[OOC] Tales of Survival

[dreamer]

Tales of Survival (the rp) is based on a digital survival board game of the same name that I've been working on for over a year. The game and rp take place in Novus Anima, a world torn apart by the actions of the previous human civilization. Previously known as Earth, most of the world has become uninhabitable aside from the country of Novus Anima "The New World". Life has managed to survive here, though much of it different from the life you know today. Lycans live to the east, crystals spread through the world like a disease, and dragons along their lords were once used to unite the human cities of the northern half of the country.

Our story today doesn't follow the lives of Dragon Lords and heroes. It isn't about people trying to prevent the world from falling into chaos, or keeping mankind from making the same mistakes as they did in the past that led them here. Our story follows the lives of a few souls just trying to survive the situations they find themselves in.



Basics
- Select a scenario (depending on interest multiple of these could be going on at once)


- Select a character (or create your own)


- Complete the playthrough (live or die within the time provided)

- Play again! (different character, different crew this time?)

Details

Characters

Characters have set stats and traits that they must follow to ensure a "balanced" experience amongst players.

Character Specific Stats, which vary per character, consist of the following;

• Health, when this hits zero the character is injured (health returns to 1). If the character is already injured when health hits 0, then they die.
• Armor, determines how much damage a character can resist. IE, if a character receives 2 damage but they have 1 armor, they only take 1 damage. Armor can break and must be repaired.
• Attack, determines how much damage a character can do. Damage is represented by D6 die (Refer to dice for more info)

Character General Stats, which are the same amongst all characters, consist of the following;

• Nourishment, is how full/hungry a character is. (Ranges 0-7, 0 being starving and 7 being full. Goes down one point every day phase; morning, afternoon, evening, night. Rises when eating food.)
• Rest, is how much rest someone has had. If you allow this to get too low, you will have a steady chance of passing out. (Ranges 0-5, 0 causes you to become sleep deprived and gives you a chance to pass out. Goes down every day phase. Rises when you rest, which is improved in a hub.)
• Exposure, represents how much a character has been exposed to the elements. Certain types of weather are worse than others and will build exposure faster. Each point of exposure results in an exposure die to be rolled at the end of the day, each die has a chance to cause harm to a character. (Ranges 0-6, 0 results in no die tossed, 6 results in 6 die tossed. Rises when exposed to bad weather, lowers when in exposed to ideal conditions, ie being near a campfire on in a winter scenario)

Character Traits determine the "abilities" of a character. These include both class traits and character specific traits.

• Class Traits, are mutual traits amongst characters of the same class. For example, Hunters have a higher chance of tracking an animal successfully.
• Character Traits, vary between characters drastically and are the main determining factor in what separates one character from another. An example of a character specific trait is Teresa - The Essence's ability to leave "echoes" of herself throughout the map which she can use to have map awareness as well as a means of teleporting across the map, both of which come at the cost of her own health. (Most Character Traits act as a double edged sword, providing a benefit and a hindrance)

Daily Occurances

Time is represented by Days and Phases. Days are shown as Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, etc. Day phases are shown as Morning, Afternoon, Evening, and Night.

• Characters' General Stats (Nourishment, Rest, and Exposure) change every time a Day Phase shifts, ie Morning to Afternoon.
• Weather changes at the start of a new day. (Clear Skies, Snow, Blizzard, etc)
• Daily Events occur at the start of each day. (Infested Meat, Abandoned Cart, etc)
• Exposure dice are rolled at the end of each day.

Dice

Dice are a common tool used to determine the results of events that take place throughout Tale sof Survival. They consist of the following;

• Combat Dice, these are D6's that determine what damage is done during an encounter with either an NPC or player controlled character. Their faces consist of 2 "Hits" which deal health damage, 1 "Armor Break" which deal damage to armor, and 3 "Misses" which cause no damage.
• Exposure Dice, are D6's that have 3 blank faces and 3 "Exposure" faces. The latter causes you to suffer from the infliction listed on the weather card for that day. (Clear Skies, Snow, and Blizzard lead to illness. Hail causes injury)
• Injury Dice, these are rolled when you are attempting to move between regions if you are injured. They are D6's with 3 blank faces and 3 "Injury" faces. Landing on "Injury" causes the action to fail, wasting an action.

Resources

Resources are necessary to stay alive and can be found throughout the map and can be rewarded for defeating encounters. They include the following;

• Berries, there are three types of these, red berries, yellow berries, and black berries. These are randomly assigned values by the GM at the start of the scenario that determine if they are edible or poisonous. (At least one berry type will be edible and at least one will be poisonous)
• Meat , this is dropped by animals when killed. This should be cooked before being eaten, if not you will likely fall ill.
• Wood , used to build fires and repair structures.
• Herbs, come in three forms simply referred to as, Herb 1, Herb 2, and Herb 3. These will each cure random ailments assigned to them by the GM at the start of the scenario. For example, one may help with an injury, another fever, and the last vomiting.
• Dogbane , is used to repair structures and armor. Acts as a rope of sorts to strap things together.
• Crystal , provides variable effects upon consumption. For most characters consuming a crystal simply adds a single attack dice to their next role. For others the effects can vary, such as Teresa - The Taken, consuming a crystal replenishes one AP (Action Point) at the cost of 1 Health. (Refer to the traits of a character if they mention crystal use)

Active Scenarios

The Eastern Forest - Super Storm - Accepting Applications

The Eastern Forest - The Storm
This scenario puts our survivors up against a brutal snow storm in the Eastern Forest. Winters have always been hard in the region but this storm is especially deadly. In addition, people have taken arms in what is being referred to as the "Winter Rebellion" in the city of Urbi Lupi, the largest settlement in the region. The White Cross, knights who serve The Young King Julian, are sent in to bring an end to the rebellion. The Illuminous, assassins from the city of Arenious, visit the city in search of supplies for their own rebellion back home. Civilians of Urbi Lupi, especially those of wealth, flee the city as people are killed in the streets. People of all backgrounds are caught in the storm, miles from peaceful land. Bandits take advantage of the situation, knowing the forest better than most, and slaughter travelers in the hundreds.

You find yourself amongst these travelers caught in the storm, with the company of only strangers you must bare through the storm.

Version
Super Storm - 14 Days: You must survive 14 days, make it to day 15 and you will have outlasted the storm. This is a much longer survival scenario that will take a minimum of 56 posts per player to complete. This is intended for those who enjoy longer lasting experiences where they have ample opportunity to explore their character and learn about the others they play with.

Players - Characters

• Dreamer - GM
• Ciaran - Tahzra
• -
• -

Map - The Eastern Forest

Map - No Markers


Map - Dividers and Paths
(Subregion dividers are handled differently in the board game, I've done a quick photoshop edit for the purpose of the RP)

Completed Scenarios
None yet...


This OOC is under construction. More information will be provided as I have time to edit this post. In the mean time feel free to ask any questions, if I don't already intend to explain the answer in the post here, I'll be sure to address it thanks to your question.

[Feyblue]

Ooh, now this seems like an interesting homebrew. I think I'll keep an eye on this one.

[dreamer]

Added Resource section to the original post. More to come, not sure how much I'll get done today though as someone invited me to a D&D session. Never played D&D, only watched it. So we'll see how that goes.

Resources

Resources are necessary to stay alive and can be found throughout the map and can be rewarded for defeating encounters. They include the following;

• Berries, there are three types of these, red berries, yellow berries, and black berries. These are randomly assigned values by the GM at the start of the scenario that determine if they are edible or poisonous. (At least one berry type will be edible and at least one will be poisonous)
• Meat , this is dropped by animals when killed. This should be cooked before being eaten, if not you will likely fall ill.
• Wood , used to build fires and repair structures.
• Herbs, come in three forms simply referred to as, Herb 1, Herb 2, and Herb 3. These will each cure random ailments assigned to them by the GM at the start of the scenario. For example, one may help with an injury, another fever, and the last vomiting.
• Dogbane , is used to repair structures and armor. Acts as a rope of sorts to strap things together.
• Crystal , provides variable effects upon consumption. For most characters consuming a crystal simply adds a single attack dice to their next role. For others the effects can vary, such as Teresa - The Taken, consuming a crystal replenishes one AP (Action Point) at the cost of 1 Health. (Refer to the traits of a character if they mention crystal use)

EDIT: I've added a Character Section, the top post there will list all Canon Characters (made by me) and Custom Characters (made by the community).

[Roughdragon1]

So how civilized is Novus Anima?

[dreamer]

@Roughdragon1 There are six major cities that are the "core" of civilized society.



These are the most well defended and established places in the country/world. There are small towns throughout but they often rise and fall. Although Novus Anima is more stable than the majority of the world, it's still rather chaotic. Natural disasters occur often and on large scales. Bandits plague most of the country as people turn to thieving and murder in order to get by, outside of the major cities. The wildlife can also be very deadly, especially when infected with the crystals that drive them mad.

Blood Horn

So inside the cities, mostly civilized though each has their own problems. Outside those cities, the world is dangerous, some places more so than others.

[Jerkchicken]

@dreamer
Can you give more guidelines regarding statblocks for custom characters?

[dreamer]

@Jerkchicken Sure thing. I'll add that info to the Custom Characters section as I have time.

EDIT: Some guidelines have been provided for Custom Characters. More info will be added later.

Custom Characters

Custom Characters

Custom Characters are created by the community. They must undergo a balance check, perhaps multiple checks, in order to be playable in a Scenario.

Custom Characters can provide a Character Image similar to the ones shown in Canon Characters, or a detailed character sheet. Include enough details to paint a visual picture of your character if you do not have an image for them. Details that must be included are Character Based Stats (Health, Armor, Attack), Character Class, and Traits. Traits must follow the double edged sword method, meaning if a Trait provides a benefit it must also provide a henderance. You can do this either with a single trait that has a pro and con, or two traits with one being the beneficial one and the other the hindrance. (Refer to Canon Characters for examples)

Guidelines
Here are some tips to increase the chances of your Custom Character being accepted and playable in scenarios. Note, both the board game and the RP are subject to change in regards to balance. What might be an okay set of stats early on might turn out to be too weak or too strong later on.

guidelines

• Choose a class and base your character around that class.
  Hunters stats tend to be burst damage based, allowing them to take down animals quickly before they can flee. This makes them more suited for guerrilla tactics with tougher foes rather than drawn out battles. Their traits tend to complement their hunting either in combat or leading to it. (Health is around 5-7, Armor is 0-1, and Attack is 3+)
  Gatherers are based around gathering resources and are able to carry 8 resources instead of 6. They typically aren't suited for combat and rely on the use of their resources to turn the tide of battle. (Health is around 6-8, Armor is 0-1, and Attack is 2-3)
  Warriors excel at combat and have high character stats. However, they lack any talents that would help them regards to gathering resources or surviving the elements and thus tend to rely on cooperation in order to make it through the day. This works the other way around as other characters may need to a Warrior to fend off more dangerous foes. (Health is around 8+, Armor is 1-2, and Attack is 3+)
  Guardians prepare for when things go awry. Their traits tend to provide an escape out of a dangerous situation be it against an encounter or the elements. Because of this, they tend to be life savers when things are at their worst but are rather unproductive when things are less dire. (Stats vary, Guardians can either be really tanky or escape artist. Be one or the other, don't be both)

[Roughdragon1]

@dreamer Cool, would it be possible to create a warrior who survives by participating in prizefights in a city?

[Jerkchicken]

How would I best represent an evasive warrior with just the base stats alone?

[dreamer]

@Roughdragon1 @Jerkchicken I would hold out on coming up with characters just yet until I have scenarios up. I can tell you now that likely we will have one map to start with that has just a few variations to choose from. Actually, I'll go ahead and list a basic description of what that scenario is for now and let you guys vote on which version you want to take on for now.



The Eastern Forest - The Storm
This scenario puts our survivors up against a brutal snow storm in the Eastern Forest. Winters have always been hard in the region but this storm is especially deadly. In addition, people have taken arms in what is being referred to as the "Winter Rebellion" in the city of Urbi Lupi, the largest settlement in the region. The White Cross, knights who serve The Young King Julian, are sent in to bring an end to the rebellion. The Illuminous, assassins from the city of Arenious, visit the city in search of supplies for their own rebellion back home. Civilians of Urbi Lupi, especially those of wealth, flee the city as people are killed in the streets. People of all backgrounds are caught in the storm, miles from peaceful land. Bandits take advantage of the situation, knowing the forest better than most, and slaughter travelers in the hundreds.

You find yourself amongst these travelers caught in the storm, with the company of only strangers you must bare through the storm.

Versions

Three versions of this scenario are listed below. For now, pick which one you would like to partake in. We'll go with whichever is the most popular. If enough people are interested we can do multiple scenarios.

Storm - 7 Days: In this scenario, you simply need to survive 7 days, the 8th day being the end of the storm. Since each day is broke into 4 phases, this should take around 28 posts per player to complete (more so when people interact with each other)

Super Storm - 14 Days: You must survive 14 days, make it to day 15 and you will have outlasted the storm. This is a much longer survival scenario that will take a minimum of 56 posts per player to complete. This is intended for those who enjoy longer lasting experiences where they have ample opportunity to explore their character and learn about the others they play with.

The Great Storm - X Days: In this scenario, the storm is of a disastrous scale. The storm only ends if you discover what is causing its long life and bring it to an end. You could alternatively put together enough resources to escape to safety. This version is intended for those who have a solid understanding of the game's mechanics and seek a challenge.

That's it. I'll provide more info such as a map of the scenario soon. Thank you for being patient with me as I put this rather large rp together. I want things to go well and not end up in a mess so I'm taking my time putting this together alongside you guys.

EDIT: If you have a general idea of a character, feel free to share it or send me a pm. I'll offer feedback on it and offer any additional info you may need.

[Ciaran]

My vote goes to super storm.

[Feyblue]

@dreamerWhat races are there in this setting? The intro mentioned "Lycans." Are those standard werewolves, various assorted beastkin, or something completely different? Also, are there other races than just that? If so, what are they and what sorts of culture do they have?

[Roughdragon1]

@dreamer Cool. (Superstorm ftw)

[Jerkchicken]

I'm fine with whatever length is chosen.

[dreamer]

@Feyblue There's a few, though they vary in rarity. Lycans, as I mentioned, are fairly common in this region and makeup half of the population of Urbi Lupi. Lycans are a human/wolf hybrid that spread via DNA. (So sharing blood, having kids, etc) They can change between their human and lycan form though this is typically avoided as it's extremely painful. A lycan's preference and beliefs will have an impact over which form they prefer to stay in. The change is triggered by intense emotions, be it happiness, anger, sadness, or anything on the spectrum that has you undergo a physical shock from the emotion. Because of this Lycans are usually taught to control their emotions, ones who would like to stay in human form are often extremely recluse and distant in their behavior. Avoiding interactions that could stir emotions. Those who prefer to stay in lycan form could do so for numerous reasons. The pain of changing is a deterrent, some see it as their "true" form, others like the enhanced strength and agility the form comes with (Though they aren't very flexible and their taught muscles make acts like holding a pencil impossible). There are more details in the link if you want to read more on them.

There's Okiciyan's like Teresa that are from Okiciya far to the south. They aren't typically seen outside of their homeland. Teresa (I'll add her to the character's list soon) is a unique case, trying to find a solution to her race's reproduction problem.

Okiciyans

They are a humanoid species created by the crystals of Okiciya in an act of self-perseverance. The Okiciyans were originally mindless creatures with "magic" abilities that would defend the crystals. they were also physically built to haul crystal chunks across the land to help plant and spread the growth across new areas. However this failed as the mindless creatures came into contact with humans, they attacked them on sight. The crystals decay continued and the hive mind that once connected the Okiciyans faded, and they one by one began to become self-aware. They were never meant to be this way. Due to their past, humans continued to see them as hostile creatures and attacked on sight. Okiciyans for the first time witnessed themselves die be it to human hands or to natural deaths. They lacked any way to reproduce and are struggling to find a way to preserve their race.

In short, they're population consist of just several hundred, they mostly live in Okiciya, and their numbers only dwindle as the days go on.

Lastly humans are the most common sentient beings. They're mostly the same as you'd expect.

spirits

You could also consider spirits and abominations a race of their own. They aren't technically spirits, it's a false name due to their appearance. Really it's just energy left over from the crystals that were growing in someone before they died. If those crystals have enough energy they can a "physical" form. They may look like the person they originated from, they may even hold onto bits of their memories, but they are not quite that person.

Spirits are most commonly found in cases of traumatic events. It's common for people to have fractions of crystal within them, and never be aware of it. As they die, that little bit of energy begins to disperse. However, if the area is thick with energy, it won't be able to disperse properly and will pull together. If a group of people were to die near each other, all those bodies could release small amounts of energy that as a whole are a substantial amount. This is why battlefields, towns that were wiped out, and other such events are more likely to have spirits roaming around. Areas that also have large clusters of crystal leftover from "the event", are constantly releasing energy as they decay. This makes area surrounding them far more likely to have spirits.

Abominations are spirits who have become twisted and bent on destruction. They, unlike spirits, are extremely dangerous. They will try to gather more energy to prevent their own death. They kill the living, collecting their energy that is released upon death, and turn spirits they encounter into fellow abominations.

Spirits will either eventually disperse, or live long enough to become abominations. The latter occurring if they recover memories of horrible events or simply become too frustrated over their struggle to understand what they are.

EDIT: Teresa - The Essence character sheet added, along with updates to Val - The Bandit Queen's. I will also likely edit these again with Character based stats, Health, Armor, and Attack for the purpose of the RP.

Teresa - The Essence

[dreamer]

Added an Active and Completed scenario section along with a map and a list of Players and their Characters. I still have work to do on the canon characters but feel free to shoot me your ideas if you want a custom character and not one that I have provided (or will provide when I finish up the list of 7ish characters)

Active Scenarios

The Eastern Forest - Super Storm - Accepting Applications

The Eastern Forest - The Storm
This scenario puts our survivors up against a brutal snow storm in the Eastern Forest. Winters have always been hard in the region but this storm is especially deadly. In addition, people have taken arms in what is being referred to as the "Winter Rebellion" in the city of Urbi Lupi, the largest settlement in the region. The White Cross, knights who serve The Young King Julian, are sent in to bring an end to the rebellion. The Illuminous, assassins from the city of Arenious, visit the city in search of supplies for their own rebellion back home. Civilians of Urbi Lupi, especially those of wealth, flee the city as people are killed in the streets. People of all backgrounds are caught in the storm, miles from peaceful land. Bandits take advantage of the situation, knowing the forest better than most, and slaughter travelers in the hundreds.

You find yourself amongst these travelers caught in the storm, with the company of only strangers you must bare through the storm.

Version
Super Storm - 14 Days: You must survive 14 days, make it to day 15 and you will have outlasted the storm. This is a much longer survival scenario that will take a minimum of 56 posts per player to complete. This is intended for those who enjoy longer lasting experiences where they have ample opportunity to explore their character and learn about the others they play with.

Players - Characters

• Dreamer - GM
• -
• -
• -

Map - The Eastern Forest

Map - No Markers


Map - Dividers and Paths
(Subregion dividers are handled differently in the board game, I've done a quick photoshop edit for the purpose of the RP)

Completed Scenarios
None yet...

[dreamer]

Alright, apologies for the triple post but I think this bit of info I'm going to go over should be in its own post so you can quickly refer to it.

I've added the final touches to the two characters I have under Canon so far and I want to explain what's going on here to help you guys out (especially the ones pming me coming up with their own characters)



Teresa - The Essence here has what I consider the "default average" set of stats. 6 health, 1 armor, 3 attack. None of these are particularly high or completely lacking. For Hunters and Guardians this should be the typical setup. Depending on your traits you may want to change those accordingly. (Perhaps if something is health draining you would want to drop your armor for a couple points of health)

Now below I have Val - The Bandit Queen.


She's a Warrior, but you may notice she has the same "average" stats as Teresa - The Essence when Warriors usually have higher Health and Armor. My reasoning for this is her Hired Help trait. She can hire a bandit to join her, which essentially adds their health, armor, and damage to her own in a sense. So because the trait technically could raise her own stats by giving her a companion, I've given her lower stats than the typical Warrior.

The lesson here is to take every aspect of your character into account when creating them. Consider what the class you're going for considers as their gameplay style. Warriors are meant for prolonged battles but lack survival skills, Hunters are glass canons that are good at hunting animals, Gatherers are good at gathering resources (usually one type of resource in particular), and Guardians are either tanky or escape artist.

• Health is useful both in and out of combat as it slows the rate at which you die either from wounds or poor health.
• Armor is more useful than health in combat as it constantly blocks damage until broken, but serves no purpose outside of combat. (Usually)
• Attack is another combat focused stat that will impact your ability to both hunt animals and fight dangerous foes.

A theme you can follow to help when creating a character is to use a (High, Medium, Low) stat setup. By this, I mean for each class a spectrum for each stat is provided. I'll use the Warrior Class as an example...

Warrior Spectrum
(Health is around 8+, Armor is 1-2, and Attack is 3+)

OP Warrior
(Health 10, Armor 2, Attack 5)

What we have above is a (High, High, High) setup. Which won't work, not unless your traits are absolutely horrendous on your character which is no fun. Instead, you should pick one stat to be your High, one to be your Medium, and one to be your Low. Here's an example...

Example Warrior
(Health 9, Armor 2, Attack 3)

Example Warrior's setup is (Medium, High, Low) respectively. This setup has our Warrior being a bit on the tanky side, but not quite Guardian levels of tanky. The traits at this point are the defining feature that will lock in our Example Character as a Warrior.

Example Warrior
(Health 9, Armor 2, Attack 3)
Trait 1: Every attack the Warrior lands, his Total Attack increases by 1. (Caps at 8)

Trait 2: Every attack the Warrior misses, his Total Attack decreases by 1. (Minimum of 2)

There you have it, we have our Example Warrior's stats and traits. Just make sure he also has a Bio, Gameplay Description, name, class, and appearance (image or detailed description) listed and you're good to go!

I'll list this as a little tutorial of sorts under custom characters now that I've written it out.

[Jerkchicken]

How will rolling be handled?

Also, how do the various dice types and their results correspond to the pips on a d6?

[dreamer]

@JerkchickenWe can use the dice system they have here, just have the numbers represent different results.

Attack Dice: Odd numbers are misses, even are hits with 6 being an armor break.

Exposure Dice: Odd sides are exposure rolls, even are blank (aka no negative effects)

Injury Dice: Odd are injury rolls, even are blank.

[dreamer]

Alright guys so my intention is to have the RP start this week. There's some concerns to address prior though.

1) Resources are trickier to manage in the RP. I know how much of each resource I want to put on the map and where to put them, the question is how to display that information to you properly. See in the game if you go looking for berries in an area with no berries after you search for a moment the game will simply tell you that you couldn't find anything. In the RP I can't stop you mid post and say, "Hey you couldn't find berries there." At the same time I can't just post a map of where everything is as you're not supposed to know where to find everything, otherwise, there's not much of a struggle.

If any of you have a suggestion of how to remedy this situation I'd like to know. I've talked to a few people so far without luck.

2) Characters, you guys are free to make them now. I'll be adding more to the canon list as I have time.

3) Something I just wanted to discuss is character interactions. In order to keep things running smoothly I would prefer if you're going to have a character interaction that you do those in pms and post the final version after. That way if you're talking back and forth we don't have 14 two sentence post scattered around everyone else's post. It'll also give you time to discuss how you want to handle certain situations, like combat.

3.5) Certain interactions, like stealing from people don't require pms. In the game stealing is done a bit differently than we'll do it here. In the game if you steal someone you either fail or succeed if you fail the player notices you going through their inventory and if you succeed they have a "false item". A false item basically being that the stolen item still shows up in their inventory until they go to use it, then poof it's gone and they realize it's been taken but they won't know which player it was (unless it's really obvious like you haven't seen one guy in 3 days so it couldn't have been him) In the RP we're going to just have to use an honor system. If someone steals from you, which you'll see in their post, you as a player know you were robbed but your character won't. If you're going to blame a certain character you need to explain how your character logically came to that conclusion. (Would be interesting to see them "logically" come to the conclusion that it was someone else and not the actual thief)

That should be it. If you guys have any questions or concerns, feel free to post them.