Creation led to the development of Knowledge, men striving to become all powerful. Knowledge led to Destruction, as brother killed brother and man razed what they had built. Destruction led to Magic, the souls of men seeping into the ground. Magic led once more to Creation, and a new era of men, magic, and creature began.
And so the world was reborn.
Man is no longer the sole inhabitant of the great continent of Durian. Magical creatures, sentient creations, and beast turned being all now inhabit the world. Five great cities have risen, and seven empires vie for power and control over Durian. Armies have fought, wars have been won and lost. Even now, war drums sound over the hills as another great battle approaches.
You are but one individual, from one of the five great cities or from one of Durian's many hamlets it matters not. Events will soon forge you and your allies into shapers of the next phase of the cycle, for better, or for worse. Make your choices wisely, for fate has given you a heavy hand, and magic can only undo so much...
Hey there. This is a game that's going to focus on plot and characters, with a hodgepodge of rules, combat, and intrigue to make things interesting. Think DnD, but with more writing and less rolling. At least, less rolling on your part.
You will play a character that lives on Durian, specifically one with a life all his or her or its own. You can play one of seven races, which I'll explain below, and you'll have stats that determine the outcome of actions that have a chance of failure. This is going to be relatively rules light (keyword relatively), so you'll be able to focus on writing while you're bashing in a monster's head or sipping wine at a noble's manor.
To start out, your character will be in Pyl's Gate, the largest of the five great cities. Your business there is your own (to figure out), but your character soon hears of a rash of murders that appear to be focused on members of the Elsinian, a group that focuses on magic in the world. Through one way or another, you find yourself hired to track down the murderer, where upon you'll meet the others in the group.
Now, before we go any further, lets establish some ground rules:
1. GM's word is law.
This is self explanatory. If I say something happens, it does. The stats and rules are there for a reason, and I'm going to enforce them. You can't have a game without rules. But, there's an addendum to this, and that is:
1a. The GM's decision may be changed if you present your reason in a logical and polite manner.
I'm not a dictator here. If you think I overlooked something, made a mistake, or made a genuinely bad call, bring it to my attention. A game isn't worth playing if people feel like they're being cheated out of a win. Just don't be a dick, and I promise to give you and the problem my full attention.
2. Be polite to others.
Seriously. If you've got a problem, either hash it out yourselves over PM like adults, or bring it to me and I'll make a decision for you. Just don't bring it into the game and make problems where there shouldn't be any.
3. When bad things happen, its for a reason.
I have no reason to kill off anyone. If anything, I'm here to make sure your characters live long, successful, and adventurous lives. But sometimes a bad roll happens, or something doesn't go to plan and you find yourself in a sticky situation. It happens. But I'm not the bogeyman, I'm not out to get you. So if anything happens, don't complain that I'm being unfair. (Unless you think I missed something, in which case refer to 1a.)
4. I'm open to ideas, questions, and comments.
If you have an idea, say something! I can't know how things are going if you don't tell me! And if you want to do something but aren't sure if its okay to post, definitely talk to me. Odds are we can work something out. The only thing that's out of the question is if you can play a race that's not on the list. I'm not even going to consider it. But otherwise, shoot!
Great! Now that that's out of the way, let's get you on the way to creating a character.
Each character has seven stats, and they are:
Strength: The ability to move heavy things, to swing weapons hard, to take a blow and still be standing. Basically, any physical and strenuous act is covered by strength.
Dexterity: The ability to move quietly and without being seen, to work with your hands, to be agile and dodge blows. Anything involving finesse or agility is covered by this.
Intelligence: The ability to remember important facts, to read and understand the arcane, and to think on your feet. Anything involving planning, the arcane, or general knowledge is covered by Intelligence.
Endurance: The ability to go several rounds in a fight, to drink heavily without passing out, to run for miles without tiring. Anything that's physical and isn't covered by strength goes here. Endurance also influences your HP, so plan ahead!
Intuition: The ability to read another person's body language, to sense a trap, and to make good decisions. This would cover both common sense and your gut feeling.
Prowess: The ability to fight, stay calm under pressure, and do what it takes to win. This almost entirely covers your ability to fight, so weigh this versus the others carefully.
Luck: Your luck in each and every scenario. If you fail a roll, luck can sometimes save you from making a wrong decision, being detected by an enemy, or taking a sword to the belly.
You have 90 points to allocate to all your stats. All stats require at least five points in them, except for luck which requires none. The maximum number of points you can put into one stat is 30. For reference, an average person in this world has 50 points.
Next comes your race. Each race comes with a small boost to certain stats, and they all have their own culture and role in the world. Pick carefully. And remember, I'm not going to entertain the thought of any additional races.
+3 Strength, +3 Dexterity, +4 Intelligence
Humans are among the more prolific members of the continent of Durian.They own the most cities, have the most population, and by far the most diverse out of all the races. They can fill nearly any role, and can specialize or broaden their skill set as needed. Both paths come with difficulties; specialization leaves gaps in their defenses, while becoming a jack of all trades leaves them with no outstanding strengths.
Though they own the most land in Durian, humans are not everywhere; you can often stumble across hamlets of other races. That said, at major hubs of trade and larger cities you are guaranteed to find humans; the same cannot be said for other races.
Djinn are a magically inclined race, and possess two bodies in a sense. At their truest form, they are a floating ball of pure energy and fire, free to fly and unleash powerful magic. In practice, though, they are limited by these forms. Out in the relative cold of the world, they are vulnerable and lose their heat after only a few days, and subsequently die. Thus they typically inhabit a second body, what they call their ilignus. It is a humanoid body made of charcoal and burnt wood. In this form they are safe, though they cannot fly and their magic is lessened. It is unfathomably rare to see an unsheltered djinn outside the hottest of deserts. There, they walk the wastes, a semi-nomadic people that form loose tribes, for in the deserts they have no fear of dying if caught outside their ilignus.
Children are not given an ilignus until one year of age, and consistently grow through shells until they reach maturity at the age of 24. A full grown djinn, when in their ilignus, can reach anywhere from 5 to 7 feet in height. A djinn near the end of their life, at around 200 years old, can be as tall as 9 feet.
The Djinn are not the same beings that we imagine in our world. They do not reside in bottles and do not grant wishes. They are merely a magical race.
They possess three genders, and can seamlessly transition from to another. For simplicity, most humans regard them as male, female, and demale, even though a Djinn isn’t stuck as one or another.
Majin, as they are known to most other races, are a race of sentient machines that are thought to possess souls. They tend to keep themselves, even avoiding others of the same kind. They are genderless, and the knowledge of how they reproduce, or at least the manufacture of more of them, has been lost to time. Their bodies are incredibly durable, though being made of metal they are clumsier than other races. That is not to say they are not fast, though. Majin can vary even more than humans in terms of size and shape. They can be wiry and short, as short as 4 feet tall, or massive and hulking, up to 8 feet.
Though they are durable, their weakness is a consistent means of regenerating their bodies. They cannot take healing potions like other races, and sleeping only rests their minds and souls. They must find metal - any kind - and consume it. Then, they can sleep and regenerate their health. Additionally, once a year they have to maintain themselves, removing rust and replacing bad parts. This costs additional metal to perform.
It is unknown how long a Majin can live for, though some claim to have been alive for over a millennia, while the youngest claim to be at least 200 years old.
Kenku are a race of avian humanoids. They resemble crows in both appearance and mannerisms. They usually range 4 to 6 feet in height and are very lightweight, though not particularly strong. Though they have feathers, claws, and beaks, they have no wings and cannot fly. Moreover, though they can speak avian and understand the common language, they cannot talk normally as others do. If they attempt to do so, what they intend to say comes out in avian and sounds like a crow’s caw. If they wish to speak in common, they must rely on their mimicry. If they have heard a sound before, they can mimic it near perfectly. This includes ambient sounds, the sounds of animals, and other languages, including ones they do not understand (though they cannot truly communicate if they do not understand the language.)
Most Kenkus live either in small cloisters in the mountains and the forests, or they live in the slums of large cities, thieving and robbing to survive.
It is said that, long ago, the god of the Kenkus became displeased with their avarice and greed, and struck them from his domain. They lost their wings and the ability to speak anything other than avian.
Most Kenku are displeased with their lot in life, and wish more than anything to fly and speak freely. They turn to thieving to fulfill the desire they have to take back their gifts.
Metatyutem, as they call themselves, or doppelgangers, as they are known colloquially, present a very controversial issue. They are, without a doubt, sentient creatures, and have played a valuable role in the world and in civilization. But their capability of turning into another creature and mimicking their persona near perfectly frightens many and angers even more. Many see doppelgangers as lesser beings, and look upon them with spite and mistrust.
As a result, most doppelgangers prefer to stay disguised most of the time, using one or two favored personas. They are relatively rare beings, so they often have no reason to reveal their true form; they will only do so around truly trusted individuals, or behind closed doors with another of their race.
Metatyutem can recognize one another when disguised, their natural magic leaving a footprint that others can identify. They assume the gender of whichever person they replicate, and although they can mate with other shifters, it is usually more convenient to mate with members of another species, usually humans. The offspring is almost always a shifter, whose powers are latent and only reveal themselves near adulthood.
As a species, Metatyutem aren’t necessarily malevolent. They are merely interested in self-preservation and furthering whatever goals they have, whether they be good or evil.
Naga are a race of amphibious, lizard-like humanoids. Possessing a wiry strength no other race can match, they can be a fiercely territorial, yet surprisingly artistic race. They are usually no-nonsense when it comes to people outside of their village, and it shows in their weaponry, murals, songs, dances, and general behavior.
Naga typically live in one of three types of environments. The first is in marshland, where they are a semi-nomadic people that reside in medium sized wooden tents. They patrol a wide swath of land, keeping outsiders away and hunting for their village. The second place is by a river. These villages can grow quite large, as they have a ready supply of water and food, not to mention access to other races. These towns can grow to be as large as small human city, and are often hubs of trade and commerce. Naga in these towns are often more tolerant of other races; considering their proximity, it is an expected outcome. The third type of environment is by an ocean, or by saltwater. These villages are often smaller, as Naga can’t breathe saltwater as well or as long as in freshwater. Moreover, their food is limited to what they can catch in the sea and what they can forage above ground. These towns are usually far away from the mouths of rivers, and are somewhat isolated; after all, if Naga decided to camp near the mouth of a river, they would prefer to head upstream rather than stay by the saltwater.
Their weaponry is known to be of a very high quality and very efficient for underwater combat. The quality is surprising, considering they often have little to no access to metals, instead relying on bone and other organic materials.
It is unknown whether a Sarben is more organic or more construct, though many speculate they are spirits that have come to inhabit a mostly inorganic body. In that regard, they are most closely resembled by Djinn and Mechanids.
Little is known of this race, as they rarely venture beyond the sand of the deserts they inhabit. They are thought to be highly mobile nomads, and are known to live off of cactus juice and sunlight. For the most part they get along with Djinn they may encounter, though still keep to themselves.
Sarben that have left the desert are usually quite polite, and even amicable to others. Such individuals are few and far between, rarer even than Majin, and when asked refuse to say why they are there or why they do not go back to the desert. One of the few things they have said is that in the desert, they can morph into sand and travel as fast as the wind (though not outside of the desert, and of course none who have been asked have been able to do so in the taverns they were asked in). Whether this claim is true or not is up for debate.
Great! Now, the last part: abilities. Abilities are special things your character can do, like summoning a fireball, dancing in and out enemies and slashing with your blades, summoning ethereal wings so you can glide around, summoning poison from your fingertips, and so on! Go nuts here, this is where you get to really customize your character. Now, I am going to be reviewing these, so if you have something I feel is overpowered or something, I'm going to ask that you either change or remove the ability.
You can have four abilities. The first two are somewhat weaker in their abilities, or are meant for non combat purposes, but you can use them pretty much all the time. The third is something you can use occasionally (think taking a twenty minute breather between uses), or a certain number of times in a day, but is stronger. The final ability is something you can only use once a day or less, but is much stronger than the other three. For simplicity, let's call them Simple abilities, Advanced abilities, and Ultra abilities. When you post your CS, we'll go over it and make any necessary adjustments, so don't worry too much about making something over or underpowered.
In the next post, I'll post what the CS should look like and valuable information like maps, organizations, and places. I hope you like what you see and will consider joining this game!
Appearance: can be a picture or a written description.
Equipment: what your character has brought with them, what they have. Can be armor, weapons, tools, miscellaneous, all that jazz.
Stats: remember, 90 points total plus your racial bonus, a minimum of five in each stat (except luck), and a maximum of 30 in any one stat. Strength: Dexterity: Intelligence: Endurance: Intuition: Prowess: Luck:
Abilities: make sure to write a thorough description of the abilities here. As in what they do, how often, how powerful and such. Simple Ability: Simple Ability: Advanced Ability: Ultra Ability:
Background: This is where you give everyone the general backstory to your character, how they became who they are. You don't have to give everything away to begin with, but I do expect at least 2 paragraphs describing your character. Other than that, give as much or as little detail as you want (though a more thorough description would be much appreciated ;)
Here's some additional rules to help make your choices for a character.
Hit Points (HP): How many times you can be hit before dying. Determined by dividing Strength by two, and then adding it to your endurance. Then, divide the sum by three. So, at say 20 Endurance and 20 Strength, you would get 10 HP. An average person normally has 3 to 4 HP.
Stat Checks: These are rolls that determine whether or not you succeed when performing an action. It's based off of a d100 system. So, something that has a 50/50 chance of succeeding means you need to roll a 51 or higher to succeed. Your stats will give a bonus to that roll. Say you have 20 Intuition, and you need to roll a 51 or higher on a check. You get +20 to the roll, so you only have to get 31 or higher to succeed.
Critical Success/Fail: Rolling a natural 96-100 on a check means you have a chance of critically succeeding, where something even better than what you were hoping for happens. You roll again to see if you get the critical. Rolling a 90-100 gets you the critical, but this time your luck gives you a flat bonus to your roll. If you roll a 1-5 on a check, you have a chance of critically failing, where something even worse than failing happens. You roll again, where a 1-30 means you critically fail. But, your luck again provides a bonus to your roll, adding its value.
Combat Checks: This is another roll that's determined by Prowess. You and the attacker both roll d100, add your Prowess bonus, and then whoever is higher wins the check damages the enemy for one hitpoint. Your abilities can influence the battle, doing anything from adding to your roll, giving you a chance to evade an attack, or regain HP. It depends on the ability. Now, when you are about to take a hit, your luck and dexterity give you a chance to evade the attack and take no damage. Divide your dexterity by 2, your luck by 3, and then add them together. That's your bonus. There's a 90% chance you'll take the hit. For the difference in every point in Strength between the characters and the difference in between your previous rolls is, you lose that many points in your roll. Roll, then add your bonus, subtract your loss, and then see if you managed to avoid taking a hit.
Kinda of a lot, huh? The short of it is, Prowess determines who has a better chance of winning a round in a fight. Strength gives you a better chance of dealing that damage, while Dexterity and Luck give you a better chance to avoid taking that hit. I'm going to be doing all that rolling, so don't worry too much about it.
That should be it for behind-the-scenes rules and gameplay that I want to make sure you know, if anything else comes up I'll be sure to let you know!
