Foreword
Hello there! I'm Warpcircuit, and I'm the GM around these parts. This RP is derived from the wildly popular anime Re:Zero. From my understanding, there was another Re:Zero RP on this site that many people participated in and enjoyed, so I hope I can recreate that feeling in this one. Based on this, I bet there’ll be a lot of expectations from this roleplay on the first glance. I’d like to highlight what you can expect from this roleplay.
- Mood Whiplash into Tone Shifts
- Character Death, both temporary and permanent.
- Story based progression. Between Arcs, there’ll be a few weeks where people can flaff about and do whatever they like with no worry of a world reset. During Arcs, most things will probably be based on the story due to the nature of Return by Death.
- Twelve Arcs, each one with it’s own climax and share of world resets.
- Overarching plot.
- Slight spoilers from the light novels, but heavy spoilers from the anime.
- Fantasy world setting.
- Character Secrets.
- Repetition.
Awesome. Now that that’s cleared up, let’s move on to the actual roleplay part.
Premise and Plot
You remember when you were a kid. You went to sleep, thinking of what the next day would bring. And every night, you’d focus on one dream. That one day, you’d do something special in this world.
As it turns out, you were almost right.
Non-Natives
In one instant, you became a hero. In one instant, you became an antagonist. In one instant, you were put somewhere you mattered.
Welcome to the world of Re:Zero. You don't know how or why you have arrived here, but the fact remains that you're here. You can’t remember where you last were, or what you last ate, or the last time you picked up a paycheck. The familiar bustling of your city, the ever present chirping, the sounds of your home were no longer.
You didn’t know if you were dreaming, or if you died perhaps. You could not see or hear anything. You were cast into a void.
You found yourself cast into somewhere different. Nothing was familiar. The only conclusion was that you were sent to another world. But even for this new world, you were soon to realize you were special.
Natives
It’s the same world you’ve always known. Magic, witches, and beast men are no foreign concept to you. When the roleplay began, you were just continuing life as normal.
Unfortunately, normal was no longer an option with the non-natives around. And now that you were cast into their game of fate, you realize that you’re bound by fate. These strange people, these amateurs, a ragtag bunch of abberrants were the key to changing this world.
No matter what you did, you could sense that things were about to change. The only question was what role you would take in this change.
Will you help them solve their mystery?
Will you join them?
Or maybe, you will take advantage of this group…
It’s up to you to decide whether these strangers change the world for the better, or for the worse.
Premise
This roleplay draws from the Re:Zero setting, however, most of the characters from the Re:Zero story will not be making an appearance. Certain characters who play important roles in the setting will be replaced with new characters created by the GM's, or just outright played by the GM. Eventually, this roleplay will develop its own canon as you guys inevitably screw up the time ine, but for the mean time it will continue to derive setting and logic from Re:Zero.
The players will all be residing in the Kingdom or Lungica. For one reason or another, whether they were sent from another world or were always residents of Lugnica, all the characters have found themselves in the city of Priestella. As they will soon come to find out, they'll play a pivotal role in what's to come for this city and the kingdom itself. The future rests in your hands, it's up to you to shape it to your liking.
The World
The world which you will play in is characterized by its fantastical qualities. There is magic, different humanoid races, spirits, and so many differences from our world that it would be impossible to list them all.
The setting is the fantasy Kingdom of Lugnica about 30 years before the events of Re:Zero, with at the very least 1.5 million to 2.1 million residents. This kingdom is located on the easternmost side of it's continent, and it's the largest Kingdom on the continent. Because of this, there is an astounding number of cultures and economies throughout the kingdom.
There are 7 main cities, including the Royal Capital Lugnica. Each has anywhere from 200,000 to 300,000 residents, with the capital having 300,000. There are countless smaller cities, towns, and villages littered throughout the country, as well as various ruins and fantastical places to explore. The Kingdom of Lugnica, which includes all these cities, is ruled by a monarch which is endorsed by an ancient dragon. Very little is known about this dragon.
This kingdom has just finished a bloody race war against Demi humans, so tensions are still high between those races. War criminals are still being caught and prosecuted, and there’s heavy discrimination against half breeds.
Everybody will start in the water city of Priestella unless stated otherwise. As the roleplay progresses, more areas will become available with maps. Please PM me before going somewhere not established yet, so I can set that area up for you guys.
Maps
World Areas
Flugels Tree - A marker for travellers. A massive tree between the Capitol and Priestella.
Roswaal Manor - A manor in the countryside. The master is currently away on business for the foreseeable future, so his estate is currently managed by his servants.
Elior Forest - A frozen forest near Roswaal Manor. Elves once lived here.
Sanctuary - A mysterious village in Roswaals territory. Very little is known about it at the moment.
Augria Sand Dunes - The wildlands, so to say. Savage beasts are the kings of this far eastern desert, and the people who have braved the dunes and returned are almost as rare as divine blessings.
The Witch Shrine - Located in the sand dunes. The miasma of the witch is so prevalent here that people who can smell it have been known to throw up when even remotely in the proximity of it. The Witch of Envy, Satella, is sealed here.
Magics
There are six elements to magic. Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Yin (Shadow), and Yang (light). Most individuals will have an affinity for one of the first four of them, while rare individuals will have an affinity for one of the other two. Some especially gifted individuals will have an affinity for more than one magics, usually due to a special blessing. It's also possible for someone to have no affinities, which means that they'll never be able to use magic.
Each elements has it's own standard incantation, which are as follows:
Fire - "Goa"
Water - "Huma"
Earth - "Dona"
Wind - "Fura"
Yin - "Shamak"
Yang - "Jiwald"
The four most common magics control the elements, while the two uncommon magics control buffing and debuffing. By prefixing an incantation with "El", "Ur", or "Al", it is possible to modify the incantation to be stronger. There is no rhyme or rhythm to the incantations, although prefixes are known to increase the strength of the magic used, and it's not entirely necessary to even use them once the character has mastered their element.
There are three ways to use magic, but we'll only focus on the two main ways of using magic.
The first is typical magic. This is used by drawing upon what is called a gate. The gate is something that every humanoid and maybe even some animals have, and it passively draws mana from the environment and stores it within. There's a capacity to the amount of mana one can draw in at any given moment, and a total capacity for the total mana one can store before they stop drawing mana which varies from person to person. There's no conventional way to change this, but it is possible to train to make ones mana usage more efficient and effective. By letting a small amount of mana out of ones gate, they're able to cast their magic. It is possible to damage and even destroy ones gate through over usage, and damage to ones gate could potentially lead to death by mana poisoning. Using gate magic takes practice and experience before it is efficient enough to justify using it.
The second is Spirit Magic. By hanging out with spirits you could end up with spirits that like you and hang out with you all the time and then you can make a contract with a spirit. There's four types of spirits, little spirits, medium spirits, and full spirits, as well as Artificial spirits who were all made by the Witch of Greed Echidna 400 years ago. This type of magic is the same as regular magic, except instead of drawing upon your gate you draw upon the environment around you which is somehow facilitated by spirits (I don't really get it either). When you draw upon the environment, it will begin to freeze the area around you as well as yourself. Also, you can have spirit friend who will draw upon your own mana to cast super powerful spells.
Spirit Art users will be required to apply for each spirit they add to their arsenal, but it will be a much more abbreviated application.
In this roleplay, individuals magical abilities are represented as a number from 1 - 100. This scale is logarithmic, and I have a formula to calculate a more linear number. Right now, the amount of mana you can store and how fast you can store it doubles every 5 points you assign to magic.
Here’s an example. What this means is that if your character has 80 magic, they can store 65536 times as much magic 65536 times quicker than someone who has 1 magic points. That’s pretty freaking powerful, so if your character has magic stronger than an 80 you better have a pretty good reason for it.
Depending on whether you hurt your gate or destroy it permanently, this number can fluctuate downwards. It can also be debuffed.
ABSTRACT MAGICS
AUTHORITIES -
The abilities of the ancient Witches of Sin. Long ago existed witches, which embodied virtue and sin. They wreaked havoc across the land until they were cast away by ancient heroes. Nowadays, individuals can be found with special genes called Witch Genes, which denote a compatibility with the witches. Individuals are also able to take in witch genes should they meet special circumstances. People with divine protections are incompatible with witch genes.
When one has a witch gene, they're able to use what is probably the most powerful ability in the whole Kingdom of Lugnica, an Authority. Not much is understood about the authorities, except the fact that they are insanely powerful and their wielders should be feared. The Authorities are divided into different types based on sins such as the capital vices. In the witch cult, a major organization which worships the ancient witches, the Archbishops, or leaders, are all wielders of Authorities. Different individual's authorities will manifest in different ways, and it's rumored that using them will drive one insane.
In this roleplay, Authorities are represented in two ways. Either you embody the whole sin, and you have the general canon ability for the authority, or you specialize in an aspect of a sin (like the Archbishops of Gluttony) and you’re able to tailor your ability to that aspect. No matter what you do, I’d like for Authorities to be poetic like they are in the Light Novels and Anime (IE: The Unseen Hands for Sloth).
If you'd like an authority, DM me on discord or PM me on the guild with your idea. Authorities are a really big deal, so your character has to be extra special to be accepted with one.
Divine Protection -
Blessings given to people by the world at birth. These can be anything, such as a latent talent for swordsmanship, extra luck, or making the user compatible with all six magic types. People with divine protections inherently know that they have them and what they do. Low utility protections are not that uncommon, but extremely valuable protections are a one in a million type of blessing. Having multiple blessings is even rarer. Witch genes are incompatible with Diving Blessings.
Divine Protection will be a part of the application for a character, and very rarely can be given during the roleplay.
As of the start of this roleplay, almost every character who has applied has had a divine protection. I am raising the bar even higher for this type of character now, so if you apply for a Divine Protection, get ready to have several drafts before I accept your character.
RETURN BY DEATH
In such a daunting world, this is your characters one advantage. Typically people are given only one chance at life. As it turns out, you have as many as you need to get things right.
Return by Death enables the user to reset the world to a 'checkpoint' when they die. In the Re:Zero anime, Subaru is the only user of this talent, and when he dies, the world resets to a checkpoint that is determined by a certain jealous witch. In this roleplay, things work a little differently.
All of the individuals who have been transferred to this world share this ability with a twist. Let's break that down.
- Return by Death is an ability that resets the world to a certain point when somebody dies. This includes people who have died, any permanent debuffs, and any damage to ones self being reset to the state it was at the checkpoint. The checkpoint changes as the user overcomes major obstacles. The user retains memories from before the reset, but no one else does. In the light novels and anime, this ability is activated by the death of the protagonist, Subaru.
- In this roleplay, the trigger for the reset is randomly assigned to a character for a period of time (about an arc at a time). When that character dies, everything will be reset and all the people transferred to this world will retain their memories from before the reset.
- All the 'Isekai'-ers, the people transferred from the modern world to Lugnica, will retain their memories during a reset and will be candidates to become the 'sentinel', or trigger for the reset.
- As per the Anime, trying to tell anyone about this ability will result in an immediate paralyzing fear. People who overcome this fear through willpower will suffer worse consequences. You can talk about it with others in the Return by Death group, however, you cannot talk about who the sentinel is.
- Native characters will not initially be part of the Return By Death group, but in the future will have an opportunity to join it. That will be explained when they get to that point.
- Every reset will cause any individual with witch genes to be smothered in the scent of the Witch. Experienced users of magical arts will begin to associate your character with the witch should you reset too often.
- Psychological effects of death are not omitted. If your character died, when they return, they'll have experienced death. That'll mess even the toughest tough guy up, big time.
In other words, you guys have the ability to reset the world at the cost of temporary death. The trigger individual will be determined by the GM in secret, however, it will not be given to anyone who seems like they'd abuse the power to ruin the RP.
Individuals who have not been transferred to the world but instead are natives to Lugnica will have to clear certain conditions if they want to be a part of the Return by Death group. This will be explained later in the story. For now, Natives will have to reset along with the world.
Roleplay Mechanics and Flow and Misc.
This roleplay will be divided into 12 different arcs, each a part of a greater single arc. During Arcs, the world and most events will be centered on the that Arc. Between Arc’s, characters will be free to do whatever they please.
Return by Death will be a major theme in each of the Arcs, so expect for the entire cast to be slaughtered several times before you finally progress the story. Each loop, you’ll have the opportunity to learn more about what’s killing you or what you need to do differently to make the difference you’d like. Most of the time, resets will be a planned occurrence; but it’s entirely possible for someone to kill the Sentinel unexpectedly and reset the world.
The Sentinel will be decided once again by the GM’s. Characters are unable to talk about who the Sentinel is, so it’s up to you guys to figure that out. Ideally, you guys wouldn’t talk about it OOC too.
IC, characters will be unable to mention Return by Death or their Isekai status to natives. The consequences will begin with a gripping fear on your character. If you try to force yourself past that fear, then the consequences will get worse. You’ve been warned.
The checkpoint will be decided by me or another GM as the plot progresses, and typically will be right after the cast overcomes a large obstacle. The checkpoints will generally be right at the start of an Arc, and occasionally at the mid point or right before the climax. I’ll try to keep things in such a way that it doesn’t get too repetitive for you guys.
In the 0th post of the IC, the checkpoint will be described in detail. As the cast dies and resets, a list of important discoveries and events will also be kept in the zeroth post. These can be considered a hint if you guys are ever stuck (IE: Killer dude says “Wow, I sure am lucky there’s no water mages here”). On top of that, a brief synopsis of each arc will be kept in the zeroth post, as well as a premise to the current arc.
Character death can become permanent if the checkpoint shifts past that characters death. Trying to keep everyone alive will be a mistake, believe me, but if you guys truly insist on trying to save every character I won’t stop you.
Guidelines
~~ Golden Rules : Basic Courtesy in roleplay. Don’t meta game, god mod, any of that stuff.
~~ GMs' word is final. Don't argue with me or any Co-GM's about the Roleplay happenings.
~~ Posting requirements are as follows
A. If your character is by themselves, you have two weeks before I warn you. After that, you have another week to respond and explain yourself before you get warned again. Two warnings, and your character will lose their RBD ability and die permanently. If you mention to me that you’ll be absent though, you’ll avoid these shenanigans and I won’t kill your character.
B. If your character is interacting with another character, you’ll have one week before I take control of them. If this happens more than three times, your character goes to the chopping block. It’s up to the person interacting with you to mention to me that you’re holding them up though.
C. If your character is in a position where they’re needed for the roleplay to progress (IE, they’re the sentinel and it’s time for them to reset the world), you’ll have three days before I take control of your character. If this happens seven times or more, your character’s head is mine.
~~ If you’re the sentinel, and you hold things up or purposely abuse the ability, you’ll instantly lose the sentinel status and your gate will be crushed, meaning that your character will inevitably die. On top of that, since your characters gate has been crushed, your character will no longer be able to use any magic even if you somehow cure yourself of mana poisoning.
~~ I’m not picky about post quality, but please try to match the other roleplayers.
Let's get this show on the road!
