Excession

RULES OF NATURE - Magitech Cyberpunk Tactical Espionage Action

INTRIGUE. VIOLENCE. CYBERNETICS. POLITICS.
I'm seeking five players to take on the roles of officers in Lightning Security Solutions; professional soldiers fighting for a better future. Characters will be maimed. They might die. Sometimes the price of justice is sacrifice. Sometimes that sacrifice is your humanity.
The system is easy enough to learn, a dice-pool system that's easy to use but has mechanical depth if you want to engage with it.
No prior experience with this game or tabletop games required. All skill levels welcome.
One post a week is ideal, once a month is acceptable.
No set post length - just post what you feel is necessary to move things along.

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In the bad old days, Magi ruled the world; cruel and capricious sorcerer-kings who set themselves above ordinary humankind, wielding arcane might by raw effort of will.
Then Samantha Klein invented the revolver and things got a little more equal.

Two-hundred and seventy years later, the Imerian Federation officially bans Magi from public office. All legal citizens are tracked by use of the Redline - an enchanted chip that contains their personal information. Ostensibly to keep Magi from going rogue and to offer more convenience to the rest of humankind.
But here's the trick: denied thrones, Magi discovered boardrooms can be more powerful. Politicians can be bought. Police can be bribed. The massed poor can't do a thing about legal business.

Corporations rule the world. The government exists purely to maintain the illusions of freedom and choice. Forget Magic - money makes the world go 'round. Corps operate like sovereign nations on their own property, with employees heavily monitored, often paid in company Loyalty rather than real money, free to kill or imprison as they see fit.
Worse off still are the Blacklines. The poor, the downtrodden, the unprofitable. No legal rights, no protections unless they can pay private police companies. Grist for the capitalist mill.

Enter Lightning Security Solutions, LLC. A private military company with a conscience, founded by former police captain Lexi Smoke. They've put their money on a brave new world - the city-state of Fortune plans to implement a socialist democracy, putting fetters on the corporations and power back into the hands of the people. LSS jumped on the contract to assist and protect Fortune's current mayor from corp assassins, the city from espionage, the people from the depredation of vengeful corporate powers.

18 months in the making, today Fortune declares their new constitution and secession from the Imerian Federation. Now is the time the corps will strike, using anonymous PMCs in a show of force to make an example of Fortune.
It's on you, soldiers of LSS, to save the day.

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I need:
SUB-COMMANDER: Commander Smoke's second in command, leader of the initial player group.
MCM SPECIALIST: Magical Counter-Measures; an expert in technical and sorcerous systems, a hacker and anti-mage in one.
STRIKE COMMANDER: The consummate soldier. A front-line combatant who knows the value of teamwork and individual action both.
INFILTRATOR: War is not the ordinary world. Morals and valour are comforting illusions best left at the door. A knife in the dark is worth a thousand swords at dawn. [please note: this character is preferred to have a history as a child soldier for over-arching plot reasons].
ARMOURED COMMANDER: You are the shield for the men on the ground, employing advanced war-machines and powered exoskeletons to take out enemy artillery and armour.
More information will become available when a quorum of players has been achieved.

This RP will be supported by a dice-based mechanical system, but do not be intimidated - pre-written character sheets will be made available and rolls will be kept to a dramatically necessary minimum. Prior experience useful but by no means required.

This RP would benefit from at least one post per week, ideally up to three. There is no requirement for minimum wordcounts* or arbitrary notions of literacy: if you can communicate clearly, play with the group, and maintain a character, you are welcome.

Please post if you would be interested and ask questions as you like; I am happy to answer them.

Pirates of the Darkening Skies

YD 171 - Moonsday 12 of Foundation

Kontina bustles with a glut of newcomers, holdovers, and prisoners. Every dock is booked and the streets groan with bodies. Pickpockets slip through the crowds, preachers and similar con-artists draw crowds to their corners, armed guards stand at the doors of every shop.
An exile Troll and a trio of Shades sing pirate shanties for coins. A snake-dancer balances on a wood pole above the press and deftly catches tips from the air. The crowd parts for a Vampire and her entourage.
Bright and beautiful designs are displayed on artificial skin in the windows of a tattoo parlour. A gunsmith cries her wares. Frying murkbeast and spiced pork scent the air, fighting the stinks of sweat and smoke, the perfumes and cloying sweetness from a chandler's stall. The chatter of these people thunders like a tide in the great ocean of life.

Chwegwn and his Lybarim accomplice thread the throngs toward the Arena, carrying a small ransom in recently acquired gemstones. Kira is waiting for the next payment on her guns. One more job, after this, and the debt is paid - or so she said. At least they are very fine guns.

Meanwhile, in a small cell beneath the Arena, Cold Hands waits with a serenity that makes the guards avoid her. Rows of dark alcoves ring the walls, smelling of fear and despair and blood. The cacophony above is muffled but audible. Caged beasts protest their captivity and throw themselves against the walls where they have not yet learned resignation to their terrible fate. Now and then the floor vibrates slightly with the languid motions of the Arena's prized monster, an immense slime affectionately called Big Wet Willy.

Big fights on the docket for today.

Pirates of the Darkening Skies

Gonna get an intro post up in a few hours and use Cold Hands' intro scene at the arena as a buffer for those without sheets to catch up

Pirates of the Darkening Skies

Cold Hands is fleshed-out enough I can weave them into the opener before dice come up, just need to take a walk through backstory with Benzaiten and we're gold.

Pirates of the Darkening Skies

Hopefully should get an intro post up this week; just need enough backstory to work with

Tribunal - original fantasy murder mystery

This RP will be for 5 players, a group of priests to each of the five major gods of the city.
The game uses a dice-pool system that's easy to use but has mechanical depth if you want to engage with it.
No prior experience with this game or tabletop games required. All skill levels welcome.
One post a week is ideal, once a month is acceptable.
No set post length - just post what you feel is necessary to move things along.

PITCH

A murderer stalks the streets of the Coral City, striking at your revered sisters and causing terror among the populace. The wardens of the Soil Caste cannot catch him, the seers of Night's Temple cannot see him - this one requires extreme measures. The Council has selected you five, one from each of the High Temples, to investigate and put an end to the killing. However you see fit.

Setting Info

SETTING

Lama is a land of dense jungles and ominous mountains, where the Spirits (which should not be mistaken for ghosts) walk freely in the world of flesh. By consequence, the people have learned to live in tune with these strange and powerful beings, or dominate them, or find a middle ground. The first compromise is easiest, but has long-reaching effects; the Spirits prefer to deal with women, and so most societies in Lama are matriarchal.

Radiant Pearl, the Coral City, sits on Lama’s northwestern shore, on a crescent bay. It is the only home you have ever known. Its stilted walkways, docks, and warehouses creep over the water of the bay. The fields of tobacco, sugar, and hops spread inland until they reach the wall that protects you from the dangers of the jungle, against which screaming barbarians throw themselves over an ancient grudge. The winding streets are lined with colourful stalls and squat buildings of clay, above which rise the coral palaces of the high council. And everywhere, there are shrines. Temples that rise above the water, candle-lit alcoves under the boardwalk, standing stones overgrown with vines. Spirits seethe under the skin of the city and fly down its streets, from glittering tiny Truth Spirits bound to shopkeeper’s charms to slow and gentle Earth Spirits carrying children on their broad backs. Ten hundred thousand gods are worshipped every day, and many answer the prayers of the faithful.

The city is arranged according to wisdom handed down by the gods themselves; everything in its appointed place, including people. The rulers of the city are the high council of Spinners, the Priests of Fate. Beneath them are the Coral Caste, the artists and lorekeepers, explorers and teachers. Alongside them are the Wind Caste, the hunters and soldiers, morticians and butchers. Beneath these are the Sea Caste, the sailors, fishers and midwives, healers and farmers. Alongside them are the Soil Caste, the guards, builders, and craftswomen. Beneath all are the Outcaste, those whose ancestry marks them as spiritually impure and thus unfit for proper society, yet not so low as to be culled. The priesthood, like you, occupy a grey area between the council and the Coral Caste. When inducted fully into the Temple as grown women, you gave up a part of your body - a finger, your eyes, your heart, it doesn’t matter. Something was given, and in return you received power. Any true priest has made this exchange, though a few novices exist who for one reason or another have not.

It is not a paradise, however. Spirits are flighty creatures, and can behave violently. Some chafe at the serene wisdom of the city’s caste system and would rebel. Worst, some men would deny their place as dull and spiritually stunted things fit only to father children and die in battle, seeking to become priests or rise above their legal station.

In a city of gods and women, you are the priesthood that walks between them. You may castigate unruly Spirits, punish blasphemous men, and wield the power of your patron god.

The Temple of Fate

The Serpent-Goddess of Fate’s symbolism comprises masks, wheels, and snakes. Her priesthood are first among equals, those charged with guiding the destiny of the city and able to issue dictates to other priests or lead them when required. Few are called to this station, selected from birth by current priests to replace them.

The Coral Caste, overseen by The Keeper, High Priest of Night.
The Coral Caste are lorekeepers, teachers, entertainers, artists, and explorers. Because Night is the goddess of sex and recreation, the Keeper is called on to organize and bless nocturnal celebrations, and officiate joining ceremonies between lovers. Some of Night’s priesthood are capable of monstrous transformations, and serve as the city’s secret protectors.

The Wind Caste, overseen by The Keening One, High Priest of Death.

The hunters, soldiers, morticians and singers of the Wind Caste are charged with those responsibilities involving death. They tend and bury the dead, while the Keening One and her subordinates guide the spirits of the dead to their rest with their song, officiating funerals.

The Sea Caste, overseen by The Raindancer, High Priest of Rain.

The Raindancer consecrates holy days, organizes festivals, and blesses births. Rain is the goddess of fertility and plenty, and the Sea Caste are fishers, sailors, dancers, midwives, and healers.

The Soil Caste, overseen by The Little Mother, High Priest of Earth.

Earth is the guardian and protector, who by herself is powerful yet unbreakable. The Little Mother is almost administrative in her role, overseeing the builders, guards, and craftswomen of the Soil Caste.

The Outcaste

The lowest caste, viewed as spiritually impure. The Outcaste were made so centuries ago, at the decree of the high council, and they multiply like rats in the corners of the city (although on rare occasion new souls are declared Outcaste). Often a source of sacrificial victims, sewer cleaners, and sometime slaves. They are also treated as a necessary evil; they can trade in illegal goods while largely overlooked, and freely mix with foreigners - or engage in piracy while giving the city plausible deniability. Killing Outcaste is viewed as improper, and outright uncouth if done for sport, but typically a priest who slays one (or more) is assumed to have been acting with appropriate judgement.

However, the Outcaste have of late become wealthy by aligning with traitorous spirits and dealing with Palemen from the far North, making them attractive to rebellious youngsters of higher castes who would seek the material gain and lack of proper order found among them.

A Note On Spirits

Spirits are creatures of uncountable forms and variations, which often exist invisibly and intangibly in the world, or a place just beyond it. It takes them effort to manifest physically, and they are often not inclined to do so. In either form, they can bend the world to their whims according to their kind; Spirits of Rain can swarm together to create a storm, Spirits of Sickness can weaken and kill. Little Spirits are no smarter than animals and relatively weak, while more powerful Spirits are as smart as humans, and the Spirits called Gods far outmatch mere mortals.

Each Spirit has values and traits it considers best, so it best to decide who should communicate with a Spirit to work with that. For example, a Health Spirit cherishes kindness and healing, while a Murder Spirit appreciates the opposite.

Spirits must not be confused with ghosts - they are living things, of a strange sort. Ghosts are the remnants of humans, left behind for reasons unknown. Ghosts rarely remain lucid, at best repeating their final moments, perceptible only to those with the appropriate gifts, and at worst becoming nightmarish wraiths without a shred of humanity left.

Ghosts are considered an unfortunate break in the cycle of reincarnation, or worse, a sign that a soul has been denied union with their god. A Priest of Death would do their utmost to correct this tragedy.

CHARACTERS
Five player characters, one from each of the High Temples. For beginners, there are pre-written characters you can modify and use if necessary, or stats you can use after writing your own character. You do not have to write characters in the second-person style of the examples.
No prior experience with this or any system required, beginners to dice or RPs in general welcome.

Example Characters: Tribunal Pregens

OPEN SPACES:

Serpent-Masked Spinner, Priest of Fate =

The Beloved, Priest of Death =

Master of Ceremonies, Priest of Night =

Peerless Guardian, Priest of Earth =

Joy's Herald, Priest of Rain =

Pirates of the Darkening Skies

@Excession Would love to talk and get a sheet up. Might need some assistance with a backstory too. Since my tree is a Necromancer, are they born or do they choose their magic in a sort of study way?

@Benzaiten

Okay, so-
Crantiré seeds spend a few weeks in a nutrient rich pot before being transferred to a Nursery Grove with around 19 other saplings.
After a few months, the Worldcap's mycorrhizal network connects to their roots and they're woken within the Dream Of The Forest; a kind of simulated reality, a shared dream of the Forestmind where their nascent souls can interact.
Here they are visited by mature Crantiré to educate them, and they spend around fifteen years dreaming while their body matures, learning everything they need and choosing specific fields of education. Time is different in dreams, afterall.
Magical talent is innate, no learned, but still benefits from education. In the Dream you can only learn theory but the saplings bloom at fifteen years. You can also choose whether you'll be a Spriggan or a Dryad while growing.
Once you uproot yourself, you'd go have a group naming ceremony where you choose your name and are welcomed to the Wood.
Then you'll go on to further education in your Pattern of Magic, but there aren't many Crantiré Necromancers so for your character that's a lot of independant study. You could develop your own School - a focus on a particular use of Necromancy that makes you really good at some things and weak at one specific thing, for example:

The Revolver Exorcist School is very good at banishing ghosts and killing undead, but bad at raising them.
The Lemarchand Advocate School is really good at manifesting ghosts and talking to them, but bad at hurting people.
The Iresne Navigator School is great at navigating the World Without Sun and dealing damage, but bad at animated bonework machines.

Pirates of the Darkening Skies

@Excession Would love to talk and get a sheet up. Might need some assistance with a backstory too. Since my tree is a Necromancer, are they born or do they choose their magic in a sort of study way?

@Benzaiten

Sure! I'm at work for a few more hours but I'll fill you in when a major server is no longer on fire (send help)

Pirates of the Darkening Skies

Also still around. How many players do we have? Are we starting soon? (Said me who still didn't fill out a character sheet lmao)

@Benzaiten

I believe we're down to four, right now, but the handy thing about this game is slotting in new crew down the line is just fine. Speaking of if you've got friends who might be interested...

I believe I need to give Proxy a hand with their sheet when they have time, and I'll happily help you too.
Once I've got backstories, at least, and we've sketched out a bit of how you know each other, I can have an intro up in a matter of hours. I just need some idea of what your characters are likely, likely to be doing, and how they joined or will soon join the crew to tweak my opener.

Pirates of the Darkening Skies

[extremely loud defibrillator noises]