RE/Birth + Round Table
Knight Arthurs X Gallant Heaven was a game in many ways as incomprehensible as its garbled Engrish title. It tried to be many things all rolled into one - a light and fluffy slice of life love story, but also at times a dark and serious drama filled with courtly intrigue and dark schemes. An Otome game wherein the heroine enjoys a rose-colored academy life with a wide variety of bishonen and ikemen characters... but also a turn based, top-down tactical RPG battle game where the protagonists must not only face deadly monsters and ancient evils, but traitors in their own kingdom and warlike invaders from abroad.
It was regarded at best as somewhat charmingly inconsistent - with some routes being mostly light and idealistic, and others having surprisingly dark undertones that were often poorly handled, or never even fully explored. With a wide variety of branching paths the story could take, and a multitude of writers handling all of them, characters would sometimes behave radically differently in different routes, often without any real explanation. While this gave rise to a great many fan theories about things happening behind the scenes that could have led to those outcomes, the game itself left many questions unanswered due to its rushed production schedule, dropping several extra scenes that might otherwise have explained some of the glaring holes in its plot.
Even so, it had a fairly large following despite its flaws, due in no small part to several beloved breakout characters whose routes and interactions were regarded as popular enough to make the rest worth it. It was also appreciated even by some fans completely outside of the intended demographic due to the surprisingly deep combat mechanics - though, as these were never properly explained in most cases, just as many prospective fans were driven away in frustration as their tried to make sense of what they were doing.
The game's premise was fairly straightforward. In a world once populated by famous characters from the stories of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, a kingdom called Caerleon was founded on the sacred land that King Arthur had once ruled. After he drove back the monsters and wild beasts that had corrupted the land, this country became a flourishing paradise. And though his kingdom collapsed after his death, the land was eventually unified under a new people, and began to thrive once more.
But all was not well within this fledgling kingdom - for without Arthur's sacred power to keep them at bay, monsters began to return and prey upon the people. So, fulfilling his promise to return in the land's hour of need, Arthur's soul reached out from where he slept on the Isle of Avalon, and bestowed his powers upon a worthy successor, who would go on to defend the land as Arthur himself had done. His loyal Knights, too, woke from their rest, sensing the return of their king and realizing that he would need the aid of his steadfast retainers - and so granted their powers to a new generation of knights, who would go on to become a second Round Table, hoping to mend and atone for the faults that had led to the dissolution of the first.
As it was the Successors who had saved the kingdom in its hour of need, it became tradition in Caerleon to venerate all those who had been blessed with the legacy of the heroes of old. Those guided by a noble spirit were marked for greatness, serving to slay all monsters and enemies who threatened Caerleon's peace. And, conversely, those who became Successors of wicked powers were feared and reviled, as existences that served only to bring about strife and chaos.
In such a kingdom, the coming of Arthur was anticipated in times of strife, as a means to banish all ills and usher in a new era of prosperity. But in the game, for the first time, Arthur's successor was not a man, but a woman. A young lady of hardly-noble birth, the heroine enters the scene in the midst of a crisis of succession, with the heirs of different branches of the royal family competing for the right to rule, backed by various factions of aristocrats both foreign and domestic. With the very real possibility of civil war on the horizon, it falls to the unsuspecting, average-girl heroine to settle the dispute herself, and choose the next king... by marrying him. At the same time, though, she's also expected to protect the kingdom from the monsters that are beginning to return, and thus must also gather her loyal knights and learn how to control the powers she's been given, all in order to save Caerleon!
This, of course, leads to the expected set up of a vast array of eligible aristocratic bishonen trying to court her, as well as providing a justification for dungeon crawling monster hunts and tactical battles. Mechanically speaking, the game relied heavily on time management. Certain activities - such as attending classes, parties, tournaments, or major monster hunts and story battles - were mandatory, with outcomes that depended at times on your affection values with certain characters, and at other times on your stats. Then, outside of these scenes, there were a wide array of optional activities. You could go visit a particular character to get optional bonus scenes together and raise their affection values, or you could choose to train to improve your combat stats - or do certain sidequests to obtain money to spend at an ingame shop to buy gifts and trinkets to give to the various capture targets, which would not only raise their affection, but also serve as equipment to boost their stats in combat.
Because of this, however, it was pretty easy to focus too hard on one thing or another, and end up in a situation where you just didn't have what you needed to win a certain story battle or get the right outcome in certain mandatory scenes. If you focused too hard on raising one character's affection values to get his route and improve his combat abilities, you might miss out on developing others and then get caught in a story battle where that character couldn't be used, leaving your party too underpowered to win without casualties that could ruin the entire route. But if you focused too hard on training yourself, you could miss important information that could lead you straight to a bad ending! Because of this, while it was regarded in many ways as an enjoyably challenging game by some players, others found it infuriatingly incomprehensible and unintuitive.
Either way, though, even in the best endings, it wasn't as though everyone got what they wanted. Choosing one male lead would mean casting aside at least a few of the others, dashing their royal ambitions and the plans of their entire faction. At times, this would even lead to civil wars, coup d'etats, and assassination attempts! This was a major sticking point among a lot of the fans, who didn't like seeing some of their favorite characters suffering regardless of which ending was chosen.
But, even so, at the end of the day, it was just a game, like any other - something that should have been utterly inconsequential.
...Except for the fact that somehow, a few people have found themselves reincarnated into the world of that game. With death flags, aristocratic conflicts, and conspiracies all around them, just choosing one side or another isn't good enough! After all, if there's a war, won't they get caught up in it and probably die?! Somehow, these unfortunate souls have to find an outcome that keeps all of them alive. But to do that, they need to figure out how to make sense of all the things the game never told them - break down the scripted story, and find their own true ending!
Introduction
This roleplay is one that takes place on several levels. On the most basic level, everyone is a character in the world of a story - and therefore should be designed with their role in that story in mind. Male leads should act like male leads and be at least somewhat interested in the heroine to begin with, supporting characters should have a defined purpose they're supposed to help with, antagonists should try to hinder the heroine and her chosen partner in some way, etc. Then, above this level, everyone is also a Successor - someone who has inherited the powers of a character from Arthurian legends. They have some degree of connection to that character - be it receiving advice or guidance from them in dreams, occasionally recalling their memories, or some other bond, to be decided by the player. All of them - save for Arthur, whose powers were concealed even from her until she came of age in order to keep her safe - also bear a "Sign" that outwardly marks which character they are associated with, and serves reveal their identity as a Successor. Finally, they possess weapons, abilities, or other such things tied to the myths of the Arthurian character they're connected to.
For all of this, no actual deep knowledge of Arthurian lore is required. In fact, it's almost better if you tie everything back to a few random lines picked out from a wikipedia article and call it good. This is, after all, the world of a poorly-written Otome game - advanced literary symbolism would be entirely out of place! So have some fun with it, and focus more on doing "your take" on a character rather than trying to stay true to the source material.
The final level the roleplay takes place on is the "isekai" element. Several of the characters, rather than having the personalities of their "ingame" counterparts, have instead awakened to their memories as someone from our world, who played or was tangentially aware of the game at some point before their death, and who has now reincarnated as a character in the story. Their actions are basically meant to throw everyone else off, since, with them behaving outside of the supposed original "script," other characters may make completely different choices and assume entirely new roles. An antagonist might be won over early on before they could fall to evil, or a protagonist might be so alienated as to turn against the people who, barring outside intervention, they would have been friends with.
As far as setting goes, I'll leave most of the worldbuilding both in the game and in how people from our world reacted to it fairly barebones. This is meant to encourage everyone who joins to fill in the blanks with their own lore. So if somebody's playing, say, the Successor of Gawain, then maybe it'd be nice to consider some of the background on that. Who were previous Successors of Gawain? What did they accomplish? What sort of reputation do they have? What expectations are placed on your character by association? What bond and relationship does your character have with the spirit of the original Gawain? And, moreover, how do people who played the game feel about your character? Was your route popular? Were there any major plot holes or inconsistencies in how your character behaved in the game? Was your character "meta" in the combat part of the game? Or, if you were an antagonist rather than a party member, what kind of bossfight did your character have? These kinds of questions and more can help shape an experience that feels more real and complete than just me throwing even more huge walls of text at you, and can involve you more in the world as it develops and unfolds.
For this reason, it's also strongly encouraged to coordinate things with other players, and determine relationships between characters in advance, as well as possible endpoints depending on the routes of the game. This way, you'll have a framework already in place for responding to changes in the story, since you'll already have ties to the people around you, and have several potential outcomes to draw on.
Setting, Mechanics, and Lore
This section will serve to catalogue random tidbits of worldbuilding. They're not really organized in any particular order, and the list will also probably grow as more people add details to the setting.
- Caerleon, and the kingdoms neighboring it, are essentially walled citadels based around old Caers from the time of Arthur himself. These fortress city-states are shielded by the leftover dregs of powerful magical tools and devices created by the likes of the original Merlin, including all manner of bizarre defenses such as magical cannons or barriers. These are generally capable of repelling monsters from getting into the cities inside the walls, but due to the crumbling and degradation the fortifications have undergone over a long history of use, they often are broken down in some places, which can pose a danger to those inside. Also, in many cases, the burgeoning city-states have long since outgrown their original boundaries, leading to the birth of several small villages and hamlets on the outskirts of the walls that are significantly more vulnerable. It's often the duty of Successors to help restore and shore up these defenses, or to go on expeditions beyond them to defeat various magical beasts that wander too close to civilization and start preying upon the peasantry.
- "Monsters," a catch-all term for all sorts of magical beasts ranging from dwarves and giants to dragons and fae, possess their own supernatural abilities, making them difficult, if not outright impossible, for a normal human to kill without using something like the defenses of a Caer. Because of this, Successors - being more than qualified to take on supernatural threats thanks to their own unique powers - are assigned the duty of questing to seek out and slay any Monsters that appear beyond the protective sphere of the walls of their Caer, in order to keep the peasants who can't afford to live inside safe and ensure the food supply from the farmlands outside isn't cut off. The frequency with which Monsters appear is usually low, but periodically rises. Now is one such upsurge in activity, corresponding to the current incarnation in Arthur.
- Though any Successor can kill a Monster, this isn't always enough. Particularly powerful Monsters such as Fae or dragons leave behind a potent corruption in their wake, scarring the land and rendering it incapable of supporting life. What's more, if this curse isn't excised immediately, there's a chance that new Monsters will be birthed from it, creating a vicious cycle of curses spreading like disease across the land. The only known way to dispel such curses is with the Sacred Light of the King - meaning the only one who can truly eliminate Monsters from the land for the long term is the Successor of Arthur, further compounding the expectations placed upon the game's heroine.
- The Royal House is currently divided. The previous king and queen both died young, leaving behind only an infant son too young to rule. In his place, the king's younger brother ascended to the throne, and has earned a great many followers in the last decade during his reign - largely among the commoners and the lower families of the aristocracy. His son is a year older than the Crown Prince, and is widely regarded as a prodigy, who many of the royal family's supporters believe should inherit the throne instead of the Crown Prince. However, the older houses are staunchly opposed to this, as the current Queen is the sister of a neighboring monarch. If her son were to succeed the throne, that would give said monarch - with whom there is already only tenuous peace - a claim on their own kingdom, which might serve as a casus belli for an invasion. Because of this, the aristocratic faction has sided firmly behind the Crown Prince, who they believe will be better suited to defending their kingdom from outside invasion, and can also be more easily bent and swayed to their own will. In several routes of the game, this dispute is the cause of a civil war, as the faction that was not chosen by Arthur protests the decision and rises in rebellion to claim the throne. In some endings, Royalist supporters also invite the neighboring kingdom's troops into the country to help "restore order," leading to the invasion that the Aristocrats feared becoming a reality.
- The Royal Academy is the main setting of the game, and as such, is where most of the roleplay will take place. It was originally a military school meant to train up a new generation of knights - but has since expanded from its original purpose to cater to the education of not only the sons, but also the daughters of nobility. Nevertheless, many of its old traditions still remain. All students (but particularly the males) are heavily encouraged to fraternize with one another as equals regardless of their family name and titles, and many informalities that could be viewed as grave insults elsewhere are overlooked within the school's walls. Even princes have been known to associate with the sons of mere barons or landless knights on a first-name basis. However, the more blue-blooded among the student body - particularly among the female student body - view this particular tradition with scorn, as it smears the esteemed dignity due to their families.
- Other traditions which have survived to the present include periodical tournaments held to demonstrate the students' martial prowess and valor. The rules, as they exist in writing, are the exact same as they have been since before the Academy opened its doors to a wider range of students. As such, the conditions are surprisingly brutal, and students who enter it incautiously have been known to suffer serious injuries. Interestingly, there's no actual rule that says a female student can't enter - but due to the risks involved, nobody has ever tried to use this specific loophole before (though certain characters can end up attempting it in the game, depending on the route.) In order to give the young ladies a more prominent role, the academy has also begun hosting various contests in the performing arts, such as music - though these are significantly less popular. Nevertheless, the women do play a particularly important part in the tournaments, as the knights who undertake the arduous challenge of competing often do so to dedicate their victories to a particular lady, in true chivalric fashion.
- Due to the school's origins as a training facility for knights, the Royal Academy's students live on campus in dormitories segregated by gender. Though originally little more than spartan accommodations meant for soldiers, they have since been renovated greatly into surprisingly luxurious suites meant to appeal to the refined tastes of their aristocratic patrons. Despite the school's emphasis on equality, one's room is often highly reflective of one's social standing, as the grand old houses can afford significantly more posh residences for their children than their less well-to-do counterparts. However, the same rules generally apply to everyone living in the dorms, with the observance of strict curfews, maids and serving staff ensuring the young men don't trespass alone into the female dorms, etc. Obviously, in the game, this gives rise to several optional events.
- We have a Discord server. PM me or @ me in OOC for an invite link, assuming you're not in already.
Bio Format
The character sheet template is below. This will just contain the basic information that, in general, I'll be looking for. Sections can be added, re-ordered, and the like if additional information is required. Feel free to add additional formatting and fanciness as you see fit.
For character images, you don't need a ton of them, but please use anime or anime-esque hand drawn images for your characters. This is supposed to be an Otome Game and all, so it'd look really weird having a completely different artstyle thrown into the mix.
Before writing a character sheet, it is probably wise to check with everyone in the discord that your role isn't already claimed - be it a game role like heroine or second prince, or an Arthurian role like Gawain, Mordred, etc.
Obviously, post to OOC first, await approval, then put the sheet under Characters.
If you have some elements of the backstory or role or whatever you'd like to keep secret, you can submit your bio via PM instead, and then post a redacted version to the Characters tab if it's accepted. However, if you do, please be sure that you inform anyone whose characters should know of the proper information. For example, if your character is secretly a hidden capture target in the game, someone who played it to 100% completion as part of their backstory before their reincarnation would obviously be aware of that.
If you have any questions about your character or anything else, feel free to @ me on the Discord or here, or send me a PM through either of those channels.
If you've read this far, thanks! I'm grateful for your interest, and hope to RP with you soon.
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