First off, let me say I know some of you might see this, and think it won't go anywhere because I'm an awful GM and both my other roleplays I tried to start up failed. But, this isn't like those times, I promise, I will be a good GM...or at least try to be! ^.^
Okay, so next off, this is heavily inspired by Log Horizon. It was one of my top favorite animes, and it touched on an interesting concept. So, I've been wanting to do something similar for a long time, and I know most people are more fans of the SAO side of this genre, but bare with me here, I promise you this will be greater than SAO!
The Plot: The MMORPG Estaria was widely received as a huge hit. It wasn’t anything overly special, it wasn’t VR or anything like that. But it gave players a feeling of immersion. They felt connected to the game. For the longest time, players did their best, some participated in large scale PVP events, others in raid dungeons with their guilds. Of course, with such a popular game it required expansions. Having two previous very successful ones. But, now a much more anticipated one was teased. Some of the players having worked side-by-side with the developers to make a lot of the content. However, on the day of the release, things went terribly wrong. Everyone who logged onto the game with the new expansion experienced a flash of light. Waking up later inside the game world. How they got there was a mystery, but it was the reality. The top guilds got together and devised rules. The first being that everyone who wished to go out of the cities must first make sure they actually know *how* to fight, the second being that any newbies who wished to tackle the first boss must take at the very least a single advanced player with them, incase anything goes wrong. A week into the event, and everyone seemed to be doing well. People were still adjusting, learning to live beside the npcs(who were actually very offended at being called such), and learning to survive in this new world. Sure plenty wished they could find a way back, but learning to survive was more important. But things would not continue to go so well, as a group that had left for the beginner dungeon had returned beat and bruised, without the three advanced players that had left with them. The details are unknown, the beginners too shocked to share. So a bounty went up, posted by the Stellar Knights, as it was their members who went missing, to scout the area and if possible rescue their members.
So, there are multiple types of classes. You have your base class, then you can change to a subclass. Then there are 'legendary' subclasses, and essentially they're just more badass versions. I'll be limiting these. Mythical Subclass is GM npc's for plot purposes only.
Huntress/Hunter - The hunter class is best known for it’s ability to both use bows, and befriend animals. A hunter is able to make a companion upon first selecting this class, and can change companions at specialized shops in towns, should they be unpleased with their decision. Companions - A hawk; Through a special skill called Linking they can see through the eyes of the hawk, using it to scout areas ahead, allowing them to strategize before heading into the fray. || A large cat; The type of cat can vary from a tiger to a panther, and each has their own distinct stats. Some choose this because they can send the companion off on special hunting tasks, it returning hours later with items it gathered from enemies it fought, though the area must first be scouted by the hunter. A large cat also makes a decent fighting companion. || Bear; The bear is a popular choice among new hunters, as it functions as a tank, able to draw the ire of the huntresses enemies, and having the defenses to take on multiple hits. It’s damage output is low however, so it is not advised to expect it to be able to fend for itself, needing the help of it’s hunter. Subclasses - Sniper; A hunter who has decided to forgo the way of bestial companionship. A sniper focuses on the use of her bow, and has more skills that affect her arrows, most notable the ‘sniper shot’ skill, which allows the user to achieve more range from their bow than would normally be possible. || Trapper; A hunter who, while still using them, does not rely on their bow. They gain multiple trap skills, including a specialized one based on their companion. || Beast Master; A legendary subclass, the Hunter can command all three companion types, switching between them without needing to go to town through a special skill called ‘Call of the wild’. Few have unlocked this subclass, needing to complete an extremely difficult dungeon solo to do so. || Gunslinger; A mythical class, with it adds a new weapon that can’t be used by any other class. Gunslingers dual wield pistols, with which they can dish out massive amounts of damage pretty quickly. They have skills that allow them to completely unload both guns, and even one that allows them to temporarily merge them into either a shotgun or a sniper, with a limited amount of shots. They are only allowed to have the hawk as a companion, or gain a new companion in the form of a horse that can only be used as a mount.
Barbarian/Warrior - This is your general melee class. Wielding sword and shield they have skills focused on combat, and specialized weaponry. Warriors(female) and Barbarians(male) are able to wield every weapon in the game, having skills that increase the effectiveness of certain ones. Most who use this class go with the one-handed sword and shield combo, or a 2 handed sword, having added bonuses for those. Subclasses - Paladin; The tank. They are given a skill that allows them to wield tower shields and a two handed weapon at the same time. They don’t have many attack skills, but they don’t need them, having skills that increase their defense, and even some self healing spells, allowing them to survive most encounters while slowly chipping away at an opponent's health. || Blade Dancer; Is Dps important to you? Do you prefer to slice and dice your opponents before they can touch you? Then this is the class for you. A blade dancer is specialized in dual wielding either daggers, chakrams or one handed swords, though they lose the ability to wield all other weapons. They have skills that increase their speed, and while they have lowered defense few enemies can touch them. A blade dancer is not recommended to face a boss alone. They aren’t fast enough to avoid aoe, sorry. || Berserker(Male); One of the three legendary subclasses, a Berserker can dual-wield two handed weapons, and knows lots of devastating attack skills. They can’t wear much armor however, and aren’t that fast. A berserkers most known skill is ‘bloody fury’, which upon activation lets them sap health up to half the damage dealt for a period of time. Gender locked. Subclass unlocked by completing a hidden quest line only available to barbarians. ||Valkyrie(Female); A valkyrie has astounding defense, being able to wear the heaviest of armors due to a skill that lowers the weight of all armor worn. A valkyrie uses only one handed swords and a shield, but they are not to be scoffed at. They have a skill called ‘Pegasus flight’ that gives them a significant speed boost, allowing them to dance around the battlefield, paired with ‘Furies vengeance’, dealing double the amount of damage they take on themselves. Gender locked. Subclass unlocked by completing a questline available only to warriors. || Bladesmith; A mythical class. There were three total mythical classes added, and while still being classified as a legendary is *much* harder to obtain, in that nobody is actually told how to unlock it, and as far as is known nobody has. A bladesmith has a skill called ‘Mystic Anvil’ that lets them summon an anvil to craft, or enchant weapons on the fly. They can craft and use any bladed weapon, though weapons crafted on the mystic anvil break after a limited number of uses.
Rogue/Assassin - The class chosen by those who wish to approach things with a stealthy strategy. A Rogue/Assassin can sneak in the shadows, or even make their own by using a skill simply called ‘shade’. Among other skills, are the usual backstab, smokebomb, etc. This class can dual wield daggers, or wield a one handed sword and a dagger. They can’t dual wield one handed swords however, and are unable to use any other weapons. Subclasses - Herbalist; Seeing the name one might assume it to be a healer, and while they do possess healing skills, they possess far more poison skills, crafting them to be applied to either their own, or their allies weapons. Different poisons can accomplish different things, but most Herbalists go for the lethal one. || Thief; The thief isn’t too different from the original class, only gaining an ability to pickpocket. The pickpocket ability comes in two different skills, one for npcs, and the other players, the latter having a greater chance of being noticed. || Ninja; Legendary. A ninja is at home in the shadows, and does more damage from them. Whether by cause of an ally being targeted, or being unseen, the Ninja has a massive attack boost when hidden from the enemy. A ninja has little to no defense, but has skills that they can use to vanish from sight. Unlocked by having an extremely large number of stealth kills as a Rogue. Ninja’s gain access to two different weapons other than those usable by the base class, shuriken and katana, both of which provide a bonus when used by ninja’s.
Witch/Warlock - Magic! These classes use either a wand and focus, or a staff as a weapon, the latter being the only one with melee capabilities, while the former boosts skill damage and reduces mana usage. Most of the skills are offensive, though some are defensive. No healing skills. Focuses - No other class can wield these, not even the warriors/barbarians. While classified as a weapon, they actually deal no damage, specifically serving to reduce mana usage, boost the mana pool, or even boost the regen of mana. Focuses can take the form of either a crystal ball, or a spell book. Subclass - Priest; Foregoing most of their offensive magics, those who choose this subclass gain a multitude of both healing skills, and a few extra defensive skills. Priests can only wield staves, but gain the ability to wield them one handed, and are able to use special focuses designated as holy. || Elementalist; An elementalist has decided they don’t need defensive skills, and instead gain a multitude of offensive skills. There are multiple ways to utilize an Elementalist, either as crowd control, or massive dps, though they aren't great at taking a hit. || Mage Knight; A Mage Knight is a force to be reckoned with, having the ability to wear heavy armor, and now wield one handed swords and shield. Alongside their newfound gear, they have skills that are both offensive, and defensive, as well as the specialty skills that allow them to enchant their weapons with various properties on the fly. || Necromancer; A mythical class. Mostly having offensive skills, with a few healing skills. The necromancer, similar to the priest gains the ability to wield staves with one hand, and the ability to use focuses that are ‘demonic’. The necromancers most notable skill is to summon a small skeleton army, or even revive the corpses of fallen enemies to fight by their side for a small time.
Warrior V2 - Where before you had your basic warrior portrayed in, well, everything, here you have more unique warriors. Specifically, this one has access to other weapon skills that are more focused on status effects like bleed. They can wield all the same weapons as the previous class. Subclass - Samurai; Heavy armor AND speed? IS that even possible? Yes, yes it is. The samurai is able to wear heavy armors, and while limited to the katana as a weapon, they have more speed than your average warrior, and more status effects to inflict. || Brawler - Who needs a sword when you've got fists? The blade dancer is fast, but the brawler is faster. This class can only use fist weapons and wear light armor, but can inflict lots of damage, really quick. Their skills are related to speed.
Now we get to go into races, and they actually impact how you're seen in the game, both by npcs and fellow players, though fellow players might be less biased than npcs.
Elves - Born of the forest, they have a connection with nature, and a few racial skills to show this. One such skill is called ‘Gaia's Voice’, which sends a pulse out from the user, highlighting enemy locations, though it doesn’t work on enemy players. They have a high social reputation, and are welcomed in most towns. Though, elven towns rarely let anyone other than elves into their own walls.
Orcs - Born of war, they have skills that boost their offensive and defensive capabilities. They are well known for being hostile towards most other races, and were only recently made a playable character by high demand from the player base, though oddly enough very few of those who demanded they be playable actually made a character with the race when it was.
Humans - Born of earth, they aren’t really special at anything but breeding. Humans litter the world, and are the most common species both amongst amongst npcs, and oddly the player base. There was at one time an april fools joke debate to remove them from the playable races, and only around a hundred voted for this, everyone else voted against.
Dwarves - Born of the earth, like humans, but way awesomer. Dwarves have a higher chance of finding materials for blacksmithing, as well as a significant bonus in that job. Dwarves are well accepted into most societies, as long as they are blacksmiths or miners. Most others are treated poorly.
Sylphs* - Not many pick this race, because they are a gender locked race(female). Born of the elements a sylph has an elemental body, and takes reduced physical damage, but is unable to wear any form of armor at all. Depending on the subrace of sylph(fire/water/wind) they have a special offensive skill they can use.
Demons* - Gender locked to male. Born of the underworld, a demon has both advanced offensive capabilities, as well as defensive ones. They possess a special skill called ‘hellfire’ wrapping a fire around their weapon, which will apply a dot burn effect until death. Demons are not well accepted in most towns, and can only purchase gear from black markets.
*Both gender locked races are also like the legendary subclasses, they have to be unlocked through a tedious questline before they can actually be used. If you want your character to be one of these, you'll have to pm me.
This game has special jobs, where your character can earn currency in ways other than slaughtering poor defenseless creatures, should they be pansies and find it too cruel, or simply need some extra cash for that shiny new sword to slaughter innocent creatures with. :D
Blacksmith, Shopkeep, Barkeep, Barmaid, Innkeep, Miner, Hunter(job does not require class), Adventurer(pretty much a sword for hire), there may be more, essentially any job you could obtain in a medieval setting is available, including some less desirable ones such as a slave trader(and yes, that is a thing in the game).
Guilds - groups of players who have banded together. They have a leader, and then they have admins, depending on the guilds size. Each guild has it’s very own building, and a guild can not be made without the money to purchase this building, and at least six other players willing to join. The largest guilds in the game are ‘The Crimson Crows’ and ‘The Stellar Knights’, the first being a merchants guild, they travel around selling equipment to adventurers out in the field and in dungeons, or might even provide other services. The Stellar Knights are a military guild, and only accept members who can prove themselves capable in combat.
Black Guilds - These are guilds full of less favorable people, though don’t mistake them for a false guild. They are as real as any other, having the same requirements. The difference? Well, these tend to be filled with rule-breakers, player killers, and the like. The most known Black Guild being called ‘Fluffy Unicorns’...they uh...lost a bet...but cute name aside, they are actually the most feared, and most known because they run the black markets, as well as other lucrative services.
Now, if you're interested, you can start a character as soon as you'd like, as I have a skeleton sheet ready for you! See, I told you I'd be a better GM! I'm more prepared than I ever am at this stage! You're free to edit however you like, so long as you include everything I ask for. :D
Image, anime/art, no real images.
UserName- (Believe it or not, I can read. This is your character’s username, not yours. ^.^) Alias- (Your character might go by something other than their user, possibly a shortened version of it) Age- (How old is your character? The game is 17+, so logically, your character must be as well, no exceptions) Reputation- (Is your character known for anything amazing in the game? Are they maybe famous in the entire game industry?) Guild- (Is your character in a guild? Solo? If in a guild, what’s it called? Is it known for anything?) Race- (What race is your character’s character?) Class- (What class did your character take upon joining the game? Did they achieve any subclasses?) Equipment- (What gear does your character possess? Is there anything that makes your gear special? Keep character class in mind, an Archer isn’t going to have a broadsword.) Skills- (What non-class related skills do they possess? Can they smith gear, pick locks, etc.?) Job- (Do they have a job? If so, what is it?) Personality- (You have two ways you can do this. Either in descriptive paragraphs, that give me a feel for your character. Or in a descriptive list, giving me at least three positive and negative traits, paired with a short description of how it shows in the character. If they act differently in game than in real life, that is important, and needs stated.) History- (A person’s history can define them, and is often important to who they are. Take away someone's memories, and they might be a completely different person. Cop outs will be denied without a second thought.)
And with all that out of the way: If you're interested, but not really sure about anything, feel free to ask questions. I don't bite...usually. :D
Would it be possible for a character to stick to the initial class of choice instead of going into sub-classes? I'd be interested in playing a full Barbarian.
Would it be possible for a character to stick to the initial class of choice instead of going into sub-classes? I'd be interested in playing a full Barbarian.
First, welcome! Glad ta have you aboard. :D
Second: Of course that's possible, in fact many players don't go into the sub-classes.
interested! I love log horizon so much better than SAO in my opinion!
Glad to have you! Log Horizon will always outshine SAO in every way! :D
This looks pretty cool. Count me interested
Yay. Welcome. :3
Informational Announcement
I forgot to address how equipment works, so I should probably do that. XD So, first off, there's not really damage numbers. Weapons don't do 200% damage, or 550dps. They just do damage. If you have a skill that does 50dps, and you have an amazing sword, it's still gonna do 50dps. So what's the point of gear? Well, they can have enchantments, and while it is possible for there to be a damage boost, it's minuscule and rng, so most players find it a waste, going more for things like an enchantment of fire, which adds a small amount of guaranteed fire damage to every skill, or class specific enchantments such as one for a bow that would split arrows into multiple. Armor functions much the same, they don't have defense numbers, but will have either physical or magical resistance, that will lower damage by a small amount, but again most players don't bother looking at that, instead going for things that might increase their stealth/speed/etc. ^.^
Any chance we could know more about the game's mechanics and lore to help with planning out our characters? Also, what level was the max, in what level range can we start off, do levels have a huge impact on combat effectiveness? Or is it more of a guideline with some minor perks unlocked that give an edge over lower levels, but ultimately player skill decides the outcome? This kind of stuff.
@Genbor I am not a GM , but I am pretty sure levels wont matter very much .Its based on Log Horizon , most of its characters were max level ,so it probably would be the same here .Maybe if you want a low level character... P.S And yes it would be nice to know about skills
I am contemplating on having a character who has not reached max yet, somewhat higher than the mid tier, but if he'd be incredibly disadvantaged by it to the point that he'd be cut off from the "main party" activities -- if indeed there is such a thing -- due to his lower level then I might reconsider.
Well, if it is a general MMORPG type of leveling system then you are probably right, but maybe it's a little bit different.
I've played games which took an interesting spin on the whole leveling. Some examples:
There was a game which I played where you could unlock perk slots with your levels, with which you could tailor the way you wanted to play as they offered slight bonuses compared to people who didn't have them unlocked.
There is a game where combat level and actual combat prowess are two separate entities, as combat was locked to Skills instead of your Overarching level that would increase through a combination of your combat skills. This way there can be some low level players with high combat capabilities, who usually focus on one or two combat skills to keep their levels low but their effectiveness is higher than it should be, and these are called Pures.
Then there was a leveling system where you achieved levels not by gaining experience, but completing achievements, so your actual level reflected your skill as a player more than the time you spent grinding.
There are even games which restrict your level in a zone, so you are regressed back to that level range but with added bonuses that you've unlocked and vice versa, where you may not have been a max level but it can boost you up to that so you can play with others.
So there are multiple ways leveling can be done, in ways that doesn't necessary restrict access to content. This world probably has a generic type of leveling system, but I'd like to know my options, is all.
Any chance we could know more about the game's mechanics and lore to help with planning out our characters? Also, what level was the max, in what level range can we start off, do levels have a huge impact on combat effectiveness? Or is it more of a guideline with some minor perks unlocked that give an edge over lower levels, but ultimately player skill decides the outcome? This kind of stuff.
Starting from the top: Game mechanics, I will not be working on heavily, for the obvious reason of they won't matter much once our characters are actually in the game, as everything will be different than it was in the actual game. As for lore, I like to leave that up to players, while yes I make my own, but it's limiting to players if the GM dictates all the lore. So, if there's anything more specific lore wise you'd like to know, feel free to ask. One thing I can tell you about the game, is that alongside the in game events they have occasionally, the developers also host worldwide irl events, that can range from cosplay, art contests, to even random stuff like races in preset locations. The winners of these irl events get unique items, skills, or rarely races, that no other player can get. There's only four of these races, but essentially it's something I have in place in case someone wants a race other than those I have given.
Levels, do not exist. Otherwise I would have had it in the character sheet. Skills are obtained by going to a class trainer, or a skill trainer(they give skills unrelated to classes, like lock-picking and cooking), and each skill costs a certain amount of currency. There's over a hundred skills for each class, and as with the lore, I'm leaving this up to you guys, so long as you stick to what I have said in the class post. A barbarian won't be casting magic, a witch isn't going to be buffing defense, etc. As long as you obey the class presets, the limit is your imagination. The skill system, paying for skills with currency, was implemented as a risk-reward feature, you could just slowly save up working at a job, or farming minor creatures, but if you tackled bosses and such, you get a larger reward, and will have more skills as a result. But, you also have to balance buying skills with buying items such as health potions/food items(because hunger is a thing in the game).
So, with that, levels will not effect combat in the slightest, as they don't exist. Skills however, will. Of course, you could get away with having just the most basic skill for your weapon of choice, but then you won't be tackling bosses. So, it's always a good idea to have a good variety of skills.
@Genbor I am not a GM , but I am pretty sure levels wont matter very much .Its based on Log Horizon , most of its characters were max level ,so it probably would be the same here .Maybe if you want a low level character... P.S And yes it would be nice to know about skills
It's not based on Log Horizon, it's inspired by it. ^.^
I am contemplating on having a character who has not reached max yet, somewhat higher than the mid tier, but if he'd be incredibly disadvantaged by it to the point that he'd be cut off from the "main party" activities -- if indeed there is such a thing -- due to his lower level then I might reconsider.
Well, there isn't really a 'max', but there are advanced players who have mastered a lot of their skills, and if it wasn't obvious in the first post, this will be focusing on advanced players, so I prefer we not have anyone less. Now, this isn't saying you can't, just that I prefer you don't.
@Genbor I like the third option ,it would be fun to play a DnD campaign with an achievement based progression )
I have a suspicion that our game will be more about plot and RP than grinding for levels.
Our class will probably determine our characters' abilities ( who can sneak, cast magic , shoot etc)
But again I am not a GM ;)
For all we know our campaign might be an endless dungeon crawl XD
From the top: -That would be a pain in the ass for me, because I would have to actually think of achievements and whatnot, or our characters would not be able to grow throughout the roleplay. Though, I'm sure it would be interesting, we're gonna stick to what I've said. -Our rp will indeed be more about the plot than grinding for levels, as that's no fun, I've seen plenty of SAO roleplays, that died off simply because the GM had everyone start low level and have to actually level. -Probably? That's pretty much a given, otherwise Classes wouldn't be a thing in the first place. -This will in fact, not be an endless dungeon crawl...as entertaining as that would be. XD
