Before I start, yes, this is an interest check for a roleplay. But before I tell you about the actual roleplay or what it's about, I have new character dynamic to introduce. You could say it's like I'm showing off a game with a new mechanic.
Let me present to you all an idea. A popular concept used throughout all mediums. Something I have yet to see done in any roleplay I've read or participated in. Lets entertain the idea of a cliche used in story productions far and wide. The notion of a "Grand Reveal" or "Ace in the hole" moment. I want you to think of your favorite movie, cartoon, tvshow, book, anime, comic, and/or video game. Do you recall any egde of your seat, cliffhanger type moments where someone surprises everyone by possessing some never before seen ability or knowledge that helps them save the day. Or you find out a side character was actually someone of great significance hiding in plain sight. Or one of the good guys turns to evil/villains become good. In any story, the concept is the same. The curtain is drawn back slowly, revealing the deep secrets and intricacies of the story that you don't get to see on the surface.
Now, why do I bring this up? How do we apply these ideas in a roleplay setting? Well whats the one of the first things you do when joining any roleplay now a days?
You fill out a character sheet.
Character sheets allow GM's to properly moderate and balance a roleplay as well giving everyone who participating an idea of what to expect from each others characters out of context. They prove to be essential, serving as something of a tool or reference guide. The concept roots back to tabletop roleplays like Dungeons and Dragons; where players created a character who fit the world and rolled a dice for stats before the adventure began. If you played with a team, then you usually referenced each others characters and their skills when making your own. The concept of a character sheet is undoubtedly a solid one, and let it be known I'm not trying to speak out against them or anything. That said, let me get to the point.
Being that when everyone in a roleplay throws mystery to the wind when they go in depth describing their character in full detail via a character sheet, what if we instead used a proactive character sheet? What the hell am I talking about? I'll explain.
Your typical character sheet for lets say a fantasy roleplay usually looks something like this:
Name -
Age -
Gender -
Race -
Appearance -
Personality -
Powers -
Weapons -
Bio -
Other -
Seems pretty standard right? You've filled out one of these probably dozens or even hundreds of times by now. Well I wanna change thins up a little bit. This might sound like a bit much at first but hear me out it probably sounds more complicated than it actually is. I want to entertain the idea of using, not one, not two, but THREE character sheets.
"Three? wtf is this fool talking about? How are we supposed to have any mystery with THREE sheets? Pure madness. Unsubscribe"
No no no hear me out. There is a method to this madness. Let me tell you about these three sheets. Here's the first:
Name -
Appearance -
First Impressions -
That's it. This first sheet is the prelude to the idea. A sheet with the most bare minimum of information. This would be your public character sheet. In other words, the sheet everyone who visits the character section of the roleplay will get to see. Lets disect it really fast.
Name - Lets say you only reveal your first name. Or maybe a nick name. Or maybe what people know you as. Or maybe you're on a "fomerly known as" basis. Either way, you would put that here and if you so choose, hold out on revealing your full name.
Appearance - What your character first looks like to everyone. Pretty straight forward....UNLESS! Maybe your character wears a cloak, or has a second form, or in one way or another has more to them than what meets the eye. That being the case, you would put their "first" form here. Get it? You get the opportunity to save your "final" form for later.
First Impressions - A very brief, bare bones description of your character and how they might seem to someone who only just met them. Things a stranger might pick up on after being in the same room with them for five minutes.
The first things you notice about any character in any medium are usually the most simple of things. Often times you are only presented with what the character looks like. Think back to pretty much any show that comes to mind. With the exception of MAYBE the first main character, when the show introduces new characters, you as the viewer are usually shrouded in mystery on who they are to the story. It inst until you've watched for an episode or two that you get an idea of who they are.
Now I did say 3 character sheets, so lets look at the second:
Full Name -
Age -
Gender -
Race -
Full Appearance -
Additional Forms -
Personality -
Powers -
Weapons -
Bio -
Other -
So now we have a traditional sheet. BUT, instead of having all the information available right away, we would instead use this as something of a stat sheet. Something you will be constantly updating as the roleplay unfolds. Normally, any roleplay with a stat sheet typically starts you at level 1 with a base amount of strength, health, mana, etc. Depending on the speed of the roleplay, you update these things proactively, in most cases subtly increasing them. So your character sheet has a set of stages.
Stage One Day 1
Name -
Appearance -
First Impressions -
Stage Two Day 4
Name -
Appearance -
First Impressions -
--------
Full Name -
Age -
Gender -
Race -
Personality -
Bio -
Stage Three Day 9
Name -
Appearance -
First Impressions -
--------
Full Name -
Age -
Gender -
Race -
Full Appearance -
Personality -
Weapons -
Bio -
Other -
Stage Four Day 16
Name -
Appearance -
First Impressions -
--------
Full Name -
Age -
Gender -
Race -
Full Appearance -
Additional Forms -
Personality -
Powers -
Weapons -
Bio -
Other -
You probably get the idea. So, after all that, what could I possibly mean by a third sheet? Well the third character sheet would be the fully declassified, standard version with all the information filled out and every detail included. This character sheet would be the one only you and the GM see(via private). As the roleplay moves along, you basically will be transferring information from the third sheet to the second proactive one. In effect everyone has the opportunity pull off that grand reveal.
And that was my big point. I want to add a little mystery to this roleplay from character to character. You will all have the chance reveal your characters at the rate you see fit. Keep that special power or ability up your sleeve til the last moment. Have that final form. Have SECRETS for the first time in a roleplay and do so without pissing off a GM. What do you think? Interesting idea? I hope so cause that was just the idea for the character sheet. Now for the actual story! Don't worry it wont be nearly as complicated of an explanation.
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Story Premise
This was just a random idea I had one day.
It has been 1000 years since dragon shifters took over the world. The humans are forced to serve under them, whether they be slaves or just servants. The dragon shifters are now the dominant species of the planet. They are powerful and strong, almost impossible to defeat, or so many humans thought for years. The dragons make the humans do all the work that they themselves do not desire to do. Humans cook for them, clean for them, grow their food, take care of the farms and livestock, entertain them, as well as many other chores that one can think of.
The humans had fought back during that struggle 1000 years ago, but sadly the humans lost the fight to due their lesser numbers. They soon lost hope as the years passed, fearing that this was life now, the way humans were to live for the rest of eternity even if they did manage to fight back. They felt helpless. All hope was gone in their eyes. There was nothing to do that could help them, or so they believed.
The dragon shifters believed they would rule forever. They assumed the humans would never fight back. They scoffed at the idea of the humans regaining any hope in regaining their world, their freedom. They had won that struggle 1000 years ago and they do not intend to loose what they have taken from the humans. The dragon shifters would make sure the humans served them for the millennia to come, and then some. The dragon shifters thought little of the humans, whom they considered a worthless species.
However, there was a prophecy, one the humans had long forgotten about. One day, a hero would emerge, with a power that could defeat the dragon shifters and free their world. This hero would banish the dragon shifters once and for all and the humans would have their world and their freedom back.
One night, under a full moon, when the wolves all howled at once, that was when the hero would arrive and the prophecy would begin...
I have worked together with @Vampiretwilight on this concept and have developed it more thoroughly. After a few days of brainstorming and creative deliberation, we have come up with a timeline and some in depth lore.
The Dragon Shifter concepts pertains to characters who have the ability to freely swap between Dragon and Human forms.
These Dragon Shifters now rule over the earth, while human society has been reduced to slaves, forced to become a subservient species to the new dominant one. Roles for both Human AND Dragon will be available.
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