The Cleansing: Vigil's End
This is an idea for an action focused roleplay where the players will face NPC undead and monsters in a ruined city. It would include elements of survival horror as well as military but will be solidly fantasy throughout. The opposing forces will be under GM or Co-GM control to make things interesting. However, there will be allied NPCs that are under GM or Co-GM control to make sure things don't get too ridiculous. We intend this to be a fairly fast paced roleplay with shorter posts on average due to the amount of combat that will be involved.
The basic concept for this idea began with the history of a place. This place is a large island with a commanding, circular mountain range, and is broken up into eight city-states. One was in the center, surrounded by mountains and seven other city-states that each controlled a mountain pass into the central city-state's territory. It was often and repeatedly invaded because of its strategic value for both military and trade enterprises.
Here is a visual reference for the valley. fav.me/d9i4vzx
It is not to scale but shows the rough defense pattern of the city's fortifications. There is a kilometer between each wall and the next. Each wall has guard towers and gates. However, these have fallen into disrepair and there are many places where parts of the walls have sunk into the marsh or fallen down. The city itself is full of palaces and towers, many visible from a great distance and still standing.
With the numbers of their people falling due to repeat warfare and destruction of harvest after harvest the leaders resorted to the widespread application of a forbidden art of enchantment called necromancy along with an enormous reliance on enchanted equipment and conjured beasts.
Over time, with conjuration and necromantic enchantment on the front-lines of battle, the incidents of interrupted spells and disrupted Magic Circles became more and more common. Eventually, the combination of broken spells and massive overlapping enchantments broke a portion of the spells that kept everything in proper order. This caused a rapid chain of events that resulted in the annihilation of the population and created the world's largest and least explored ruin.
This unlooted city is a ripe prize for the ambitious but it is also more heavily defended than any fortress. The undead and many conjured beasts lurk in this place. Still, it would not be so difficult to cleanse if not for one critical thing. The dead remember how to fight like they did in life. So, after a century of peace between the city-states and a number of ill-fated crusades and raids, the palaces of the Ruin remain unspoiled by looters.
Players will be thrust into the action and up against tall odds. In fact, there will be three GMs in charge of managing this rpg's numerous aspects so that the players have less to worry about and can concentrate on winning. (@Haeo,@Zelosse, and @Sif) Players are allowed most races with a few exceptions. Neither divine nor diabolical races are allowed, neither are undead or great terrors like dragons, elementals, or greater mythic beasts. However, you could be a hybrid between elf/halfling/gnome/goblin/fox-girl/human/pidgeon-shapeshifter. That is... if you wanted to be that.
Some notes on magic: Because it's everywhere we need to have some limits and terminology can be confusing if people aren't on the same page.
-Item Magic: Rods with one specific spell engraved into them or staves with up to about five spells engraved are solid examples. There is no limit to the number of times such a thing can be used but the spell cannot be modified. The power of the cast is dependant on the power of the spell as inscribed. Craftsmanship dictates spell power, not the caster.
-Enchanted equipment is fairly common, though it still isn't cheap. It requires no consumable materials but does require an established Enchanting Forge, basically a small room with a bunch of Magic Circles carved into every surface.
-Storing a single-use spell in a gem or crystal does not require an Enchanting Forge.
-Non-humans are either magically null, having no ability to even activate item magic, or wield Natural Magic. That is, magic that is not completely tool dependent.
This is an idea for an action focused roleplay where the players will face NPC undead and monsters in a ruined city. It would include elements of survival horror as well as military but will be solidly fantasy throughout. The opposing forces will be under GM or Co-GM control to make things interesting. However, there will be allied NPCs that are under GM or Co-GM control to make sure things don't get too ridiculous. We intend this to be a fairly fast paced roleplay with shorter posts on average due to the amount of combat that will be involved.
The basic concept for this idea began with the history of a place. This place is a large island with a commanding, circular mountain range, and is broken up into eight city-states. One was in the center, surrounded by mountains and seven other city-states that each controlled a mountain pass into the central city-state's territory. It was often and repeatedly invaded because of its strategic value for both military and trade enterprises.
Here is a visual reference for the valley. fav.me/d9i4vzx
It is not to scale but shows the rough defense pattern of the city's fortifications. There is a kilometer between each wall and the next. Each wall has guard towers and gates. However, these have fallen into disrepair and there are many places where parts of the walls have sunk into the marsh or fallen down. The city itself is full of palaces and towers, many visible from a great distance and still standing.
With the numbers of their people falling due to repeat warfare and destruction of harvest after harvest the leaders resorted to the widespread application of a forbidden art of enchantment called necromancy along with an enormous reliance on enchanted equipment and conjured beasts.
Over time, with conjuration and necromantic enchantment on the front-lines of battle, the incidents of interrupted spells and disrupted Magic Circles became more and more common. Eventually, the combination of broken spells and massive overlapping enchantments broke a portion of the spells that kept everything in proper order. This caused a rapid chain of events that resulted in the annihilation of the population and created the world's largest and least explored ruin.
This unlooted city is a ripe prize for the ambitious but it is also more heavily defended than any fortress. The undead and many conjured beasts lurk in this place. Still, it would not be so difficult to cleanse if not for one critical thing. The dead remember how to fight like they did in life. So, after a century of peace between the city-states and a number of ill-fated crusades and raids, the palaces of the Ruin remain unspoiled by looters.
Players will be thrust into the action and up against tall odds. In fact, there will be three GMs in charge of managing this rpg's numerous aspects so that the players have less to worry about and can concentrate on winning. (@Haeo,@Zelosse, and @Sif) Players are allowed most races with a few exceptions. Neither divine nor diabolical races are allowed, neither are undead or great terrors like dragons, elementals, or greater mythic beasts. However, you could be a hybrid between elf/halfling/gnome/goblin/fox-girl/human/pidgeon-shapeshifter. That is... if you wanted to be that.
Some notes on magic: Because it's everywhere we need to have some limits and terminology can be confusing if people aren't on the same page.
-Item Magic: Rods with one specific spell engraved into them or staves with up to about five spells engraved are solid examples. There is no limit to the number of times such a thing can be used but the spell cannot be modified. The power of the cast is dependant on the power of the spell as inscribed. Craftsmanship dictates spell power, not the caster.
-Enchanted equipment is fairly common, though it still isn't cheap. It requires no consumable materials but does require an established Enchanting Forge, basically a small room with a bunch of Magic Circles carved into every surface.
-Storing a single-use spell in a gem or crystal does not require an Enchanting Forge.
-Non-humans are either magically null, having no ability to even activate item magic, or wield Natural Magic. That is, magic that is not completely tool dependent.