"We will make our home here. Let it stand against it all as a testament to our resolve." -Founder of Rostrum Corvi
Background - Fiction
Rostrum Corvi is a hidden enclave in the far eastern reaches of Anima (a region historically referred to by locals as Corvus). Initially chosen due to its location being relatively sparse on Grimm (perhaps due to the inhospitable desert) and naturally protected by a large canyon carved by a long-dry river, it was essentially an outpost stationed at the edge of where the people of Mistral could reasonably survive. Historically a garrison used as a dumping grounds for those who drew the ire of the ruling class, it was often seen as the ultimate condemnation - to be sent to the Crow's Beak was to be never seen again.
That is all in the past, however. Rostrum Corvi soon saw more than just the upper class's rejects - the kingdom of Mistral grew and began to encroach upon the once-desolate area. Though still remote, it saw a relative increase in surrounding population - small towns and even a larger city named Dextra ala Corvi.
The garrison began a custom of training hunters and huntresses well before the start of this story, but its use has skyrocketed as the region of Corvus, once seen as relatively free of Grimm due to the remote location, has seen a significant uptick in Grimm activity - even approaching from the inhospitable desert, a place so desolate it was thought not even the Grimm could survive it. It has seen rapid development and attention from even the heart of the kingdom of Mistral as a result - leading to Rostrum Corvi becoming a modernized academy on par with others on Remnant.
Premise
This RP starts with the first formal class sent to Corvi Academy. While there were many huntsman trained here in the past, the training was never as formal as other academies and it has only now adopted many of their conventions (to the ire of a number of the staff). This class includes locals from the area of Corvus, but also a significant number of students from abroad - sent there for many reasons, such as casting a wide net to gain an initial class or even for its reputation of unorthodox training methods and harsh climate leading to some famously powerful huntsmen hailing from the area.
Between having to struggle with the new academy training and the uptick in Grimm activity, there is many an opportunity for huntsmen-in-training to hone their skills... Or make their own path entirely.
Rules
1. Don't be a meanie 2. I'll be the judge of pvp if it comes up. PvE will be more in the vein of classic rwby rule of cool, shred mobs all you want n stuff, come up with cool plans to kill the big ones. 3. Characters are coming in fresh (i.e. they should all be first years) so they shouldn't be too wildly competent already, just keep that in mind 4. There are only so many colors in the world so be careful with what you pick for names. I will be watching you. (names that aren't color based will be rejected)
Character Sheet
Name: Gender: [or whatever] Image Color: [required - your character's color motif] Semblance: [What's your characters' special ability? You can have them not really get it since they are just starting out, but it's best to have an idea. Try not to make things too powerful here, give room to grow.] Weapon: [Your weapon is your LIFE. It better be cool.]
Appearance: [Text or picture or whatever.]
Personality: [What are they like? Also throw in background. Or vice versa.]
Relationships: [Team members and impressions of others at the academy]
FAQ
Q. But that's not in RWBY! A. Then I guess this is an AU? I'm gonna rule 0 a lot of stuff so sorry if it contradicts what is canon. Q. What about the canon RWBY characters? A. They're still around but I'll be honest, this is set in a faraway location for a reason. Don't expect canon characters to ever show up. At best they'll be mentioned in passing. Q. Actually in Vol 4- A. But there's only two volumes??? Q. What about catgirl racism? A. Honestly don't care for it much, the people of Corvus have too much on their plate to hate on a potential extra set of hands that could be helping. Outsiders trying to bring it to the area will have to deal with it Q. Who is the cutest love live? A. Rin.
An inscrutable divine comedy in a battling city of academies
City - Opis
Background - Fiction
In the ages of myth, the gods of the world bestowed great gifts upon that of humanity. They used these gifts to rid the world of a profound evil that threatened both the gods and mortals. In exchange for their sacrifices, the gods continued to proffer their gifts generation after generation...
...Or so history says. In this world, while the influence of the gods and their gifts are clear to observe, direct intervention by any specific god is unheard of. The specifics of the divine cosmology are often a subject of personal belief and philosophy moreso than any one true religion - something people may theorize about but never know the full picture.
The city of Theia is the most prosperous city in all of the world, and with good reason - it is essentially geographically at the center, at a cultural confluence of many different peoples, and most notably "the place closest to the gods." A city that has roots all the way back to the ages of myth, it is rumored to have survived centuries of tumultuous times, disasters, and evil due to the gods' protection.
While the foundations date back to ancient myth, the modern-day city resembles most others with all the amenities a big city can offer. Perhaps one of the few mythological traditions that remain are the schools that cultivate the mind as well as the gods' gifts - notably through physical clashes at organized tournaments. To these schools, performance in a clash is just as important as any other subject, and would be treated as such. Whether it is subtle guiding by the unseen hands of gods, something in the water supply, or just a deeply ingrained tradition, the reality for most residents of Theia is a high concentration of student-age young adults training and clashing with each other in spectacular fashion.
Schools
Schools make up the factions of Rhea and players will pick one to be a part of. The larger schools have a lot of variance and perhaps even power struggles, so not everyone has to be buddy-buddy even in the same school, but generally there's some expectation of cooperation since you might end up having to back up a classmate in a fight down the road.
These schools tend to be more autonomous and student-ran, though obviously there are adults that step in if things get too out of hand. Of course, different schools pride themselves on having higher or lower standards of what "out of hand" means.
Alexandria's Academy For the Gifted: A historic and upscale school that is said to have been founded by one of the first humans to bear a Gift (though this is completely unverifiable). While its facilities and record are top-notch, it has been known to be sluggish to adapt in the tournament circuit. While the school is at the top, they seem unbeatable, but once behind the curve they take a long time to adapt. Perhaps fresh blood is what they need to fully establish dominance?
Alexandria's Academy is headed by a student council, the president of which is [gigantic name goes here when I think of one that's not just Lise's name again]. She has a claim in a long line of headmasters and headmistresses of Alexandria's Academy, and carries her royal bloodline with great pride.
Celestine's School of the Forbidden: A newcomer to the top schools of Rhea, this shady establishment seems to be poorly organized from the outside, yet has snatched up many powerful students... For whatever reason. Despite the sketchy nature of the school, the headmaster seems to have smoothed over things with the authorities and they never get thrown out of tournaments, so maybe it's fine...? This school attracts those who want to eschew traditional organizations and simply let the most powerful rise to the top however they can, practicing what seems to be complete chaos. Whether they win through underhanded sabotage or fund their school through illegal tax fraud, what is clear is that they are a juggernaut on the field.
The questionable practices of this school, and its chaotic nature, makes most outsiders unsure who really is at the head of the student organization of the school. Perhaps their head figure hides their identity in order to protect the school from reprisals, or perhaps the rumors that the school is in a constant state of anarchy is true and nobody is in charge. Only a few within the school's inner circle know for sure.
Theian Association and Conglomerate of Technical Interest Clubs: This organization is actually a conglomerate of many Theian Technical Schools, which are the government-required schooling available to those that don't make it to more selective or eclectic schools. Normally no tech school has enough strong players to have a presence (since they mainly are just zoned to accept whoever lives nearby), but an enigmatic leader managed to scout and organize enough outliers between the various schools all over Theia to form a formidable group. Given how wide of an area the association can recruit from, their potential is impossible to predict - something this group has used to its benefit to become a top contender in Theia.
TACTICs was organized by a brilliant student who goes by a codename of [chess piece name? it cant just be king]. They organize the group through an extensive communication network, and rarely show their face in-person. Despite that, [name] seems to have eyes and ears in places nobody expects, and uses it to their advantage whenever they can.
So what's this all about?
This is another take on the classic battling schools theme from anime and various other media. A city seemingly ran by absurdly powerful student bodies that clash in sanctioned (and unsanctioned!) events. Ideally there would be fighting, drama, maybe some shenanigans here and there. My loose plan is to have characters interact amongst each other for brief arcs, then come back together for tournament sets, and work in a pattern like that. Schools will have odd jobs for characters to do, and I'm sure players can also make up some of their own shenanigans to get rolled up into. If anything, I would encourage character makers to think of some fun background conflict with others to work on when they're not in a tournament.
The tone I would want to shoot for is fairly wide, honestly I mainly just don't want it going so dark that murders and heinous crimes are occurring. Let's keep it to drawing blood at the absolute worst. If you're not sure run it past me.
As for character powers, don't make something that's going to give me a headache mainly. Powerful is fine, unbeatable isn't. Tournaments will be varied in how teams compete, and not just be 1v1 cage matches, so don't shy away from having utility that isn't just straight up KOing people. Plus your character ideally will have a life outside of fighting people, so stuff they can use in everyday life is obviously a boon.
As things progress players may gain new aspects of their gift, though this often will be at a "big moment" for them. It won't happen often, but it's not unheard of either.
Character sheet:
Basic CS skeleton: Name: [Feel free to include any nicknames or titles your character would have.] Age: [Ideally in the young adult area] School: [School and/or grade. the "big school" units listed above are high-school-ish, but also have more advanced grades for older students similar to a college] Biography: [Include some form of either personality or background here. It's optional, but there won't be much time to set up characters at the start of this RP, so having something is going to be better than having nothing.] Powers: [Put your powers here. Do remember, 1 core power and up to 3 other abilities. If you'd like a guideline as to how far you should or shouldn't go, I'll have some example sheets later on. ] Relationships: [Rivals and nemeses, reputations preceding, perhaps even some special feelings for a special person. This section is optional, but it's nice. Try to at least include other people in your school once rosters are starting to show up.]
B A S I C I N F O [Name]Mina MacLean [Callsign]Foxtrot [Gender]F [Age]31 [Rank and Designation]E-7 [Place of Birth]Emerald, AUM-3 [Official Statement]-"Foxtrot on station. Get behind me and let's finish the mission."
C O M B A T A B I L I T Y
[Mech Model]Calamus [Type]Assaulter [Size]40ft and rly heavy [Core]Epsilon [Armaments]
Blackjack Canister Gun - Assault gun capable of firing canister rounds with varying payloads of shot. Loadings include high explosive, armor piercing darts, incendiary payloads, as well as other novel loadings depending on mission. Adjustable choke to disperse or focus shot placement depending on the engagement. Can be fired while braced against shield.
Vanguard Shield - Heavily armored shield designed to be the focal point of an assault and let a team cut through an enemy line. Physical shield is extremely resistant to attacks and an in-built shield generator further augments its protection, and allows the user to project a larger energy shield to protect nearby teammates as well. It is also a gigantic piece of metal for less sophisticated maneuvers using the Satyr drive.
Satyr Drive - Overclocked boosters allow the Calamus to gain extreme bursts of speed for rapid repositioning, evading, and offensive manuevers.
Profile
[Surface-level Impression] Mina is a professional soldier. She tries her best to be the strongest Pilot she can be. Not a sensitive type. Pragmatic. Can be abrasive, but usually well-meaning with criticism. Harshest on herself, though she often won't let it show.
[Personal History] Mina has a history of military service in her family. As she rose to the rank of pilot she was offered the chance to be a squad lead. After a disastrous operation she swore off leadership roles and had a very successful career as a pointwoman in pilot squads.
Home World
[Planet Description] AUM-3 is a planet that is unremarkable other than its location along an important supply chain for military logistics. As the sole habitable planet in the system, AUM-3 hosted a large military and logistical presence, but not much else.
[Culture] Being essentially a military colony, Emerald hosted very little in the way of culture other than what was easily rolled out to fleece enlisted out of their living stipends when they were off duty. The high concentration of military personnel led to a very stable, but also rigid living environment. Military shrinks recommend rotating personnel assigned to Emerald to a more hospitable area after five or more years of living there.
Notable Contacts
[Name] Lilia MacLean
[Relation to Subject] Mina's younger sister
[Analysis] Lilia took an opposite path to her sister, despite their similar upbringing. Her schooling records labelled her a potential prodigy, and she had constant pressure to join the MHA from her parents. With no desire to fight, she fled from her family in her late teens, with her only family contact being with Mina since. Since then, she has spent her time building a career as a musician and artist - her true passion in life. The two sisters are on good terms, and they both respect the others' choices though they ended up being in such diametrically opposite fields of work. Even now they keep in contact with each other, each being the others' most trusted confidant since childhood.
A story of school idols coming together for a blindingly brilliant performance
Background
The School Idol scene in Japan is at its height, with the Love Live championship reaching a fever pitch. The Karasugadai School Idol Club, comprised of mainly third-year students, had a legendary performance that won Karasugadai's first Love Live championship. However, at the start of the new school year, the School Idol Club is in danger of being disbanded. The only remaining member has resigned as an idol after winning Love Live, and if no students step up to reform the club, Karasugadai's shining moment may never be repeated.
Your character, whether they were a first year attracted to Karasugadai because of the school idol club's achievement, or a third year who ignites a newfound passion for performance art through school idol activities, will be a part of the group that saves the club from disbanding.
So what's this about?
This RP takes place at a fictional girl's school in the fringes of the Tokyo Metropolis, Karasugadai Girl's High School. Karasugadai had a history of a strong arts program, but only recently gained popularity with school idol fans due to a dark horse idol unit sweeping the Love Live championship and then dissolving soon afterwards.
This RP takes place the school year after this legendary performance. The PCs will be tasked with saving the Karasugadai School Idol Club, and ultimately trying to perform in events ultimately leading to the Love Live championship itself. The focus of the RP will primarily be on the idols coming together as a club for the first arc, so characters may not even start as idols - but obviously they should have some kind of reason to join.
There isn't any continuity with existing Love Live series, other than there being a Love Live competition that every school idol aspires to win. I would say that the themes and tone of previous Love Live series are what I would like to use as a model.
What if I don't know anything about Love Live
Well, since there's no continuity you don't need to know any particular facts. Just that there are idols that sing and dance to perform while still being students (school idols) that often put on performances to compete, with Love Live being the name of the national championship that is seen as the apex of school idol competition.
But to elaborate more on the tone and themes I talked about: -Focus on the relations between the school idols, how they come together, and how they work together to win -Less of a focus on "idol industry" activities, lots of finer details and logistics are kind of handwaved (i.e. they may have a songwriter student but it's never really explained how they put together entire well-produced songs for performances) -Keep an optimistic outlook in the end even if things can get heavy / relationships can become strained -Around the second season there's a few points where the characters always do something really silly for comedic effect
Character Sheet
Appearance: A verbal description helps along with a faceclaim. Name: Unless they're a transfer student they probably should have a Japanese name Year of School: First, second, and third years. Why they joined Karasugadai: This may not have anything to do with school idols, but it may give some background about their interest in the arts which might help the school idol club when they join. School Idol Status: At the start of the RP the school idol club is in shambles. PCs may have varying states of interest in school idols, but they must be made with an intention to end up joining the club. State how interested they are at the outset, and if they aren't, state some kind of reason that they would become interested. Idol Specialty: What would they bring to the club? For example: Making costumes, writing songs, dancing, fitness training, etc. You can get creative with this but it's best if it's something that ties in with their reason for joining the club and/or their reason why they are at Karasugadai in the first place. Idol Alignment: There are three alignments: Smile, Pure, and Cool. There can be a major and a minor alignment (i.e. major cool, minor pure) or just one. This one is really self explanatory so you should all just get it.
Once character sheets are accepted there will be an addition to the character sheet for connections to other PCs. Since interaction dynamics and relationships between characters are extremely important, it might be best to try and think of how to have at least two direct connections to other player characters, but that's best done after sheets are vetted, so just keep it in mind.