When a being that possesses a soul dies, the soul exits this world, this universe, and enters somewhere outside of such trivial concepts as space and time. The sole being of this space, something that exists beyond understanding, receives the souls and wipes their slates clean before the souls leave this space and enter one of the countless worlds that this being presides over.
It is here that a small group of human souls from a mundane world have come. It is here that, for reasons beyond human understanding, the souls of this group were allowed to retain a single aspect from their past lives. It is from here that the souls were sent to another world, and were reborn as monsters.
Welcome to Apotheosis. A story of growth, and a story of transcendence.
Do make it an entertaining one. It is watching you, after all.
The following is information on the nature of the world. Sentient beings formed of magic, known to humanity as "monsters", are inherently provided with this information at the time of acquiring such sentience as a result of the world. In other words, at the time of birth, the player characters of the roleplay will possess this knowledge. Additionally, they will implicitly possess knowledge of the "Goblin language".
Magic: Strictly speaking, magic is akin to a code built into the program of the world. What magicians aim to do is to access specific lines of code to achieve specific effects. In that sense, it is highly similar to most scientific endeavors on the basis of concept. What distinguishes magic from science is simply that science relies on the coding alone, while magic's coding is deeper designed into the world's fabric, and so requires a power source to allow for its access. This power source is known as "magical energy". This means that, while magic can achieve greater potential feats due to tapping into deeper areas of the world system, it is limited in that magical energy is needed just to access its coding. As an aside which is irrelevant to this roleplay, magical energy does exist in mundane worlds such as the one the players once lived in, but the coding for magic's existence is not written into their laws, so it is useless.
Monsters: Beings who can be said to have been created of magic. Rather than flesh, their bodies are composed out of magical energy. Besides this, the nature of monsters is incredibly broad. Possession of a physical form, vitals, a "force of life", certain abilities, lifespan, and the like all vary with little to no consistency across races. The only constant is the basis that they are made from. One might assume that this allows monsters to cast magic simply as a consequence of existing, but the magical energy that composes them is already defined, and so is useless. The "purpose" for their composition is simply that it allows their creation to access deeper lines of code than other beings, which allows for illogical biologies such as those of the Slime.
Soul: The soul is the essence of a person. It can be viewed as the culmination of a being, something that exists above the flesh as a sort of "backup". For most living beings, the soul and physical mind are indistinguishable for one another, as they influence one another in exactly the same ways. The soul is anchored to the body, but if the body becomes incapable of containing a soul, ergo undergoing death, then the soul departs from this world. In certain worlds such as the one the roleplay takes place in, the world has provisions that allow for the soul to become "stronger".
Touchstone: Events that result in an increase in the force of the soul. These result from that which has a profound impact on a person, which results in a change in how the soul expresses itself and an empowerment in its abilities. Meeting a touchstone generally results in the acquisition of new abilities or empowerment and expansion of old ones; in sum, it is the relation between a being's mental development and ability development. By surpassing Touchstones, strength can be gained far faster than if one were to simply train in conventional matters, though depending on the Touchstone met, the strength gained may not be what was expected. It should not be thought that Touchstones are at all easy to meet. Most humans and monsters in peacetime will go throughout their lives with only a single Touchstone being met.
Gifts: Abilities unique to a particular individual, an expression of their soul that bleeds over into the rest of the existence, as the result of a particularly strong soul being possessed. Naturally, as the soul grows stronger through Touchstones, so too does the Gift. This category covers a broad scope, and many Gifts are indistinguishable from natural talents, magic, and the like. Gifts are in fact something similar to a consequence of the user's nature, a burden of existence that brings from the basis a being is founded on.
Evolution: A state of affairs reached after an indeterminate amount of Touchstones. The voluntary alteration of a being into a "higher-class" being that expresses the nature of the soul possessed and Touchstones passed. Higher-class in this sense simply refers to the complexity of code present in their creation. There is no known limit on evolution, as evolving multiple times seems to be possible. However, each evolution entrenches oneself further in the system. This is theorized to be exclusive to monsters, given their unique nature as being formed of magic, but there are certain eccentrics who believe it to be possible for beings such as humans to evolve despite this never having been observed.
Magic: Strictly speaking, magic is akin to a code built into the program of the world. What magicians aim to do is to access specific lines of code to achieve specific effects. In that sense, it is highly similar to most scientific endeavors on the basis of concept. What distinguishes magic from science is simply that science relies on the coding alone, while magic's coding is deeper designed into the world's fabric, and so requires a power source to allow for its access. This power source is known as "magical energy". This means that, while magic can achieve greater potential feats due to tapping into deeper areas of the world system, it is limited in that magical energy is needed just to access its coding. As an aside which is irrelevant to this roleplay, magical energy does exist in mundane worlds such as the one the players once lived in, but the coding for magic's existence is not written into their laws, so it is useless.
Monsters: Beings who can be said to have been created of magic. Rather than flesh, their bodies are composed out of magical energy. Besides this, the nature of monsters is incredibly broad. Possession of a physical form, vitals, a "force of life", certain abilities, lifespan, and the like all vary with little to no consistency across races. The only constant is the basis that they are made from. One might assume that this allows monsters to cast magic simply as a consequence of existing, but the magical energy that composes them is already defined, and so is useless. The "purpose" for their composition is simply that it allows their creation to access deeper lines of code than other beings, which allows for illogical biologies such as those of the Slime.
Soul: The soul is the essence of a person. It can be viewed as the culmination of a being, something that exists above the flesh as a sort of "backup". For most living beings, the soul and physical mind are indistinguishable for one another, as they influence one another in exactly the same ways. The soul is anchored to the body, but if the body becomes incapable of containing a soul, ergo undergoing death, then the soul departs from this world. In certain worlds such as the one the roleplay takes place in, the world has provisions that allow for the soul to become "stronger".
Touchstone: Events that result in an increase in the force of the soul. These result from that which has a profound impact on a person, which results in a change in how the soul expresses itself and an empowerment in its abilities. Meeting a touchstone generally results in the acquisition of new abilities or empowerment and expansion of old ones; in sum, it is the relation between a being's mental development and ability development. By surpassing Touchstones, strength can be gained far faster than if one were to simply train in conventional matters, though depending on the Touchstone met, the strength gained may not be what was expected. It should not be thought that Touchstones are at all easy to meet. Most humans and monsters in peacetime will go throughout their lives with only a single Touchstone being met.
Gifts: Abilities unique to a particular individual, an expression of their soul that bleeds over into the rest of the existence, as the result of a particularly strong soul being possessed. Naturally, as the soul grows stronger through Touchstones, so too does the Gift. This category covers a broad scope, and many Gifts are indistinguishable from natural talents, magic, and the like. Gifts are in fact something similar to a consequence of the user's nature, a burden of existence that brings from the basis a being is founded on.
Evolution: A state of affairs reached after an indeterminate amount of Touchstones. The voluntary alteration of a being into a "higher-class" being that expresses the nature of the soul possessed and Touchstones passed. Higher-class in this sense simply refers to the complexity of code present in their creation. There is no known limit on evolution, as evolving multiple times seems to be possible. However, each evolution entrenches oneself further in the system. This is theorized to be exclusive to monsters, given their unique nature as being formed of magic, but there are certain eccentrics who believe it to be possible for beings such as humans to evolve despite this never having been observed.
The roleplay begins in a forest that a tribe of goblins resides in.
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Name: Self-explanatory. Monsters are inherently made "aware" of their name upon birth, as opposed to receiving it from a parent as occurs with humans. Due to the unique situation of the characters, it is possible that aspects of the previous incarnation's name have been retained, like the starting syllable or maybe even the given name they had.
Gender: Male, Female, or Genderfluid Transabled Apocalyptic Disaster-kin.
Appearance: You're a green-skinned, four foot tall, ugly piece of work. As such, this section is optional, but if you want to mention some distinguishing factors, feel free. I won't demand a properly full description though. Also, I don't usually say this, but I'd rather you don't put an image, considering everything. Obviously things like clothing and body modifications won't be a thing, as you're newborns. Don't worry though, with Evolutions, your appearance can drastically change.
Personality: Describe how your character thinks, acts, and feels. Don't skimp on this, but an essay isn't needed.
Past Life History: This isn't that important, compared to how important it usually is. Considering that the memory of this will be hazy, "growth" that occurred during your past life won't be present, hence why you're largely a blank slate with some human-ness left. If you had a traumatic experience and became afraid of the dark, you won't have that trauma here. If you were born afraid of the dark, though, then you will. As such, the only real reason this section exists is for flavor, and to justify your Gift.
Gift: The rare ability you were born with, as a result of your past life. Ability as in singular; you only get one. If you were an English teacher, maybe you innately know the human language somehow, despite not knowing what a human is, and pick up on languages easier. If you were a creepy occultist, maybe you have a rare magic affinity. Just be reasonable, and don't pick anything that makes you broken from the start. The best kind of Gifts are ones that have the potential to grow conceptually, rather than something that only really has one linear path of expansion.
Other: Self-explanatory.
Gender: Male, Female, or Genderfluid Transabled Apocalyptic Disaster-kin.
Appearance: You're a green-skinned, four foot tall, ugly piece of work. As such, this section is optional, but if you want to mention some distinguishing factors, feel free. I won't demand a properly full description though. Also, I don't usually say this, but I'd rather you don't put an image, considering everything. Obviously things like clothing and body modifications won't be a thing, as you're newborns. Don't worry though, with Evolutions, your appearance can drastically change.
Personality: Describe how your character thinks, acts, and feels. Don't skimp on this, but an essay isn't needed.
Past Life History: This isn't that important, compared to how important it usually is. Considering that the memory of this will be hazy, "growth" that occurred during your past life won't be present, hence why you're largely a blank slate with some human-ness left. If you had a traumatic experience and became afraid of the dark, you won't have that trauma here. If you were born afraid of the dark, though, then you will. As such, the only real reason this section exists is for flavor, and to justify your Gift.
Gift: The rare ability you were born with, as a result of your past life. Ability as in singular; you only get one. If you were an English teacher, maybe you innately know the human language somehow, despite not knowing what a human is, and pick up on languages easier. If you were a creepy occultist, maybe you have a rare magic affinity. Just be reasonable, and don't pick anything that makes you broken from the start. The best kind of Gifts are ones that have the potential to grow conceptually, rather than something that only really has one linear path of expansion.
Other: Self-explanatory.
Once, you were a human. Maybe you were a salaryman, or a kid on a skateboard, or a third-grade English teacher. Either way, you're dead now.
As quickly as your soul is placed into darkness, it is pulled back out. Light and sounds accelerate, and your eyes crack open for the first time, in a new body.
You're a Goblin.
Born in a small, remote tribe of Goblins in a forest, lacking any knowledge of your geography, you are thrust into the world. While only a newborn, the instinct and basic abilities of your kind are ingrained into you. How to communicate, how to hunt, what you must do to survive, as well as inherent information to your new world. This is your life, this is your mind. The memories of your previous life, your previous world, they exist but merely as a hazy dream with the conclusion forgotten. With time, sufficient experience and growth will open the option for you to evolve from a goblin to a different branch of monster, but this will depend on your own ability.
Just one thing sets this new batch of Goblin juveniles, your clan, apart from the rest. A single facet of their souls, a single "skill" retained from their past life that they do not even know they had. Perhaps an affinity for a rare kind of magic, perhaps a propensity to lead, perhaps the knowledge of a language they don't recall learning. Will this mistake in the cycle of reincarnation lend them the power to break past their limits, or will they simply fall like wild beasts to the onslaught of the world?
Welcome to the game, and do make it entertaining.
The revamp of something I had the idea for a couple years back. This is a group RP where you lot will play reincarnated humans in the form of goblins. You'll be born with the ability to speak the Goblin language, and rudimentary knowledge on things like "I need to eat". Your group will also have a handful of elder Goblins, who will help rear your generation. The thing is, for one reason or another, each of you has a somewhat unique skill or affinity, the result of something to do with your most recent past life.
With time, sufficient experience and growth will open the option for you to evolve from a goblin to a different branch of monster. The type of monster and its affinities will depend on your skillset; you might even have multiple options to pick from. For instance, from a Goblin you might change to a simple Hobgoblin, a branch of lesser demon, or something based off of any manner of mythological existence. My mod doc with things like a monster catalogue is pretty expansive at well over a thousand different kinds of monsters, so don't think you'll be lacking for options.
The roleplay's to focus on the growth of the player group as they strengthen themselves from a remote tribe of goblins to something greater. Work with your fellow players, try to control them by force, or even try to slaughter them all so you can be the main character. I'm not here to tell you how to play; that's for you to decide. Stay in the starting forest and turn this into a slice of life, adventure to the mountain of the Dragon King and try to ascend to godhood, the world is your oyster. I'll of course be codifying options and providing little catalysts here and there to keep things fresh, though.
Also, I cannot emphasize this enough: none of your characters will have any recollection of their time as a human. Zero. They won't have weird premonitions, they won't have hazy dreams, they won't have flashes of events from their past life, they won't have phobias or traumas that carried over. They will be a 100% blank slate, with the sole exception of their unique ability.
Strictly speaking, from the most general idea perspective it's basically taken from re;Monster. However, the way the universe will work, mechanics for things like magic and ability growth, themes of the story, and so on will largely differ to the point of being completely distinct. For that reason, if you're familiar with re;Monster, I don't recommend trying to apply knowledge from there to here.
As quickly as your soul is placed into darkness, it is pulled back out. Light and sounds accelerate, and your eyes crack open for the first time, in a new body.
You're a Goblin.
Born in a small, remote tribe of Goblins in a forest, lacking any knowledge of your geography, you are thrust into the world. While only a newborn, the instinct and basic abilities of your kind are ingrained into you. How to communicate, how to hunt, what you must do to survive, as well as inherent information to your new world. This is your life, this is your mind. The memories of your previous life, your previous world, they exist but merely as a hazy dream with the conclusion forgotten. With time, sufficient experience and growth will open the option for you to evolve from a goblin to a different branch of monster, but this will depend on your own ability.
Just one thing sets this new batch of Goblin juveniles, your clan, apart from the rest. A single facet of their souls, a single "skill" retained from their past life that they do not even know they had. Perhaps an affinity for a rare kind of magic, perhaps a propensity to lead, perhaps the knowledge of a language they don't recall learning. Will this mistake in the cycle of reincarnation lend them the power to break past their limits, or will they simply fall like wild beasts to the onslaught of the world?
Welcome to the game, and do make it entertaining.
The revamp of something I had the idea for a couple years back. This is a group RP where you lot will play reincarnated humans in the form of goblins. You'll be born with the ability to speak the Goblin language, and rudimentary knowledge on things like "I need to eat". Your group will also have a handful of elder Goblins, who will help rear your generation. The thing is, for one reason or another, each of you has a somewhat unique skill or affinity, the result of something to do with your most recent past life.
With time, sufficient experience and growth will open the option for you to evolve from a goblin to a different branch of monster. The type of monster and its affinities will depend on your skillset; you might even have multiple options to pick from. For instance, from a Goblin you might change to a simple Hobgoblin, a branch of lesser demon, or something based off of any manner of mythological existence. My mod doc with things like a monster catalogue is pretty expansive at well over a thousand different kinds of monsters, so don't think you'll be lacking for options.
The roleplay's to focus on the growth of the player group as they strengthen themselves from a remote tribe of goblins to something greater. Work with your fellow players, try to control them by force, or even try to slaughter them all so you can be the main character. I'm not here to tell you how to play; that's for you to decide. Stay in the starting forest and turn this into a slice of life, adventure to the mountain of the Dragon King and try to ascend to godhood, the world is your oyster. I'll of course be codifying options and providing little catalysts here and there to keep things fresh, though.
Also, I cannot emphasize this enough: none of your characters will have any recollection of their time as a human. Zero. They won't have weird premonitions, they won't have hazy dreams, they won't have flashes of events from their past life, they won't have phobias or traumas that carried over. They will be a 100% blank slate, with the sole exception of their unique ability.
Strictly speaking, from the most general idea perspective it's basically taken from re;Monster. However, the way the universe will work, mechanics for things like magic and ability growth, themes of the story, and so on will largely differ to the point of being completely distinct. For that reason, if you're familiar with re;Monster, I don't recommend trying to apply knowledge from there to here.
Little blurb here to better explain the evolution mechanic for those who want to know in advance.
Basically, I have a very large list of monsters of varying kinds in my wonderful little mod doc for this. It's extensive enough that I can more or less guarantee that you won't be lacking for options. For each style of how you can play your character, there's a different "evolutionary path", if you will. Let's say you're all about punching things. All you do, all day is punch things. You're the frontline melee monster of your group. In that case, after a while you might evolve into an Ogre-class monster as your first evolution, or maybe something with more arms so that you can better punch things. Or let's say you're all about diplomacy and communication, you spend more time trying to communicate with a human group that showed up last week than with your fellow Goblins, or you try to focus on societal bases. You might evolve into a more humanoid-formed Goblin with better communication and diplomacy skills, who learns languages faster and is better at persuading others.
When you've reached the necessary criteria to "evolve", I'll inform you. At that point, you can either accept the evolution, or put it off so you can accept a different one down the road. Think of the evolution process as being akin to Pokemon in terms of how it happens once accepted; one minute you're X, then you're Y. Also, even after your first evolution, the process can continue. In theory at least, there's no cap on how many evolutions you can undergo. It's a branching path that goes on "forever".
(Of course, my monster list does end at a certain point, but I honestly doubt that'll ever be an issue~)
From there, things can get more in-depth. While most of the "first" evolutions you'll undergo, the ones that change you from a Goblin to X, will be pretty simple in nature, the more you carve out your specific style of playing, the more precise and rare your own species will get. In theory, while you start off as a Goblin, in time it's possible to become something completely different, tailored to the theme of your character. Let's say you take the Ogre route I mentioned above. You do X to evolve into an Ogre; there are plenty of Ogres around, most of them being natural-born, but some of them are monsters who evolved into Ogres, just like you. After a couple of evolutions though, you could go from an Ogre, to, say, something extinct like a Hecatoncheir, where you'll be one of a handful of living examples, if not the only one.
There are also a handful of less obvious routes you can pursue, as well. You can compare them to "secret classes" in RPGs, if you want a conceptual parallel. It's obvious how to become a close combat god, or a strategic mastermind, or an archmage, but it's also possible to have the option to take less obvious evolutions, if you clear the requirements for them. For instance, there's one particularly strange evolutionary path that results in you turning into a Hydra, with more possibilities branching off from there. Some are standard fantasy stuff, some are mythological, some are just plain weird. One monster is literally just a sentient bundle of rope. The rarer a monster you are though, and the greater your abilities, the more attention you'll attract.
It's basically a matter of finding a style that suits you, having your character mold themselves to that style in time, and playing the game how you want it. If you decide you want to basically turn into Typhon, kill all your fellow RPers, and declare war on the world, feel free. If you want to be a diplomatic character who gets tied up in interspecies political and military intrigue, feel free. I'm not going to tell you how to play the game; I'm just the one who builds the world, what happens in that world is up to you. Of course, this also includes the consequences of foolish actions, should any be taken~
Basically, I have a very large list of monsters of varying kinds in my wonderful little mod doc for this. It's extensive enough that I can more or less guarantee that you won't be lacking for options. For each style of how you can play your character, there's a different "evolutionary path", if you will. Let's say you're all about punching things. All you do, all day is punch things. You're the frontline melee monster of your group. In that case, after a while you might evolve into an Ogre-class monster as your first evolution, or maybe something with more arms so that you can better punch things. Or let's say you're all about diplomacy and communication, you spend more time trying to communicate with a human group that showed up last week than with your fellow Goblins, or you try to focus on societal bases. You might evolve into a more humanoid-formed Goblin with better communication and diplomacy skills, who learns languages faster and is better at persuading others.
When you've reached the necessary criteria to "evolve", I'll inform you. At that point, you can either accept the evolution, or put it off so you can accept a different one down the road. Think of the evolution process as being akin to Pokemon in terms of how it happens once accepted; one minute you're X, then you're Y. Also, even after your first evolution, the process can continue. In theory at least, there's no cap on how many evolutions you can undergo. It's a branching path that goes on "forever".
(Of course, my monster list does end at a certain point, but I honestly doubt that'll ever be an issue~)
From there, things can get more in-depth. While most of the "first" evolutions you'll undergo, the ones that change you from a Goblin to X, will be pretty simple in nature, the more you carve out your specific style of playing, the more precise and rare your own species will get. In theory, while you start off as a Goblin, in time it's possible to become something completely different, tailored to the theme of your character. Let's say you take the Ogre route I mentioned above. You do X to evolve into an Ogre; there are plenty of Ogres around, most of them being natural-born, but some of them are monsters who evolved into Ogres, just like you. After a couple of evolutions though, you could go from an Ogre, to, say, something extinct like a Hecatoncheir, where you'll be one of a handful of living examples, if not the only one.
There are also a handful of less obvious routes you can pursue, as well. You can compare them to "secret classes" in RPGs, if you want a conceptual parallel. It's obvious how to become a close combat god, or a strategic mastermind, or an archmage, but it's also possible to have the option to take less obvious evolutions, if you clear the requirements for them. For instance, there's one particularly strange evolutionary path that results in you turning into a Hydra, with more possibilities branching off from there. Some are standard fantasy stuff, some are mythological, some are just plain weird. One monster is literally just a sentient bundle of rope. The rarer a monster you are though, and the greater your abilities, the more attention you'll attract.
It's basically a matter of finding a style that suits you, having your character mold themselves to that style in time, and playing the game how you want it. If you decide you want to basically turn into Typhon, kill all your fellow RPers, and declare war on the world, feel free. If you want to be a diplomatic character who gets tied up in interspecies political and military intrigue, feel free. I'm not going to tell you how to play the game; I'm just the one who builds the world, what happens in that world is up to you. Of course, this also includes the consequences of foolish actions, should any be taken~
