[[[Hey. Have you ever felt forgotten? Have you ever felt your memory decay? Maybe youโve seen it in others. While drifting through life, little pieces of you that exist in others deteriorate, like theyโre chipped away.]]]
[[[Have you ever felt a connection snap? Like, some fake red string gets scissored, snipped, and thatโs it. What once was is gone, and you can choose to move on. But often, I find that we get lost. We chase the shredded, shedded string and grasp at its frayed edges. Just like that youโre off course. In a misguided attempt to save a single inkling of something you once thought would carry on, and youโve tumbled off the path. Maybe in your frantic wandering more strings snap.]]]
[[[Some of us are down to our last.]]]
[[[Our connections to this world are maintained by only fragments of fabrics. Youโd think most people would want to hold on, but at the edge you feel this switch in perspective creep up and infect you. Maybe itโs the Big Man Downstairs plucking your last strings, asking for a dance down below. All it takes is one misstep and just like that, you can forego all the ill-fate of the everyday. Take a trip to some sort of sick and twisted basement. Heโs down there waiting, but thatโs his trick. In the blink of an eye, no goodbyes, what came before recedes into the inky black and whatโs next is all thatโs left. Donโt glance back. You canโt. Sign the contract.]]]
[[[But whatโs even worse is being stuck on the edge.]]]
[[[Welcome to the Land of the Deadโฆ]]]
Welcome to Doomsayers! This will be a surrealist urban fantasy roleplay in which you will each take on one character with many roles: an inpatient in a strange and mysterious asylum experiment, a peregrine outsider in a surreal parallel world, a counsel to devil, demon, and the dead. Will you live up to your reputation, Doomsayer, and bring about an end in the land of all endings, or have you another goal buried in the mental fog? Maybe remnants of your attachments to that strange placeโthat life you livedโremain.
Our Roles:::
Each player will maintain one character who has been willingly or unwillingly taken into High Johnโs House of Saints Asylum, where a society with close ties to the American Government conducts a variety of studies on patients who have little recollection of quite where they are, how they got there, and what theyโre doing there. Through the mental fog, you will discover you canโt ignore your tie to another strange world: the Land of the Dead, where storybook creatures reside and no common law from your world applies. Will you find out what your connection to this world means? Will you be devoured by the disorder or reclaim it as your birthright?
Our Goal:::
Doomsayers will be a very involved project that demands a lot of each writer taking part. As such, I will be looking for people who are interested not only in developing an interactive complex story that integrates both a variety of player motivations and world lore, but also players who are looking to use the project as an outlet to seriously draft, practice, and improve their writing.
Because of this, I hope you will bear with me through the expansive content of the lore so that we can work together to develop an interesting, multi-layered narrative. The character creation process for Doomsayers will be rather intensive to ensure that we have a powerful and motivated cast that can dedicate themselves to this collaborative performance.
Our Rules:::
โบFollow all of the Guildโs rules and donโt metagame or powergame. Working cooperatively with other writersโ characters can be challenging, but as you learn to give and take without overly modifying another playerโs experience, youโll find unexpected new opportunities arise. That being said, I expect all players to respect the actions of other characters and realistically interact with the world.
โบDoomsayers will be an advanced RP, as I want to adhere to certain quality standards. While quality is greater than quantity, Iโd like each writer to substantially contribute in each of their posts. Focuses here will be to aim for around 3-5 developed paragraphs, regular dialogue interaction, and balance of action and reaction. If you are ever struggling to create a post or come up with an idea, I am willing to help work through ideas and I imagine our other writers will be as well.
โบBe friendly and respectful to the rest of the group. If any sort of problem comes up, hash things out respectfully. Unnecessary OOC arguments will bring no positive benefit to the players. Donโt be afraid to bring up issues that may arise so that we can talk through things and solve any problems. Iโd prefer us all to be on a friendly page.
โบThis story necessitates heavy participation, discussion, and active pursuit of personal character development alongside main story plotlines. What Iโve found can be the most important aspect of collaborative roleplaying is how deeply players choose to interact with the story, other characters, and themselves. Please do your best to regularly include and interact with the players you are in scenes with, and please try to actively pursue storylines as they emerge and interest you.
โบWhile I would like everyone to be posting on a semi-regular basis, I understand that issues may arise and we all get busy. I tend to run a game that can get slow at times. My main intention is to keep Doomsayers going regardless of what roadblocks we all hit. If you need to take a temporary leave of absence and canโt post, please let the group know. That being said, if you are unable to post for an extended period of time, I will likely control your character as an NPC until your return so we can continue the story moving along.
โบThis story will have 18+ themes. Themes of mental illness, alienation, and the forsaken may be heavy at times. Violence and descriptive combat can play a large role in portions of the roleplay. Please keep that in mind. While you donโt have to go into graphic detail, expect rattling violence from ruthless aggressors. Due to the above, I expect all players to be adults and approach these topics with tact and respect.
โบ Nothing is ever the perfect immortal. Not even in the Land of the Dead. Expect your actions to have consequences. While you will have a lot of freedom of choice in Doomsayers, options will open and close both for individuals and for the group as decisions are made. Please understand that the actions the players take will not be forgotten by the world around them.
โบThis roleplay will run a Discord server for communication, though I hope you all will actively use the thread to keep Doomsayers relevant and alive. If you would like to be added to the Discord, add me at Opposition#4407.
What To Expect:::
โบDoomsayers will have a heavy focus on the practice of writing as the players create the story. As such, Iโm looking for players that want to use the RP as an outlet to improve their writing. I encourage workshopping ideas together, providing feedback, and cognating on our own writing throughout your process. As an employed writing advisor, Iโll also be offering unique critique sessions to each player as well should they want greater feedback.
โบWhen writing scenes, you should be prepared to interweave the perspectives of your Doomsayer and their counterpart. Certain scenes will take place in reality while others entirely in the Land of the Dead. It is important to note that these two perspectives are separate and wonโt have the same experiences, memories, and personalities.
โบDoomsayers will have a focus on conceptualization and surrealist imagery rather than any hard magic system or skill system. Rather than writing a character to fulfill a niche role, or building a strategically useful and powerful character, I encourage you to explore your own creativity in a new direction. You will get out as much as you give in to Doomsayers.
โบAll players should be ready to establish your characters in both worlds with open goals that can be strived for as well as interfered with by the plots and NPCs you encounter. Regular interaction and intertwining of your personal subplots with those of other player characters is also necessary to move the group forward.
โบI have not established a hard limit on the number of characters as that will depend upon how much interest the RP gets and how many people can put together sheets, but I will be deciding and capping the cast around the principles established here. Those who push creative boundaries and are looking to experiment with their writing will be given precedence. I am currently looking for at least 4-5 players minimum, but could go much higher depending on the application pool.
Reach through the static attacking your head. How did you end up here?
High Johnโs House of Saints is an establishment shrouded in mystery. With patients that are never quite sure how they ended up there and a faculty of specialists and esoteric clinicians, the true origin of the House of Saintsโ funding and mission are unknown. The asylum itself is built in a forest grove with a backdrop of volcanic mountains isolated in high elevations presumed to be somewhere in the American northwest. Arranged as a compound array of structures, there is great variance in the Houseโs buildings, but the main structure in which the patients are housed is a large brick structure with innumerable towers and crenellations. No patient has successfully mapped its labyrinthine passageways. Dare to explore further around the compound, and you might find esoteric lab spaces or training barracks.
While each patientโs experience is unique, most of the tests that take place are reminiscent of cold war fringe scientific experiments that leave patients impaired, dessicated, disoriented, detached, and with lapses in memory. While keeping track of time can be difficult in the House, most imagine that experiments happen sporadically, sometimes days apart, sometimes weeks apart, sometimes hours apart. In a sense, most patients come to believe theyโre losing pieces of themselves with each new experiment, and often the only thing that remains in place of the lingering emptiness are flashes of hallucinogenic imagery. Inhuman creatures, impossible geometry, and unlawful physicsโa world on the other side.
The Land of the Dead:::
Youโve heard it in the whispers in your head. Its messages call you to the desolate. Feel your inherent connection.
The Land of the Dead is a space where everything lost inevitably ends up: a limbo beyond all things, the precipiceโat the edge of the void. Believed by the researchers at the House to be a sort of drain from which all dimensions are sucked into, the Land of the Dead is perpetually suspended in time โat the edgeโ, frozen moments before apocalypse. There are a number of factors that play into this. From the fragments of observations that have been collected and documented of the Land of the Dead, speculations have been made that claim the very fabric of its universe is shaped like a constantly collapsing double-helix spiral. There are no planets and no stars. The fabric of the Land of the Dead is warped and constantly shifting and falling further into its own void. Thus, the laws of physics are completely skewed and the limits of possibility are entirely speculative.
Chaos reigns above all else in the Land of the Dead, but that hasnโt stopped civilization from rising and falling back into the flames. While the landscape is extremely varied and you can never quite be sure of where you are in the Land of the Dead, layer upon layer of the remnants of ancient civilizations are built up and crumbling all alongside each other. In one second, you may see endless cities stretching on as far as your eyes will reach. In the next, fantastic cliff formations and torrential rifts bisect the land.
The Land of the Dead is far from empty. The Dead, shadows of creatures estranged from their past lives, fill its urban landscapes. They say when youโre ready to cast it all away, The Big Man Downstairs will come and take you. Cross the river and youโll arrive at the Gate. In a place where thereโs no need to survive, all you can do is try, but the empty-handed dead wanderers from beyond are not alone. Gnarled beasts await to usher you into this interim. Cartels of Devils and rabid Demons lurk the streets, demean, depress, and devour the Dead who canโt quite jive in the new world. When the Dead denizens have no motive, no goal, no hope, whatโs left?
Inhabitants of the Land of the Dead:::
โบThe Dead
When an entity loses all connection to this world, and nothing but the calling void remains, chance may have it that they find themselves stripped of their identity. In one second, the anguish evaporates. Youโll cross the river and the Gatemen await to let you into the Land of the Dead. Memories, final remnant possessionsโdonโt count on holding on for long. The Gatemen will demand their due, lest you dare to dance at the river in limbo into eternity.
The Dead make up the majority of entities existing in the Land of the Dead. While there is great variance in their masses, the Dead are typically identified by their โhusk-likeโ appearance. As the Land of the Dead begins to take them, their bodies will further eschew their human form and give way to desiccated shells with skin like stone and bright yellow eyes. To join the dead is to become one with the end, but even in the eyes of the hollow creatures there is something left: the Hunger.
The Dead carry an insatiable appetite right alongside the Land of the Dead spiralling in on itself. The hardy creatures are known to eat anything and everything, from solid matter to other creatures. Managing the Hunger until the prospective End tends to become the sole focus of a Dead husk. Societies of the Dead have risen and fallen based on this premise, but no group has emerged to unify them. Thus, the Dead all have their own fleeting purpose in the Land of the Dead. Everyone needs to find something to pass the time.
โบThe Doomsayers
Itโs a strange fateโstuck upon the interim, at the edge of the diskโon the outside looking in. No one knows quite why, but there are a rare few cases of those who have seen into the interim and come back. At the edge of this worldโs connection, the so-called โDoomsayersโ can see the end. It often comes first in hazy memories misplaced, as though the Doomsayer were always there, lurking in the Land of the Dead.
The Doomsayers play a bit of an esoteric and chaotic role in the Land of the Dead. While its Dead inhabitants have mostly resigned attitudes towards the acceptance of the End and the oppressive forces of their strange homeland, the Doomsayers are known to invade the Land of the Dead with the drive to shape the world around them. Because of this, the Doomsayers are omens. While they are a rare sight, Doomsayers are often held in a spot of contempt, distance, and reverence all at the same time.
Doomsayers enter the Land of the Dead through parallel-but-altered versions of themselves in reality. Each Doomsayer that wanders through the Land of the Dead is different, with a completely different set of strange abilities to distort the very dimension itself. Each of these unique individuals tends to be the embodiment of their own doom prophecy that intersects their own reality and the Land of the Dead. They are often known as the only creatures in the Land that are able to oppose the great Demons and Devils.
The Outsiders:::
The Land of the Dead is itself so distant that we can hardly understand the bounds of its black voidโa pandaemonium. Lurking within it, creatures seem to have emerged in primordial times to occupy the once craven space.
โบThe Devils
The Endโs Greatest Machinations...
Some believe it was them that weaved the Land of the Dead out of the emptiness. The Devils, creatures made of the darkest shadows, have spread like a virus across the Land of the Dead. Intelligent, physically-attuned to the strange circumstances of their twisted world, and revering hierarchical order above all else, these outsiders have been responsible for the great creation and undoing of many great civilizations throughout the Land of the Dead.
With each devil owing allegiance only to another in their many orders and substructures, their desire to exploit the environment and its Dead inhabitants are almost uncontained. The Devils are known to set up elaborate factions that the Land of the Deadโs inhabitants canโt help but utilize, striking dangerous deals with the Outsiders in the process. More than anything, the power of the Devils is propped up by the innate fear they strike into their foes with the overwhelming order of their Dread Courts.
Having developed a fine control of their own evolutionary process over aeons, Devils are a very diverse species. While they are all made of the same basic composite that amounts to a sort of flesh-armor over their form, the shapes that Devils take are based on their specific position in the greater order. Common phenotypes include abilities like cell regeneration and augmentation, manipulation of the laws of physics, and psychic connection to other entities in the Land of the Dead.
โบThe Demons
Believed to be the first primordial spawn of the void, the Demons are creatures that haunt the shadows of the Land of the Dead. They are governed only by chaos and pandaemonium. Since there is seemingly no bound or pattern to the spawning of Demons, they irregularly amass around the Land of the Dead, preying on any creature they find. Most know them as terrors that will level cities or devour the Dead.
Much like their counterparts in the void, Demons have incomprehensible evolutionary processes, but the diversity of Demons is far higher than even the Devils. It is believed that each Demon is evolving and mutating beyond the greater species, and often this can occur through a โrewritingโ process during the creatureโs life rather than at its genesis.
โบThe Vestiges
Pandaemonium is full of forces and energies unseen. Their interaction, their sentience, their influence are all mysteries. The Vestiges are the reflections of these mysteries. Researchers at the House have yet to prove the existence of Vestiges, but accounts pulled from the minds of Doomsayer counterparts of interaction are hypothesized to be caused by microscopic life that unify into greater entities to create a sort of collective consciousness. These Vestiges manifest throughout the Land of the Dead seemingly at random.
The Doomsayer Loophole:::
Watch your step amongst the Dead. Itโs said that the moment a creature enters the Land of the Dead, they are stuck there until its endโbound by contract with the Big Man Downstairs, but there exists the Doomsayer Loophole. A small subset of the populace in reality, often wayward and lost, can abandon their human connections and enter the sensory world of a projected counterpart in the Land of the Dead.
Doomsayers can be quite unlike their counterparts in reality, but their interaction is nonetheless a subject of wonder for any House researcher. Measured signatures across both planes seems to indicate that both the Doomsayer and the counterpart take actions independent of one another. While almost always unaware of the Doomsayer, the counterpart can be manipulated into trance-like unconscious states wherein they see into the Land of the Dead. It is hypothesized that the connection between Doomsayer and counterpart goes much deeper.
Consistent observation over several experiments has provided marginal information on the Doomsayer and its relationship with its counterpart. Scientists have since come to a few conclusions, though much greater study is required. Firstly, research notes that the role a Doomsayer plays in its interactions with the Land of the Dead is highly variable depending on its counterpart. Counterpart personalities, beliefs, and feelings can change the course of the Doomsayer in powerful fluxes. Second, the more a counterpart undergoes observation tests, the greater the connection to the Doomsayer and the Land of the Dead becomes. Counterparts may show greater aptitude for connecting and influencing the actions of their Doomsayer avatar, but this development can manifest in strange ways in base reality. The most common effects on the counterpart include gaps in memory, disconnection and distance from the material world, and โemptinessโ.
There have been documentedโbut unverifiedโcases of gaps in existence upon one plane, wherein a counterpart disappears from House observation for stretches of time only to reappear in a completely different place than the original loss of contact. These tales should be held in great scrutiny before the Doomsayers are falsely represented in official reports.
As a Doomsayer counterpart grows more connected to their Doomsayer, there is a threshold that is reached wherein the counterpart receives an apocalyptic prophecy of the End of the Land of the Dead. These prophetic tales of death have provided the House great insight into the individual identity of each Doomsayer, their counterpart, and the motives of the pair.
Character Creation
The character creation process for Doomsayers is a bit intensive and abstract compared to the usual character sheet for Guild RPs. In a sense, youโll be creating two entirely different sheets (donโt worry too much; both of them are short). One side of the major sheet involves outlining your character in reality while the other side describes the mysterious Doomsayer that your character will be uncovering right alongside you.
In the Land of the Dead, Doomsayers are one of the closest things to any sort of โmagicโ. Your Doomsayer will be able to employ a variety mystic abilities that shape the world around them, but rather than specifically outlining your abilities, we will be relying on an abstract approach based on the concepts and themes of your Doomsayer. Thus, youโll be able to employ this sort of โmagicโ onto the world when it works well for the story, almost as if the Land of the Dead shapes to the Doomsayers rather than the Doomsayers exerting their influence on the world.
With that said, there will certainly be limits on what you can accomplish when inhabiting your Doomsayer. The thematic concepts that are at the center of the sheets (Virtue, Vice, Quest, Doomsayer Prophecy, etc) will determine what your Doomsayer is able to do. Keep that in mind as you write, as your limits and abilities will be bound to your creative ability rather than any arbitrary external factors. When writing these crucial elements of the sheet, particularly those detailing actual writing samples of your Doomsayer, you do not have to omit their mysticism entirely, but it shouldnโt be the central focus of any section. Explore as much as youโd like.
[picture]
P r o j e c t :: [[[Doomsayer Paragon]]]
[[[N A M E]]]
Layer 01:::
Patient Profile:::
โCharacter Quoteโ
Name:
Gender:
Age: [[[How long?]]]
Classification: [[[โWhat sort of creature are you?โ]]]
Physical Description: [[[โWhy do you look so strange?]]]
Psychological Profile:::
Trait | Trait | Trait | Trait | Trait | Trait
Patient Observations::: [[[โWhat makes you think youโre at the House of Saints for?โ]]]
Deepest Desire::: [[[โTell of what hides within you and burns your soul.โ]]]
Quest::: [[[โAnd what is it someone as lost as you is striving for? We all have a goal in our circumstances. What is it that you must accomplish, even in death?โ Each character will have self-perceived purposes that will motivate and drive them to action throughout the story. This is where you will start. Take inspiration here from your Doomsayer Prophecy]]]
Virtue::: [[[โWhat ultimate virtue lies inside you? We are all paragons in our own right.โ]]]
Vice::: [[[โWhat ultimate vice eats at you? We are all our own greatest poisons.โ]]]
Likes::: [[[โWhat mundane things keep you connected to this place?โ]]]
Dislikes::: [[[โWhat pushes you closer to the edge?โ]]]
Oddities::: [[[โTell me a secretโฆโ]]]
Background Information:::
โCharacter Quoteโ
Wisps of Memory::: [[[โDo you remember who you once were? You wonโt for long.โ]]] Tell me about your life before the House while you still can.
In the House of High John::: [[[โWhat is your life like in High Johnโs House of Saints?โ]]] This is your chance to establish your reputation among other patients and staff, your day-to-day life, and how you cope with the fog.
Fragments and Connections::: [[[โDo you have anything left? Is there anything that drives your desire to stay connected to this wicked world?โ]]]
Layer 02:::
[[[Inspirational Picture?]]]
[[[DOOMSAYER:::YOUR PARAGON]]]
Description::: [[[โYour Doomsayerโฆ What is their banner? What does their image impose upon the watching Dead?โ]]]
Doomsayer Paragon::: [[[โTell me what title have your actions in the Land of the Dead earned you?โ]]] This is the most crucial factor to your Doomsayerโs identity which should run parallel or complementary to your Virtue and Vice. Your Paragon should be a grand concept that represents your Doomsayer in an abstract way. From it, youโll derive how your Doomsayer will influence the Land of the Dead as well as their counterpart.
Doomsayer Prophecy::: [[[โWhat have you seen in the Land of the Dead? Tell me, Doomsayerโtell me of your end.โ]]] Every Doomsayer has seen their own vision of the End. This occurs when counterparts reach a certain threshold in terms of connection with their Doomsayer. How does the Land of the Dead reach its end in your Doomsayerโs vision? If you donโt have any ideas, look to your Paragon, Virtue, and Vice for inspiration.
A Legend::: [[[โDoomsayers are mythic figures among the Dead. Do you know what they think of you?โ]]] This is your chance to establish whispered reputations of your Doomsayer in the Land of the Dead. Itโs important to note that this isnโt meant to be a place for you to establish your skills, crazy fighting ability, etc. Tell me something about your Doomsayerโs unique approach to their role in the Land of the Dead. Some embellishment is encouraged and you are able to exhibit your Doomsayerโs mysticism to a degree. Remember that most of your Doomsayerโs life is still a mystery to your counterpart. A few paragraphs max.
A Sighting::: [[[โAs much as weโd like to be invisible, the Dead are always watching. Surely, theyโve seen you too.โ]]] Similar to the Legend, but use this as a more concrete example to establish the personality of your Doomsayer. Tell a short story about them being sighted among the Dead. A few paragraphs max.
๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ถ๐ธ๐ ๐ฒ๐พ๐๐ฝ ๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฝ::: [[[Sign your name on the dotted line...]]] For those of you who want to be more involved and have more at stake in the world of Doomsayers, sign a contract with Death. With this in mind, I will readily challenge you to avoid death, for if you sign you should be prepared for your character to prematurely reach their end. This does not mean you no longer have a spot in the RP, but rather that you'll have to make up a new character. This is done moreso to encourage toying with character arcs than as a punishment. Those of you who opt to sign the contract may find more options available to them should they fall victim to that cruel fate. Once we are more established in the Land of the Dead, other types of characters will become available.
Character name
Relationship
[Name of other character]
[Write out your character's opinion and relationship with the character in question.]
With that said, once again welcome to Doomsayers! I know the lore is a lot to take in right from the start, so feel free to drop questions below and contact me as necessary. My discord tag is mentioned in the rules if you'd prefer to contact me there. So, who's interested?
I'd prefer art as was mentioned. Stylistic choices beyond that are up to you.
I actually already asked, Opp said it was ideal for it to be art based but you can have the picture be of a specific outfit or even more conceptual.
Edit: Also, could we get the code with the pre /pre box?
If you hit the raw button in the top left of the second post, you can see the whole post with formatting. The sheet is at the bottom.
I'm glad we've gotten a sizable amount of interest. The OOC is underway, but I'm making some additions regarding NPCs, character creation clarifications, as well as giving a sample character sheet to help you with the more abstract section. That should be appearing in the coming week.
For those of you still looking at the RP, I encourage you to apply and ask me any questions you might have.
We are currently in the rather thorough character creation process with most applicants. If there are any other interested parties still looking to apply, there's plenty of time to do so.
Feel free to contact me on discord or head over to the OOC.
