Inspired by games like Trine, Magica and several “choose your adventure”-books I suggest a premise for a game.
I’m looking for a few players who will take up arms with me as one of the “archetypes” of the fantasy genre. As such, please leave the realism at the door. The characters should be based on stereotypes or “tropes” that are easily recognised and played with.
Together we will go on an adventure through a fantasy world where nothing is decided beforehand. We will develop the world around us as we explore and experience it and all of its dangerous inhabitants.

This will not be as easy as it sounds though, to play you must:
Accept that your character can and will fail, and use this as a tool to create a more interesting story.
Be able to produce around two paragraphs of text per post (This means both “no one-liners” and “no wall of text”).
Be able to push the story forward with every post.
Accept what is happening to the world, situation and your character.

Important info for everyone!

I've had a thought about posting length and arrived at the conclusion that it is suboptimal. The rules states two paragraphs of text per post, I believe that three paragraphs will be better suited for this game, and it will make things a lot clearer.
In each post we will not only have to react to whatever has happened since our last post and write out what we want to do next, we also have to resolve whatever actions the guy before us wants to do, in two paragraphs it will get messy.
With three paragraphs to work with a post may look like this:

§1: Results of previous poster's actions. This way the player won't have to read the entire post to figure out what happened or if it is irrelevant to their own character.
§2: Reaction to what has happened, new info, actions, thoughts, feelings... You get the drill.
§3: Declaration of next course of action. This is what the next poster will need to resolve.
(At the end of your last paragraph, please use the mention function to let the next guy know it is time to post.)

Rules in the game:

While I don't usually see myself getting involved in a more casual RP topics, and I generally only RP using my own project's setting, there's certain concepts behind what you've got going here that I actually find interesting. It'd be a shame not to see this play out.

I've got close to no personal experience with choose-your-own-adventure books, but I know what they are and I understand the premise of them. What's really got me interested is the dynamic you seem to be looking for with this RP, since it'll allow me to play around with something I've wanted an excuse to do for a while now, and given that it seems like a very "no pressure to feel like you need to make it your priority RP, this is just some fun" thing, I really don't see any reason not to go for it if I have spare time.

I sent you a PM not too long ago giving a little more information about what I've got in mind, just to make sure I've got the right idea of what you're looking for here. If I don't have too many things getting in the way, I'll post up my profile within the next day or so.

Definitely unconventional for me to take part in an RP where that many things could end up going outside of my own control of my character (another reason I don't usually involve myself in Tabletop RPs; I don't believe luck plays as huge of a factor on your success or failure in combat as those games try to make you believe, though luck, or at the very least your circumstances, certainly play a role in success outside of battle; many intelligent and skilled people never succeed in the business world or even obtain a degree simply due to their circumstances), but since I wouldn't be using one of my story characters it likely won't feel too OOC for me, though I trust when things go awry it'll at least be in a way that makes sense for the character.

Oh, and I'll do my best with holding back on the "wall of text" thing, since that's how I usually post. Two paragraphs won't be difficult at all, so all I need to do is make sure I don't go overboard.

Anyway, I'm hoping to give confirmation in the next day or so if I'm planning to be in or not. I might post up a CS just to see what you think anyway, assuming I don't have something come up.

P.S. Epic title is epic.

Edit: Another one of those nights where I can't seem to switch off and fall asleep. Just a little update for you. I'm still working out whether or not I'll be able to do this, mostly because I won't know how much time I'll have on my hands til my net is back up sometime after the weekend. My only real concern with this RP so far is the possibility of other players writing reasons for success/failure that feel out of character for the character, or writing in failures just because they want to troll each other. This would've been less of an issue if the GM was the one responsible for all this, since it would emphasize a bit less bias, but it's still just a thought on my mind since I've noticed we all basically write each others' outcomes.

@Shoryu Magami Welcome!
It is nice to see an advanced writer writer around here. I believe that you could really bring something to the game.
The light hearted vibe of the game is kind of the basis of it all, which is why I've chosen to have the characters portrayed as stereotypes instead of actual, developed characters with goals, backstories and stuff like that. If things goes out of control it shouldn't happen to characters that we actually care about. This is Trine, not Skyrim after all.

I see what you're saying about the trolling, and unfortunately there is very little to actually, practically do about that. We should all be familiar with the character that we're writing results for. We'll use a posting order, so it'll always be the same one. Both failure and success is supposed to bring the story forward, sometimes success isn't the most interesting thing that can happen. Sure, sometimes we'll fail for no reason at all, but sometimes we succeed with that one-in-a-million thing. If someone really goes into this and only writes failures all the time it won't just hurt that character or player, but the whole game, so that kind of behaviour will get both boring and obvious really fast and can be dealt with if there is a need. We're supposed to have fun here after all.

@Halvtand
The fact that it's more simple in nature is exactly why I might have the time for it, so if I can work out the CS soon I'll put it up for you. Though, admittedly, writing up a character that lacks a lot of development is not something I usually do, so I get the feeling my character might have a little more complexity to what's expected of this RP. I'll try to keep it under control.

It's good to know something will be done about it if it becomes a problem. I'm not planning on RPing with a character that's part of my project, which is extremely out of the ordinary for me, so I won't have the same level of care as I would have if one of my story characters was being written out of character, but I obviously wouldn't write a character if I didn't care about them at all.

Anyway, thought I'd leave you a response so you didn't think I forgot about this. I did mention the concept to one of my associates and they weren't entirely sure how it was meant to work. It looks like they were assuming the GM was posting all of our outcomes, rather than all of us posting each others'. From what you've been saying, it sounds like you're actually going to be part of our party.

I probably need to do an all-nighter to fix my progressively worsening sleep pattern, so don't be surprised if I double post and give you a CS in the next few hours, unless you respond in which case it might not be a double post depending on whether I have anything to say back.

@Shoryu Magami
Yes, that is entirely accurate, I will play in the game just like any other player. The rule about having the next poster decide was born from a wish to play a game like this, but not have to answer for the whole world. Instead everyone is a little bit of a GM and to be fair, if the whole group chips in and offers up their creativity it should be a far sight better than if just one guy was in charge of it all.
I guess you could say that it is the story, the adventure, that is the main part of the game, which is a bit uncommon as many PbP-rps focus heavily on the characters. So I know it's something of a challenge for people, but that's what roleplaying is all about. For me at least.

@Halvtand
It's an interesting concept, that's for sure. With my project I try to focus heavily on both the characters and the story, but admittedly one usually does take priority over the other in all forms of narrative, no matter what type of work it is. Of course, when you imply we have that much impact on the story, you do realize that just makes me want to introduce some type of trope-based villain somewhere down the line, right?

Quick question, since I'm about to see if I can get this CS going (I came up with the basics already); I never saw anything resembling a mention to character appearance in the CS, so does that mean we're not supposed to put up a picture or write what the character looks like?

Name: Baldwin Voidblade
Title/Nickname: The Exiled
Age: 28
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Profession: Death Knight
Trope/Archetype: tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Bl..
Equipment:

- Dragondeath: A greatsword of pure evil capable of radiating dark energy, it can release waves of darkness at its master's command. Should it be broken or lost, it will return to him within 24 hours fully repaired.

- Black Armor: Other than that, he wears a set of black metal knight's armor that completely covers his body; adorned with a stylish white tattered cape. Image for reference.

Background: Once fought for the king of a far off land, but left after being framed for attempted assassination on them. Painted his armor black in rebellion and sought the dark powers of the Dragondeath blade. Ready now as a Death Knight, he wanders in search of a new life as a mysterious and intimidating warrior.

Pros:

- Intimidating: His gruff voice and intimidating demeanor and posture peg him as someone to be feared and respected.

- Swordsmanship: As the former soldier of a king, his swordplay is far above that of a common man and rivals the finest of knights.

- Unyielding: With the level of stamina he's attained moving in that armor without ever taking it off, some would almost consider him something other than human. His drive to keep moving and stay alive is unbelievable for a human.

Cons:

- Honorbound: Baldwin is a man of high honor, and if he is ever challenged to a duel, he cannot turn it down even in the most dire of circumstances. He will actively attack anyone who tries to interfere between him and his opponent, as well; friend and foe alike.

- Gynophobia: A phobia he never got over was his crippling fear of women. Young, old, whatever. He gets real quiet and shuts down real fast when a woman is in conversation with him. The only exception is when he's forced into a fair and honorable duel against a woman.

- Dragondeath: Ever since his quest for power began he's been obsessed with it. Its evil charms him, keeps him loyal and in line. Should anyone try to steal it or even worse - should it be broken or lost somehow - he will be sent into an unstoppable rage against the person who caused it. He will also stop at nothing to retrieve even a single piece of the blade to regain his sanity.

Other: Despite being a Death Knight he would still be fully willing to tag along with a party of heroes to fulfill his quest for power.

@FickleSickle
Huh, interesting character profile that came seemingly out of nowhere. Ironically, one of the two possible directions I'm going down for my character would make them something of an "exile" too, though for presumably different reasons than your character.

@Shoryu Magami We can be exiles together then! Honestly I just thought about the most stereotypical "Dark Knight" character I could and it basically just wrote itself. =P

@FickleSickle
I could have my CS up very shortly, but I need to settle on one of those two ideas I had in mind. I guess I'll spoil what I've already told the GM over a PM. I'm planning on running with a "Wizard" archetype. Basically I have two routes I can go down with it, one of them more complex than the other. The first is just the more standard elderly type, like what you would expect from Galdalf in LoTR or something similar, while my other idea is for a much younger man who was basically outcast by the magic society because of his unconventional ideas that they refused to listen to because he was "too young" to be respected. I have a more complex story for the latter one, and I'm more partial to it as a result, but I realize this is meant to be a very simple RP.

@Shoryu Magami I mean, it does seem to be a lot more casual than even a lot of casual RPs from what I understand. I wouldn't worry about making a complex Tolkien-style backstory for a character, but if it's what you want to do I also don't wanna tell ya not to; especially since I'm not even the guy in charge here anyway! All I'll say is that I was thinking backstory would be confined to vague details at best that are filled in as things progress, but if everything checks out I got no problem with it either.

If it really comes down to it and you're legitimately 50/50 on it... flip a coin, maybe? Or roll a D20 for more fitting flavor.

@FickleSickle
Oh, don't worry. I wouldn't be writing up an entire dozen paragraph entry about his history or anything. That's more something I do with my own story project. I just wasn't sure if I wanted to go 100% simple or not, since having a slightly more unique concept makes it more interesting to write.

@Halvtand
It's an interesting concept, that's for sure. With my project I try to focus heavily on both the characters and the story, but admittedly one usually does take priority over the other in all forms of narrative, no matter what type of work it is. Of course, when you imply we have that much impact on the story, you do realize that just makes me want to introduce some type of trope-based villain somewhere down the line, right?

Quick question, since I'm about to see if I can get this CS going (I came up with the basics already); I never saw anything resembling a mention to character appearance in the CS, so does that mean we're not supposed to put up a picture or write what the character looks like?

Realize? I'm expecting scores of trope-based opponents for us to face.
Picture / physical description seems to be an oversight. I'll edit the CS to fix this.

@FickleSickle
Excellent character. I would pose the question if you really want to start with dragondeath, instead of finding it on our wild adventure? But if you want it, you got it. You can add that guy to the character-tab.

Honestly I just thought about the most stereotypical "Dark Knight" character I could and it basically just wrote itself. =P

That's the spirit!

@Shoryu Magami
Well, both the youngling with fresh ideas and the old fart are well-used stereotypes. So either one works fine, I would ask, which one do you think will lead to a more interesting adventure?

As characters are starting to come in I'll get started on my own. I'll be doing the sneaking for the group, probably some kind of thief by the looks of the group. Just like that we're heading for an anti-hero-game instead. Love it.

EDIT: Fixed CS!

@Halvtand
First off, good to know you're expecting us to bring on antagonists/NPCs.

Secondly, thanks to my tendencies to be incapable of doing anything without going all the way, I've already considered a rather in-depth antagonistic force that could come into play if I go with the younger one (I'll also point out I didn't plan on them being stupidly young, although I could potentially work with a kid as well, but rather just not the 80+ year old that clicks into your head when you think "Wizard"). I'd probably need to think on it a bit more to make the more elderly one as interesting, though I could, in theory, go down a similar route minus the whole "was underestimated because of his age" trope.

I agree that @FickleSickle brought something cool to the table, especially since it's sort of a trope for a party to have a token "evil" team member, even if his character definitely sounds more like an "Anti-Hero" instead of a straight up villain.

Anyway, I think the fact that we're all basically the GM to some extent is a really interesting idea, since it makes this a much more collaboration-based RP topic, and, honestly, since I tend to only ever take part in an RP when I'm the GM (really, I'm a leader at heart, never a follower), the way you have this organized is one of the reasons I was actually willing to jump into it in the first place.

(If this is too complex, let me know. While a lot of writers struggle to make things more complicated and detailed, I actually struggle to come up with an idea without going rather in-depth with it. Another reason I don't usually do casual RP. I did go out of my way to make it far less detailed and a lot shorter than the sort of thing I'd write up for one of my story characters. I've taken into account how you want the story to be able to develop and us to be able to gain items or abilities as we go, so I wrote his story in a way that means he doesn't have full knowledge of his special item, and certain things also currently prevent him from freely using his full powers as a mage.)

Name: Emmanuel Lovecraft
Title/Nickname: Ernst Leblanc (alias), Traitor of the Arcane Tower (title)
Age: 29
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Profession: Scholar
Trope/Archetype: Wizard Classic

Appearance:
171cm / 5'7"
Equipment:

• The Apocrypha Grimoire - A tome from the Arcane Tower rumoured to hold the secrets of the gods. Before he was banished from the tower, he stole it and used its powers to survive execution. The elders of the Arcane Tower want to get it back, and have agents pursuing him for it. While he has used part of its content to increase his own magical abilities and survive a curse that should have destroyed his soul, a portion of its content still remains a mystery to him.
• Standard Staff - Due to being an outcast of the Arcane Tower, he was never given a proper magic staff since he never graduated. As a result of this, he had to use his innate wisdom and resolve to compensate and be able to rival other mages in a casting duel.
• Wizard Attire - Conventional robe and pointed hat garments commonly associated with users of the magic arts. Note that despite the above picture having the hat worn over his back, he often wears it on his head like a conventional wizard.

Background: Adopted into the Arcane Tower, the place where many of the world's greatest court wizards hail from and considered a bastion of wisdom and sacred ground where only the chosen may tread, he possessed a prodigy-like understanding of the magical arts ever since he was a youth, and under the tutelage of his mentor developed these talents until his teacher was killed during a mysterious conspiracy within the Arcane Tower related to an ancient tome. Over the following years, he brought unconventional ideas about the magic arts and how one could develop them, but was never taken seriously due to his age and was eventually banished from ever becoming a true wizard. During this time, he stole the ancient tome after he discovered part of the conspiracy within the Arcane Tower, and the elders placed a curse on him that he only survived because of the magical powers within the tome. Escaping from the elders, he has been on the run ever since.

Pros:

• Wisdom beyond his years, granting him powers rivalling those of the highest ranked magic wielders. His arcane insight and generally vast intelligence mean that, while physically limited (he is more encumbered as opposed to being weak), he is usually able to outwit and adapt to his opponents and even handle a direct confrontation so long as he avoids taking damage. These mental capabilities also mean he is able to read the people and events around him with piercing accuracy, much of the world being an open book to him. They also mean he possesses highly advanced learning for anything that draws his obsession, and he can understand deeply complex and abstract concepts almost intuitively.
• Extensive knowledge and proficiency in dealing with magical, undead, demonic, divine, and extra-dimensional entities.
• Conviction and devotion to his goals and principles, with a will and resolve that are virtually unbending. Easily the type of person whose endurance and fortitude would result in him dying before he willingly stayed down in a fight, and he's generally quite fearless. The opinions of others seldom impact him, and his resilience is matched by very few.

Cons:

• The elders of the Arcane Tower placed a curse on him that sealed much of his powers. He is currently unable to use his more powerful incantations, such as summoning magic, without penalties, whereas normally he could use them freely.
• He suffers from poor health, so without his magic making him superhuman he would not have very long to live. He needs to use some of his magic at all times to remain healthy, otherwise his sickness would become worse.
• Possesses notoriously bad luck.

Other:

• He frequently takes on the appearance of a much older wizard (known as 'Ernst Leblanc') whenever he needs to remain incognito (since he is on the run from a powerful organization) or if he needs to make sure that his opinion is taken seriously (he is incredibly used to establishments not respecting his wisdom merely based on his age and the fact that he never officially graduated as a wizard).
• The curse placed on him by the elders is something he can resist against with his will, but it still sealed much of his power when it failed to destroy his soul. His ability to resist against it is the only reason he has any magic at all now, but he is currently searching for a way to break the seal completely.

@Shoryu Magami
That looks great. I was a bit worried about the curse, as it can potentially be lifted during the game, but I think you've balanced it well. It'll be fun to see what kind of trouble we can get this one into.
You may move Emmanuel to the characters-tab.

@Halvtand
I understand the reasoning you've got for worrying about the curse. I figured it would only be removed if the narrative eventually demanded that we need our mage to be capable of using his more powerful spells consecutively, since as he is right now a toll will be taken on him anytime he uses his higher arcane arts. If the RP never actually develops to the point where an appropriately powerful antagonistic force demands he become more powerful to balance out both sides, we simply don't need to ever let him find a way to break it.

On a side note, the main thing that would've been different if I went with the old man version is that he would've been the mentor character I mentioned, rather than the student/adopted son of that mentor. That's really the only difference, but I honestly think this version is more interesting as a character.

I'll post the character in the other area now.

Also, I should mention that this curse is something of a double-edged sword. While it's true that removing the curse would allow him to become an exceedingly powerful mage with very little in the way of limitations, if the curse actually got worse, or if he lost the protection of the tome or his willpower weakened, it actually could end up destroying his soul or rendering him without magic at all.

The characters in my actual story project have a lot of incredibly broken powers and are really beyond virtually anything else out there in other fictional works, but in the context of my own setting they're usually well-balanced because they cancel each other out and I spend a lot of time writing various concepts to limit certain things from getting too out of hand at the wrong times, so I'm quite proficient at balancing and power-scaling highly "overpowered" characters. I've spent a bit of time running simulations between characters with different sorts of abilities, and I used to take part in battle-orientated role-playing on my old forums and IM role-plays.

Edit: I figured it would be a good idea to include a picture of his illusion-based appearance as well, so I've looked around for one and edited it into both the registration and official profiles.

Name: Vekyzz
Title/Nickname: -
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Race: Demon. The realm he comes from is called Qu'Nor. There exist a multitude of creatures, not only demons, but he is one of them. They come in a vast variety of different shapes and, believe it or not, not all of them are flat-out hostile to everything and everyone. Most are however. Vekyzz is a tad in the middle: Not willing to kill on sight, but easy to push into a decent rage that can become quite violent.
Appearance: As an individual he is an imposing figure: The man stands about 7 feet 2 inches tall (excluding the horns) and is packed with dense, voluminous muscles.Trope/Archetype: The Big Guy

Profession: He doesn't really have one. He's basically become a survivalist capable of living off the wild land. He still seldomly accepts more or less shady jobs, but more for fun than out of necessity.

Background: Vekyzz has never experienced the freedom of having parents that keep you nourished and well-kept during your childhood. He hasn't even experienced the luxury of never having to switch the world one's living in, allowing as much time as possible to adapt. He was thrown into this realm by a mage craving for power, but the first thing that happened is another case of the scientist-runs-an-experiment-without-preparation-for-the-case-it-yields-exactly-the-outcome-he's-hoping-for trope. The summoner doesn't live anymore, killed in an instantaneous act of outrage. Unfortunately, Vekyzz thereby has also slain his only hope of returning - or at least the only one he knows about. Being doomed to continue living the life that had just started to exist, the demon started roaming the land.

Equipment:

• What would he be without his trusty, colossal, vintage looking sword ? Technically it isn't even really a sword, but merely an outstanding piece of mechanical butchery consisting of a thick piece of sheet metal that was ground to have a sharp edge on one side while the other was bolted to a large handle. It's purely makeshift.
• An equally impressive collection of... one might be tempted to say 'garbage', but let's just call it an armor consisting of pieces of leather, fur and cloth stacked upon another and combined and held together with chains. It covers most of his body.
• A cheap, but complete set of 'civil' clothing.

Pros:

• + Very strong and tough. He's capable of moving and lifting things an ordinary human couldn't dream of.
• + Rather intelligent, though not outstandingly.

Cons:

• - His appearance. When people see him, prices go up, and when he leaves, they go down again as if by magic. He's really not far from being an outcast and scorn can be achieved by a wide variety of methods.
• - He's lean and wouldn't consider himself particularly tall or heavy. By human standards however he is a crushing, walking tower and thereby prone to more or less embarrassing accidents. Furniture, badly maintained buildings and the like aren't exactly designed for him.
• - He's inexperienced with this world and the habits, traditions and reasoning of its inhabitants. The negative impact of this has considerable lessened since his 'arrival', but is still noticeable.

Other: -

@Fetzen
I was actually told about you potentially joining, since @Halvtand mentioned someone planning to make a "Big Guy" character, but I had no idea it was going to be something that wasn't human. Interesting character, and several elements of his profile, from his backstory all the way to how society reacts to him, actually could make it rather interesting for him to encounter Emmanuel.

So, we've got a "Death Knight", a "Wizard" who is considered a traitor, and a "Demon". We're not exactly looking like the most orthodox heroic bunch, are we? To be fair, none of us seem to be legitimately evil (most of us are either good with bad publicity, or neutral, it seems), but for a role-play that's supposed to be based off of classical tropes, I find it a little ironic that there's not a single conventionally straightforward heroic character among us. Emmanuel seems to be the closest we've got.

One small inquiry; is there a reason your image link is broken on my end?

@Shoryu Magami I've mirrored the image on my own image hoster so not to steal traffic from the original server. I've checked it and it seems okay, but if others report the same problem it could still be my error. Remote diagnosis is very difficult, maybe it has something to do that the image is transferred in an encrypted manner. Anyway, I have another link that shows the same image: http://67.media.tumblr.com/2a865005b7838cb8b84248a42d82a59b/tumblr_inline_n57drnMYxV1rhi1j2.jpg

I'm kinda surprised by the possible relationships. I've proposed this character to @Halvtand last night (my time), so before I had any possibility to read yours and see that he's a mage.