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[Dead Cruiser]

Once upon a time, there was a place of carved, stone faces. A man with a lantern lay sleeping a dreamless sleep. The man knew nothing.

One day, the man woke up, he rubbed the dried ink caked over his eyes and opened them. Around him, he saw a horizon of unbroken darkness.

Suddenly, a monster emerged from the darkness.

K I N G D O M D E A T H

A nightmare of endless darkness, cloaking an infinite Plain of Faces. This is the world known as Kingdom Death. Humanity occupies a low rung on Kingdom Death's many strange ecosystems, as they are hunted as prey, or herded and domesticated as draft animals. Occasionally some nightmarish trauma will awaken them from their delusions of safety, and tears the veil from their eyes. Though they may be driven by vengeance, grief, insanity, or curiosity, what they all share in common is their desperate desire to survive despite the horror of their reality.

---

This is a RP based on the underground-hit boardgame Kingdom Death: Monster, by Adam Poots. Described as "boutique nightmare horror," Kingdom Death is a game of survival against all odds in a world where humanity grapples with despair, madness, and the constant threat of extinction.

In my personal opinion, the setting of the game hits a sweet-spot of lore and backstory that gives you just enough to work with, and doesn't require a weeks-long wiki binge to understand. I also greatly enjoy its mood of grim survival against hopeless odds. As such, I'd like to run a game in this setting. I do have a plot planned, but the majority of the game would indeed be the players banding together to survive in Kingdom Death. Though this game won't be as vicious and lethal towards player characters as the source material, it will be just as unforgiving toward the careless and foolhardy. I also won't be limiting players to playing as the nameless Survivors of the source material; such options as hunters from the Great City and knights of the Twlight Order will be available (I'll cover lore as interest grows).

Essentially this will be a game of survival-horror and nightmare-fantasy. I'll be taking inspiration from similar sources as the original game, such as Berserk, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne. Please let me know if you have comments, interest, questions, or suggestions. Thanks for reading, and I hope to play with you soon!

[Mirandae]

Interested.

[DJAtomika]

YES.

ALSO HI @Prisk FANCY MEETING YOU HERE.

I've actually played this boardgame and it amused me to no end.

My first few sessions, I lost both my characters.

[babbysama]

Count me interested.

[Dead Cruiser]

Cool, got some interest so far. Here's some lore/character roles that you guys can pick over and discuss.

SURVIVORS

Sometimes, Kingdom Death will offer up someone from the Plain of Faces. They emerge from the darkness fully-formed, nameless and speechless. Peering through lantern light with ink-stained eyes, they band together with other Survivors to form small communities and settlements. What they lack in skill or wealth they make up for in resourcefulness, as they create strange and markedly useful artifacts from the ordeals they endure.

GREAT GAME HUNTERS

The Great Game Hunters hail from a bizarrely flourishing city. Many generations of families have survived astonishingly well, growing complacent and wealthy in the city. Beneath the worldly noble exterior of the city, inhuman forces breed intrigue and family rivalries. These hapless noblemen squabble over resources and knowledge risking their lives in competition for prestige, chasing rumors of ever more dangerous game.

SAVIORS

Saviors are undaunted heroes, single minded and suicidally reckless in their quest to make a change in mankind's horrible existence. In their dreams Saviors visit the domain of the Ethereal Dreamer which grants them wondrous knowledge at a startling price. Tapping greater power causes their bodies to age rapidly. As they delve deeper into the collective dream they leave more of themselves behind. Mighty Saviors will grow frail and appear faded at their edges, vanishing slowly at the height of their power.

TWILIGHT KNIGHTS

The Twilight Knights order once protected the recorded knowledge of humanity in Kingdom Death. Now in shambles, the Twilight Knights, with their archivists, struggle to keep the tiny flame of knowledge alive. Initiates to the Twilight Knight order are permanently altered to protect their minds from the horrors they use face in their quest. Detached and unfeeling, they are prepared to pay any cost to salvage and protect the valuable records of wisdom that remain in the world.

Considering allowing People of the Sun/Stars and possible White Speakers as characters. I'll see how much more interest we get.

[Ryuzaki]

Boom, I'm here, ready to donate to the kickstarter, haha. Insane amounts of interest from me.

[Mirandae]

@DJAtomika Yes, fancy that. I hope you're well.

[Dead Cruiser]

So I think I'd no more than one of each sort of unusual character archetype, and then fill the rest of the player cast with normal Survivors.

Thoughts? Preferences?

[A Man Is No One]

Greetings,

My first thoughts are that I'm interested. Greatly interested really. Although I will admit that I do not know very much about the game itself.

My second thought is, character restrictions should be based a) on the number of players, and b) on what your particular story calls for. I don't think without a little more background information anyone could make an educated guess about what would be appropriate for character choices. It might call for everyone to be from one particular group or it might call for the people to abscond from a particular group all together. I personally don't think there is enough information to go on at this point.

On any accord, I'm certainly interested and would be willing to play any role; however, more information would be required for the particular classes of people. At least on my part - but a wiki page or website could be suitable for such measures.

I'll keep an eye out for more information or an OOC link.

[Dead Cruiser]

Unfortunately the information I've posted is the extent of the lore for these factions, outside of specific characters that belong to them. The lore in Kingdom Death is quite like that in Dark Souls. That is to say, you have to fill in the gaps. Most characters would have to be worked out on a case-by-case basis.

I will say this much though. Each character will be the representative of one of the major factions, sent out to combat a particular threat. Along the way they encounter a smattering of Survivors (other players) that join their quest. For this reason as well as to keep each character as unique as possible, I only want one of each archetype (save for the Survivors).

[Core]

Painfully interested. First I am hearing of this game but I love the concept!

[Astarael42]

Very interested. I've never heard of this game before but it sounds very intriguing and happy to learn on the fly. I personally love the concept of Saviors...the single minded even suicidal goal and the concept of a collective dream are great fodder for the imagination.

[Core]

If it's fine to make a call on it I would LOVE to make a Twilight Knight :)

Personal Character Reference

[Dead Cruiser]

Very interested. I've never heard of this game before but it sounds very intriguing and happy to learn on the fly. I personally love the concept of Saviors...the single minded even suicidal goal and the concept of a collective dream are great fodder for the imagination.

@Astarael42

Cool stuff. Here's a couple links that should help you out with that.

If it's fine to make a call on it I would LOVE to make a Twilight Knight :)

Personal Character Reference

@Core

I'd say that it's fair to call it. No one else has expressed a specific interest in the role yet. Here are a few more links to give you some more info.

I think we have enough people for an OOC. I've got a lot going on this week, but I'll try and have it up this weekend at the latest.

[Core]

@Dead Cruiser How come there is no information on the Twilight Witch?

Depending on what the Twilight witch is I might play that or a Deserter. :))

[Dead Cruiser]

@Dead Cruiser How come there is no information on the Twilight Witch?

Depending on what the Twilight witch is I might play that or a Deserter. :))

@Core

Some elements of the lore just have models and no information to go along with them. A result of the creative force behind the game being a single person.

Here's some Deserter information.

[Core]

@Dead Cruiser Could I take come creative freedoms with character creation? Of course it'll need your approval and will gladly sculpt it to something you can agree with if given the opportunity

[Dead Cruiser]

@Dead Cruiser Could I take come creative freedoms with character creation? Of course it'll need your approval and will gladly sculpt it to something you can agree with if given the opportunity

@Core

Yeah sure, I'd like to see what you can come up with.

[Core]

By any chance do you have a preliminary CS sheet I could start filling out so come OOC I'd be mostly ready?

Here are some premade CS templates you might gain some use from.

[Astarael42]

@Dead Cruiser There was only one link...is that correct? I just wanted to clarify because it looks like there should have been 2 (one on "couple" didn't open if that was a link). And if you had an character template I would love to begin work on a Savior if you give the go ahead.