Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by Footman
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Draft 1.0

Champions, Regiments and Wizards




A dungeon crawl-type dark fantasy adventure roleplay on a grander scale





The Story So Far: The small island realm of Everstrine is under siege by Gargth the Fallen; a powerful wizard he was, made corrupt by the pursuit of power, and turned into something beyond the ken of Mortal Man through his tireless experiments with forces best left undisturbed.

From his Wizard's Tower located in the centre mass of Everstrine, and protected by a powerful and unbreakable barrier of arcane design, Gargth has waged war against the good people of the island. He summons legions of warriors from the fabled Shadow Realm; each one of their heinous forms constructed from the fallen arts Gargth has mastered, and imbued with the souls of those that inhabit that dark place. Gnashing fangs, brutish strength and immortality avail these vermin, and they have struck Everstrine's inhabitants hard and fast.

Already, the three townships of Amberth, Haglesrike and Sandbrick are under siege, with little hope of reprieve. The Count of Everstrine, a certain Lord Hugar Trechspir, has made several heroic attempts to beat back the forces of the Fallen Wizard, but alas, for what can these islanders do against forces so numerable, against forces so mighty?

With defeat looming, and the fate of a half a million people in the balance, Lord Trechspir finally relented his stubbornness in refusing to request aid, and ordered his Court Wizards to send out a call for help. Dutifully, they communed with their peers from across the seas, and spoke hastily of Everstrine's fate should help not be sent.

The Moonsong Alliance was quick to respond. A hundred mighty nations, bonded by political and economical unions, marshalled their forces and sent them across the great waters with the intent to rapidly put the Fallen Wizard's evil plans to the fire. However, disaster struck them, for they had greatly underestimated Gargth's new found powers. The Wizard from atop his tower instilled a devastating storm across the breadth of the approaching Moonsong Armada, and not even the greatest sorcerers, clerics and wizards in the entire Alliance could counter such powerful magic.

Six hundred ships sailed to Everstrine, and none made it there - none returned. Fifty thousand warriors and heroes with titles so mighty, were gone in an instant, wiped from the face of the planet at the whim of a deluded mad man.

With no help coming, the Count of Everstrine prepared for the worst, as did his people, for now the Wizard turned his full attention on them. Again, and again the fell-legions of the Shadow Realm crashed upon the walls of the Count's townships, and yet they were repulsed each time - albeit with grevious losses. But it was a war of attrition that the Count could not win, for every time a Shadow Warrior was felled, its soul would return to Gargth, and its body remade anew.

Realising the urgency of the situation, though shocked almost to inaction by the loss of their relieving armada, the nations of the Moonsong Alliance mustered a second, yet much smaller force. A hundred kings, queens, pirnces, warlords and magi realised that an army of tens of thousands would be spotted from far away, and crushed just as the first. But an army of a few thousand? Composed of the very best, and led by the greatest Champions the world had ever seen? There was a chance they could slip through, and cut their way to the decaying core of Everstrine.

Thus, the second invasion fleet sailed across the sea, a few scattered ships, and approached Everstrine's southern coast without even so much as a passing glance from Gargth's agents...






A Synopsis of Sorts: You take on the role of a Champion, who commands a contingent of their greatest retainers. You have landed south of Sandbrick, alongside other Champions and warriors. Together, you form a small but mighty host, and together, you look on with dismay or perhaps anxious delight at the sight of a town besieged by the hordes of evil.

Your mission will not be an easy one, and it will be fraught with peril. Many will die, perhaps your Champion included. The Fallen Wizard is protected by a barrier that will reduce a man to ashes upon touch, and it cannot be broken by any means available to you. The only way to destroy it - or so it is suspected - is to circumvent the barrier, travel around the island, liberating besieged towns as you go, until you arrive at Merandor's Stone - an ancient obelisk, that has been corrupted by Gargth. The obelisk is thought to be the key to the barrier's inexhaustible energy, and by destroying it, you should be able to gain access to the Wizard's Tower.

Whether all the might in the world could bring this corrupted man down, remains to be seen however.




Forces of the Enemy: Gargth is approaching God-hood, and as such, he is able to craft the forms of beings from anything. Give him a twig, he'll forge it into a monstrous walking tree with claws and fangs. Give him a stone, and he'll turn it into a hulking titan of rock. What he can't do however, is create life, but he can steal it, and bend it to his will.

Reaching into the Shadow Realm, Gargth is able to pull forth souls from the swirling nightmare mists, and instil them in the forms he creates. The resulting abominations are known collectively as Shadow Warriors, but share several other names depending on the culture describing them.

These souls are thus bound to Gargth, and will carry out his bidding so long as he is powerful enough to control them. When their mortal forms are destroyed, they return to him, and he simply inserts them into another body. Thus his armies are constantly regenerating.

The Champions and their forces will encounter several types of adversary. From fell-creations of rotting putrid flesh and rock-clad juggernauts to the ghastly visage of men formed from sand. Each type has their weaknesses and strength, and the Champions will need to demonstrate versatility if they are to survive.




The Shadow Realm: The Shadow Realm goes by many names. Hell, the Underworld, Death's Realm, Demonic Paradise, the Unyielding Fires and many more. However, most arcane (and even scientific) scholars agree that the Shadow Realm is a plain of existence that dwells on the borderlands between time and space.

It is a plain of great magical energy, and countless individuals - ranging greatly in power and skill - have attempted to tap the Shadow Realm from time to time, and all have failed miserably; indeed, usually they were killed in the attempt, and their souls sucked into the void.

It is called the Shadow Realm by those of spiritual and arcane prestige purely because of the way it appears to an observer; a land of eternal twilight, inhabited only by swirling mists that themselves contain the souls of almost explicitly "evil" individuals. Many however have never looked upon the Shadow Realm, and wrongly believe it to be a place of fire and eternal damnation, when really, no one is sure as to its purpose, or what draws the darker souls to it.




Character and Regiment Sheets:

These sheets are open to manipulation if you feel some of the things asked don't cover all aspects of your characters or regiments. Furthermore, your characters/regiments are fully customisable within reason, though I do mention some examples.








Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by CorpusMundum
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This looks like it has a lot of potential, I'll get started on a character and regiment right away!
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Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Slamurai
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This sounds pretty neat! The prospect of both roleplaying characters and commanding armies should be fun.
Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by vietmyke
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Aye, I also have interest in this. Playing as a Champion commanding his army would be fun, but there's also the prospect of playing as another player's Captain... that'd be an interesting take.
Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Footman
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Aye, I also have interest in this. Playing as a Champion commanding his army would be fun, but there's also the prospect of playing as another player's Captain... that'd be an interesting take.


Initially I was going to try and split players into Champions and Captains, but feared we wouldn't get enough interest, so I settled on the idea of a player controlling both. However, I'm more than happy for players to team up.

So that's four of us. Nice. I think one more would seal the deal nicely.

In the meantime I'll just be adding some polish, and rehashing any continuity errors in the plot.

If anyone has any questions or concerns, by all means shout 'em out and I'll do my best to provide adequate answers.
Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by vietmyke
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@Footman ah, I see. Its been personal preference to control single characters, and I've never been very comfortable with controlling multiple major characters. With that in mind, I'd most preferably control a Champion and a small cohort of "NPC" warriors, or play as another character's Captain.

- I'm also leaning towards playing as another player's Captain because my original idea for a Champion- a scholar-swordsman from the desert, would overlap with a lot of the example sheet's concepts.
Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Slamurai
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@CorpusMundum What sort of regiment have you got in mind? Don't want to step on anyone's toes, so I'll pick a specialty that complements other armies.

@vietmykeSame question to you! Unless you're set on playing a single char.
Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by Tatsua Aiisen
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@Footman I know that there is one other person, and myself, who have both been watching this and not saying anything.

So I think it's safe to say that you probably have enough interest.

Oh, and hi @Aristo. It's nice to see you, love~
Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Slamurai
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Oh, and hi @Aristo. It's nice to see you, love~


Long time, no see, Tats!
Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by vietmyke
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@Aristo If someone's making a heavy infantry regiment I might ask to play as their Captain, I've got a grizzled war veteran and tactician character in mind.

If I'm left to make my own regiment... I might make a regiment of rangers
Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by CorpusMundum
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@Aristo

I'm working on a Knightly Order, mainly one that focuses on hunting down hedge-wizards and rogue sorcerers. At the same time they collect occult knowledge and either record of destory it, all in the pursuit of a greater understanding of 'God'. They allow an atmosphere to study and practice magick, but all the while the Theurgists in their charge are being watched with a sword ready to come down on their heads when they fall to the temptation that comes with magickal power. So they would mainly focus on heavy cavalry supported by medium-light infantry and magicians.
Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by vietmyke
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@Footman would a small regiment of shapeshifters be feasible?
Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by Empath
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This looks rather interesting I must say. I am definitely watching how this develops.
I also have an initial idea of a form of tribal warrior-regiment that has ties to The Shadow Realm to empower them, with a focus on swiftness, agility, and religious empowerment through their tribal body markings and the connection the other realm, however, they are "pre-alpha" thoughts as of right now - hopefully it is decent and acceptable ^^

Would you mind explaining me the different races available? Or can we make them up ourselves?
Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Cleopatra
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one other person


That's me~

I've started work on my regiment and champion. This RP has potential!
Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Dead Cruiser
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I'm willing to offer up the Token Evil Teammate.

A vampire lord from a small province tenuously affiliated with the Moonsong Alliance. His retinue would be a stable of various movie/fantasy monsters and such
Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Slamurai
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No idea what sort of regiment I'd like to make just yet. I have a few fledgling ideas, but I'm not sure whether I want to stick with any one in particular.
Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Footman
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@Footman ah, I see. Its been personal preference to control single characters, and I've never been very comfortable with controlling multiple major characters. With that in mind, I'd most preferably control a Champion and a small cohort of "NPC" warriors, or play as another character's Captain.

- I'm also leaning towards playing as another player's Captain because my original idea for a Champion- a scholar-swordsman from the desert, would overlap with a lot of the example sheet's concepts.


I've got no problem with people who wish to play as a single character. However, the more single characters we have, then the more I might have to up the "Size of Host" cap so that we end up forming a reasonably sized force... but this is something we can discuss and resolve once I get a feel for what everyone is going to do.

Alternatively playing as someone's Captain is fine, although it sounds like you might be better off seeing if someone would be your captain, if you'd prefer to focus on the actions of a lone individual.

@Footman I know that there is one other person, and myself, who have both been watching this and not saying anything.

So I think it's safe to say that you probably have enough interest.


Oh really? Awesome! OOC might well go up tomorrow then, after I've given it another read through, and thought on it a bit more.

I'm working on a Knightly Order, mainly one that focuses on hunting down hedge-wizards and rogue sorcerers. At the same time they collect occult knowledge and either record of destory it, all in the pursuit of a greater understanding of 'God'. They allow an atmosphere to study and practice magick, but all the while the Theurgists in their charge are being watched with a sword ready to come down on their heads when they fall to the temptation that comes with magickal power. So they would mainly focus on heavy cavalry supported by medium-light infantry and magicians.


Sounds perfect!

@Footman would a small regiment of shapeshifters be feasible?


Feasible and very useful.

The Moonsong Alliance is after all composed of a "Hundred Mighty Nations", which was my way of saying "Almost anything is possible within reason!"

@Empath As above, when it comes to races and cultures almost anything is possible. I'll play things on a case by case basis, rather than lay out any guide lines. Go nuts, but don't get too carried away.

@Cleopatra Awesome, thanks!

@Dead Cruiser Even an "Evil" nation would have cause for concern with Everstrine's current crisis. Gargth is a dangerous force to behold, and it doesn't look like he's going to be sharing anything but genocide with anyone. So yah, even the "bad guys" of the Alliance would be sending their best and brightest to stop him.

Also, as the Moonsong Alliance is bound by political and economical treaties, there's endless excuses for a Vampiric Realm to exist. Could be that the Vampires are simply just not all that bad, or that they have recently sued for peace with some other countries after a lengthy war, and have been allowed to live - or maybe they just simply hold a great deal of wealth, and have bought their way into the Alliance. I dunno, there's loads of stuff you could do there though.
Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Empath
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@Footman Cool, I will start developing the idea I had in mind then!
Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by Bubsy 2
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This sounds interesting, I'll start making a character for it.

Edit: Oh, I just noticed you said you wanted one other person and someone showed up. Would one more be alright?
Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Footman
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This sounds interesting, I'll start making a character for it.

Edit: Oh, I just noticed you said you wanted one other person and someone showed up. Would one more be alright?


Yeah, of course. :)
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