The Library, an action and adventure RP, alive since 22/11/11
Characters
Stats
Skills
Achievements
Minions
The Lobby
Welcome
The Library is the heart and brains of this world, more influential than the government herself. Much like a modern day company, the Library offers various services to those that can afford the fees. They develop magitechnology (magitech for short) fund scientific research and own most knowledge, and outsource specialists as well as mercenaries and administrative workers.
The players will take the role of the employees of the Library. The mercenary branch, to be more specific (although you can be part of a secondary branch) and become holders. Holders are connected to a spirit that can be practically anything. Do you want a samurai, a Roman gladiator, a satyr or even a fire-breathing dragon? It is all fair game! With your new companion, you will fight alongside the other holders against other super-powered beings... That for some mysterious reason want to kill you!
Library Structure
This is where the general info part starts. The Library is split up in different departments, or branches if you prefer.
The Library's branches are the following:
But you're free to add suggestions.
Every branch has a small hierarchy. Names may differ depending on branch; but these are usually their roles.
All players start out as 'workers' but may grow in rank over the course of the RP. Power level has nothing to do with rank and holding a higher rank grants no combat-related advantages.
All departments are under the lead of the director and the council. The director is the leading executive but requires permission from the council for major decisions.
The council itself has no executive power. It mainly consists out of major shareholders and heads of departments, but also a few certain managers. The highest possible position for a player to achieve is a council-member.
The World
The country in which the Library itself resides, is called the Hub. The dominant style in architecture is Victorian, like this, this, this, this and this.
The technology advancement is very similar to our own steam-era. However instead of steam; the Hub uses magitech. The (often liquid) magic that runs through machines is commonly referred to as mana. Rule of thumb is; if it doesn't run on a steam engine, it prolly won't run on mana either. Mana-powered machinery is often heavy and rarely makes an indirect connection with other machinery. Exceptions exist, but will be specifically mentioned in the IC and/or OOC.
In terms of the social and moral setting; think more or less modern. Money, knowledge, job and connections are what give a person power. Race, gender and castes are completely irrelevant.
Aside the Hub there are many other lands; all will be specified in the missions they're relevant to, but they range from rainforests to volcanic regions. From lands full of cavemen to nations nearly as advanced as the Hub.
Spirits
Spirits are immaterial beings that may or may not have been amongst the living at one point. Little is still known about them. They come in all shapes and forms and are drawn to mana, for some reason. Only through the use of mana, people can see and communicate with spirits.
Most spirits are intelligent. They have similar levels of intelligence to humans, regardless of what they look like, be it a man, an elephant or a grasshopper. Also all of them can speak, but only holders can hear them...
Holders
Sometimes a child is born with mana in their bloodstream, but people can also have implanted mana into their bodies artificially. People who hold mana in their bodies are called holders and can bond with spirits. Bonding with a spirit has some great benefits; but they differ from person to person. We make a distinction between different types of holders; Pawns, Rooks, Bishops and Knights (Queens and Kings are not playable.)
Sometimes a child is born with mana in their bloodstream, but people can also have implanted mana into their bodies artificially. People who hold mana in their bodies are called holders and can bond with spirits]. Bonding with a spirit has some great benefits; but they differ from person to person. We make a distinction between different types of holders; Pawns, Rooks, Bishops and Knights (Queens and Kings are not playable.)
Pawn
These are the most basic of holders. Pawns can't do anything with their spirits, most can't even talk to them or see them, but they are still more powerful than the average human.
Rook
Rooks focus on the physical side of combat. As a Rook, you're tougher than a regular Pawn and can wield spirit-weapons! Every Rook has an arsenal of three weapons, based on the spirit itself. A holder of a samurai's soul for example, may have a katana, yumi and naginata. A dragon's soul, on the other hand, could grant you a huge flaming zweihander, a cannon in the shape of a dragon's jaws and ball (skull) and chain (spine).
Bishop
Bishops assume the role of spellcasters. While not physically tougher than the Pawn, a Bishop has an array of three magical spells. Again, using the dragon for an example, a Bishop could possess the ability to breathe fire, grow two scaly wings and have a really loud roar! Or perhaps he can summon dancing katana, empower allies' weapons/spells and force an opponent to single combat.
Knight
Knights do not use their own body or mind to fight, but instead summon a physical form of their spirit. Knight-type holders their selves may not be more powerful than humans, their summoned spirits sure are! The spirit can have both spells and weapons (the combined number is still three), making it a lot more versatile. Knights often fight alongside their summons, or may even mount them!
Stats
As a holder, you are capable of growing much stronger than the average human being. For this there are three categories in which you can grow; Power (POW), Spirit (SPI) and Agility (AGI). A quick summary of what they do:
Skills
Your standard powers may seem pretty cool, special skills add a whole new level! As you level up you will gain 'skill points', with which you can upgrade your character by buying skills! Skills also come with stat requirements. For example, to get the skill SHOVE you will need 4 POW, 2 SPI and 2 AGI.
You can upgrade skills with skill points as well, making them bigger and better. Upgrading skills costs less skill points than buying new skills, but the stat requirements are higher. For example, to level up SHOVE you need 7 POW, 4 SPI and 3 AGI.
Most skills often have cooldowns (CD.) If a skill has 1 CD, that means that after you've used it you can't use it the next post. If it has 3 CD you can't use it for the following 3 posts, etc.
Most damaging skills have multipliers. The formula is stat*multiplier=output. So if SKILL uses POW, the user has 20 POW and SKILL is level 1, 20*0.1=2. So you would do as much damage as if you used a normal attack, but with only 2 POW.
A list of skills, along with their requirements and prices, can be found here.
Achievements
Now, I don't know if any of you own an xbox or playstation, but if you do you might be familiar with the system. Upon playing a game, you unlock certain achievements for doing certain actions. These will give you even more points to spend; one skill point and one stat point. Skill points will always be up to the player, but stat points must be put in the category of their achievement. Someone who earns 'Companion' must put the point in SPI.
A few notes on achievements:
Now; without further ado, the list!
NEW: Active Abilities
When the mission Glow in the Dark finished, there has been an amazing discovery. Radiana, a normally unstable and destructive form of mana, can be manipulated to grant extra functions to each of a holder's existent abilities. For example, a rook might be able to set his sword on fire by it and make his arrows drenched in venom, or a bishop might make their fireballs split up in a lot of tiny fireballs. All these skills require to have a cooldown relative to their power level. Minor boosts naturally have lower cooldown periods than larger ones. These cooldowns don't have to be obeyed. Technically speaking, you can use your actives indefinitely. Well, until you die anyway. Using an active ability before the cooldown has been reset can and will permanently cripple your character. The penalty will be determined by the GM.
If you choose to have active abilities, add them in with your standard abilities in your character sheet with appropriate description and cooldown. If you have an accepted character sheet without active abilities and want to get them later on, run them by me before using them.
A couple notes before you get started on crafting them;
NEW: Promotions
The Library knows multiple ranks that can be found on the top of the thread. While all characters start off as workers, they can apply to be promoted to team leader after completing at least one IC mission. What are the benefits of this rank? Well, besides added responsibility and accountability you may command up to three minions; creatures artificially created to follow your character! Minions can be controlled by their creator as well as the GM.
To apply for a minion, follow in the following sheet and the GM will provide you with abilities, stats and skills. Afterwards, you may add them to your character sheet.
Note that team leaders do not actually have the authority to penalise other PC's. Also if your character performs irresponsibly during missions, they may be demoted... Don't let that scare you though! We all like mental torture through misery and self-doubt character development!
Rules
Most rules are simple; play fair. Just abide to the common ones and you'll do fine. If you're unsure about something feel free to ask.
Aside that, there's a couple reservations I'd like to make as GM. Kestrel reserves the right to control your character if he/she is holding up the plot for an extended period of time. I also reserve the right to remove your character from the game entirely, should you be inactive for an extended period of time or be otherwise disruptive to the game.
I'm a fairly relaxed guy and I'm open to reason and discussion, but if I give you a no-go or warning; that is final. Insisting to argue a closed case may be considered as disruptive to the RP.
Oh and please don't put OOC-chatter in the IC. Just make a separate post in here. We get to read an uninterrupted IC and you get to raise your post-count! Everybody scores! But do place the name of the mission you're on on top of the post so that I can track them down more easily.
Character Sheet
You get the following points to spend when creating a character.
Available Missions:
In Progress Missions:
Finished Missions:
Casualty Records
FAQ
Q: Can Pawns advance to other classes?
A: Yes, they can. At a certain point they will be able to advanced to any of the other three available classes. This point will be requested by the player and determined by the GM's. Pawns will not gain advantages over players who did not start out as a Pawn.
Q: Are skills the only available weapons/spells?
A: No, skills are additional abilities completely separate from your weapons and skills. Weapons and spells their selves are completely up to you to design.
Q: Will we ever get more than 3 weapons/spells?
A: Not unlikely! At this point of time we can't say much about it, though, but until then there are always those extra skills that you may purchase.
Q: Can characters use normal weapons?
A: Yes, but normal weapons won't be affected by your stats. So at some point a 5+ POW character won't be damaged by your puny sword strike, then it will take your sword away and bend it with its own hands; because physical attacks utilising the body are affected by POW.
Q: If my character is a knight, do stats affect them as well as the spirit?
A: Only affect the spirit, yeah. Knights their selves stay human. The price to pay for their versatility.
Q: What happens to a spirit if their knight goes unconscious?
A: Without a concious knight, spirits have trouble staying on our plane so they will quickly fade out as if they were dismissed by their holder.
Q: Do Rooks carry all their weapons around all the time?
A: A rook's weapon is basically a materialised version of their spirit. It can be summoned and dismissed at any given time. However for this reason you also can't use two weapons at once. Only exception to this rule are Knights because parts of their summon's bodies may count as weapons.
Q: What's the deal with nobility in the Hub?
A: In this world taking pride in being of nobility means about as much as carrying around a plastic bag of poo; your nose might be held high but everyone can see your reason to do so is full of shit and will walk a circle around you. Nobility exists but it doesn't have any meaning. Just take note of that. It is just a title that's been passed down, the holder is just as likely as everyone else to be a part of regional politics as he/she is to do manual labour against minimum wage.
Q: Are there cars?
A: No.
Q: I'm new, do I need to read the entire IC?
A: All finished missions have nice little summaries going on. Check 'em out.
Stats
Skills
Achievements
Minions
The Lobby
The Library is the heart and brains of this world, more influential than the government herself. Much like a modern day company, the Library offers various services to those that can afford the fees. They develop magitechnology (magitech for short) fund scientific research and own most knowledge, and outsource specialists as well as mercenaries and administrative workers.
The players will take the role of the employees of the Library. The mercenary branch, to be more specific (although you can be part of a secondary branch) and become holders. Holders are connected to a spirit that can be practically anything. Do you want a samurai, a Roman gladiator, a satyr or even a fire-breathing dragon? It is all fair game! With your new companion, you will fight alongside the other holders against other super-powered beings... That for some mysterious reason want to kill you!
This is where the general info part starts. The Library is split up in different departments, or branches if you prefer.
The Library's branches are the following:
- Administration
- Culinary
- Intelligence
- Medical
- Mercenary
- Political Relationships
- Public Relationships
- Recruitment
- Research
But you're free to add suggestions.
Every branch has a small hierarchy. Names may differ depending on branch; but these are usually their roles.
- Head of Department
- Manager
- Team leader
- Worker
All players start out as 'workers' but may grow in rank over the course of the RP. Power level has nothing to do with rank and holding a higher rank grants no combat-related advantages.
All departments are under the lead of the director and the council. The director is the leading executive but requires permission from the council for major decisions.
The council itself has no executive power. It mainly consists out of major shareholders and heads of departments, but also a few certain managers. The highest possible position for a player to achieve is a council-member.
The country in which the Library itself resides, is called the Hub. The dominant style in architecture is Victorian, like this, this, this, this and this.
The technology advancement is very similar to our own steam-era. However instead of steam; the Hub uses magitech. The (often liquid) magic that runs through machines is commonly referred to as mana. Rule of thumb is; if it doesn't run on a steam engine, it prolly won't run on mana either. Mana-powered machinery is often heavy and rarely makes an indirect connection with other machinery. Exceptions exist, but will be specifically mentioned in the IC and/or OOC.
In terms of the social and moral setting; think more or less modern. Money, knowledge, job and connections are what give a person power. Race, gender and castes are completely irrelevant.
Aside the Hub there are many other lands; all will be specified in the missions they're relevant to, but they range from rainforests to volcanic regions. From lands full of cavemen to nations nearly as advanced as the Hub.
Spirits are immaterial beings that may or may not have been amongst the living at one point. Little is still known about them. They come in all shapes and forms and are drawn to mana, for some reason. Only through the use of mana, people can see and communicate with spirits.
Most spirits are intelligent. They have similar levels of intelligence to humans, regardless of what they look like, be it a man, an elephant or a grasshopper. Also all of them can speak, but only holders can hear them...
Sometimes a child is born with mana in their bloodstream, but people can also have implanted mana into their bodies artificially. People who hold mana in their bodies are called holders and can bond with spirits. Bonding with a spirit has some great benefits; but they differ from person to person. We make a distinction between different types of holders; Pawns, Rooks, Bishops and Knights (Queens and Kings are not playable.)
Sometimes a child is born with mana in their bloodstream, but people can also have implanted mana into their bodies artificially. People who hold mana in their bodies are called holders and can bond with spirits]. Bonding with a spirit has some great benefits; but they differ from person to person. We make a distinction between different types of holders; Pawns, Rooks, Bishops and Knights (Queens and Kings are not playable.)
Pawn
These are the most basic of holders. Pawns can't do anything with their spirits, most can't even talk to them or see them, but they are still more powerful than the average human.
Rook
Rooks focus on the physical side of combat. As a Rook, you're tougher than a regular Pawn and can wield spirit-weapons! Every Rook has an arsenal of three weapons, based on the spirit itself. A holder of a samurai's soul for example, may have a katana, yumi and naginata. A dragon's soul, on the other hand, could grant you a huge flaming zweihander, a cannon in the shape of a dragon's jaws and ball (skull) and chain (spine).
Bishop
Bishops assume the role of spellcasters. While not physically tougher than the Pawn, a Bishop has an array of three magical spells. Again, using the dragon for an example, a Bishop could possess the ability to breathe fire, grow two scaly wings and have a really loud roar! Or perhaps he can summon dancing katana, empower allies' weapons/spells and force an opponent to single combat.
Knight
Knights do not use their own body or mind to fight, but instead summon a physical form of their spirit. Knight-type holders their selves may not be more powerful than humans, their summoned spirits sure are! The spirit can have both spells and weapons (the combined number is still three), making it a lot more versatile. Knights often fight alongside their summons, or may even mount them!
As a holder, you are capable of growing much stronger than the average human being. For this there are three categories in which you can grow; Power (POW), Spirit (SPI) and Agility (AGI). A quick summary of what they do:
- POW combines physical strength, sharpness and sturdiness of weapons/claws/etc. (don't ask how) with defense and stamina. Bishops will also want to get some POW but in lesser amounts because spells don't exert body.
- SPI provides greater spell-strength along with defence against spells and helps out your ability to keep casting spells. Rooks want some SPI so they're not burned to crisps by Bishops.
- AGI is a mix of speed, reflexes and dexterity. So you're faster at attacking, more likely to hit and when things go wrong you want some AGI so you can run the hell away!
Your standard powers may seem pretty cool, special skills add a whole new level! As you level up you will gain 'skill points', with which you can upgrade your character by buying skills! Skills also come with stat requirements. For example, to get the skill SHOVE you will need 4 POW, 2 SPI and 2 AGI.
You can upgrade skills with skill points as well, making them bigger and better. Upgrading skills costs less skill points than buying new skills, but the stat requirements are higher. For example, to level up SHOVE you need 7 POW, 4 SPI and 3 AGI.
Most skills often have cooldowns (CD.) If a skill has 1 CD, that means that after you've used it you can't use it the next post. If it has 3 CD you can't use it for the following 3 posts, etc.
Most damaging skills have multipliers. The formula is stat*multiplier=output. So if SKILL uses POW, the user has 20 POW and SKILL is level 1, 20*0.1=2. So you would do as much damage as if you used a normal attack, but with only 2 POW.
A list of skills, along with their requirements and prices, can be found here.
Now, I don't know if any of you own an xbox or playstation, but if you do you might be familiar with the system. Upon playing a game, you unlock certain achievements for doing certain actions. These will give you even more points to spend; one skill point and one stat point. Skill points will always be up to the player, but stat points must be put in the category of their achievement. Someone who earns 'Companion' must put the point in SPI.
A few notes on achievements:
- You can only unlock one achievement per mission.
- Achievements can only be unlocked once per character.
- The same achievement cannot be earned by two or more characters during the same mission.
- Achievements give you a skill point to spend wherever, but a stat point of a predetermined value.
- Achievements will remain hidden until at least one person unlocks it.
Now; without further ado, the list!
When the mission Glow in the Dark finished, there has been an amazing discovery. Radiana, a normally unstable and destructive form of mana, can be manipulated to grant extra functions to each of a holder's existent abilities. For example, a rook might be able to set his sword on fire by it and make his arrows drenched in venom, or a bishop might make their fireballs split up in a lot of tiny fireballs. All these skills require to have a cooldown relative to their power level. Minor boosts naturally have lower cooldown periods than larger ones. These cooldowns don't have to be obeyed. Technically speaking, you can use your actives indefinitely. Well, until you die anyway. Using an active ability before the cooldown has been reset can and will permanently cripple your character. The penalty will be determined by the GM.
If you choose to have active abilities, add them in with your standard abilities in your character sheet with appropriate description and cooldown. If you have an accepted character sheet without active abilities and want to get them later on, run them by me before using them.
A couple notes before you get started on crafting them;
- The more powerful the ability the longer the cooldown. Weak effects may only have 1 or 2 post coodlowns, while a powerful one will go above 5.
- Versatility and utility counts as power.
- As a general rule, plain buffed up attacks have a multiplier of 1.25. Any higher will require a negative side-effect.
- Your active must be, in some way or another, be based off the ability it's an active for.
- If you're unsure if your actives are balanced or not, compare them to those of the people in the CS thread.
The Library knows multiple ranks that can be found on the top of the thread. While all characters start off as workers, they can apply to be promoted to team leader after completing at least one IC mission. What are the benefits of this rank? Well, besides added responsibility and accountability you may command up to three minions; creatures artificially created to follow your character! Minions can be controlled by their creator as well as the GM.
To apply for a minion, follow in the following sheet and the GM will provide you with abilities, stats and skills. Afterwards, you may add them to your character sheet.
Note that team leaders do not actually have the authority to penalise other PC's. Also if your character performs irresponsibly during missions, they may be demoted... Don't let that scare you though! We all like mental torture through misery and self-doubt character development!
Most rules are simple; play fair. Just abide to the common ones and you'll do fine. If you're unsure about something feel free to ask.
Aside that, there's a couple reservations I'd like to make as GM. Kestrel reserves the right to control your character if he/she is holding up the plot for an extended period of time. I also reserve the right to remove your character from the game entirely, should you be inactive for an extended period of time or be otherwise disruptive to the game.
I'm a fairly relaxed guy and I'm open to reason and discussion, but if I give you a no-go or warning; that is final. Insisting to argue a closed case may be considered as disruptive to the RP.
Oh and please don't put OOC-chatter in the IC. Just make a separate post in here. We get to read an uninterrupted IC and you get to raise your post-count! Everybody scores! But do place the name of the mission you're on on top of the post so that I can track them down more easily.
You get the following points to spend when creating a character.
- 20 stat points that can be sunk into either POW, SPI OR AGI. 2 of are predetermined based on your class;
-- Rooks have at least 2 points in POW
-- Bishops have at least 2 points in SPI
-- Knights have at least 1 point in both POW and SPI.
-- Pawns... Well, subtract 2 points from your stat total, you'll get them when/if you advance. - 17 skill points which can be spent on a skill right away, or saved up. Please make a notation of where they're going in your sheet.
Q: Can Pawns advance to other classes?
A: Yes, they can. At a certain point they will be able to advanced to any of the other three available classes. This point will be requested by the player and determined by the GM's. Pawns will not gain advantages over players who did not start out as a Pawn.
Q: Are skills the only available weapons/spells?
A: No, skills are additional abilities completely separate from your weapons and skills. Weapons and spells their selves are completely up to you to design.
Q: Will we ever get more than 3 weapons/spells?
A: Not unlikely! At this point of time we can't say much about it, though, but until then there are always those extra skills that you may purchase.
Q: Can characters use normal weapons?
A: Yes, but normal weapons won't be affected by your stats. So at some point a 5+ POW character won't be damaged by your puny sword strike, then it will take your sword away and bend it with its own hands; because physical attacks utilising the body are affected by POW.
Q: If my character is a knight, do stats affect them as well as the spirit?
A: Only affect the spirit, yeah. Knights their selves stay human. The price to pay for their versatility.
Q: What happens to a spirit if their knight goes unconscious?
A: Without a concious knight, spirits have trouble staying on our plane so they will quickly fade out as if they were dismissed by their holder.
Q: Do Rooks carry all their weapons around all the time?
A: A rook's weapon is basically a materialised version of their spirit. It can be summoned and dismissed at any given time. However for this reason you also can't use two weapons at once. Only exception to this rule are Knights because parts of their summon's bodies may count as weapons.
Q: What's the deal with nobility in the Hub?
A: In this world taking pride in being of nobility means about as much as carrying around a plastic bag of poo; your nose might be held high but everyone can see your reason to do so is full of shit and will walk a circle around you. Nobility exists but it doesn't have any meaning. Just take note of that. It is just a title that's been passed down, the holder is just as likely as everyone else to be a part of regional politics as he/she is to do manual labour against minimum wage.
Q: Are there cars?
A: No.
Q: I'm new, do I need to read the entire IC?
A: All finished missions have nice little summaries going on. Check 'em out.
