Stekkmen

Kidnapped and forced into dungeon full of mysteries? (Exanima, anyone?)

@Infamous Empath@Estella@Cuccoruler

sorry for the double post, but the RP is up

roleplayerguild.com/topics/162945-the-..

The Underworld and Those Who Died There: EX ANIMA

Those who enter the underworld not only forfeit their lives, but bring oblivion to all mankind.

The Republic is at war.

For reasons upon reasons no common person can seem to understand, the Western Kingdoms have united to invade despite so many years of peace. The troops have been rallied and almost all men of fighting age have been levied into the war, leaving behind the women, the children, the elderly, and the bare minimum amount of Proctors. The Proctors are stretched thin- they can only watch over so much with so many of their number fighting to the West- so the criminals and bandits who have previously been suppressed and forced into hiding in the forests have reemerged. While the cities remain safe behind their walls the common towns are more dangerous than ever. Many a house have been burgled, farms burned down, innocents killed for their possessions. The citizens of many villages have taken defence into their own hands, angry mothers, eldest children and the occasional veteran with a limb or two missing have built walls and organized militias. But there is only so much to be done. Indeed, though no one knows it, the Republic is almost fighting a war on two fronts. And yet, something sinister is brewing. Far from the front lines, one of the safer trade routes has had a few mysterious disappearances. Another common tragedy- perhaps they could be saved when the Proctors managed to clear out the forests. The family would weep, but would be forced to move on. But these disappearances are for a far more insidious purpose.

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Commander Kardona, Regional Head of the Proctors

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The regional head of the Proctors in a county far away from the fighting, Lady Kardona has been pushed to her limits. Only two hundred men to spare- by the Gods, they were practically outnumbered. It was only a blessing that the bandit clans spent just as much time battling each other as they did raiding settlements. Gods know what the Proctors would do if the clans were to organize. And these disappearances were driving her mad. Her Seconds told her not to worry about them. We’d find that band of scoundrels ma’am, we would. We’d make them pay, like we always do, ma’am. Eventually. It didn’t always used to be this way. Before this damned war these disappearances would have been sorted months ago! But she couldn’t convince a single Proctor Sergeant to send one of their soldiers to investigate. They were all too busy fighting! Why was this so damn annoying? Why was she so focused on this? It was so small. So insignificant in the grand scheme of things- yet she couldn’t shake the feeling there was something darker at work. Bah. Her gut was often wrong. But still. But still.

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The Vanishing Caravan

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Heavily guarded merchant caravans are the only things to safely travel the roads now- when bandits attack them to battles are often bloody, and as such they do not happen much. They are a nerve-wracking journey, sometimes bandits watch the caravans go by, making no effort to hide themselves. Committing to attack would leave the caravan open to the ambush that almost surely lies in wait. But, one caravan scheduled for arrival would not arrive. Another caravan with even more guards followed the same route, and got to their destination safely. But there was no sign of the other caravan. No bodies or battle sight. Mysterious. This would prove to be enough to garner the attention of the Proctors, but too late for the caravan.

This is the story of events following the vanishing of the caravan. You will play as a denizen of the Republic. You have, in one way or another, whether voluntary or not, have ended up in a sprawling subterranean complex of unknown origin. Many dangers populate this dungeon, and you will have to take your life into your own hands and escape.

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Mechanics and Collaboration

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Welcome to the underworld. I wish to inspire full collaboration between myself and you, the player. Google Docs, Titanpad, whatever it is, I want this to be a smooth experience. I’m not going to spring anything on you, keep you in the dark, whatever. This is a storytelling process, not a game. When the characters encounter an enemy, I will inform you on what the correct courses of action are, and you will decide what your player character would do, and then we can collaborate on what what happen next. Would they engage in the fight? Run away? Use the environment to their advantage? Something completely different? It’s up to you, and whatever you do I’ll tell you what exactly would happen before you do it, so you can confirm whether or not you’re happy with the outcome.

No pressure, but character deaths would certainly up the ante and be welcome, and I’ll allow infinite replacements. You can also make as many characters as you want at the same time. This is challenging for the characters, but not for you. I hope to provide an engaging experience, along with your help. Thanks for reading, and I hope you join.

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Roles and Character Sheet

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Let me lay the foundations. Due to the war, most strong men of good character and fighting age have been conscripted. If you are in the dungeon, there a few things that a more likely to be true about you than others.

If you are a villager you most likely to be a woman. This is set in a relatively realistic medieval universe. Most men of fighting are conscripted, and the women are probably to stay behind. You could be a mother, or merchant, tailor, artisan of any description. If you’re a soldier, you’d be fighting in the war right now.

You could be a person above fighting age, 40’s and 50’s. A farmer’s life is hard, so you are likely to be a little exhausted. You could have been a veteran or a Proctor, but now you have retired to something a little less intense.

You could be a merchant. Though still more likely to be female, not all males were drafted for the defence of the Republic.

You could be a Proctor. This is a gender neutral role, but there is a stipulation. It’d be a few in game days before the Proctor’s reacted to the disappearances as they are currently engaged in conflicts against the larger bands of criminals in other regions.

You could be a mercenary, hired to protect a caravan.

Maybe a nobleman or noblewoman who wouldn’t get drafted.

And, you could be a criminal or bandit.

Those are just some guidelines for making a character. You could be any mixture of these things, or something new. Chances are though, you aren’t a twenty-something man of common birth who’s quick of wit and of common background. If you are that person, you’re in a warzone right now.

I’m against forcing you to write a personality in the sheet, as well. I believe it to be a little constrictive and it might be to the story’s benefit to have your change your character’s personality to be a better (or worse!) match for the other characters. Maybe to inspire conflict amongst the survivors or to bond with someone else. Personality sheets mean you have to hope you can shoe-horn in a friendship between characters that probably would just be neutral to each other. I see only problems. Still, have an idea of what personality you want your character to have. That can only help.

You can use a face claim for your character. I’d rather it be a real person than a drawing. Use gifs or images or whatever from any time, it doesn’t need to be an image of a person dressed up in a knight costume.

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Name:

Age:

Gender:

Physical Appearance:

Apparel:

Items:

Backstory:

Thanks for considering joining EX ANIMA. IF you're interested in the concept, I recommend checking out the game this roleplay is based on, Exanima.

Kidnapped and forced into dungeon full of mysteries? (Exanima, anyone?)

@Infamous Empath

Would you? I find it usually just slows things down. A player would do something pretty creative, but by the enemy's standards I didn't tell them it really wouldn't work. I don't really want to just be like "Sorry he stabs you, you died.", do I? It creates a pretty big condundrum and slows down my response time.

And in RP's in the past I and other players have been pretty confounded by the GM's decisions, and I'm sure that I have confounded some of my players in the past before as well. This collaboration is a new thing I'm trying to see if I can avoid these issues. Because you'll still get surprised. I'm not going to tell you everything, but when it does show up my plan is tell you what you can do to get out scot-free, and you can decide what your character would do. (which is probably not get away with no issue.)

Kidnapped and forced into dungeon full of mysteries? (Exanima, anyone?)

@Estella Well, you'd be controlling the situation. This isn't a mechanics based roleplay, it's a story one. I'm going to tell you what the right courses of actions are OOC, you have to decide if IC your character would think to do it.

Kidnapped and forced into dungeon full of mysteries? (Exanima, anyone?)

In a realistic low fantasy world, travellers and people from various backgrounds have been kidnapped and gone missing. They are thrown into a dungeon, sprawling corridors with hints of a civilization long past, filled with mysterious and dangerous inhabitants, magic long forgotten, ect, ect, very mysterious, will you survive, ect.

Most players would be random merchants, villagers, mercenaries who have been kidnapped by strange forces and literally thrown down a hole into a dungeon, ending up in different locations (or maybe not, if you want to collab). I, the Dungeon Master (hahaha) will control the world down there. All NPC's, hostile and not. The most common threat you'll meet are these weird zombie people who are sentient but not quite. Later on there are more dangerous inhabitants.

IMO, PC deaths make things a lot more interesting. If you're interested in dying for dramatic effect instead of just living forever, it'd be great if you spoke up. You could always make a new character.

This is based off of an indie game called Exanima, check it out.

Anyone interested? You'll have to scavenge materials to survive.

Late joiners/new characters can be Proctors (local law enforcement) who stumble upon the dungeon, or people who have been in the dungeon for a long time.

EDIT: I want to collab with everyone in live updating posting platforms. everyone is going to be informed about what's happening, the mysteries will be mostly for the player character. I don't want to spring anything on you without knowing about it. You will know everything you need to know about an enemy if they approach you. we can collab about it in google docs or something about how the fight would go. Group fights will be awesome.

Modern Military Epic

I'd join this.

especially if there are some vaguely mysterious elements. i love that shit

It's a Lonely World - Open for Apps

@SgtEasy@Remipa Awesome

should we get working on our next post?

The Thieves' Guild

Sylvias

Character name: Sylvias of Hra

Age: 36

Sex:Female

Physical description:
Her skin is the color of sun-beaten sand, her deep-set eyes are dark brown and her bun-tied hair is the color of shadows. A wide nose and mouth are below her dark eyes, with a strong chin. She's of athletic build- muscular, but only so much as to not burden her speed or agility. Beneath her clothes her toned middle, arms, are dotted and scratched with scars of nearly-lost sword fights. Her most faded scars- and yet, the most obvious, are the ones on her back. They criss-cross back and forth and narrow lines- a tale-tail sign of a long ago flogging. The upper half of her face is covered in a unique red tattoo- a reminder of past mistakes as if her healed wounds weren't enough.

Face Claim

I just finished her bit of the campaign in Battlefield 1, and I figured she fit the bill for the character I had in mind.

Background: Born to a widowed mother in the capital city of the Hra Federation, Hra itself, Sylvias was quickly orphaned and like many thieves spent her early childhood stealing to survive. Loose coins and fresh fruit from market stalls, the dry sun of the Hra Desert staring on her actions disapprovingly. She was an amateur, and looking back on her "heists" as a youth makes Sylvias embarrassed for her past self. Oh, what a fool she was! Luck was on her side. When she was but fifteen she fell into a street-gang of pick-pockets and shop lifters. They prowled the yellow streets and literally lifted merchant tents to grab whatever loot they could find within arms reach. Eventually the merchants caught on and they had to become more daring and daring to get ends meet.

At 18 she was caught by the Hranan authorities for a minor crime- she had gotten too reckless when steeling from a stone-walled merchants house and he drew faster on her. They had no bounty on her, so they went light on punishment. Instead of maiming, they instead publicly flogged her and tattooed her face with the Rectification Mark- a unique pattern of red upon her skin so every person will know for the rest of her life that she was a thief who had paid her penance. It would limit her severely for crime, anyone who saw her would be instantly suspicious. No longer would she be able to work small jobs and steal- she'd be under surveillance constantly in The Federation of Hra. But she didn't give up; Instead, she took the dive and went full thief. Stealing from people's homes, fighting, and perhaps if it was necessary, even murdering to get her money. She would never be captured again- she'd die before she lost a hand. Under darkness of night she began her long career as a robber. She began her own street gang and organized them. The group didn't have a name; they were just people who followed Slyvias' guidance.

She was not a murderer until she turned 24. That was day she would not forget. A hired guard came across her and two others stealing valuable heirlooms from a noblewoman's estate. She drew her sabre in hand she, for the first time in her life, engaged in a life and death duel. His spear was deadly- a stab scar next to her navel is the reminder of his thrust that penetrated her defense. But he over extended and not even meaning too ended his life with a swift cut to the neck. They fled the scene with the treasure and disappeared into the night- her red shirt barely obscuring her crimson blood.

She had come to learn the first kill was the easiest. Three men and one woman had since met their ends on her blades yet, and the least she could do was remember them. Whether in a memory, or in an unfortunate wound. Sometimes both. Every cut was a reminder of her mortality- and she kept that in mind. If you lost track of your mortality, you thought you were invincible. Many of her protege's had ignorantly assumed they could not die- and did just that.

Much to her chagrin, she had begun accumulating notoriety. Hranan authorities were searching for her party. Someone slipped somewhere, and they found their hideout. Two more sword wounds and two more kills later, she barely managed to escape. She did not know the fate of the rest of her group- she saw many of them fall in the skirmish, and one dive out the window onto an opposite roof. So she fled north where her strange markings would not be recognized, where Sylvias of Hra begin again with the thief's greatest gift- anonymity. A year on the road- stopping her journey and starting it again, finding her way eventually to Sarkel.

Word spreads fast in the underworld, and a shadowy messenger from the Thieves' Guild offered her a job. How couldn't she accept?

Possessions: A curved dagger and sabre.

Current wealth: 51 Ducals. She was just getting started.

@Stekkmen

It's a Lonely World - Open for Apps

@Remipa Awesome

*drums fingers*

The Thieves' Guild

@DungeonMaster

Yeah, she'll keep it a secret. She doesn't want to kill anybody, most of her killings did happen on botched jobs. good to know the mentors aren't partial to never-caughts, as well.

she was probably expecting no one would notice her tattoo, not even the mentors because she doesn't know how big the Thieves Guild is. (used to be?)