Given that there's 5 of them, I was thinking Troy of all people would be most suited to being alone. It helps keep up the cold facade he has to the others by hiding how softly he treats his pokemon in their downtime. I think having them view him that way is better for the plot/character interactions for now. This also gives him an excuse to remain "unrestrainedly unprofessional" with his pokemon when no one is looking, assuming he wouldn't get a roommate, or that his roommate would be a no-show.
Unrelatedly, the addition of Happiny once again completes the balanced spread of EV yields you would get from beating all of our pokemon once.
Rollout. Of course. Recalling Troy's earlier plan, Netty mentally cursed herself for not thinking. "Quick, brace yourself! Struggle Bug!" she called.
Thankfully, Mellona didn't need much range of movement for the red aura, or the sparkling energy swirls that followed, to look impressive. It dawned on Netty, however, that Gust and Struggle Bug were Mel's only viable moves for this battle. Bug Bite wouldn't get past Shuckle's tough shell, and Sweet Scent worked better against faster, more evasive opponents.
Netty's already considerable unease grew. Using the same moves over and over again, no matter how spectacular, wasn't the best way to keep an audience's interest.
Troy was in a similar boat. Defense Curl and Infestation are one-and-done moves, and his only other option was ineffective on Combee. Although two misses in a row was not a good sign, the only thing he could do was continue to- “Rollout. Keep going!” Troy couldn’t help but raise his voice a bit. How could he resist when rooting for Shuckle?
Although thrown off a bit by gust, Shuckle was still spinning as he hit the ground, swerving back around toward Combee. He tries to weave around some of the missiles produced by Struggle Bug, but inevitably has to crash through some of them on his way to Combee. Well, this is what Troy meant when he said ‘anything in your way’.
As he nears Mellona, he does as before and pops up off of the ground, leaping at her like he’s grown a pair of wings.
Against all the odds, Shuckle was able to zero in on Mellona just as the Infestation started to flare up once more. The Combee was temporarily distracted by the pain and disruption from the tiny black particles that gnawed at her, her movement completely hindered in the moment. That moment of weakness was all it took.
The Shuckle certainly looked roughed up from the previous Gusts and attacks, but the tanky pokemon was still holding strong. Rollout hit Mellona squarely, and the quadruple type effectiveness combined with the previous damage from Infestation was enough to knock the bug/flying type completely. Caprea checked Mellona’s condition carefully, then raised her hand towards Troy’s side of the field.
”The match has been decided! Netty’s Combee has been knocked out, Troy and Shuckle are the winners!”
There was a burst of applause; the battle had been flashy and thrilling, everything that a semi-final should have been, and the students were no less than impressed. How did Troy and Shuckle feel? How were Mellona and Netty taking the results?
Troy returned Shuckle to his pokeball. A battle like this was not one he could be proud of, much less a contest he could be proud of. Miss after miss, and outdone as a performer in most if not all aspects. He felt like he owed Antoinetta an apology for his earlier suggestion. Of course, battling was an important aspect of contests, but it still felt like a one-sided stipulation he imposed on her.
Netty kept her composure before the cheering crowd - outwardly, anyway. The result was far from a surprise, but the applause towards Troy sounded like mockery towards her. It hadn't been Mel's fault, or her own, just a bad match-up. The problem was, the crowd surely wouldn't see it that way. The crowd would see someone beating them at their own game.
Stepping forward and crouching, she broke her uncharacteristic silence as she returned the fainted Combee. "You did great, Mel, that was quite a show." She kept her eyes on the Pokeball clenched in her trembling hand as she stood. She couldn't look at the audience, or at her victorious opponent.
Troy walks up to Antoinetta and silently offers her a handshake. Bringing herself to meet his gaze, Antoinetta wore her grin like a mask. "Oh, you haven't seen anything yet." She put on that self-assured tone as she shook his hand. "Not bad for a non-coordinator, but next time there's a test like this, I'll be the one who's centre stage."
In spite of how he felt, Troy kept to his typical frowning poker face, cold and impersonal. To make mention of his earlier proposition would, at least in Troy’s mind, be an insult to Antoinetta, as if to say that she wasn’t cut out to be a contest performer who can handle a battle and a performance without the compromise of either. Although he certainly tried, he couldn't think of anything worth saying. Without waiting for a reply, or saying anything herself, Antoinetta hurried to the healing machine. No way would she hang around and listen to what the audience had to say about their handshake. Cheeks burning, she stared at her feet as she waited for the healing process to finish, trying not to think of the inevitable judgements from everyone. The other students, Tessa, Caprea.
As soon as the telltale beep sounded, she took back the Pokeball. "I'm sorry, Mel," she whispered. She couldn't let herself and her Pokemon down like that again.
Troy took a deep breath, a mental reset, before following suit.
Eli You wake up alone in the center of a huge circular room, leaning against a pedestal resembling a short marble column. Most of the room is a sterile light gray, but the walls in all directions are lined with bizarre doors with colorful door frames. You stand up and stretch, but as you look around you realize that every door other than the one you were facing had pedestals in front of them not unlike the one you were leaning against. Each pedestal bears oddly shaped indentations, as if specific objects were meant to be placed atop them. There is only one exception; the pedestal in the center of the room, the one you were leaning against, which instead bears a large red button just begging to be pressed. You resist the temptation, unsure of the consequences.
Try as you might, you can’t remember how you ended up here, or anything in the past for that matter. You start to worry you have brain damage or something, but you don’t seem to have any trouble remembering your multiplication tables or how the water cycle works. You know your name is Eli, and that your favorite food is steak, but for anything beyond that you draw a blank. You start to look through your clothes for some kind of clue, but besides the discovery that your belt is made to look somewhat like a tail, there’s nothing to give you any indication of who you are.
Turning your attention outward for clues, you walk up to the door without a pedestal. Upon closer inspection, it’s completely flat without a knob or any apparent mechanism to open it. You look around and realize all the doors are like this, but this one seems different. The door and door frame are pitch black, and unlike the other doors, it bears a large lock connected to numerous chains which lead off into the edges of the door. You reach past the chains to the black surface, but it just seems like a solid wall. The other doors seem to let you see through them a bit, with a blurred preview of what lies beyond. You pick a random one with a blue frame and move over to it. You reach out your hand, expecting to be able to lean on it so you could look closer, but it instead phases through, and you almost fall right in. You pull your hand out on instinct, but after confirming you are unharmed, you venture a peek inside only to see a pitch black void. You hesitate for a while, pacing about the room and occasionally eyeing the big red button in the center, but since you still don’t trust the button, and you have nothing else to do, you eventually go back to the blue-framed door and cross its threshold entirely. After but a moment of inky nothingness, you suddenly find yourself on your back, on a bed of sand, staring directly up at the sun.
Your memory is pretty foggy right now, but you're pretty sure you've seen the sun at least once before. This sun... isn't the same. You can look straight at it without any issue. It just doesn't seem nearly as bright, not even as taxing on the eyes as a simple lightbulb. In spite of that, the sand and the rest of the beach you are just now becoming cognizant of lights up beneath it. As you examine it curiously, you notice a slim wedge cut across its radius. You try to figure out what it is for a while, which is made easier as you notice it slowly growing bigger.
Yes, this must be… a distraction.
Where the hell are you exactly?
As far as you can tell, you’re just on a beach near some kind of resort, except there’s enough ocean visible in enough directions to know you’re on an island. Who builds a resort, or anything for that matter, on a tiny island like this one?
You get up and start taking a not so long walk on the beach. Even if there was more beach upon which to walk, you want to check out the resort. You were just in some place that was clearly indoors, so there are only so many ways to reconcile how you got here. Still, as unreliable as your memory may be, you’re pretty damn sure there wasn’t any interim between stepping into that blue door frame and waking up on the beach.
As you get to the lobby, you find it’s pretty mundane, if tropical. It seems like a standard hotel lobby, albeit with an open air design that makes the waiting area furniture stick out a bit. You don’t see any guests, but there are a few human receptionists available for you to accost with your arrant inquiries. They don’t acknowledge you as you walk up to them, simply staring off into the distance unblinkingly. It’s pretty weird after a couple of seconds, but the nearest one immediately turns to face you when you try to get their attention.
”...Hello?”
“Welcome to the Last Resort, the Last Resort you’ll ever need! Can I get you a room?”
“No thank you. Could you tell me about this place and how I got here?”
“The Last Resort is a beach-front luxury resort. We aim to provide our guests with everything they need for a restful and relaxing vacation. You got here by walking.”
He speaks matter-of-factly, without a hint of sass. He radiates customer service to the point that it’s slightly disturbing. In any case, he doesn’t seem to know anything, so you sit down in one of the surprisingly comfy chairs, considering your next course of action.
Name: Eli Gender: ♂ Age: Unknown (Forgotten) (Adult) Race: Demon A devilish race with pointed ears, horns, wings, and a tail. Faster, stronger, more durable, and quicker to recover from injuries than the average human. Similar to an olympic athlete in many categories. Capable of flight, though wings are built for speed and maneuverability rather than endurance and will tire him out quickly. Could probably fly continuously for only a minute, though gliding takes considerably less effort. Flight speed depends on wind but is typically faster than sprinting. As is the norm for fliers, very high speeds can be achieved out of an aerial dive. Resistant to dark-element attacks. Appearance:
Equipment: None Personality: Straightforward and light-hearted. Although he can be a bit impulsive, he’s good at keeping calm should things not go as expected. Highly sociable and loves attention, but will often prioritize others before himself. Background: As an amnesiac, Eli has no idea where he comes from or who he used to be. Seems to be the only one in the Nexus that doesn’t have a room. Accordingly has no token or living quarters and needs to rely on the good graces of others for food that wasn’t gathered from rooms. Favorite Food: Steak Ability: Appears to have none? Weaknesses/Limitations: Weak to light-element attacks. His tail is physically sensitive. (Hidden under clothes, not to be confused with the fake tail coming out of his belt) Theme: Hero’s Promise
vanovick
Name: Layke Gender: ♀ Age: 12863
Race: Water Elemental. Body is fully composed of condensed water. This aqueous form is malleable when force is applied, but not capable of applying the force required to distort itself. Repairs to the form will deplete the available water within the body until an amount insufficient to meet the total volume is reached. Further damage to the body will cause her form to destabilize or collapse (causing death) unless external water can be incorporated. Time is required to assimilate fresh/unprocessed water into a fluid usable for self-repair. Assimilation is somewhat faster while resting. Capable of drinking liquids through osmosis. Capable of drinking from contaminated sources. Resists physical, fire, and water attacks.
Appearance:
Equipment: Crab 🦀
Personality: Talking to fish who can’t respond all day has resulted in a confident and committed individual fueled by the need to bring leadership to the unguided masses (of fish.) It is simply her duty to provide assistance from her self-proclaimed position of superiority.
Background: Admiral of the seventh pond, the only pond isolated on an atoll in the sea. Manager of the astrological balance and sealife ambiance of an island within the pond within the atoll. Her one and only job is to assist any beached cetaceans. This species does not exist within her assigned “pond”.
Blissfully unaware that there is land or ocean beyond her pond, lives exclusively on the island within the pond within the atoll.
Favorite Food: Swedish Fish candies.
Ability: Conjuration of aquatic constructs that resemble marine animals. Constructs are capable of performing physical feats similar to their real-life counterparts, but lack any unique functionalities that stem from bodily composition. (Electric eel discharges, venomous spines)
Weaknesses/Limitations: Construct size is proportionate to conjuration time. Tiny fish can be made in less than a second. Creating a 30-pound fish would only take about one second, and creating a great white shark would take about a minute. There is an upper limit to conjured mass in a given period of time, which slowly refreshes over time. Constructs can be destroyed easily if they are small, with greater durability proportional to mass. When destroyed, constructs melt into water which then vanishes after a brief period of time.
Weak to electric and ice attacks. Dehydrates faster in low-humidity environments and can freeze to death in low temperatures.
Background: Space station engineer, face stealing monsters gradually took it over
Favorite Food: Soylento-brand meal gummy - green flavor
Ability: Shapeshift body while total mass remains the same. Can create blades, mouths, extra eyes, horns, whatever. Flesh and blood that is removed from the body remains alive, and instinctively tries to return to the host. Doing so successfully will heal some of the damage taken. If it cannot, it will attempt to eat whatever is nearby to sustain itself until it can. If there is no nearby food, it will gradually wither away. Once dead, it cannot directly rejoin the host and becomes more akin to food for Kaleb. Lost flesh/blood lacks sapience and does not take commands.
Weaknesses/Limitations: Limited to bodily materials, although can approximate other materials with them, such as clothing. Shapeshifting requires a couple of seconds to initiate and complete. Incapable of physically supporting liquid, gaseous, or gummy-like bodily compositions. Excessive stretching causes discomfort and eventually involuntary reformation.
Name: Eli Gender: ♂ Age: Unknown (Forgotten) (Adult) Race: Demon A devilish race with pointed ears, horns, wings, and a tail. Faster, stronger, more durable, and quicker to recover from injuries than the average human. Similar to an olympic athlete in many categories. Capable of flight, though wings are built for speed and maneuverability rather than endurance and will tire him out quickly. Could probably fly continuously for only a minute, though gliding takes considerably less effort. Flight speed depends on wind but is typically faster than sprinting. As is the norm for fliers, very high speeds can be achieved out of an aerial dive. Resistant to dark-element attacks. Appearance:
Equipment: None Personality: Straightforward and light-hearted. Although he can be a bit impulsive, he’s good at keeping calm should things not go as expected. Highly sociable and loves attention, but will often prioritize others before himself. Background: As an amnesiac, Eli has no idea where he comes from or who he used to be. Seems to be the only one in the Nexus that doesn’t have a room. Accordingly has no token or living quarters and needs to rely on the good graces of others for food that wasn’t gathered from rooms. Favorite Food: Steak Ability: Appears to have none? Weaknesses/Limitations: Weak to light-element attacks. His tail is physically sensitive. (Hidden under clothes, not to be confused with the fake tail coming out of his belt) Theme: Hero’s Promise
Welcome to the Nexus. The people here are wildly different. The worlds they come from, even moreso. Still, this place isn’t the same as the world you remember, is it?
Maybe you woke up in a tropical beach resort. Maybe you woke up in a desolate wasteland. Everyone’s room is different, but some things are always the same: No one came here by choice, and no one can clear their own room.
With the exception of one person, everyone starts in their own room, which plays out explicitly like a level in a video game. The only problem is that no one can clear their own room, causing the room to reset itself over and over again once its time limit runs out. Uncleared rooms have no exit, and most people have no idea what they’re supposed to do to begin with, making no progress at all. Every time the room resets, the room owner resets too, losing all memories of their room, trapping them in an endless loop. Only through the Nexus, which contains doors to everyone’s room, can the cycle be broken. That being said, no one can escape the Nexus yet either...
Each room is designed by the player who made the character, with challenges and/or enemies that match the character in question. The room’s obstacles will be managed by me and the player who created it. The goal of each room is to avoid or conquer all obstacles and acquire a character’s token before the room’s timer runs out. The token possesses the power of the corresponding character, and can take the form of any object the player specifies. (Within reason) When used by other characters, the token will grant them a portion of the corresponding character's abilities, as determined by the player who created them. (with my help for balancing purposes)
Once a token is touched by one of the room's intruders, no matter how briefly, the door back to the Nexus will open up somewhere nearby. The room is cleared when the token is brought through that door, negating the time limit and connecting the exit door to the room’s entrance in the Nexus. However, if a room’s timer runs out, the room owner will gain a tremendous boost in power and lose all control of themselves, going on a murderous rampage that will not end until either every intruder is dead or the token is brought to the Nexus.
Once in the Nexus, tokens can be placed on corresponding pedestals to unlock a character’s living quarters and utility room. A single door in the Nexus is locked, and has no corresponding pedestal. The prevailing theory is that once all pedestals are filled, it will open and everyone will finally be free…
The Nexus is a dome-shaped room with a uniformly light-gray floor, wall and ceiling. The walls in all directions are lined with doors, though calling them doors is a bit of a misnomer since they’re more like door frames with flat walls inside of them. In contrast with the rest of the room, each door frame is colorful, matching the previews of the rooms beyond which each door displays, albeit slightly blurry not unlike frosted glass. Although appearing solid, the doors are intangible, and can be passed through with no resistance. Should one stick their head in to get a peak, they’d find nothing but an empty void, only distinguishable from outer space by the lack of stars or vacuum and the apparent presence of breathable oxygen. Doors only activate once someone has fully passed the threshold of a door, wherein they will soon find themselves somewhere within the door’s corresponding “room”, with no door to return to. Once a room is cleared, the door in the Nexus will lead to the exit door that appeared and vice versa. The preview within the door changes to the view from the exit door and becomes clear. From within the room, the exit door bears a preview of the Nexus, however both of these previews are static, and do not accurately indicate the presence of people on the other side of the door.
Every door in the nexus (except one) has a corresponding pedestal a couple of meters in front of it. The pedestals each possess an indentation in the shape of the corresponding room owner’s token. When a token is placed on its corresponding pedestal, three buttons will appear on the pedestal which each change the destination of the corresponding door. The first button is the default and leads to the character’s room. The second button leads to a character’s utility room. The third button leads to the character’s living quarters. Regardless of which destination the door corresponds to, a character within any of the three destinations will be able to return to the Nexus through the same door they entered from. Although any character can enter the room and utility room, no character can enter another character’s living quarters, and no token can be brought into anyone’s living quarters. In these circumstances, the character or token will react with the door as if it is a solid wall, or be ejected from the door if the destination is changed as they are passing through it. Furthermore, all objects will be rejected by doors to living quarters if they are not within the possession of the room owner.
There is a pedestal in the center of the Nexus with a big red button on it. (Refer to the big red button section for more information)
Unlike other places accessible by the doors to and from the Nexus, a character’s living quarters have no visual preview, showing only the color matching the door frame. All living quarters start out mostly featureless, containing nothing but a plain bed, with an adjoined bathroom containing a sink, toilet, and shower in a random shade of white or gray. A module on the wall near the door back to the Nexus can be accessed to change the room’s appearance from top to bottom, allowing characters to add or remove furniture, change the appearance of the walls, flooring or ceiling, and generate most foods or beverages. There are also two buttons for cleaning the room and resetting the character’s clothing, The former of which deletes unorganized debris and the latter of which returns a character’s outfit to a pristine, undamaged state. This also has the side effect of deleting any scraps left of the outfit if they are in the Nexus or any room.
The module can be used to move itself around the room, though it cannot remove itself or add more redundant modules.
No items created by the modules can leave a character’s living quarters, with the exception of a character’s “export”. Exports are clearly marked by the module when looking at its food options and will always be a character’s favorite food or beverage. Exports can be created by other characters, but they cannot be taken out of other characters’ living quarters.
Utility rooms are (mostly) safe areas devoid of traps and enemies that offer some form of utility for characters. Most utility rooms take the form of a shop, though there are other forms it can take. Players may decide what they want their character’s utility room to be, what artifacts are sold in their utility room if it is a shop, and the general aesthetic of the utility room.
There is a pedestal in the center of the Nexus with a big red button on it. If pressed, a window will appear in front of the character asking, “Do you wish to give up?” With two buttons below it labeled “YES” and “NO”. If a character presses “NO”, the window closes and nothing appears to happen. If a character willingly presses “YES”, they will vanish without a trace.
If a player is inactive for too long before their room becomes relevant, their room as well as their character becomes void. If they are inactive for too long after their room becomes relevant, we will assume they die. If the room is not yet cleared, we assume they reset and we don’t see them again until the room is cleared, wherein they are brought back to the Nexus off-screen. (between posts) If the room has been cleared already, we assume they die and return to the Nexus. After that, we will assume they spend most of their time in their living quarters and refuse to come out. If enough time has passed that it is clear there is no intention of returning to the RP, it will be assumed the character presses the button in the center of the Nexus when no one is looking. Character permadeath is only voluntary otherwise.
When defeated, enemies will dissolve into glowing white pixels and drop some gold. This gold will be automatically collected and divided amongst all nearby characters. Although they are visible, they are intangible, and will disappear once collected. Your gold amount can be viewed in your inventory, though there is no option to remove it from your inventory.
Although characters will not initially realize this at first, all characters within the Nexus and its rooms possess access to an abstract inventory. Items can be moved in and out of one’s inventory with only a thought, though it does take a few seconds as the items dissolve into or materialize out of glowing white pixels. The inventory screen does not need to be opened to access one’s inventory, though it can be opened up to display all stored items. Inventory screens are normally hidden from others, though they can be made visible if the option to do so is selected. Each item in the inventory has a brief but informative description. The functions of artifacts and tokens can be discovered this way.
By default, the inventory is limited to 10 items. Multiple copies of the same item occupy different inventory slots and cannot stack. The inventory is capable of storing anything the character can comfortably carry around with them, (They need not be able to carry around 10 instances of it) as long as it is not a sentient living creature. Each piece of an object must be stored separately if the character knows it is divisible. Anything that cannot fit within the inventory has to be carried around outside of it. Since the intent to stow is enough to activate the inventory system, it can be triggered accidentally, especially by those who aren’t aware of its existence.
Any item in the inventory can be registered as “Equipped”, albeit only through the inventory menu. This will cause items to materialize outside of the inventory while still taking up an inventory slot. (marked with an ‘E’) Equipped items can be stored remotely (albeit it takes longer proportional to distance) and cannot be stored in the inventory of other characters.
Rooms often contain dangerous, sometimes fatal challenges or traps. Characters getting hurt is inevitable.
Although characters typically cannot see it, their vitality seems to be tied to an abstract health bar. No one is sure how exactly damage works, but guns tend to be somewhat less fatal within the Nexus, and crippling or lingering injuries are relatively rare. That being said, characters aren’t more durable than they normally are, will still feel pain, and will still die from serious injury or major blood loss. Health slowly recovers over time, though it won’t recover much unless characters stop to rest. Lingering injuries are comparable to status conditions and may not be possible to recover from while within a room, though all injuries can be healed at a certain utility room or with certain artifacts.
When a room owner dies before their room is cleared, they will remain dead until either the room is cleared or the room is reset. In both instances, they will respawn at their usual starting location within the room and lose any accumulated gold. However, if the room is reset, they will lose all memories regarding the room, returning to the endless loop they were previously stuck in. If a room is cleared, the room owner will be considered an intruder.
When a room’s intruder dies, regardless of the room’s state, their body will begin to dissolve into glowing white pixels over the course of a few seconds. Soon after, they will respawn within the Nexus in front of their corresponding room and lose half of their accumulated gold.
When a character dies while within the Nexus, they will instead respawn at their usual starting location within their room and lose half of their accumulated gold.
When any character dies anywhere, they leave behind all character tokens in their possession, including those within their inventory. Also, whenever any character dies, any possession (other than character tokens) that are not in their inventory, not registered as equipped, and not in their possession (directly held, worn, or in their physical pockets/bags/etc.) will not respawn with them. Items (including artifacts) that are left behind in a room as it resets will either reset to its original location in the room or be deleted altogether if it did not originate from within the room. While a character is dead, it is possible for their items to be stolen or lost before they respawn. If a room resets while there are tokens within it, all character tokens that do not correspond to that room will respawn on their corresponding pedestals.
When a character respawns in the Nexus, they will not be able to access the room they died in until the room is reset, unless the room has already been cleared. There will eventually be artifacts to circumvent this restriction, but they will be unavailable at first.
A room and its room owner reset to their initial state whenever: -A room’s timer runs out while there are no intruders within the room -An intruder enters the room while there are no other intruders within the room (resetting the timer for the intruder) -The only (last remaining) intruder in the room dies
When a room resets, all enemies, traps, puzzles, and the location of the room owner’s token are returned to their initial state. The only aspect of each room that does not reset are any artifacts earned within the room. If a character maintains possession of an artifact through death, they will keep possession of that artifact, and a new copy of that artifact will not respawn. If the artifact remains in the room after all intruders die, it will return to its original location within that room. If an artifact is destroyed elsewhere, a room reset will cause that artifact to respawn within the room.
When a room owner is reset, they lose all memories of the events that transpired, returning to their initial state. Blissfully unaware of their previous iterations, they will perform the exact same sequence of actions over and over without a single hint of deja vu, causing an infinite loop until intruders intervene. Certain rooms have random elements without intruder intervention, although these still result in determinate paths for the room owner.
If a room is cleared, it will no longer reset, with one exception. When a character is killed in the Nexus while their room contains their token and no intruders, the room will reset, locking off access to the character’s utility room and living quarters. The room’s preview will become foggy again, and the door to the Nexus will no longer link to the room’s exit door. In essence, the room becomes uncleared once more. As this is the only way to reset a room once it has been cleared, this is also the only way to obtain artifacts from those rooms that have been destroyed.
If a room is reset in this way, the room owner’s initial state changes, and they will retain all memories from before this reset. If the room resets from then on, they return to this initial state. Because of this, their endless loop also changes, and they may obtain their token without the help of intruders, once they find out that the room has reset. Unfortunately, exit doors do not appear if the room owner touches their token, and thus they will be trapped within their room without the help of an intruder. If they can collect their token once however, they can do it a million times; it’s not like they’ll get tired of things they can’t remember doing. A character’s sense of time can become greatly skewed as a result.
Everyone in the Nexus has them, or at least, most of them do. Some characters come from worlds where they’re as natural as being born, others come from worlds where they are the only ones with these abilities. Some people are born with their abilities, others have them awakened or even bestowed. Each ability in the Nexus is unique in some way, and the rules behind one ability may even be directly contrary to the rules behind the ability of another character. Whatever the case, they give characters within the Nexus an edge against the many challenges rooms present.
Magical objects that can be found within the Nexus and its rooms, their effects are akin to that of abilities, providing a variety of effects or granting their wielders various powers. They vary greatly in efficacy and typically aren’t as strong as most abilities. Still, it is possible to obtain several of them and use them in tandem, greatly increasing one’s power and versatility. Be careful with them, as they can be broken, consumed or lost, although their individual properties vary.
Players will be allowed to DM their room with me, if they so choose. DM stands for “Dungeon Master” and it refers to controlling the “dungeon” and the challenges therein. Whenever players move forward the DM needs to describe everything they need to know about the room to be able to confidently take action in it. This includes everything observable; everything they need to know to solve a puzzle, everything they need to know to avoid a trap, and every path they are able to take to move forward. You’ll need to do this any time a character enters a place the player has no knowledge of. If you ever lack the confidence to do this, you can leave it to me, but I want to give players an opportunity to describe their own creations, since they are likely to be able to do it the most justice.
A degree of “powerplay” is inevitable when it comes to DMing. Characters may trigger traps or do inadvisable things around enemies, and sometimes players will have to “take the hit” or even die without their consent. DMs should take a player’s abilities and artifacts into consideration, but I want players to respect when a DM deems a maneuver to be too unrealistic for the situation. If players want to avoid this, try to include what your characters are specifically supposed to be prepared for, such as being ready to duck. Vague language such as “being on alert” does not tell a DM that they will have such a specific twitch reaction to any slightly unusual sound. Furthermore, just because a character is ready for something does not mean they can necessarily avoid it, and it will ultimately be the DM’s call.
It should go without saying, but abusing DM status for personal gain or to target a specific character breaks rule #6.
1. Remove the instructions on the character sheet from your app, they should not be on your finished character app, this happens often and it bothers me every time. 2. I have the final call on character/token/artifact/room balance. You can’t perfectly quantify the value/difficulty of abilities/challenges, so balance will always be a subjective matter. I need people to be accepting of that. 3. Please read through all the hiders before asking questions about the mechanics of the RP. I don't mind if people miss some things, but a lot of questions left unanswered by one hider are often answered in the next hider(s). 4. Remember that your enemies in-character are not your enemies out of character. Conflict between characters is not a bad thing and can lead to a more interesting story overall. 5. A certain level of spelling and grammar are necessary. Although not a common issue at all, it occasionally ends up as a huge communication barrier if it's bad enough. 6. Treat others fairly and nicely, please.
More than one character is fine, though secondary characters are going to be lower priority in terms of room clearing.
First of all, just as a forewarning, this RP is iterative in nature. Characters can only join the RP in earnest once intruders enter their room and find them. Although I’d like to encourage splitting up when the group is big enough, it may still be awhile before your character’s room is entered. If you’d like to leave the RP before then, please let us know, and we can pretend their room was never there to begin with.
Before a character’s room is entered, you can describe what they do in their room before every reset if you’d like, but since they generally cannot change what they do without an intruder, do not expect to be able to post a lot with them.
In general I’d like to do the rooms in ascending order of difficulty, with order of seniority as a secondary factor. If you’d like to make an incredibly difficult room, I want you to be cool with having to wait for us to get to it.
Anyways, as for actual posting, don’t be afraid to step out of line. I’d prefer an RP where everyone was out of control over one where people were afraid of doing something wrong or “low-quality” and ultimately did nothing.
There is no post length requirement. Short posts (even "one-liners") are fine by me as long as you give people something to work with. When people say they don’t like short posts, they usually mean they don’t like having nothing to respond to, but it is possible to prompt people with a single sentence and also possible to leave them with a conversational dead end with a wall of text. If you want others to respond to you in-character, make it explicit either in or out of character, (preferably both) else they may not realize you are waiting on them. If you aren’t prompting another player, try to move forward in some manner, and when you do so, it is not necessary to ask everyone around you for confirmation that they are ready to move forward with you, you can just write it and assume they will follow. If you specifically want them to go first, you can simply write it contingently. (i.e. "When they do X, I do Y") If you have a cool plan, don’t be afraid to share it so that the people it involves can help make it happen.
Don’t be afraid to let your character get hurt and die, even if you have the option not to. Sometimes failure is more fun(ny) than success. Besides, permadeath is strictly voluntary in the Nexus, and you don’t have to wait for others to die before hopping into another room, even if the death penalty keeps you out of the room you died in.
If a room resets for any reason and you're basically going to repeat the same actions, you are free to abbreviate your actions, skipping the details, to quickly return to where you left off. I don't mind people doing the same in terms of grinding as long as it's kept within reason; your character should have amply proved their ability to perform these things off-screen, and it should be for a specific goal your character is trying to accomplish, not just for the sake of decadence. Even the most dedicated and greedy characters have limits to their patience. I'll be roughly keeping track of gold drops.
PM me your character apps. I would like to keep tokens, rooms and utility rooms a surprise.
Name: Gender: ♂/♀/? Age: If your character’s race dictates that they age at a different pace compared to humans, specify their relative maturity. You don’t need to if your race matures at the same pace until fully grown. Race: Humanoids only. Include any advantages or disadvantages your race would have compared to humans, and try to be specific. Balance only concerns your character as a whole, so it’s fine if they have no downsides. Different characters come from different settings, so your character’s race does not have to be the same as another character’s race, even if they’re superficially identical. Appearance: If you’re having trouble finding a suitable image, I recommend Pinterest, though a description is fine too. I recommend against real-life images, if only because it clashes aesthetically. Equipment: Your character didn’t exactly plan on ending up here, so it shouldn’t be anything they wouldn’t normally carry around. Their weapon of choice is fine, if they have one. Only items with mundane effects are allowed, unless you wouldn’t mind it being held against a character’s overall balance. (Such items can still be stolen or lost) Ordinary clothing does not need to be included here. Personality: General vibe, attitude and proclivities Background: Briefly describe your character’s world of origin and (optionally) your character’s life before ending up in the Nexus. Favorite Food: This is also the only item your character is allowed to remove from their living quarters. This can also be a beverage. Ability: Anything within reason is allowed and I’ll work with you to balance it, if possible. Aspects of your ability must be cohesive or otherwise related to each other. Be as specific as possible, especially when it comes to upper limits and applications. Being able to breathe fire is not the same as being able to control fire. There are no restrictions other than general balance and what works in an RP setting; your character’s ability does not need to be in any way related to your character’s race or background. Weaknesses/Limitations: You’re free to make this contrived, (i.e. a character’s kryptonite) though if so, make sure that it relates to your ability or race in some way. Your character does not need an overt weakness, but every ability needs limits. Theme: A theme song for your character and/or room. Both are optional.
Everything below this point needs to be removed from your app before posting it in the character’s tab, or anywhere for that matter.
Token: Describe your character’s token, including the shape, how it’s meant to be used, (can it be worn?) and what abilities it imparts or effects it has. The abilities should be derivative from your character’s. They can impart negative effects if you so choose.
Room: Describe your character’s room. Your room contains a world of its own, and should be mostly based on your character. It does not need to be anything like your character’s world of origin. Be sure to include the following:
General environment.
Any structures within the room, including buildings and unusual landmarks. If your room has many, you need only describe important structures. If there are very few structures in your room, describe where to find them. If your room has none, be sure to mention that.
The placement of your character’s token within the room, and obstacles the intruders need to overcome in order to reach it. Your character’s token must be somewhere in your room at all times.
Puzzles or Traps in the room. I’ll work with you on making sure it feels “fair”.
The length and display method of your room’s timer. By default, most room timers will have a simple radial timer on the sun, though you are free to change it for stylistic or mechanical reasons. You don’t need to be specific with the amount of time characters have, though you still need to give a ballpark approximation. Be careful if you intend to make the room a speedrun or survival challenge, since players need to immediately and constantly know what to do in the former and need to know how to get food, shelter and clean water in the latter.
The starting placement of your character (a.k.a. the room owner) and what they do throughout the duration of the timer. Try to avoid solving the obstacles of your room with your own character. You should also describe how your character acquires artifacts in their equipment section, if you gave them any.
Starting placement(s) of intruders.
Designated location of the exit door
The nature and placement of the room’s enemies. Do you want them to swarm the player like Zubats, or are there none of them to be seen? You don’t have to be specific about enemy designs, but they should share a general theme. Try to give an example or two.
Any NPCs in the room. NPCs are allowed, but they are explicitly created by the room and not allowed to leave it, and somewhat limited in terms of higher-order thinking. (Think video game NPCs) If you’d like to include them, specify their general behavior.
Any artifacts in the room other than those in your equipment section. All artifacts need to be approved by me and should be added as a reward for an appropriate associated challenge. With the exception of artifacts in your equipment section, ALL artifacts in your room, if any, should be meant for intruders, not for your character. If they don’t appear to be, they won’t be allowed. For example, if all possible recipients don’t benefit from the artifact nearly as much as your character could, it’s likely they’ll end up with the artifact one way or another. I recommend being conservative with them; your room does not necessarily need to give out artifacts at all. NPCs should not have access to artifacts unless they are bosses, since players will likely steal them. As with character abilities, be as specific as possible with what they can and can’t do.
All rooms need to be clearable by a normal human being, although it’s fine if it would be extremely difficult for them to do so. If you want to build puzzles around external artifacts or character abilities, that’s fine, just include an alternative solution somewhere.
Utility Room: Most utility rooms will take the form of a shop that sells artifacts, though if you’d like to introduce a different room, (e.g. a bank, a storage, a minigame, etc.) you can choose to do so. (Though some kind of gameplay-relevant utility is mandatory, i.e. there is something to be gained from the minigames) You are allowed to decide the utility room’s general aesthetics. If it is a shop, you can make up artifacts for your shop to sell. (Limit of 5) I will determine the artifact’s price based on its usefulness, though there is an upper limit on how useful they can be. (Feel free to suggest them anyway) If you can’t decide on what to put in your shop, you can leave it for me to decide, though once the shop’s inventory is revealed to the characters, it cannot be changed.
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