It is recorded that two thousand years ago, four Warriors of Light met in battle and defeated the Archdemon Chaos. Each held a crystal Orb representing the four alchemical elements; the power of these Orbs maintains the balance of forces in the world. It is believed that when this balance was threatened by Chaos and his Fiends, the Orbs chose the Warriors of Light.
Drawn from the ranks of common people of this world, the Warriors were determined souls who had the potential for greatness. Growing stronger from their trials, they became powerful enough to even destroy an immortal Archdemon, saving the world and restoring the balance of forces, bringing about a golden age of prosperity.
To commemorate this victory over evil, every year each civilization sends a single youth to Coneria to relive and recount the tale of the Warriors of Light. An ancient kingdom, believed to be the starting point of these Warriors, and eventually the place where finished their quest before returning to their own homes. Living fulfilling lives, the Light Warriors helped to rebuild and retired as heroes, their descendants still making their lands better for all goodly folk.
“Everyone knows this story, kids. You’ve heard it time and time again. It gives us hope, doesn’t it? Then again, there are those who don’t believe in a two thousand year old story about legendary warriors taking out an Archdemon. All just folk takes and fairy stories. Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve spoken with fairies. It’s not all foolishness, if you know how to listen.”
The speaker was a stately looking man, his face of indeterminate but youthful age with a square cut to his jaw and otherwise angled features. Long, thick hair of alabaster white cascaded down his shoulders, framing a masterfully crafted breastplate. His most distinguishing feature, however, was his garb: An elaborate and very expensive looking red cloak covered his armor, trimmed in gold and accented with black stitching. On the table in front of him lay a sheathed sword, obviously of magical quality and amazing, ancient craftsmanship, over which lay an easily trademarkable, very wide-brimmed red hat, flourished with a single large white feather. He was a man of means, and judging by his cultured voice, a man of education.
“I have worked for a very long time to get to this moment. My Society had to increase in power and political standing enough to demand attention by the King of Coneria. Then I had to get myself placed in a position to act as Diplomatic Ambassador to the kingdom. I had to wait for quite a while afterwards until specifically you young people were chosen by your homelands to make the pilgrimage to Coneria this year, and then I had to bribe, bribe, bribe to make this meeting happen.”
He glanced at their surroundings, a small but respectable Inn filled with a warm, cooking smell and good quality drink. It was comfortable, off the tourist path, and afforded a measure of privacy while still being in the open. No one seemed to be paying attention to their shadowy discussion, so he man leaned in closer and continued in hushed tones,
“The stories are only partially true. Chaos sent his Fiends into the future, so that they would send him into the past. The Light Warriors came from this time, and traveled back to defeat Chaos. They closed the loop, and the events which were to follow. This means that the Fiends were never killed, and are masterless. Their time to rise will come now, two thousand years after their master simultaneously fell and started this whole temporal mess. You have no idea how important you all are.”
The skepticism around the table was palpable. Eyes darted back and forth, and the youths gathered no doubt questioned the integrity of the food in front of them. Sensing that he was speaking in an offputting manner, he leaned back and smiled warmly.
“As humble as our surroundings are now, all of your expenses while in town for the festival are being covered by my embassy. I only ask that you not expose me as a complete nutbar until after the festival. One way or another, it won’t matter then.”
He rose, donned his cap and buckled his sword about his waist. “Pay close attention to the Orbs during the ceremony. If anything strange should happen, send for me at my Embassy. Ask for Red. They will find me.”
This RP takes place following the events of Final Fantasy I. Not having to suffer through the dark age of the Rise of the Fiends, the world is a bit more cheerful and upkept. Technology is also much improved, having a feel more like that of FF II. Unfortunately, the Fiends are still around, waiting for their chance to claim the power promised them so long ago.
Playable characters can only be chosen from original Final Fantasy character types, except for Red Mage. For reasons to be revealed, he is off limits. Characters may be of either gender, and can be customized to a degree. They must be immediately recognizable as their class, however.
I would prefer four, but if interest is high I will take more. The concept is that the Characters are those among those that the Orbs would have chosen as Light Warriors, with full potential yet to be revealed.
Anyone interested?
Name: (Totally optional. Not kidding.)
Class: (Job/Profession, etc.)
Gender: (If this needs clarification, you have bigger problems than character generation.)
Appearance: (Either a detailed description or a picture. Be creative, but the character must be easily recognizable as his/her class type)
(This will have to be edited periodically as gear changes or changes hands. Remember that there will be weapon, armor, and accessory restrictions based on class. I will let you know beforehand if you can use the items, but if in doubt, ask. Example: Black Mage can’t wear Mythril Plate, Thief never trained with Hammers. To begin, all characters will be equipped very modestly, just as the Light Warriors supposedly started out.)
Weapons:
Armor: (Includes bracers for you spellcaster types)
Gauntlets:
Helm:
Shield:
Combat Abilities: (Non-spellcasters get one ability that can be derived from training. Examples include Shield Rush, Endurance, Blindfighting, Weapon Affinity (specific), Backstabbing, Waylay, (last two for you thiefly types) etc. Black Belt gets four. Spellcasters are SOL.)
Non-Combat Abilities: (Your character probably has a trade or comes from a family business, apprenticed to a guild, or is self-taught on something useful. Example: White Mage might be a good cook, proficient with herbs, and knows how to set bones and stitch wounds. Everyone gets three; be creative but appropriate to class/background.)
(Only from classic FF1, please. To begin, you only have access to level 1 spells, limited castings of each. Fighters, Thieves, and Black Belts may ignore this section. Black casts black, White casts white. Spells and levels are as per original FF1.)
Non-Combat Magic: (This is a place for useful bits of small or indirect Magery. Cantrips, and the like. Starting mages may have one cantrip. Examples include spells that start campfires, purify drinking water, give a little light to see by, cause small obvious illusions, odd itching sensations on the opponent's nethers, etc. Look up uses for Cantrip in D&D sources for more ideas, and keep them in the feel of your Mage type, White or Black. As the RP progresses, you may learn additional spells of this nature without penalty, Non spellcasters do not have this option.)
Magic Items: (List any equipment that has magical abilities, stored spells, special defenses, etc. here, in addition to elsewhere on the CS. No one starts the RP with magical items.)
Personality: (A brief overview of what makes your character different from (or stereotypical of) their chosen profession. If you need to, 8-Bit Theater is an excellent reference.)
Here’s how I’m doing this, Reader’s Digest condensed version:
No Godmodding. No Bunnying. No Metagaming. These shouldn’t require mentioning, but just to cover bases, there you are. You are going to want to collaborate with your fellow player about tactics and team attacks, but do not take control of another character without their permission. If you have their permission to do so for the exchange, POST IN THE OOC.
If I say something happens, it happens. There’s probably a good reason for it, and as we’re dealing with odd effects of manipulating the flow of time, certain anachronisms and hiccups will occur. Just bear with me, you’ll find out the reason eventually.
I’m going to provide the setting, set up events, get fights going. You, the Players, will react accordingly. That’s right! I’m allowing this to go fairly freeform. Write whatever you need to, so long as it fits with what your character would do AND is capable of doing. That last part is important.
Keep in mind, you’re starting out as very inexperienced Light Warriors, so no sudden acts of channeling Bruce Lee or Dr. Strange.
Further, I will be putting in various caveats or stipulations to each encounter. Some of these may include:
All characters must sustain injury. Party must attack with stealth. Enemies must be left alive. At least one character must be poisoned in this encounter. All characters will be knocked out or captured. One character will be killed/in need of healing beyond the party’s ability. One attack combo must be coordinated between at least two players. Unless protected, two characters will be Muted or Blinded.
On spells: You have very few castings per spell to begin with. It takes a lot out of you, channeling magical energy to alter reality. Doing so will wear you out and make it harder to concentrate. The more you exercise this particular muscle, the stronger it will become. Keep this in mind while you’re trying to spam spells. Your non-combat/cantrip collection does not follow this guideline. Imagine the effort needed to pick up a brick versus the effort needed to bathe an angry housecat, and you’ll have an idea as to what I’m talking about.
To succeed, your characters will have to work together. Talk with each other in the OOC, PMs, or in Chat. I want to eventually see a Fighter running blocker for a Thief with Saber and Haste cast on them, popping criticals in a mob while White Mage broad range casts Cure spells and Black Mage provides covering fire. Or covering Fire2, whatever works. If we ever get a Black Belt in the team, I want him/her Judo-flipping and knuckle dusting into the mix somewhere, acting in concert with well-oiled team strategy. I don’t expect it at first, but it’s something to aspire toward.
Posts that are well put together, following the guidelines presented here, and are somewhat entertaining (with elements of high tension or humor) will receive the best rewards from the encounter. Posts that blatantly ignore this get something else.
This is a world that has access to Clinics, Life and Life2 spells, and maybe Phoenix Downs somewhere up the road. Dying, or coming near to it, is not necessarily the end of your character. There will be things from which one can’t be brought back, however. Just make sure you get close enough with your fellow protagonist that they don’t mind hauling your corpse back to town.
In the event that the entire party is wiped out, well... we'll deal with that when it happens.
NOW, free form RPing goes far, far away when it comes down to important fights and/or Boss battles. When this is about to occur, I will let you know. Then it comes down to one simple rule:
You throw the punch, I land it.
You declare action for the exchange, I judge what happens afterwards. I have the characters broken down into a series of numbers based on the stats relevant to your approximate level of experience, also taking into account items on your person, using an autorolling dice program based on percentiles. I will not steer you wrong or do anything numerically unfair.
Be warned - I may do things because I think it’s funny.
This world has one main, all encompassing language that most everyone speaks. This is what your characters speak, period.
Isolated communities of Elves and Dwarves exist, and sure enough they have their own languages. They also speak the standard language, at least most of them do.
There is an alternate Human language, Lefenish. It is considered a very scholarly language and is not commonly used outside of very select, also isolated communities (Think Latin or Gaelic). While these languages are rare, they are not so rare that you cannot find a translator with a bit of effort. The amount of effort necessary to find a translator when you need one is directly proportional to how important the translation will be for your quests.
All rules are subject to being altered or added to at any time. I will try to let you know when this happens, but I realize that I cannot plan for every scenario or eventuality. Courage, patience, and bear with me until we get everything stable.
Personality: Lumiere loves her job, no two ways about it. She's fun, flirtatious, and all too willing to use that and her looks to her advantage. Surprisingly though, she has advanced beyond stealing for the sake of money or robbery, and instead steals for the challenge. The adrenaline rush of it is exhilarating, and that has led her after bigger and more difficult challenges. She isn't afraid to fight, but prefers to avoid it if she can, and if she can't then she never fights fair.
Combat Abilities: Valiant Heart - Hit's multiple enemies in one attack by rushing between them quickly.
Non-Combat Abilities: -Rather skilled in Dancing (when both sober and drunk) -A Conversationalist -Surprisingly, sewing (deals with precision and accuracy)
Magic Items: N/A
Personality: For the most part, Dev is a stereotypical Warrior. He's headstrong, rushing into danger before taking the chance to size it up, and has a pretty good sense of humor. However, beneath the surface, he's pretty unhappy. He puts up a front in order to fit in with other fighters, or to simply 'play the role' that comes with his profession. In truth, he's very philosophical and soul-searching, deeply desiring for his life to have more purpose to it than just fighting for the rest of his life.
@ReaptheMusic Almost there. I have an issue with Rage Buster. A bit powerful for a starting character; I'm not looking for Limit Breaks here, just something that sets him aside from the fighter next to him, or represents a specific aspect of his training. Otherwise looks good.
Non-Combat Magic: - Water Purification: Now with 60% less salt. And 100% less impure additives in general.
Non-Combat: - Somewhat familiar with various sicknesses and plagues, as well as the best way to treat them - Has the amazing power of wielding the heaviest of hammers with no difficulty.
Magic Items: Personality: A healer with the hot-blooded love for battle of a Warrior, Bianca loves nothing more than to test her strength against the monsters of the world, and is quite confident that she is the strongest White Mage in all the land. She is, however, still a white mage first and foremost, and if her healing abilities are needed, she'll begrudgingly yield the battlefield to others as she works from behind the scenes.
@ReaptheMusic Later, perhaps. And you'd have to find someone to teach you the technique. Admittedly, it does stretch the abilities present in FF1.
Valiant heart - Multiple enemies at reduced damage, no more than three. Later on I can see it being useful at clearing small mobs. A human Cuisinart is not necessary this early in the RP, though, at least not just yet.
@RolePlayerRoxas Not a problem, I left it sneaking about in the Magic hider:
Non-Combat Magic: (This is a place for useful bits of small or indirect Magery. Cantrips, and the like. Starting mages may have one cantrip. Examples include spells that start campfires, purify drinking water, give a little light to see by, cause small obvious illusions, odd itching sensations on the opponent's nethers, etc. Look up uses for Cantrip in D&D sources for more ideas, and keep them in the feel of your Mage type, White or Black. As the RP progresses, you may learn additional spells of this nature without penalty, Non spellcasters do not have this option.)
I left it as a means of personalizing Mage characters without giving them a direct bonus in combat or interaction.
Non-Combat Abilities: -All those years on his own has ensured that Black can cook his own food, quite well if he may add -Considers himself an authority on quality tobacco -Strangely enough, great with kids
Non-Combat Magic Utility Flame, a small self sustaining flame that can be used to read in the dark, start campfires, and similar domestic things
Magic Items:
Personality: Black is a fighter, having to slough through life every step of the way. He keeps to himself and tries not to fall ill to chronic hero syndrome, focusing on bigger things rather than trying to fix every single persons problems. A tough nut with a wall built around it but you know what they say about a heart of gold, sometimes you just need to polish it.
@ReaptheMusic Bunnying is taking control of someone else's character, even in the slightest way, without their permission.
Or dressing up in a bunny costume and posting pictures in the OOC. Totally not tolerated either way. Unless its tasteful. The costume, I mean. Character hijacking is still bad.
First IC post is up, as is the first encounter. No special caveats for this one, just ease into it and make some Imps die. Something more interesting to follow.
