Aether Online - A VMMORPG RP inspired by Log Horizon, SAO, and Overlord

[Rune_Alchemist]

@Jabber

Excellent, Made the edits!~

[Gowi]

@Jabber - The idea is for Rael to be the equivalent of a Rogue with the central abilities of a tank; get in close and fast, get their attention, don't get hit. I'll make the suggested edits (or come up with different modifications that are fair), but I'd like to make note that Advance is supposed to be essentially a 'Charge' ability; I'm just trying to make sense of it where it works for you as much as it does for me. But as these are early level abilities I'll figure it out in a way that is fair.

Here's an update:

Essentially I took out Advance's threat gain and just made it a speed buff for charge instead of having it be a simple threat gain. I also, fixed Evasion to be a passive. Let me know if my wording is awkward or if I have to opt to change it differently.

CS

H A N A K O

“Do you even have a creative bone in your body? It’s a role-playing game!”

O U T O F G A M E

_{N A M E}

---

Hanako Moriyama

_{A G E}

---

18

_{G E N D E R}

---

Female

_{T H E M E}

---

“Noah” by Light Bringer

I N G A M E

_{O N L I N E P E R S O N A}

---

Rael

_{C L A S S}

---

Novice

_{L E V E L}

---

9

_{S T A T S}

---

HP - 170
MP - 60

_{S K I L L S / S P E L L S}

---

[Advance] — A activated skill principally used by more assertive combatants using their uncanny speed to advance in the battlefield and within the targeted enemy’s immediate field of vision.

[Endurance] — How physically tough someone is. Increases the damage one is able to take from physical attacks. Higher levels would mean being able to take more hits, be staggered less, and generally how resistant one is to physical forms of damage.

[Evasion] — A passive ability that improves the users ability to dodge actions in combat.

_{I N V E N T O R Y}

---

Steel Spear
Traveler’s Tunic
Health Potion [10]

_{S T O R A G E}

---

150 GS

S A M P L E

“Until we meet again, my friends!”

You mean there’s no logging out?

Hanako Moriyama, or as she was better known in Aether Online, Rael, grinned widely as she crossed her arms in response to the declaration addressed to the entirety of the server’s population of users.

As other players of the game likely scoffed, panicked, or went into a dumbfounded fit of confusion by the in-character portrayal of “The Dark Lord”, it was evident that she had wholly different feelings about it. The prospect of being confined to a virtual world was not entirely unappealing to the purple-haired young adult. In fact, if she had to describe how she immediately felt without filter or pre-thought she would’ve likely said the concept was exciting and freeing rather than being afraid or anxious about it. For her entire life she had been tasked with maintaining expectations from not only her family but the community as well; forced to deal with the drudgery of social popularity and comprehending the demands of being a model student. In fact, she was pretty much sure she was the only one who saw the virtual captivity as a blessing in disguise to the level she did— all of the trappings of society’s expectations, judgment, and incessant demands were now irrelevant and the true escapism she desired was finally obtainable.

A laugh escaped her lips as she continued to process it all; especially the irony of her confinement cumulating in her absolute freedom.

But even through her “liberty” she was not so naïve to think of the consequences and risk of her new reality. As exciting as all of the news was for her, there was a lot to take in and consider and the questions began to enter her mind almost as soon as her initial bewilderment faded from thought. Did they require to eat to maintain themselves? Did the mechanics change due to the full immersion that was likely to take place? What happened if someone was to die?

Was this one of those situations where her and everyone else’s lives in AO were now absolute, where they had to be wary of even the slightest mistake? Would they die outright if their health reached zero? or would this be a case of countless revivals at resurrection sites? If she “died” would she have to wait for a cleric to arrive to rescue her? The entity had not explained how perilous death was in the game, a fact that was likely the cause of much anxiety by the server’s populace. Why did this being that called himself a dark lord only tell them that they couldn’t log out? An important question that many would have to either die to find out or await another appearance of the mysterious entity.

The smartest decision is to find a group right now. Deal with less significant issues later; if I know VMMORPG players as well as I think I do, things are about to get... violent.

Rael’s amber eyes narrowed as she looked at the nearest crowd— looking for anyone who might be eager to have a comrade in arms. Once she saw someone of interest she walked forward before speaking confidently.

“Strange day, right?”

[Jabber]

@Rune_Alchemist Just remove the levels beside the skills and you're golden.

@Gowi Just change the word dexterity in evasion since it kind of entails more than just evading. Maybe ability to dodge instead?

[Gowi]

@Jabber - Done!

[Rune_Alchemist]

@Jabber

Done!~

[Jabber]

@Gowi Uhm, I'm pretty sure I also said to remove this part "increases the user's threat gain." for [Evasion]. Sorry, man.

[Gowi]

@Jabber - Fixed. Just means my next skill/upgrade will need to be a threat gain ability of somesort. No biggie. Unless I should swap out Endurance for a threat gain ability... would that be okay?

[NarcissisticPotato]

So are we gonna get a discord sorted?

[Gowi]

So are we gonna get a discord sorted?

@NarcissisticPotato

The GM gave it a maybe, iirc. I can make a general chat channel if you'd like, but I don't think it'll be endorsed by the GM.

[Savo]

Er, I updated this and all I need to do is finish my characters personality and abilities. For reference, I made his ability involve guns and he doesn't even have one yet for irony's sake. I'll get to explaining the rest of the passives soon, but for now mind telling me what I should probably renovate on my sample post?

I think I did a little too much @~@

Xander // Laciel

"Ugh, I really don't have a choice in the matter... fine, I'll do it, but only for a week. If I don't like it, I'm out."

Appearance:
Laciel stands at a height of 185.4 centimeters, dwarfing females and most males. His hair is a very light shade of long blonde that is usually unkempt, save for a ponytail he has at the end. While his pigmentation seems a little light in comparison, it is easy to spot tan lines around his shoulders and knees. His eyes are a soft shade of cerulean.

Username:
Laciel

IRL Name:
Xander Moriyama

Age:
17

Sex:
Male

Theme:

Hider

---

Short Personality:

Quirks:
Compulsive Gambler - For all his worth, Xander really enjoys making bets and is constantly on the lookout for a good poker game or some blackjack.

Gunner - Has had some time to go to gun ranges and shoot some guns, so he does know how to handle himself with one. Understands how to take one apart, clean it, and put it back together. Almost did it obsessively with his parents.

Dumbo - Ears tend to curl in just slightly whenever he disagrees with any sort of method or idea. Usually difficult to spot at first due to how unnoticeable it is.

Comprehension Level: 0 - Due to not playing a lot of games (MMOs in general) he will not get a lot of terms thrown at him and may end up either questioning what it is or using the words incorrectly.

---

Class: Novice
Level: 9

Skills:
Active:
[Deadeye]

Passive:
[Analysis]

[Aptitude]

Spells:
N/A

Inventory:
Steel Sword
Traveler’s Tunic
Health Potion [10]

Storage:
150 gemstones

---

Sample:

Sorry for the Long Sample

"Oh come on dude!"

"No, it's over... today is the final day of our agreement and I am not at all invested in this game," echoed Xander in response to Arata... or was it Yamen now? Bah, why did he have to give two damns? He wasn't going to be putting anymore time into this silly virtual reality realm. He was told how it would get better soon, told how amazing the game was but it just didn't pique his interest.

As he chatted with his friend, in one fell swoop, he decapitated a midget greenskin who was haphazardly sprinting at the boy. Rolling his eyes in boredom, he watched the being crumble into dust, leaving no quest reward. The only thing he got to wield was this stinkin' broadsword and failed to obtain any sort of firearm in the progress... though he did have to admit this world looked beautiful and realistic... it was surreal to him, but it didn't appeal to him with all of these missions these... N P C's? Whatever, those people sent him on.

"We haven't even gotten to the exciting parts of the game and it's free-form reclassing!"

"Seriously? You guys will shirk your homework in class just to take another class in-game... that's pretty counterproductive and a waste of money..."

Responding with a nonchalant tone in his voice, Xander stared back blankly at the boy who was facepalming, shaking his head. Staring at his comrade, he could infer that this was another one of those "terms" he mentioned about games like this, though he didn't bother recalling any of them. Why would he? He wasn't going to be using this set for any longer than a week. Rolling his glazed over eyes and shrugging, he pulled up the menu and begin sifting through all his gear and items he had procured over the past seven days before moving over to skills.

"Come on, don't want to disappoint Kumiko, do you?" He felt a jab to his chest as his sleazy little friend guffawed lightly, earning him the boy a slap to his elbow. "Come on man, lighten up! Have some fun! Not every day y-" Xander interrupted Arata's response with a cold glare and threatening frown, causing the shorter boy to put up his hands and back away. "Yeesh, ok, ok, jeez... This is why people don't respect ya sometimes; you're no fun!" Xander couldn't help but pinch his noses dorsum as he stopped briefly for a moment to breath through it and sigh loudly.

"First off, I haven't seen her online two days ago, so that should tell you much. Second, I do not like frittering my time away on something as meaningless as this." His voice was reduced to a low growl as he continued looking at the myriads of items on the list, trying to make sense of it all before moving to the main menu. Scrolling through, he found the large achromatic logout button.

"I'll respect what you guys do with your free time, but please don't pull off a stunt like this again... please." Giving the logout button a quick jab, he thought nothing of why it was grayed out as he waited for the logout sequence. Instead, nothing happened. Raising an eyebrow he jabbed the icon again and received similar results. Two seconds later he began jamming his index finger at quicker intervals, attempting to escape this decorated but horrible reality.

"Uh... dude?"

Coming to a halt, Xander turned to his friend who was staring in bewilderment at his screen. Eyeing the boy suspiciously, he exited the menu before pivoting around and glaring at Arata. "Alright, what did you do Arata?" He was disappointed at his friend's antics but this was taking it a step too far. Keeping him from logging out? Were they that desperate to keep him playing?

"Hold on, i-"

"What hasn't Arata done?" Another proud voice erupted from their sides. Glancing to the side was a smirking girl, giggling just for a few seconds... before he saw the glint in her eyes. Taking evasive maneuvers, Xander backstepped away from Arata to avoid being caught in the glomp. Of course, Arata was the less fortunate of the two males as he and the girl plummeted to the ground, bodies bouncing off each other like rubber balls going up and down the pavement. "Aw, why did you have to avoid it," she laughed a little before getting off of a dazed Arata.

Rolling his eyes, he turned away from the girl briefly, listening to gleeful chirping of a few animals in the distance. "I had no intention of being a pole for either of you two hang on to Kumiko." Returning his collected gaze to the girl who yawned a little. "So what's the sitch Xander?"

Pulling up the menu, he displayed the problem with it, explaining that he couldn't log out from the game. After staring at it for a moment, Arata weakly responded as he got up, dusting himself off.

"I'm sure it's just a bug; the developers will probably fix it in no ti-"

Being cut short once again, the heavens erupted with a sable hue before turning a shade of crimson in an instant. This strange predicament seemed to garner even the most disinterested Xander who stared weakly at the screen with a draped figure; all features were obscured with the dark cloak and Xander could only think of one thing at the moment.

"How cliche..."

“Greetings adventurers, I am the Dark Lord!” the figure on the screen’s deep voice echoed across the server.

"Riveting," Xander muttered to himself as he gazed at his friends who were either shaking their heads or frowning.

"I was expecting a more... grandeur launch event..."

"Shush and listen to what the fearsome Edge Lord has to say."

“It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to your new home. Some of you may have noticed by now that you are unable to log out of the game. This is not a bug...”

... tch, right "not a bug" or whatever. He might of not known much about games, but if this was a way to generate some suspense, this developer was utterly failing to rile him up. Seriously, he read Fantasy books that were more creative than this.

“But don’t be scared, dear adventurers! Think of this like a new beginning! A way to escape from that wretched old world forever!”

"This is a pathetic excuse to get people excited for this game... I'm positive they'll have that bug you mentioned fixed soon."

Looking over to his friends, he saw them both staring attentively at the screen in the sky once those words were uttered, both with their menus pulled up. Walking over, he noticed that their boxes were also grayed out as well, with Kumiko was weakly tapping the button in a slow rhythmic pattern. Arata's finger just lay there, still as the air around them.

"Arata? Kumiko?"

“Until we meet again, my friends!” the man’s final words echoed across the world before the video feed was cut and the sky returned to normal.

Even with the environment returned to normal, the axe wielding girl couldn't help but breathe heavily, the gasping of air becoming the only sound that either guy could hear. Suddenly, her knees began to buckle under her and she collapsed liked a bunch of ruins. The only saving grace that kept her in shock on the ground was Arata and Xander catching the older girl.

"Kumiko! I'm sure it's just like last Christmas!"

Her grip on both their arms suddenly strengthened, Arata wincing at how tight he grasp was whilst Xander remained unfazed by it, instead furrowing his eyebrows.

"Arata... you just made it worse... come on, lets find you a place to sit."

Picking her up, they both carried her towards the nearest rock. This... this was going to take time to comprehend as they sat her down, her head staring straight at the floor, eyes lifeless. Was it really that serious? Xander knew she never broke down like this unless they really hurt her feelings or she was sorely frightened.

"Hey, come on Kumiko..." Arata pulled her in for a hug as he spoke to her. "Everything will be fine." Approaching the two, he gradually was pulled into the hug as he steadily moved his arm around the girl, trying to comfort her too.

"Hey, I'm pretty sure we can override this stupid bug by removing our helmets, so no need to worry."

"Uh, Xander," Arata hissed lowly, drawing him over her neck. "That's no how it works... your body won't move at all in the real world due to the way the VR set works. That would result in complications if you moved, y'know?"

That... made a lot of sense now that Xander thought about it. He didn't bother bringing it up again until their ally stopped convulsively breathing. Eventually regaining her composure, Arata and her started discussing about what to do as the blonde haired boy stared at the rock as if the secrets to escaping this forlorn reality were etched on it.

"What about killing ourselves," Xander finally piped up resulting in a worried look from both. Arata had to embrace her again before she went into another panic attack.

"Xander, are you crazy?!"

Shrugging, he pushed himself off his butt, stretching. "I mean, you guys do respawn and stuff in the games I've seen you played, so I don't exactly see a problem with this. There is a slight chance that could be the problem."

"Yeah, but we have no idea whether it's just temporary death or permadeath!"

Permadeath? Oh... oh!... oh. That was a little concerning now that he thought about it. The term clicked easily and puzzled him. They explained things like health bars and mana bars and every little nitty gritty detail about this game, down to its mechanics. This game was very realistic now that he thought about it, though had elements that he was unfamiliar with. Would other players be able to revive you? Were you stuck like that? Would you respawn? Myriads of questions clicked inside his head, but only one goal stayed situated amongst the rabble.

Escape.

Due to the psychology of people, this could be given as a way of new life... a very dangerous lifestyle since everyone was free to do something. Roam in the realm, discover wildlife, fight monsters, and of course players duking it out with other players. Plus he had no intention of staying in this video game world. He didn't even like video games for crying out loud!

"... lets get back to Sanctuary... I'm very sure that it's risky lingering in an area like this." Giving a hand to his two friends, he pulled them both up, all three of them brandishing their weapons. "Lets get a move on it; we can discuss our plans for the future once we get back to that zone... let's move."

[Gowi]

@Savo's sample makes me think he's trying to upstage me! Almost like I need to edit my sample...

[Savo]

@Gowi
Uhm, right, I'm totally trying to upstage you and it isn't at all because I got too into making the app Q~Q

Rune vouch for me on this Dx

[NarcissisticPotato]

Pew pew, I made a thing! Hopefully it shouldn't be so painful for new people coming in and making a character! Also we should get some line of communication open - raise a rebellion against Jabbers!

@Jedly
Marionette - Tinker (f)(16)

@Rune_Alchemist
Tisiphone - Fighter (f)(18)

@Gowi
Hanako - Rogue (f)(18)

@vietmyke
Allune - Mage (f)(16)

@Savo
Xander - Fighter(?) (m)(17)

@Apokalipse
Mouette - Fighter(?) (m)(18)

[cloudystar]

wow that's a lot of fighters...might switch over to something else then XD

[Rune_Alchemist]

@Savo

Don't bring me into this.

Well.

Actually, give me twenty bucks and tell me I'm ten times better than you in everything and I'll consider it~

[Gowi]

Pew pew, I made a thing! Hopefully it shouldn't be so painful for new people coming in and making a character! Also we should get some line of communication open - raise a rebellion against Jabbers!

@Jedly
Marionette - Tinker (f)(16)

@Rune_Alchemist
Tisiphone - Fighter (f)(18)

@Gowi
Hanako - Rogue or Cleric (f)(18)

@vietmyke
Allune - Mage (f)(16)

@Savo
Xander - Fighter(?) (m)(17)

@Apokalipse
Mouette - Fighter(?) (m)(18)

@NarcissisticPotato

I am very rogue.

[Savo]

@Savo

Don't bring me into this.

Well.

Actually, give me twenty bucks and tell me I'm ten times better than you in everything and I'll consider it~

@Rune_Alchemist

Oh, ok.

*Turns you into a human.*

*Turns myself into a horse and begins bucking into your stomach twenty times.*

Alright, there's your twenty bucks. Now for your other request.

I am ten times better than you in everything... which means I'm better at being worse than you in everything. That means I've nullified the first verse making none of this true since it is a paradox in it's own sense. So in actuality I'm also saying You're ten times better than me at everything which involves the same verse as before and so on, nullifying all of this.

So basically we are both better than each other yet worse than each other which makes neither of us better or worse than each other.

[Jabber]

@Gowi Actually you could, as long as you're fine sacrificing survivability for threat gain.

@NarcissisticPotato Maybe when we're a little into the RP and have a dedicated player pool?

@Savo Honestly, I enjoyed reading the sample that you wrote up. Can't wait for the actual RP to start and see what else you guys come up with.

[Lord Zee]

Gotta get to bed sadly, will definitely try to finish this soon!

WIP Cleric

Username: Dramar
IRL Name: Luke Kernal
Age: 20
Sex: Male
Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYIAfiVGluk

Background: Optional.

Writing Sample:

“Shit shit shit! Work God Damnit!" Dramar shouted as he desperately clicked the logout button, but to no avail. Ever since this 'Dark Lord' guy had spoken he had been in a frenzied panic, trying to figure out if there was a way to get out of the game and back into the real world. There wasn't really any alternatives to logging out besides clicking the damn button, and he couldn't even do that. Sure he enjoyed video games, and loved the new VVMMORPG shit that constantly kept coming out, so he just had to try Aether Online. The hype was unreal and he had fallen for it like everyone else now stuck in the game.

"Just breath man. Just breath." He spoke aloud to himself amidst a forest outside of Sanctuary. "Just... gotta take it slow, that's all." Dramar started to calm down and think. If there was no logging out, then he was stuck in here. That was painfully obvious but at the same time, at least he wouldn't be alone. There was many, many people on when it happened, he was sure of it. Perhaps someone else had figured out? 'It's just a joke' they'd say and then all hold hands and logout together.

"Ah fuck, who am I kidding?" he groaned before plopping down on his back in the grass out of desperation. He looked up at the trees, knowing they were fake but boy did they look real. Actually, everything looked real and he had his senses which was pretty awesome for a game. But it wasn't the real thing, now was it?

All he wanted to do was kill monsters, level up and get sweet, precious loot. The rarer, the better, as Dramar just loved to show off all the wickedly neat items he could gather. If his avatar looked badass, then he was content and happily showed off to all the noobs. Now that he was stuck here, it was like a whole new game. On the other ones he could respawn if he died a boss or stupid puzzle but here, he wasn't so sure about what would happen if death claimed him. Something told him he didn't want to find out.

He sighed, sat up and stroke his chin. If he was stuck here, then he needed to become powerful in order to survive. And if death was actually a thing, he wanted to be the farthest away from it as he could. Luckily, there was a class that meant he could do just that, the Cleric. Dramar smiled slightly, he liked this idea a lot. If he became a cleric, not only could he heal himself and prolong his life, but it also meant he would have to heal others. He imagined the line of devout players, coming to him for all their needs, and especially the females.

He sprang up, grabbed his steel sword and with a new purpose for this new life of his, he began his quest. When he was almost out of the forest he stopped dead in his tracks, he had forgotten something vitally important to his own survival and slapped himself on the forehead.

"Mom's going to kill me."

Class: Novice
Level: 9

Stats:
HP - Calculated after acceptance.
MP - Calculated after acceptance.

Skills/Spells:
You gain a number of skills/spells as you progress through the game. You can start with three [3], but should have to be approved first.

Inventory:
Steel Sword
Traveler’s Tunic
Health Potion [10]

Storage:
150 gemstones

[McHaggis]

.