Deep Ground Online
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GM: @TheWindel
Co-GMs: @Lucius Cypher & @KoL
RP Thread: http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/84368-deep-ground-online/ooc
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On the future, the world has become fully connected through a multi layered world wide web known as the World Interface. Pretty much all persons are given a brain implant chip at birth, which is their gateway to accessing the Interface through a global wireless communication network.
The world enjoys a state of never seen stability thanks to the network and one of the key factors of such a social revolution was the introduction of the Deep Ground Program, an educational feature that allows children between the ages of thirteen and eighteen to prepare themselves for the adult life through a Virtual Reality Mass Multiplayer Online Battle Game, which is usually referred to as Deep Ground Online, or DGO, by those who partake on it. At least on publicly, in truth Deep Ground Online is a program that selects how your future will be, by assigning your role on society (job, home, even prospective relationships) based on your in game performance. Once you reach your nineteenth birthday, the program will uninstall itself automatically, meaning that if your performance up to that point is lacking, you are condemned to a poor life. Thus, DGO's true reality is that it's a harsh game where failure is not an option for most, if not all players.
Guilds
To the end of helping players achieve success in an ordained way, five Guilds, which are groups of players that band together under certain principles, exist within Deep Ground Online: The Ebony Strykers, The Cobalt Bruisers, The Ivory Masks, The Fanged Rangers and the Scarlet Harleys. Usually more known for the colors they represent, black, blue, white, green and red, respectively, these guilds are usually the only things between most players and a gruesome defeat. There are rumors about many unofficial player organizations, of which the most prominent are The Sweepers, but others could exist, even if on less numerous numbers.
Characters
Aside from their mundane personas, teenagers on the world of Deep Ground Online have access to an Online Battle Avatar, an amalgamation of each individual's psyche generated automatically by the system when they join the Deep Ground Program. Each Avatar is unique to a player and usually has a humanoid appearance, but some might be able to shapeshift in some more exotic forms, thanks to their Abilities.
Avatars begin at level one and can go all the way up to level nine, though the only known layers at such a level are the masters of each of the five guilds, aptly known as kings, for their undisputed power. Each Avatar also belongs to a class, and each class is further divided in archetypes. Aside from that, each Avatar has also a set of Feats, to go alongside their Abilities, granting that no character will ever be equal to another.
Character Rules and Sheet
Character Rules (Original): http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/2892243
Character Rules (DGO 2.0 Update): http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3680500
The Story So Far
The previous generation of Ebony Strykers had been disbanded for supposed involvement with hacks and other illegal scams, leaving only a lone player, a mysterious avatar named Moon Rider, to take up the mantle of Black King. Without anyone to call allies and no power other than her own, The Black King closed the doors of the Ebony Strykers and isolated herself for years. That is, until about a couple weeks ago, when Moon Rider made a declaration that set the world of Deep Ground Online, especially that of the students of the renowned Purple Crown Academy (the school that all player characters attend to), literally upside down:
“Attention all players. I, the Black King, ruler of the Ebony Strykers, am allowing any and all to join my guild. This will be the first time I have done so. Please, choose your allies wisely.”
This simple event, sparked a chain reaction that caused a true storm through both the online and real worlds.
First, the notorious hacker and Outlaw known by the pseudonym of Corpse Collector declared her intention of taking the head of the Black King, shortly after stealing great treasures of all of the Guilds, except for the Ebony Strykers. In the expanse of a few days a true war, whose high points were the two different battles known as the First and Second Sieges of the Black City, a collision between Corpse Collectors Outlaw army and the newly minted Ebony Strikers and their allies, as well as some neutral parties.
The final result of those events was the destruction of the hacker Corpse Collector, who got banished from Deep Ground,though no one ever found who her real world identity was. The second of the consequences was that the a whole sect of the Sweepers, the group of in game vigilantes that have an equally bad reputation for hacking and, if the rumors are to be believed, punishing people in the real world for their in game misbehavior, joined the new Ebony Strykers. The Sweepers comprise over half of the current Ebony Strykers and their leader, Dark Wraith, has taken a leadership role within the Black Guild, becoming The Black King's right arm.
Once the issue of Corpse Collector was solved, a small period of peace settled in only to be broken by what came to be known as the Ebony Strykers' Civil War, sparked by the resentments of some of their members, against the infamous Sweepers. One of the players who are said to have began the whole issue is known as Eclipse Princess, a notoriously powerful (some would say broken) Avatar, whose real life identity was publicly revealed to be Eris Reinhardt, a transfer student from Germany. At the aftermath of the Civil War, the White King, known as White Sun, has publicly declared her intention of open War against all of the rest of Deep Ground, breaking the non-aggression pact that the Kings had set up between then a long time ago.
And finally, we are brought to the present, a few days after the White King's bold declaration, as well as the public betrayal of Eclipse Princess, who joined the Ivory Masks for reasons yet unknown. The first big real world event, the long waited School Festival, for the students of the Purple Crown Academy is about to happen within a few days and there are news that the usually friendly inter-guild competition will have its stakes raised as the promise of a decisive clue that would help recover the treasure that Corpse Collector stole from the Scarlet Harleys was made.
Final Word
Well, as any who read the above information can infer, this is a recruitment check for our RP which has been running for over a year now at a stable, if slow, pace. We don't require, nor do any of you, who might be interested in joining, need to know what happened on the whole story, or every action of every player character, especially when the great majority of them are not in the RP anymore. We are at a transition period so joining is as simple as dropping by and saying that you want to.
We will gladly welcome anyone who express interest and help them however we can. Other than that, I would just like to thank you for your time.