The school, Saint Valerius Academy is a year-round academy that's located in a relatively remote place in Northern Europe, with the closest civilization being a small local town a 30 minute walk away. The academy proper is atop a small hill in a valley, surrounded by lush, heavy forest. Its classes are for a high-school only, with college level classes available for the more advanced students. Dorms are provided on-site, and located away from the main school buildings. With each advancing grade level, students are awarded with more freedom(Both in selecting classes and outside of school hours.) Each weekend, starting on Friday evening, the students are allowed off the premises to go to the village. Curfew is strictly 11pm and any students caught out past that time are often punished severely.

The Nobles are sons and daughters of the very, very rich, making this a school that's very exclusive and almost impossibly (For an average person) expensive to afford. In return, the school promises to create an exceptionally safe (Via both the highly-trained and paid guards, and the Knights) learning environment that promotes interaction and skills that such future captains of industry would need. While all the classes are available to everyone, the Nobles will only get Nobles as classmates, and so on (The Knights may, in fact, sit in on these classes).

The Middle Class are usually local children who graduated with exceptionally high grades from their schools, and got a scholarship into the academy. The others that make up the Middle Class are rich(But not the super-rich) who can afford at least some of the school's fees and then the sons and daughters of the faculty and staff.

Knights can be selected from the Middle Class, but more often than not they are transferred into the school for the explicit purpose of being a Knight to a specific noble.







CS Spreadsheet: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19zmR4…

If you need help with the spreadsheet, please let me know! Instructions within~




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Alright, we're up! Here are a few questions I have for the masses;

1. What age are we preferring here? I listed 16, but I'm not sure I necessarily vibe with that. I much prefer older, at least 19. But I want you all to be able to weigh in on this.

2. Combat. I outlined a rough idea for a way to do combat that would involve a simple d20 roll with simple modifiers from skills/abilities, etc. If you have experience with this or just want to pitch your two cents, I'm all ears.

3. NPC characters. Most NPC characters will be teachers, the head teacher, the coordinator, etc. These are characters that you are able to move as you need to. Need a teacher to get onto your character for doing something stupid? Maybe pick the strict one and have them come in and smack them up the back of the head and admonish them. It's up to you. Just try to stick to the established personality. I'll be trying to fill that in while folks create characters and we work through all of that. Regardless, the real question is; do you want to fill out the ranks with npc knights and nobles? Or would you prefer to "skim" over that information. I.E. discussing rank one (if empty of player character) but leaving the description very vague. Pros to npc is that the world feels more fleshed out. Cons, it becomes more taxing for me, the gm, to navigate those characters and it becomes a bit harder for others to take those positions. Not that we can't make it happen.

3. Plot Direction. Do you have ideas for how you think plot should develop? do you have a general theme you prefer? Dark and angsty? Light and fluffy? Just want to get a gauge for our preferences.

4. As always, please send any feedback or ideas you have for the world. Someone in the interest check (Expendable) mentioned something about in England shops being closed on Sunday which is definitely something I need to consider changing lore-wise! Things like that are always helpful.

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Someone on the interest check also asked about power and ability ideas. I'm going to try to get those out to you all as soon as I'm able!

I'm having a bit of trouble getting a bead on the setting, looking everything over. I see that it takes place in 20XX, but I'm struggling to piece together the general world and society we're working with. Any elaboration on that stuff would be appreciated.

1. For me age isn't a huge deal, if everyone wants characters to be above 18 I don't have an issue, if anything goes that's fine too. I'd probably have my character be adult aged either way unless I have a very specific character idea that needs to be younger.

2. I've never been a huge fan of having stats for combat, though I wouldn't say it's necessarily a deal breaker for me. I think as long as the "system" is light enough it could be fine without impeding things too much, but I think combat could also just be worked out from a story perspective between the involved players too.

3. I like light and fluffy stuff but I also get how that might make it hard to have big events happen in story so I wouldn't freak out if things got heavier.

4. I'm still kind of letting all the ideas come together in my head but I'll definitely say if anything comes to mind. I kinda like the ideal of making a noble but that's all I got so far so if anyone has any knight ideas maybe we could come up with a fun dynamic for the two.

(I didn't include my part from the rules but my fave character is Hoshizora Rin from Love Live. She's just the best.)

Oh yea I should probably do that too

1. I have no preference on an age range, I'll work with whatever is decided.

2. Personally, I prefer narrative based combat more than other formats. Though I'm not against a dice system, as long as it's not a roll for every little thing kind of thing.

3. I think something serious is the most preferable for something like this.

4. o7

And to prove I read the rules, I think one of my favorite character would probably be Ryougi Shiki from Garden of Sinners.

I'm having a bit of trouble getting a bead on the setting, looking everything over. I see that it takes place in 20XX, but I'm struggling to piece together the general world and society we're working with. Any elaboration on that stuff would be appreciated.

That's incredibly valid! The idea is a modern day (so thinking 2024, but leaving the last bit of that open time-wise). Magic is around but very modernized. Think street lamps lit with magic, eye doctors that use flame wizards to cut glass, etc. Then you add in the swords and shield bits of the world. Which, in a modern setting, can seem like they cancel each other out. But in a world like this, the swords and shields bits are all just on tradition and don't have much use in daily life aside from being a sort of pomp and circumstance sort of thing.

If that's still to vague or confusing, please let me know! Questions that you have or ideas that you have are helpful as well.

@Crowvette

That's a fair point on the combat system. I definitely want the bits and bobs to be more story flavor rather than DnD combat system. And I don't want the system to take away from the actually writing/fun of it. If two writers are willing to work out a plan for their duel on who should win/how it should go, I'd be open to that as well. I just don't want it to turn into an irl argument because that can quickly turn into something rather nasty given the ight circumstances. An opposed dice roll kind of takes that bickering between players away and allows the players to go "ah, so Character A is going to win, how are we going to write it such that Character A wins this duel?" Again, just my opinion and I'm very open to the ideas/opinions of others!

Thanks for letting me know your thoughts on the other bits too!

@Kero

Double post since I missed yours. The Combat system definitely won't be for every little thing. Fights can happen outside of the duel system and not being tied to rolls. The duel system would likely just be one roll for the entire duel to simply things. Like... rock, paper, scissors. And to make it fair, I'll likely request that when a duel does occur, that I'm notified so I can make the rolls for the characters. Mostly because it would be hard to confirm whether or not someone is modifying their rolls just to win. And again, if the two writers decided "Hey, we don't want to do the roll, we have a plan." I will fully respect that.

Edit: Headed home and likely logging out for the day. but I'll try to come back and answer questions if I see them and have time!

Helo, at work so apologies for the breaks lol thingherey

1. Over 18 at least might be good

2 whatever works I suppose

3. I think light and fluffy but some realism maybe?

4. Neato

Also my favorite character is Edward from FMA:B

1 I tend to play older characters, but I do not have a set preference on age. I believe the age of characters only really sways my writing in the sense of romantic interests which I usually never plan for anyways. I’ll probably be playing at least a character in their mid-twenties if that is allowed - edit - (unless this is a high school themed aspect then I'll play an older teen in that sense. I probably should have made that distinction when writing this earlier.

2 The rough idea of your combat was something that interested me. It didn’t feel too light or too heavy for role-play. I love combat when it comes to tabletop games like D&D and I don’t mind combat in writing either. I would say, if you start going too heavy with modifiers (skills/abilities) along with dice the role-play is going to feel like it belongs in the tabletop section of the forum.

3 I personally do not mind filling out NPC information or playing NPCs (mine or someone else’s) as long as they have personality traits/habits that I can follow. I tend to RP as multiple characters even in one-on-ones so I am very flexible. I have to say I really do not have a preference if we do or don’t in the sense.

4 In my opinion, I am flexible. I tend to play “darker” or “complex” characters in the sense of how people describe them. I do not mind the plot going from dark and angsty to light and fluffy. I would say that I enjoy the flow of writing out naturally with the emotions and situations characters are feeling with the intrusions of plot points/events.

5 I really have nothing to put right here that would make any sense because my brian is everywhere while trying to think of a character. Haha!

My favorite… characters from anime would have to be Ouni from “Children of the Whales”, No Face from “Spirited Away”, and Joker & Benimaru Shinmon from “Fire Force”.

1. I'm fine with any age, though the description of the academy's classes being high-school level makes me lean towards 16-18. Maybe we can change it to university-level courses?

2. I think the Fate Core ttrpg system has a very good mix of narrative and mechanics-based combat. Characters have inherent advantages over others in different tasks, either from skills or their aspects, and players can spend resources to get further bonuses based on aspects in the situation (such as leaving a trail to give yourself a better tracking check when retracing your steps, or having an advantage at hiding because you are well acquainted with the area and know where blindspots are).

I'm more of a fan of narrative-based combat, but it seems like the dice system is mostly there to help if we can't decide things on our own. Might I suggest switching to 3d6 instead of 1d20? Gives a nicer probability curve, and makes it a lot harder for a random peasant to stumble into a victory against a master fencer in a sword duel. Just a suggestion!

3. The skim option sounds better in my opinion - leave things open, maybe give a small factoid to keep in mind about the npc (The second rank knight has a serious temper problem, the Noble of the 5th rank is a master of gravity magic, etc). That way we can expand on them later if necessary, and give a bit of mystique and mystery to the various other students at the academy.

4. Usually prefer darker stories, but definitely not against fluffy SoL stuff - I'm just used to seeing those fizzle out. Maybe start off with SoL and branch off into some heavier subjects once we get settled on a defined plot? Up to everyone else.

If we need some plot ideas, I don't have anything super concrete - I usually like seeing the characters everyone has in mind before getting into that kind of stuff. Maybe someone on the newspaper club starts spreading gossip in the paper (which has some pretty severe consequences considering how rich and influential the nobles attending are) could work in a lighter plot?

5. Nothing I can think of right now - maybe a few examples of classes that the Nobles can take, or any advantage Ranks may have (other than reputation)? I'm planning on making my knight a bit of a delinquent, so if anybody is interested in pairing up, let me know!

Howdy. I just wanted to say that this seems like it will be particularly fun to sit in on and watch, so if people don’t mind a lurker who may chime in from time to time I as a minimum will enjoy soaking up the vibes everyone is displaying and the high energy folks seem to have :)

I like the idea of the roleplay itself, and if I get inspiration or if someone finds themselves really needing a partner I would be willing to participate. To that end, here are my answers to rule 6:

1. What age are we preferring here? I listed 16, but I'm not sure I necessarily vibe with that. I much prefer older, at least 19. But I want you all to be able to weigh in on this.

1. Aaah... I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that one of the major aspects that grabbed my interest for the premise is the magic highschool aspect, where we can play an adolescent going through a coming-of-age journey into a full-fledged adult noble/knight. For transparency, if most of the cast are going to be over 18, or heck, someone mentioned mid-20s? Those are adults, and they'll have adult mindset and issues. Yeah, then it'll not be for me. Well, plan changes all the time, c'est la vie.

2, 3, 4, and 5. @Duoya pretty much read my mind with those, so I'm gonna second their suggestions on the matter.

1. No preference on what age we're playing.

2. Not a fan of dice rolling combat myself, but if it has to be done, I'm not against it either.

3. Leave some of those spots open. Maybe the ranks could be tied to a house, rather than individual? That way you could introduce characters from that group later on and ascend/descend in the ranks when plot demands it. Something like that.

3. A mix between the two is my general preference.

4. None at the moment, one of them regarding talents already got answered. But, I'll let you know what comes to mind. Thinking of making a hammer knight to bonk people.

My fav character has to be Buggy D. Clown from One Piece.

Busy day at work today so I apologize folks! When I have time, I'll respond to everything!

1. I get the feeling of anime battle school genre from this, so I'd lean towards the PCs being teenagers. By the time they're adults, it feels like they'd be out in the world doing noble shenanigans rather than just doing more schooling, really.

2. I have a whole buncha systems that I've tried out in the past. A D20 is pretty high variance from my perspective; the 2d6 systems that are more common in Japanese TTRPGs are generally more stable. If you want to push a bit further, you could introduce a stats system too.

3. In an RP I'm currently, I basically had every PC create three or so NPCs that had some tangential relationship with their character. If you apply it here, it'd be easier to generate the NPC pairs and also make the school actually feel like a school where we at least kinda know everything. Allows for more simulated drama as well.

4. Slice of Life school hijinks don't make much sense for Nobles and their Knights. I'd say that we can have low-stakes competitions and shenanigans to start, but there should be a gradual ramp-up of drama and conflicts. Shadow governments, revolutions, etc.

5. From a purely RP perspective, I feel like it'd make more sense for Nobles and Knights to fight together in Duels. Like, Nobles provide support magic and offensive ranged attacks, while Knights serve as frontline combatants that protect their Nobles. The concept of the Duels isn't to prove that you're a stronger Knight, but rather that you're a Knight who's more capable of protecting your Noble from danger. So the win-con would be inflicting an injury on the enemy Noble, rather than just beating the enemy Knight. Nobles probably have something like a magical barrier cast upon them by the overseeing professor, so they don't risk actual injury.

6. Off the top of my head, Hoshimi Junna and Tendo Maya from Revue Starlight are easy favs of mine. Recent favorite would be Takamatsu Tomori from Bang Dream Its MyGo!!!!! too.

For some reason I didn't realize there were two three points. Oops.

3. For NPC handling I'd probably prefer to keep it vague unless someone has a specific idea or need for one. It's less work for you and we can still cooperate and put together an NPC for a good arc or scene if necessary without making some that might not end up seeing much use at all.

Also upon review I think I agree in that there's kind of a specific anime-ey battle high school feel that I think would necessitate having later teenage-age characters. I mean, there could be some differences in how long a high school education lasts in this world, but it'd probably be stretching reality a bit to have too wide of an age gap all in the same area (especially if fighting is something that is expected)

Are our characters supposed to be from actual European countries, or made up countries?

If you're noble, do you get an NPC servant or two? Someone to help them dress, polish the shoes, keeps their room clean? A bodyguard, perhaps?

Do they get single rooms or have to share?

It might be a bit early to start laying down super concrete character ideas but since there's a focus on a knight and noble pairs I feel like it'd be most fun to start at the dynamic between the two and work out the characters from there. If anyone wants to brainstorm a type of knight/noble duo let me know here or wherever, there's a lotta potential for fun there.

Maybe a pair that only recently were put together and butt heads? A meek noble paired with a brawler knight, and they both have to reign each other in to keep themselves from getting in trouble? A knight and noble so in sync that people mistake them for each other? Maybe something else entirely? It's tough to pick a direction someone halp

Dentist and then work today! Work should be slower today but I won't know until I log into my email.

Going to try to touch on everything everyone has said/asked. Lots of good points were made!

Alright, so I'm going to try and cover a few people at once per topic so that everything is a bit more cohesive.

1. Age. Seems like the majority either want High School age or are ambivalent towards the ages of the characters. After thinking about it myself (and considering things like Pokemon and My Hero Academia ages) I think I'd be perfectly fine with playing characters age 16-18. I just think that, considering my own age, we need to be very careful and cognizant of how we are portraying minors. I don't think it will be an issue, but I just want to say it all the same.

2. I want the combat to still be mostly story-driven. The idea here is to create an exciting fight and have an end result that contributes to the over-all story and plot of our world we're building here. I do think that people's suggestions (thank you to @ERode and @Duoya) concerning changing from a d20 to a d6 system. I did want to ask if you had any more suggestions for that? Should major and minor abilities modify the roll as a plus numerical or should they add a d6 to your roll. I'm not super familiar with TTRPGs outside of Pathfinder/Savage Worlds/Deadlands so any help and advice there is appreciated for the betterment of the RP as a whole.

3. Seems like most people want to keep the NPCs open and a little vague until it's necessary that they are.. no longer vague. I do really like the idea that @ERode mentioned regarding making 1-2 NPC characters that have some relationship/connection with your main character. Maybe they were childhood friends that became estranged due to drama between families. Maybe this person is someone that used to work at their home (one of the faculty in this case), etc.

Something that I used to do as a DM for DnD is have people create characters, give me some back story, and then I gave each character a connection to the others. For example, let's say player A creates a delinquent knight and player B creates a Noble who's father is the head of the Police Department for the area. I might PM both players and let them know that Player B's character knows about Player A's character's reputation and is keeping tabs on them. Things like that that might connect characters a bit more organically? Obviously, you guys can do things like that too. I think it's important that the world feels real, alive. Otherwise it's all just separate character who have no reason to interact with one another.

4. Seems like the consensus here is to start off more light and care-free but slowly develop into something a bit darker. I'd love to hear some of the ideas here for what kind of darker plot we can get into. I can formulate ideas, but those are my ideas and what I might find fun. I want to know what YOU find fun. I also want to know what people's boundaries are. I don't anticipate getting too heavy with such young characters, but I don't think death is necessarily off the table. But I want to gauge everyone's level of comfort and how far they're willing to go. I'm going to classify this RP as like.. E for everyone? But obviously drama is best served when there are real stakes involved. So.. but anyway, please just let me know what your limits are. For me, I'm a bit iffy on things like drugs and anything sexual (obviously considering the age of the characters) and explicit descriptions of gore. I'm fine with things like loss of limb/etc, death, etc but I don't want it described. Like.. for example, if there's a revolution and a rogue band of rebels comes through because the school still support the current prime minister (or what have you) and they take the life of a random npc student or something. I would deem that a pretty heavy topic I'd want to discuss with you all prior to introducing it.

I also want to start off with a lighter plot to begin with, that much I know. Something with lower stakes like the gossip Douya mentioned. As always if you have ideas, please send!

5. @ERode, I honestly love your idea here. I think that adding Nobles in the fights gives them more stakes and does make sense lore/world wise why the duels even take place. This world is pretty but only on the surface level. Underneath it's nasty and violent (marginally at least). I also think we could fluff it a bit, kind of like laser tag? you know how the chest thingy lights up when it's been hit? Maybe the barrier has a system built in where it can take three hits before it throws an alarm to stop the fight and that a victor has been decided.

@Duoya Let me take some time to brainstorm some class ideas as well as advantages that ranks might have. I'm thinking classes would be your general core education classes like a normal HS might have, but along side PE you might have mandatory "Duel Ed" or "Offensive/Defensive Magic". And Extras like Practical Magic or Business. If you guys have any ideas for classes or privileges that might be given to the top ranked students, please let me know!

Now to address questions and everything else;

@Fading Memory

I personally have no qualms with someone just hanging out!

@Expendable

I'm thinking somewhere in between. European inspired but not an exact match if that makes sense. Mostly so we can have some wiggle room if we need to change up Europe to suit our story needs. You absolutely can have npc servants as a noble! Your Knight would likely be your main bodyguard, but I don't think I'm opposed to them having more than one body guard. That is something we can decide together. I'm going to spend time this weekend (hopefully) creating a spreadsheet for the dorms so we can easily track who rooms with who, who stays where, etc. But that's still up for debate and your input. I personally like them needing to share a room with another noble because that lends itself to even more interaction which is important for an RP like this to thrive. But if you're confident your noble would still interact in a meaningful way with other characters, then I don't mind their money getting them some special treatment.

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I do have some example pairings that I made previously when I had NPCs for this RP. If you'd like me to share them, I'd be happy to.

If I didn't answer your question or you feel like I ignored you, please, please let me know!