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Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Brei
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Brei The Snarky Half-Elf

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Hello, I'm still fairly new here and learning my way around but I had an idea for a group roleplay that won't leave me be. The problem is I've never ran a group roleplay so I have no idea what to do or how to start. All I have is an idea for a world that I really want to play in. If anyone else is interested in playing in this world please post here and let me know! Also if anyone is willing to either help me run this or walk me through the process of running a group roleplay please get in touch as well. Thank you.

Here is my idea. Its basicly just a setting I came up with so anything within that setting that fits is possible. The only race is humans though so it might be considered more low fantasy than some other worlds.

A long time ago, magic was accepted and freely used. It was a corner stone of the world and many mages made deals with spirits and elemental beings to accomplish wonderous things. However when a coven of mages accidentially destroyed one of the worlds greatest cities an upstart group of non magicals who feared magic saw their chance. Under the guise of a new religion they preached that magic would slowly destroy the world if it was not banned and its users cleansed. The religion preached that the great god of life was angered by the destruction of his favored city that was destroyed by magical fire. The only way to appease the god they said was to consign every mage to the fire in return.

And so began the Hunts. Hundreds of years later the religion has created a church that holds more power than even the nobility. The church instills fear into the remaining mages who have been forced into secrecy and hiding yet the common man loves the feeling of security the church brings them. The fact that most education and charity related projects are run by the church only helps with its popularity. Mages and anything unnatural is feared. The spirit and elemental worlds have gone so long without contact that they have gradually twisted, their inhabitants becoming possessive and demanding of any mage who dares summon them. Now these beings are called demons, a name meant to further inspire fear in the masses.

Few things are know to the public about magic and mages save both are to be feared and reported to the church. However mages are not made, they are born. Everyone has a small chance of manifesting as a mage but this has long been forgotten. Another thing is that magic often reacts to the emotions of its caster so mages who manifest and don't learn control are quickly found and burned by the church.


For more details on the church think something similar to the catholic teachings but with the addition of magic being the ultimate crime and sin.

This world could be played several ways but mainly I made it to explore the topics of intrigue, religion, corruption, and politics in a world with fantasy elements. I would also love to explore character development and interaction. Mages might be desperate to regain power or they might hate themselves but fear dying or they might just be trying to hide and live in peace. Those in the church have also forgotten that their founders based their faith on a lie, that was never recorded so they honestly believe everything they preach.
Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Sierra
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Sierra The Dark Lord

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It's almost midnight and I have a 9:30 class tomorrow, so I'm gonna have to get back to you about it later, but I definitely want to give some help & critique. I think I can be safely considered somewhat versed in dark fantasy group projects.
Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Brei
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Brei The Snarky Half-Elf

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Okay! I would appreciate any help or constructive criticism you have to offer. :)
Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Sierra
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Sierra The Dark Lord

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Alright I’ve finally had some time to sit down between classes and hammer out some of my thoughts for you. I’ll try to go through the prompt as you’ve written it and offer my critique, as well as some more general advice on how to GM well. Full disclosure: I write and GM in the Advanced section. This will subsequently color the entirety of my feedback. Some of this will not apply 1:1 and some of it may feel a bit harsh, so take things with a grain of salt.

. . . a coven of mages accidentially destroyed one of the worlds greatest cities . . .

One does not simply ... I don’t think this trigger event works for creating a believable premise. I think instead you shouldn’t be afraid to invoke a fanatical cult or something more malevolent here. If the church that later becomes this holy inquisition has something to very legitimately call a threat, then nobody questions their relentless persecution of magic. You want the obvious thought process to be “All magic is temptation. Temptation leads to misuse. Misuse is dangerous.” or similar. Equating magical power to existential danger ensures widespread support and minimal resistance to what equates to genocide.

The religion preached that the great god of life was angered by the destruction of his favored city that was destroyed by magical fire.

Similar thing, though this one has a shred of subjectivity coming through with it. I think it reads more believably if written as “God says ‘thou shalt not give in to temptation.’ Magic is temptation. Magic is a sin unto the lord.” or something of that sort. This is sort of the natural evolution of the previous, enshrining the idea into faith rather than reason even further cements the blind adherence you want for believability of setting.

I think if you take these two points (or rather facets of the same singular point) and apply them thoroughly through the concept, you’ll build a stronger premise for it. Beyond this, further worldbuilding (importantly including the construction of the magic system in play) is something I cannot reliably consult on without us sitting down for an extended period of time working through things.



As for running a group, I can offer some basic guidance for now.

Have a plan.
A general story arc along which to keep things moving helps a lot. I know many people like freeform, and this isn’t to say you can’t allow players to have their own stories to tell, but having a very general, overall arc that you can use to keep things moving in a set direction has helped me keep things moving when without it, they would have stagnated long ago.

Have standards.
Particularly at the casual level, I see all too often GMs make rules, but then fail to enforce them in any meaningful capacity. I admit it’s no fun being the bad guy, but you’ll be more upset at yourself if you do nothing, than if you do something. Stick to your guns. Don’t be afraid to kick people if it becomes necessary. Don’t be afraid to deny character sheets if there’s something you don’t feel fits the setting or is overpowered.

Fully build the idea before recruiting.
At least to 90% or so is good. The interest check you post should be pretty close to the main OOC thread you’ll post later. If you don’t (and again I see lots of GMs do this), the time delay involved in finishing it often causes player interest to fade and you lose half or more of your interested players. Sure, it sucks building an idea that then doesn’t take off, but when the interest starts rolling in, you’ll be glad you did this.

Demand character sheets at the interest check.
Some people put the CS template up, but surprisingly few actually demand them. “I’m interested” doesn’t count for shit when judging who will or will not commit to an RP. A measly 50% player retention going from interest check to main thread is not uncommon. But if you judge your interest by completed (or at least partially completed) character sheets, 70% or higher retention becomes the case.


This post has rambled on long enough so I leave you with this as my wisdom for now, as I have class again in 20 minutes. PM me, or find me on discord (you are in the discord for Congee’s romance RP right?) so we can keep going back and forth if you’d like, as I’d rather not clog up this thread too much more.
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Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by sly13
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sly13

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Id be interested in playing in this world but dont believe i have much RP Guild experience as a gm.
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