encountered earlier. [*]The pirated copy stems from an older version of the game, and despite Kayaba making some changes and updates, there are still many bugs. This includes: bosses not being where they should be; some very minor item exploits; and some quests that should have been removed due to difficulty. Real life differences: [*]Players may be less likely to tell people they have the game, therefore decreasing their chances of being found before their bodies die. [*]Depending on what country they come from and the laws there, many players are unable to hold the game company responsible for the health treatment costs due to them having an illicit copy of the game. [*]A combination of these two factors as well as the increased difficulty has led to many more deaths in the early days in comparison to the official SAO server. [/list] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [b]READ THIS OR DIE[/b] GM - Fat Boy Kyle Co-GM - TheGodfather Co-GM - [i]Vacant[/i] [hider=Rules] Follow RPG rules. This should pretty much sum up most things for most people. This is an RP, not a porno. Respect others. Don’t fucking swear too much. Don’t be dicks to each other. Respect the GMs (and other players… but mostly the GMs). You get the picture. When you post your CS please include “I love your milkshakes” at the bottom of it to show you have read the rules. Killing NPCs is fine, unless they are key NPCs (meaning they are notable ones or form a big part of a plotline). You can kill player characters once you have gained permission from the character’s owner and a GM. Keep grammar standards high. If you post terrible grammar you will receive a strike. Three strikes and you are out of the RP. Please alert the RP or the GMs of any expected absences. If you are away for more than one week the GMs may take control of your character. I did once try to implement a rule where if you didn’t post every so often you were kicked from the RP but that didn’t seem to work (mostly because I was away more than anyone else!) [/hider] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [b]Timeskips (TS):[/b] Unlike the anime, there will not be constant time-skips. The largest TS will be the first one and thats only for the sake of being able to skip to a more juicy bit of time. Generally we will avoid doing TS but there may be times they're appropriate. For example if a floor has just been cleared and there's not many other plot-lines going on I might, after asking everyone, skip to that floors labyrinth to save having to clear the whole floor. But even then, clearing a whole floor works as a plot in itself so maybe not. A TS might also be used if the GMs feel the RP has started to die off. We might summarise what has previously happened and jump forward so its like a fresh start. This would likely be followed by a recruitment drive. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [center][u][b]Top 5 Guilds[/b][/u] [i] Blood Dragons The White Lotus The Night Fissures Order of the Devine (Formally) The Braziers Also take note of: The Nightshades The Grey[/i][/center] [hider=Guilds] [b]The Braziers:[/b] The Braziers serve primarily as a scout group. They have often been the first guild to explore a new floor and often are the ones who have fight sighted bosses. They keep their numbers very small so they are not suited to take on bosses alone, although they normally will take part in the raids alongside the other front-line guilds. The guild only consists of ten or less members at any given time and this is for a couple of reasons. Firstly it means that each individual player receives more and can grow stronger. And secondly it means the group can remain more tight-knit, which is good for trust as well good cohesion in battle. With the exception of ‘Guild President’, ‘Guild Vice-President’ and ‘Guild Secretary’, each member is named after the role they fulfil. In the guild hall they have plaques which record every fallen member and the position they filled. Members are encouraged to wear the guild’s [url=http://th00.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2010/138/a/d/finished_by_jasson78.jpg] light metal armour[/url] but it’s not mandatory. The guild was very recently wiped out with the exception of the Guild VP, Hawke. It occurred less than five hours after the previous floor was cleared, and according to Hawke they accidently stumbled across the next boss and were unable to escape. This is first occurrence of a non-escape boss room and many are suspicious, especially given that it meant Hawke allegedly finished the boss off solo. The guild is now recruiting but many are choosing to stay away from it and its new leader. [b]The Blood Dragons:[/b] The Blood Dragons are perhaps one of the most secretive of guilds despite being the highest ranked guild. It’s believed they have around thirty-five members but no-one outside the guild is sure. Each member is recruited in secret and only when they have proved to be a powerful (or potentially powerful) player, and are not allowed to leave the guild. Unless they are in their hidden HQ each member wears a helmet to mask their identity and is addressed by number. Members are forbidden from revealing their true identities to outsiders. It’s believed that they do this to prevent outsiders from targeting individual members or their weaknesses. Their leader is Blood General Iroh, and he often dictates how a raid will proceed. Because of their high ranking and secretive nature, many people are filled with both fear and awe when they see someone wearing their [url= http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2011/226/1/7/what_was_taken_by_nightmaregk13-d46imvn.png]armour[/url]. It’s believed their helmets exploit a bug which allows the wearers to hide their names. [b]The White Lotus:[/b] This server’s equivalent of Knights of the Blood. The guild consists of around thirty high levelled players. Whilst they are one of the bigger guilds, every member must prove to be an experienced fighter before joining. They try to act very moral and believe themselves to be above some other clans. Their armour varies from member to member, but each will wear mostly white and will wear the lotus arm band (a yellow band with a white lotus symbol). Although they often work together to take down bosses, they are bitter rivals with The Blood Dragons and always fight to get the last hit on the boss. [b]The Night Fissures:[/b] The Night Fissures started off as a protection group, offering their services to lower ranked players. This included leading players through dungeons, to higher zones or even just protecting them from hostile players. The roguish leaders of the guild quickly became some of the games richest players and so naturally gained some equipment advantages which led to them eventually joining the front-lines. The guild has around thirty players, with the top six being much more powerful than the rest. They have no uniforms [b]Order of the Devine:[/b] This guild is the largest on the server, with around two thousand members. What distances it from other guilds isn’t actually its size, but rather the fact it is a Christian only guild. The guild understandably draws some tension, and there is even some infighting within it. Leadership or the guild changes on a fairly regular basis, with the old leader usually coming to an unfortunate end. Whilst the guild primarily believes in helping all players and beating the game, there are clearly some fanatics as well as players who are simply using the guild to further themselves. Some have argued that it is a player killing guild, but others argue that it’s unfair to judge the whole guild by the actions of a very small minority. Although any member is welcome to join the front lines, they have a Special Operations Squad (SOS) which consists of only high performing players. The only uniform requirement is to adorn oneself with a cross (be it on the armour or on a piece of jewellery), but the majority of the middle level players that form the bulk of their force will wear one of the games most [url= http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t481/sunnysideAB/Anime/Sword%20Art%20Online/Episode%2011/HorribleSubsSwordArtOnline-11720pmkv_snapshot_1829_20120916_085003.jpg]common armour sets[/url]. [b]The Nightshades:[/b] A notorious red guild, the Nightshades are believed to be assassins and bandits. Although the guild definitely existed in the early days it no longer is registered by the system. It’s unclear whether they have disbanded, been killed, or merely act in secrecy. Some have hypothesised that they act as puppeteers for other orange guilds, having infiltrated smaller groups. The fabled leader of the guild is known as ‘Shade’ but this is likely to be an alias rather than a username. Next to nothing is known about ‘Shade’ or whether this person even really exists. [b]The Grey:[/b] The Grey is an unofficial guild comprised of many high level players. The Grey act as a police force against orange and red players. The guild originally started off as an actual guild known as ‘The Protectors’ but found that their members were often too weak to effectively tackle criminals, therefore higher level players started lending their help. The Protectors still form part of the Grey but are in charge of running the prison in the Black Palace rather than catching the criminals. The Protectors wear [url=http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120722110656/elderscrolls/images/2/20/Legion_Armor.png]grey armour[/url] but members of the Grey normally identify each other by name rather than appearance.[/hider] [hider=NPCs] [b][i]Here is a list of notable NPCs[/i][/b] [u]Blood General Iroh:[/u] Iroh is the leader of the highest ranking guild in Second Server: The Blood Dragons. As a result he is also one of the strongest players in the game. Unlike every other member of the guild, Iroh’s identity is not hidden and he does not wear a helmet. He stands at just under six foot and is of very stocky build. He has very light blue eyes which contrast to his dark skin. And he has long jet black hair which is tied into a tail at the back and at the sides joins to a large thick beard. He is likely in his very early thirties but his appearance and presence make him seem much older. He is very cold and unwavering, willing to do whatever is necessary to beat the Blood Dragons’ enemies. He [i]often[/i] leads the pre-boss fight meetings. Iroh wears the typical Blood Dragon armour (minus the helm) and wields a battle axe. He is a balanced player. [u]Galaxy:[/u] As the leader of the White Lotus, the second highest ranking guild, Galaxy is not perhaps what you would imagine. For a start he is clearly no older than 18, and his skinny tall pale appearance makes him look rather sickly. He is actually albino, which is why he has such pale skin, white hair and violet eyes. Galaxy is very well spoken and comes across as trying to be very righteous, which often makes people think that he’s stuck-up. Though he is the figurehead of the White Lotus, he is usually content to let his left and right hands do most of the work and talking. He wears varying sets of light white clothing to provide maximum movement. He uses a rapier that causes bleeding and is said to be one of the game’s best duellists. He is an agility focussed player. [u]Knight-Commander Justine:[/u] The leader of the Special Operations Squad (SOS), Justine is technically the second-in-command of the Order of the Devine. However her role is purely combat based and therefore spends her time on the front-lines away from the politics and infighting. Some are disillusioned at her apparent apathy towards the rest of the guild, but not many bother to raise concerns about her or try take her place (as is the case with the Grand-Cleric). She was of the many original players who joined the guild merely to have a place and community in which she could practice her faith. For Justine this only really meant praying and attending Sunday service, but this has been spoiled but the fanatics amongst other things. She is relatively calm and some would even say detached, but she clearly cares about what is best for people and is often one of the more liberal and forgiving voices in a discussion. Justine is a defensive player (tank basically) that uses a large shield and straight sword. She wears armour like [url=http://beneaththetangles.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/claymore_teresa.png]this[/url] but without the camel toe. [u]Grand Cleric Bertrand of Slough[/u] The current Grand Cleric of the Order of the Devine. Some argue that given the sheer number of players in the guild that he is the most powerful player in the game, but more experienced players would argue that in this game only stats count for anything. He appears to resort to violence quickly and has a bloody temper. Justine calls him a fanatic and given the luck of his predecessors he will be unlikely to live much longer. [u]Bulbasaur[/u] Bulbasaur or ‘Bulby’ is a member of the Night Fissures. He is one of the top-6 members but his skills are not really focussed on combat. Instead he acts as a source of information and a diplomat of sorts. He is fairly good friends with Hawke and has been trying to convince his guild to keep their ties with the Braziers. [u]‘Shade’[/u] The infamous leader of the no-longer official red guild, the Nightshades. Next to nothing is known about him or her. Some hypothesise that Shade acts as a puppet master for other orange and red guilds. Other argue that the original was killed and that it’s unlikely the Nightshades still exist at all. [/hider] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you are interested then of course say so! I’ll also be honest in saying that I might not be able to dedicate enough time to this, [b]so I would love if one or two people who know SOA could apply to be Co-GMs![/b] If you wish to join then please post a [url=https://titanpad.com/GVyiZWTbiv]Character Sheet[/url]! Once I have accepted your character sheet please post it on this [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/74865/posts/ooc]Character Page[/url]. ALSO USE HIDERS!!!