ERode

Saint Valerius Academy - A Knight/Noble Fantasy

Speaking generally, I think we can just treat this in the standards of modern shounen anime?

Violence is A-Ok, and characters are allowed to explore their sexuality, but no on-screen sex, no portrayals of drug use by characters, and I feel like we can all agree that sexual harrassment and assault is super fucking awkward to just flatout write out in public? Generally I don't make a distinction in terms of the age of the characters myself; I just default to that sorta ruleset no matter how old the kiddos are.

I personally say 'one hit = loss' for the Duel setup though. Like, considering the presence of poisons and curses and all, just a scratch upon your Noble's pretty face could have massive consequences. Don't want the Knights to start approaching their actual bodyguarding careers with the reflex of "Nah, I can let two hits pass".

For TTRPGs, it largely just depends on whether or not you want to have stats to begin with. I'd say that flat modifiers and extra dice could exist together though. One indicates that a skill is more consistent, while the other one indicates that a skill is more risky. Could have people's natural dice pool exist in tiers too, so say, a beginner Knight naturally rolls with a 2d6, while a more experienced Knight naturally rolls with a 3d6.

The plot itself will definitely have to be figured out though. Right now, the state of the world itself seems kinda nebulous, so it's personally hard for me to imagine what would happen to the school. Like, what do Nobles do? Why are there Knights, rather than professional bodyguards with guns and shades? If there are Nobles, does that mean monarchies are still in place for powerful nations? What's America doing? etc.

Revue of Annihilation [Faction-Ruling Demigods Vie for Ascension]

Everyone jokes, and then Grandpa removes his eyepatch.

Revue of Annihilation [Faction-Ruling Demigods Vie for Ascension]

I feel Law and Order are inextricably tied, so there will probably be some overlap; Law is the means by which Order is established in civilization. Would a blessing along the lines of like, "All followers share HP and MP" be acceptable?

@Stern Algorithm

Right now, no. Feels like the sorta thing where you just end up turning individuals into walking magical nuclear bombs, and HP is too nebulous a concept to be used as part of one's Divine Protection. Would it be like, if you get stabbed, the knife only goes 1/10th the way because everyone else gets 1/10th stabbed?

Later, maybe, but will have to seeeeeee.

@Izurich
Fun idea.

Leave the actual physical transformation for the future though. Right now, everyone is still largely unchanged by their shifted status, so Almagest will still physically be human. Ofc, he won't be dead and, outside of having lost one eye and part of his brain replaced by a space rock, would be relatively healthy for his age, but dude'll be an old man for a good while still.

Divine Protection sounds good to me. And here's the template for the Paladin.

Paladin CS

[Character Image]
Name [Tier 1 Paladin] [Job Title (usually two words. Can change over successive Tiers)]
[Single paragraph description of their personality, ideals, and backstory.]
Skills
One skill associated with either their Job, the Domain they serve, or a combination of both.
Grades
STR - I | END - I | DEX - I | AGI - I | MAG - I

Sample Paladin

Lilim [Tier 1 Paladin] [Chain Sorceror]

Bro was a former sorcerer-student who ended up fucking up a ritual and summoning something he shouldn't have. Now that something owns his soul, and he sought out the help of lotsa people to try to avoid eternal servitude. Only one, some suspicious weirdo called Okyuta, actually had a solution that seemed like it has merit though: just marry that something and gain an equal relationship with them that way. Now, he fights under the banner of the Domain of Marriage, in hopes of becoming a man worthy of that something's hand in marriage.

Dude kinda went nuts.

Skills

Bridal Bridle - Better at holding down individuals with restraint spells.

Grades
STR - I | END - I | DEX - I | AGI - I | MAG - I

Revue of Annihilation [Faction-Ruling Demigods Vie for Ascension]

The sheet mentions races. Is it just human? What races live in this land?

@Sanity43217

Any kind of anime humanoid race, basically. I generally don’t mind whatever you go for, so long as you don’t go for something like “Red Adult Dragon” just for the purposes of gaming.

Ok cool. By party magic, I mean magic that boosts like an adventuring party, magical synergy, etc., since a big part of what makes the Law work is organization and the assignment of specific roles and responsibilities. So real RPG mechanic stuff, but in magic form.

@Stern Algorithm

Party-wide buffs work fine for magic. Something that benefits people if they stay in a delegated role seems like a meaningful Divine Protection down the road. Also feels less Law and more Order though, the way you’re talking about it.

Revue of Annihilation [Faction-Ruling Demigods Vie for Ascension]

I can work with that, ye. Will just mean less OOC planning between other players and you, which may not be too big of a problem depending on how things shake out.

Iris Ascendis

Bro’s just gonna go goblin mode with Relink.

Revue of Annihilation [Faction-Ruling Demigods Vie for Ascension]

I'm thinking aspect of Law. Would you allow "soft magic" or "geas"-type magic like magically binding contracts or "party magic"?

@Stern Algorithm

Dunno what you mean by party magic, but yeah, I'm fine with contract magic being a thing. It'll probably be less a spell that you cast and more of an item that you create though.

@OwO@Click This@Shovel@Theyra@Sanity43217@Izurich
That's enough people for me to get up the CS template for. So thar.

CS Template

[Character Image]
Name
Race | Age | Gender | Height | Weight
0th Circle | Domain

[Insert basically whatever parts of their backstory matters for you, in terms of expressing their personality, the situation behind becoming Ichor-Blessed, and what they left behind in traveling to Oratorio. Three or so paragraphs will suffice, but cook more if you want.]

Path to Ascension

0th Circle Ichor-Blessed

Ichor: 0
Wealth: 0
Followers: 0
Resources: None.
Artifacts: None
Property: None.

Divine Protection of [Domain]
At the 0th Circle, you get one passive effect that all your followers benefit from. Try not to word things in an overtly mechanical or numerical way. Examples would be...

Domain of Travel - Walks faster, gets less tired.
Domain of Fire - Better at managing the heat of small fires.
Domain of Goats - Can imitate goat bleats more accurately.
Domain of GOATs - More likely to receive upvotes on the Internet.

I'll be working to modulate these over time. For the purposes of planning, the maximum you'll have in the very, very distant endgame would be 10 different passives, at least through natural means.

Starting Benefit
This should ideally tie in with your character's story in one way or the other. Pick one of the below.

Starting Capital - 300 Wealth. The trip to Oratorio was expensive, but you made it with a fat purse leftover.
Band of Brothers - 5 Followers. Those you met on the way were moved or manipulated by you to joining your cause.
Treasured Companion - 1 Paladin. You've granted your grace upon someone whom you trust deeply.
An Old Bond - 1 Market Stall. [Property] Your family knew someone who moved to Oratorio before, and they've done you a kindness upon your arrival.
Origin Relic - 1 Low-Level Artifact. Some potency remains yet in the relic that granted you a fragment of the Thousand-Faced God, and you've taken it with you.
Adventurer's Kit - 5 Supplies, 5 Gear, 5 Medicine [Resources] You've always wanted to be an Adventurer in Oratorio, and had prepared for this long before you became Ichor-Blessed.

Sample CS

Okyuta

Human | 19 y/o | Male | 5'9 | 128 lbs
0th Circle | Marriage

He was just a little guy in a small town.

Then his childhood friend gave him a ring.

WHAMMO, life transformed forever! Married and Godlike, how great!

Alas, the way to Oratorio was a dangerous one, and his fiancee was run over by a bull.

Good thing the Ring still has enough juice in it to do cool stuff!

Path to Ascension

0th Circle Ichor-Blessed

Ichor: 0
Wealth: 0
Followers: 0
Resources: None.
Artifacts: Ring of Yearning [Tier 1] - A ring that allows the wearer to see a phantom of their loved one when under stress.
Property: None.

Divine Protection of Marriage

Bond-Forming Memories - If in a relationship, both Followers have a propensity towards remembering the good times and forgetting the bad times.

Starting Benefit

Origin Relic - 1 Low-Level Artifact. Some potency remains yet in the relic that granted you a fragment of the Thousand-Faced God, and you've taken it with you.

Revue of Annihilation [Faction-Ruling Demigods Vie for Ascension]

I’m thinking Hunger as a domain. Not sure if I want that as physically eating things, tearing the energy from things to feed a metaphysical hole within him or like the drive to do better and want more. Got a bit to work out.

@Sanity43217

Ah, one letter away from being a little girl. That's fine with me. A cruel god for a cruel age huhuhu.

Hello, I'm interested in this and would like to reserve ancestral reverence if that is good with you.

@Shovel

Seems both a bit specific and a bit vague. If you revere your ancestors, wouldn't it just be like...the Domain of Praying to X? What kind of passive bonus would one receive for being a follower of Ancestral Reverence?

Hello, hello.

I am, predictably, here for the Domain of Wealth. Then again, there are other potentials. Domain of Servants. Domain of Ichor-- well, the other kind.

@Click This

Domain of Simps.

Revue of Annihilation [Faction-Ruling Demigods Vie for Ascension]

Sounds good. I'll probably get the basic template up after a few more interested folks poke their head in while debating the pros and cons of learning some Google Sheets wizardry.

Which reminds me.

@Zeroth@Estylwen
If this interests you and y'all got the time for it, it'll be nice to have more opportunities to RP with y'all.

Saint Valerius Academy - A Knight/Noble Fantasy

1. I get the feeling of anime battle school genre from this, so I'd lean towards the PCs being teenagers. By the time they're adults, it feels like they'd be out in the world doing noble shenanigans rather than just doing more schooling, really.

2. I have a whole buncha systems that I've tried out in the past. A D20 is pretty high variance from my perspective; the 2d6 systems that are more common in Japanese TTRPGs are generally more stable. If you want to push a bit further, you could introduce a stats system too.

3. In an RP I'm currently, I basically had every PC create three or so NPCs that had some tangential relationship with their character. If you apply it here, it'd be easier to generate the NPC pairs and also make the school actually feel like a school where we at least kinda know everything. Allows for more simulated drama as well.

4. Slice of Life school hijinks don't make much sense for Nobles and their Knights. I'd say that we can have low-stakes competitions and shenanigans to start, but there should be a gradual ramp-up of drama and conflicts. Shadow governments, revolutions, etc.

5. From a purely RP perspective, I feel like it'd make more sense for Nobles and Knights to fight together in Duels. Like, Nobles provide support magic and offensive ranged attacks, while Knights serve as frontline combatants that protect their Nobles. The concept of the Duels isn't to prove that you're a stronger Knight, but rather that you're a Knight who's more capable of protecting your Noble from danger. So the win-con would be inflicting an injury on the enemy Noble, rather than just beating the enemy Knight. Nobles probably have something like a magical barrier cast upon them by the overseeing professor, so they don't risk actual injury.

6. Off the top of my head, Hoshimi Junna and Tendo Maya from Revue Starlight are easy favs of mine. Recent favorite would be Takamatsu Tomori from Bang Dream Its MyGo!!!!! too.