化MONSTORY物語 (Urban Fantasy, Horror, Drama)

[Dead Cruiser]

"Now I know. There are dark places in this world, and things that live in them."

---

Everyone has heard the stories; monsters that eat little children who stay up past curfew, demons that prey on the promiscuous or wasteful, or spectres that lead careless travellers to their doom. Some are well known, for instance, the legend of the vampire. Others are more obscure: the household gods known as tsukumogami. Some are cautionary tales, whereas others are myths dreamed up to amaze and astound. But is that all they are; just stories?

Oddities, aberrations, ghosts, spirits, monsters, gods, demons... whatever you call them, they are more real than most believe. They lurk in the shadowed corners of our world, where the eyes of mortal grow blind. In another world, one behind a curtain of mystery and disbelief, they live and die, love and kill, thrive and whither away, all beyond the perception of mankind. Even so, on occasion the curtain is lifted, and things not meant for our world emerge from beyond it. Worse yet, sometimes humans go looking for them.

Who are you, who has peered into the darkness? What part of you did you leave there? What shadows now cling to you as you look away? To believe in them is to know of them, and to know of them is to become one of them. When it comes time to choose, will you be human, or a monster? What will your story be?

---

This is an idea that I had been mulling over for a while. Obviously inspired by a particular light novel series, MONSTORY is meant to be a dark, urban fantasy story about myths and legends crossing the boundary into modern society. The theme here is that of the inhuman, the mystic, and that which mankind is not meant to tamper with. These beings are not meant to be trifled with, as even the most seemingly benign of them is a threat to a careless mortal.

The primary focus is character interaction. I can provide the spookiness, if you guys can provide strong characters that will play off me and off of each other. Characters can have some subtle elements of the supernatural to them, and I in fact encourage it, as such things can breed plot hooks and development. But we will be playing mostly humans, here. If I'm being vague, I apologize, but I can work out ideas with people on a case-by-case basis.

Probably aiming for a small group here. I'm still ironing out the details of what sort of game I want to run. For instance, I'm not yet sure whether I want to go for the setting being a small Japanese suburb, or a small midwestern American town. Any input or ideas are very much welcome, so please, discuss away.

[Kingfisher]

This looks right up my alley. Interested.

[FiroIV]

This seems interesting, but so far this is just an idea in my opinion. I will keep a lookout if anything else.

[Dead Cruiser]

FiroIV said
This seems interesting, but so far this is just an idea in my opinion. I will keep a lookout if anything else.

Well, many things begin as "just ideas." What I am most currently in need of is the opinion and input of my potential player base.

[Kingfisher]

Dead Cruiser said
Well, many things begin as "just ideas." What I am most currently in need of is the opinion and input of my potential player base.

What sort of input are you after specifically?

[Dead Cruiser]

First would be the setting. As I mentioned, I'm in most part inspired by a Japanese light novel series, so I would most probably set the game in modern-day Japan, though if others would rather have it elsewhere, that's doable.

Second would be the theme of the RP. Now how the setting works is what's set in stone, what we can do with the game is very flexible. Teenagers stumbling into something dark and dangerous that should be left well alone? Or maybe Teenagers having Scooby Doo run-ins with the supernatural? A family moving into a haunted town? A team of "specialists" aiding the overrun town? The possibilities are quite numerous.

[Kingfisher]

Ah, I see. My personal suggestion would be a town somewhere within Europe or America (Perhaps never specifically stated, to add an element of mystery) that appears fairly normal to the outside world, yet secretly has strong ties with the supernatural world. Players could take the role of folks who have just recently moved to the town, and gradually over time they become aware of all the strange goings on.

Just an idea, though.

[FiroIV]

I agree with the above. Limiting ourselves to a specific area binds our characters and by extension the mythology to a certain region. I myself am a big fan of Japanese folklore because of my anime centered origins I don't think this can apply to everyone. Having an unspecified "town" with no known address adds to the bit of mystery surrounding the place.

[Jester Acharis]

I'm personally all for it being set in Japan or better yet, if you want to go by the ambiguous route, a city set "somewhere in Asia" and limiting it to Asian mythology only. I've had my fair share of Western mythology rps which are far easier to come by (most general "fantasy" rps have dragons, elves, fairies, vampires and the like) so it'd be a nice change to have the setting be more Asia-focused and deal with creatures and concepts that aren't used as often (for this, Asian mythology would work better than just Japan's, so I root for that). I also feel like it would give the rp a more cohesive feel if it was centered around one country/continent instead of being scattered around all over the globe, which could get messy fast. That, and when the options are more limited, people might need to step outside their comfort zones and study creatures and myths they aren't already familiar with. Research is fun. Your character could still be from a Western country if you really want, with the added bonus of them having to familiarize themselves with the mythology and lore of the city they now live in. Character development ahoy?

tl;dr: I want something Asia-centered for once plz.

[Dead Cruiser]

I understand the desire to not have a specified area; indeed I was going for an "anytown" sort of setting. However, I do feel that we should specify a country, of only to establish the culture of the setting. There's really no such thing as a nondescript Asian country, and it would be basically impossible to write up a generically Asian character without delving into intense racism.

So here's what I propose: X town in X prefecture, Japan. Having our setting specifispecifically in Japan doesn't limit us to purely Japanese myths, nor purely Eastern myths. Indeed, the juxtaposition of Western and Eastern legends could add a certain flavor to the story.

Thoughts?

[Jester Acharis]

Not sure if that was directed at me or just in general, but if it's the former, I never meant to imply that we'd try to write up generic "Asian" characters (whatever that even means). I was talking about the myths and creatures used, so that instead of using stories and mythology from absolutely everywhere, we'd draw from the plethora of mythologies present in Asia alone. Even Japan alone has tons of different kinds of folklore to use; no need to involve the whole world. And when I said any town in Asia, I was talking about a purely hypothetical, fictional place that could just be said to exist in Asia (to explain the presence of mythology from there) - not suggesting we'd cram all imaginable stereotypes of Asian countries into one place.

If that wasn't directed at me, yush, I agree.

I'm fine with having it set in Japan, in any case!

Oh, a question about the characters, as well; I'm assuming they can come from all walks of life, instead of all being high-school/college aged? Because I might have a character idea or two if so. It's been a while since I've played an elderly character, and this could be a good chance to.

[Dead Cruiser]

No, it was just a general post, no worries.

I have no problem with all walks of life, though the characters should be able to relate to and have decent reason and ability to interact with the others. I guess it's mostly a subjective thing.

Though I personally plan on playing any "specialist" characters that have a genuine understanding of the supernatural.

[Jester Acharis]

Ah, alright! Got it, then.

And yeah, makes sense. I was planning to play an old widower, whose wife's death would have driven him to gain interest towards the supernatural as a way to cope with his grief. Or somethin' like that. But I'll see what I'll settle with.

[cerozer0]

Interested, love me some spooky Japanese games

Perhaps a mixture of Eastern and Western myths could do the game well? A diverse cast of scares keeps tensions high and can add flavor to an otherwise one-sided game. I would still enjoy a game set in a somewhat Asian town, since I have a great interest in Eastern lifestyles, architecture, and philosophies.

(loving the punpun icon btws)

[Kingfisher]

Dead Cruiser said
So here's what I propose: X town in X prefecture, Japan. Having our setting specifispecifically in Japan doesn't limit us to purely Japanese myths, nor purely Eastern myths. Indeed, the juxtaposition of Western and Eastern legends could add a certain flavor to the story.Thoughts?

My knowledge of Japan and Japanese culture is fairly limited, but if elements of Western mythology can be implicated then I'm sure I'll be able to make do.

[Dead Cruiser]

Good to see we're drumming up some decent interest and discussion.

Jester Acharis said
Ah, alright! Got it, then.And yeah, makes sense. I was planning to play an old widower, whose wife's death would have driven him to gain interest towards the supernatural as a way to cope with his grief. Or somethin' like that. But I'll see what I'll settle with.

It could work, but we'll just see how it goes. Perhaps he's convinced his wife's ghost is haunting him, or desires to get back in contact with her. I'll put up a preliminary CS when I get back, but it'll be something very simple.

Liriia said
Interested, love me some spooky Japanese gamesPerhaps a mixture of Eastern and Western myths could do the game well? A diverse cast of scares keeps tensions high and can add flavor to an otherwise one-sided game. I would still enjoy a game set in a somewhat Asian town, since I have a great interest in Eastern lifestyles, architecture, and philosophies.(loving the punpun icon btws)

I'm thinking that it will be predominantly Eastern myths being featured, with only odd Western ones introduced for flavor. Also as symbolism for the pervasive march of Western culture.

And thank you, I'm just fine again today.

Kingfisher said
My knowledge of Japan and Japanese culture is fairly limited, but if elements of Western mythology can be implicated then I'm sure I'll be able to make do.

Not a problem. Perhaps you could play as some manner of recent immigrant or transfer student, if it suits you.

[Kingfisher]

Dead Cruiser said
.Not a problem. Perhaps you could play as some manner of recent immigrant or transfer student, if it suits you.

Awesome sauce. I'll probably do something along those lines, then.

[Dead Cruiser]

Anyone else have character concepts that they would like to run by me? PMs are fine, if you want to work out something more specific.

This is a sort of tight-knit RP, where I may have to build your character with you to best integrate them into the plot. As such, i may forgoe CSs entirely.

[cerozer0]

What's the age range? I'll probably be making a female character with a stoic and not easily falter personality, but that may change if one if it won't fit with the other characters

[Dead Cruiser]

Age range is pretty variable. As long as it's not too extreme, really a character of any age could work.

That sounds fine. Perhaps her stoicism is the result of some trauma, possibly the result of some supernatural experience? Her character could develop to warm up to the others over time, I imagine.

We can discuss this in more depth over PMs if you'd prefer.