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| Refuge: Breaking our chains; An RP of adventure, exploration, magic and machines | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: October 19, 2013, 3:39 pm (249 Views) | |
| NTNP | October 19, 2013, 3:39 pm Post #1 |
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Admin
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Refuge: Breaking our chains “We all seek refuge, a place where we feel safe. It is the most basic need in the world, to live comfortably and without fear. Once, a long time ago, we felt that way here in our home country. From the mountaintops in Carn Edge, with their spiraling cityscapes that lead far up into the clouds, we once felt like we could be safe in our ancestral homeland. In the modern metropolis of Edinbrough, where the light of the magitech towers never goes out and great trains travel back and forth through massive portals in the city. The capitol city, the beacon of our society and the home of the Guardians felt like the safest place in all the Dominion. Even the rocky crags of the Huddersfield and the swampy lowlands of Luton, where most of our food is grown, so far removed from the glistening lights of the big city seemed like home. We always knew our place, we always knew that we were safe. In every town, the Guardians, our protectors were there and even under the cold gaze the governments All Seeing Eye, we felt like nothing would ever hurt us as long as we stayed within the rules of our society. The Guardians are the defending hand of the Dominion, our home nation. They consist mostly of automated automations known as Droids by most people in the Dominion of the Highlands. These modern marvels are a mixture of the finest technology that mankind has to offer and the magic that our people have been blessed with since time before our records began. Usually standing around 6 to 9 feet tall and are made entirely out of metal. Armed with high powered cannons, defensive shielding capabilities and highly resistant body armor these protectors are immune to almost all forms of damage and act as the mobile arms of the Dominion. They seek to protect the citizens from harm, act as firemen and emergency services for the people and when required can function as policemen under direction from on high in the grand transmitting towers of Carn’s Edge. The Dominon’s famed Zinny, a large crystal made from purified and condensed magical energy, powers these machines. Of course, this is only ONE of the technological advancements of our people. Elevators, cares, trains and even airships exist in the Dominion, are powered by machines that are commanded using the magic that we all wield. In even city, every village, every town all citizens of the Dominion are taught about both technology and magic in public education. From the equivalent of our elementary school, we were taught that technology and magic would be our salvation. Anymore our people are as well versed in the eight schools of magic; Abjuration, the school of protective wards and empowerment. Conjuration, the act of summoning forth objects, creatures and even ourselves across great distances. Divination, a communication and identification school which allows for untapped knowledge to be obtained. Enchantment that gives the user some power or control over lesser beings or even another person if the caster is strong enough. Illusion, a grandiose power that allows the user to alter the perceptions of others. Transmutation, a school that lets the recipient change the properties of an object, creature or a person in diverse or subtle ways. Entropy, which manipulates, damages or inflicts harm to a target and lastly Restoration that improves, repairs and restores a target. Everyone uses all eight of these schools daily lives. From the lowliest farm hand that imbues himself with the strength of a bear through abjuration to the ambitious merchant that listens in on the thoughts of his customers via divination, the doctor who wields life restoring restoration spells and even the powerful soldier in the Rangers who uses entropy spells against the enemies of the Dominion. For us, we don’t think magic as something otherworldly or mystical anymore than we consider the power to tap on the button at the elevator to summon it. Just for us, we use our own innate magics to trigger the devices in the machine in order to pull up the elevator using a mixture of conjuration and transmutation. This is how we live, how we have survived even though nearly 100 years ago we had all but died out because of a massive plague. Even though we had once covered the entire world, every inch of it, our great empire had to be abandoned in order for us to survive. We fled to our ancestral homeland in the mountains and put a giant wall around the land empowered by both technology and magic forming a huge dome around the Dominion. Nothing could enter inside of the dome without being destroyed or forced back because of the powerful abjuration magics maintained by our Guardians and Rangers. It was a horrible loss, bringing about the death of untold millions but we couldn’t do anything else if we were to survive. Even today, there are perhaps only 100,000 humes left in the world and all of them live within the great dome. This plague, our damnation, was the result of those cursed savages, those monsters that exist in the Unseen Territories. Existing on the islands around our continent like parasites, they used to attack our ships and steal our goods. Living in small caves, the destroyed ruins of our towns and underneath the waves like the monsters they are, they would appear out of the darkness and then disappear into the night like cowards. When they came, the people that lived outside of the Dominion’s control were taken for slaves. They burnt down our cities, taking everything and leaving only an ashed ruin in their stead. Some even ate our people, like cattle. They were disgusting and were on the verge of destruction before someone, maybe those reptilian fiends, the green skinned savages, the sharp fanged magical monsters or even the body shifting braves created the plague. Whomever did it, it was in the air, in the water… nothing was safe so we had to abandon everything and flee. A few survived from the outer territories 100 years ago, but most of our people were here in the homeland when the threat emerged and we had to choose to lock the doors before the entire kingdom was destroyed. So we have lived, in relative peace and prosperity in exchange for obedience to the Dominion’s rules. Our entire lives, we have heard about how dangerous it is outside of the walls. We know that the savages are out there, as is the plague. Our entire world has consisted of developing a force within the Dominion capable of protecting what remains of humanity. The Guardians exist to secure and protect the citizens. There are a few humes among the organization that interact with the population or possess special skills after years of training allowing them to function in their intended roles. The military arm is represented by the Rangers, who up to this point have spent every waking moment developing their technological and military prowess in order to take back the land from the savages by force once a treatment for the plague is finalized. But in order to do that, we must ensure that humanity’s interests are protected. Everyone must do their best for the Dominion, they must accept the rules that the on high pass down to us. All of this is for our protection, but occasionally people DO end up making horrible decisions and because of that must be dealt with accordingly. Anyone who is arrested is placed under martial law under the supervision of the Guardians and put to work creating the technological innovations that keep the Dominion strong. All prisoners are treated well and are re-educated in hopes of becoming more acceptable members of society during their stay, through the use of illusion, divination and enchantment magic in hopes of these misguided fools into becoming positive members of society once again. This is all for our benefit, for humanity’s future.” In this RP, we will be members of the Dominion. As humans, specially blessed with technological superiority and magical power, we live within a great domed country under the mildly oppressive hands of the metal machines known as Guardians and the militaristic counterparts the Rangers. Living in a society similar to our own, we have always had relatively peaceful and prosperous days under the command of the Dominion. While there is a small amount of freedom in our land, most actions must be cleared by the central government. All attempts to leave any district of the Dominion must be authorized. Any changes in residence must be cleared through the government. All job changes, both positive and negative, must be authorized through the central government. On birth, all children must be checked and given identification in order to be involved with anything involving regular life. They take the form of small tattoos on our arms, that also act as tools for divination if you should ever become lost so the Guardians can find you. If you see a theme here, then you know how this works. While we are given the option of HOW to live, we must always be authorized to do so and at any point the central government, who rules indirectly through automatons can take away everything or change everything in your life in order to facilitate their needs. Our story begins when, for whatever reason, you end up crossing the line from “authorized, contributing members” of the relatively oppressive society of our birth and become criminals for breaking the law. Anything from murder or theft, to rallying against the government, attempting to “take personal justice” when the powers that be have decided against it, attempting to tinker with the programs that command the automatons or any other action that destabilizes the strength, prosperity and growth of the Dominion is enough. Regardless of the when and how, you will be arrested and placed into a “rehabilitation and treatment facility” where you will be cleansed of your impure thoughts and granted the “pleasure” of working toward the betterment of our society by working on the newest technological innovation known as the airship, a military weapon that allows for quick travel for a military force using the power of maintained flight. We are destined to become “purged”, to become mindraped by the government and essentially reduced to tranquil, calm, never arguing or disagreeing shells of our former selves if we can’t do something to alter our fates. Will you break your chains? Will you find a way to escape? Where will you go? What will you do in order to escape your fate? This is the journey to find somewhere safe, to find Refuge the one place that the Dominion can never reach… beyond the walls. In this RP, our characters will start living out a (relatively) normal life within the Dominion until one day we end up being on the wrong side of the law, which leads to our arrest. We then have to find a way to escape our confinement before becoming “tranquil”, a polite term for mindraped in submission, during our incarceration. Using the newest miracle of science and magic, we will use the airships that are being constructed in our forced labor camp to eventually escape from the walls that we have always called home and into the Unseen Territories in order to finally find a new home in the outside world. We will be running this RP on the weekends and using the system outlined in this topic as previously discussed: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Espada_of_Alexandria/topic/5257929/1/#new |
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| NTNP | October 19, 2013, 8:46 pm Post #2 |
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Admin
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The following is still open to revision and change at any time. While I do not intend to include any type of stats, MP/HP/Stamina or the like there are still a few more things I might consider including. Additionally if you have any suggestions feel free to send them to me via PMs. Refuge Character Creation Sheet: Name: Individuals Name Gender: Male/Female Age: Please attempt to be reasonable here Level: 1 (unless specified) EXP: 0/100 (don’t worry, I give it out in mass at the end of sessions rather than individually and in between sessions more can be obtained) Appearance: There is no hammer space available in this RP, as such all items and equipment must be visibly seen on your character. Additionally keep in mind the climate of this RP along with the technological limitations to keep your character looking period. In general, we live in a relatively warm area surrounded by water so heavy armor is relatively rare baring powersuits used by the greatest of rangers. Most of the time people carry modernized clothes (as compared to the standard sword and board style of the middle ages) giving everyone around a 18th to 19th century feel rather than something out of the middle ages. However this is only true for Humes, as other races will wearing different things culturally. Below are a few examples of the "era" of clothes that Humes often wear: Spoiler: click to toggle Backstory: While a mysterious stranger roaming into town, a waif wandering aimlessly across the horizon looking for her place in the world, a stoic person who refuses to speak about her past or an unusually strong orphan trying to find his way are all very common character themes we have all seen before. While they can be written well, most are merely attempts to avoid creating a backstory. While I will not be requiring any backstory at all, do remember that all characters must possess their own “character arch” and “personal quest” in order to join the storyline, so thinking about who your character is and what you want to do with them is very important. Combat Style: Each character is assumed to have one pre-learned combat style and will develop various styles as the narrative progresses as ranks along with natural progression. All characters are naturally assumed to use a basic combat styles including basic melee attacks using things like the barbarian sword and shield, one handed daggers etc, basic magical attacks or non-heavy weapons (short bows, hand guns, rods etc) are assumed to have the ability to attack, defend, dodge or any combination thereof twice per post as required allowing for the ability to dodge and counterattack or take two shots at different enemies. These attacks are assumed to inflict medium damage per basic attack. Characters using a heavy combat style use heavy weapons (mauls, longbows etc), powerful magic or two-handed weapons (claymores, bastard swords, lances etc) are assumed to only be able to take a single action per turn but can crush any form of defensive blocking. These attacks are capable of inflicting damage to the target and along with an AoE arc and inflict high damage per hit. Characters using a quick combat style use light or dual wielded weapons (bare fists, daggers etc) or rapid ranged weapons (knives, blow darts etc) are assumed to be able to take four actions as described above. Additional combat styles can be obtained via training between sessions, often by working alongside members of the other non-Hume races since these three styles are common among our starting population. Magic Style: There are multiple ways to cast spells within this world. All Humes, from childhood to adulthood are trained in sporadic casting. This spell style involves quick invocations requiring little more than a thought to trigger and can literally create an effect out of thin air. Most Humes, beyond their specified spells can also use their latent magical energies to command devices and machines to do their bidding. Additional magic styles, born from interactions with the other races may lead to other types of spell styles being availed. Having access to a variety of spell styles will allow for not only a greater protection against enemy casters but also the ability to cast a wider variety of spells as well. Equipment: One very common aspect to our RP will be loot. After most sessions, loot will be collected and based on RNG, in game claiming or anything else, you will obtain loot. During our weekdays, a player may request EITHER a particular piece of equipment (like say a dagger, boots, amulet etc), the particular enchantment on any piece of equipment that you do receive (such as gaining an axe that creates an unnatural mist or a pair of shoes that lets the user summon a single tier 1 monster once per session) OR the choice of any defensive measure that you would like to find (protection against arrows, protection against fire, against divination spells etc). I will attempt to facilitate you obtaining these items during the session and you will be assumed to automatically “claim” that item. If you don’t choose something, then I will choose for you or at random. Any “loot” you find can be transformed into a Zinny (a power source) that can be placed into machines or used to create a more permanent version of a spell effect. There are, of course, multiple tiers of equipment and enchantments available. Primary Weapon Slot: A main weapon, often used in combat in one or two hands. Secondary Weapon Slot: A secondary weapon, often used off handed in dual weapon combat OR used when placed into a different situation such as attacking from afar using a ranged weapon. Supplemental Weapon Slot: Any additional weapon that the character carries on his or her person. Ammo Slot: Every non-renewable weapon requires a source of power. Each of these sources can offer different effects when used but only one can be used at a time. Head Slot: What covers your character’s noggin? Shoulder Slot: Any type of shoulder pads, cape, mantle etc would be included here. Neck Slot: Amulets, necklaces or anything else goes here. Body Slot: Whatever you wear on your torso is included in this section. Arms Slot: Arm guards, gauntlets etc would be considered for this position. Wrists Slot: Gloves, wrists, bangles or even a talisman might fit here. Belt Slot: Everyone has something that holds their pants up, some are just better than others. Pants Slot: See what you are wearing below your belt, it goes here. Legs Slot: Greeves, socks, wraps etc might all fit here. Feet Slot: Shoes are more useful than one would think. Inventory: Constants: Used with or as abilities such as possessing a renewable healing potion usable in each session or an explosive device that can inflict significant damage. In order to possess a constant item, you must dedicate 1 ability slot to its use. The rank can be determined later, but in general the more powerful the constant item the more slots that it will require. Consumables: Used in events or as a single use item, these are awarded by the plot and usually have a considerable power within them. Use them with care. Miscellaneous: Items that exist as required by the narrative. Any item such as food, water, rope, yarn etc.. Please keep in mind that the location of these items must be noted in appearance. General information about abilities, passives and spells: All Humes are naturally capable of casting magic, commanding technology and using martial skills with proficiency. While some are better or worse than others, it is all in our bloodlines- we can do all of these things if we try. All characters may begin the story with 4 “slots” available at level 1 and will gain additional slots with each level along with being awarded more for events within the plot. These slots can be used to possess “constant” items in a character’s inventory, powerful physical abilities, persistive passives and resources or powerful spells. Abilities: An ability is a special capability that has some physical (or item) based characteristic that creates a special effect of some kind. Most abilities rely on some sort of martial prowess or technology in order to accomplish. There are 8 tiers of abilities. At the beginning of the RP, we can only have rank 1 abilities. 1. Name: Rank: Type: Physical (including item based) or Special (physical+magical): Definition Passives: A resource or passive is a supportive ability, which allows for superiority in some way compared to others. Most types of passives are either sustainable, which require concentration OR are maintainable, which can be turned on and off at will, resulting in gaining additional strength in or out of combat. There are 8 tiers of passives. At the beginning of the RP, we can only have rank 1 passives. 1. Name: Rank: Passive/Command: Definition Spells: A spell can alter the very physics of the world and creates energy where none existed previously. There are eight schools of magic in this setting (abjuration, conjuration, divination, enchantment, illusion, transmutation, entropy, restoration) and some spells require certain styles of magic in order to cast. At the beginning of the RP, all Humes are assumed to know sporadic casting which allows them to instantly reproduce any spell that they know. There are 8 tiers of spells. They are roughly comparable to those of DnD's magic lists. At the beginning of the RP, we can only have rank 1 spells. 1. Name: Rank: School of Magic: Definition Spoiler: click to toggle
Edited by NTNP, October 19, 2013, 9:08 pm.
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| Keith | October 19, 2013, 10:03 pm Post #3 |
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Mage
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are there beast/monster races like kobolds and such and are the playable this is an important question |
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| NTNP | October 20, 2013, 6:28 am Post #4 |
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Admin
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There will be other races present in the world, although they are still subject to change because I am still imagining a lot of things and trying to decide if it is going to be doable still. They include: A reptilian race that have large shells on their backs and snake like tails. Most members of this species are about ten to twelve feet long and while they are more than capable of standing upright, they often travel by shifting back and forth. They are natural born seafarers and represent most of the "traders" out in the world beyond the Hume's home continent. To visualize, imagine if you combined a Koopa Troopa from Super Mario Brothers with a Naga from Indian lore and made them the half aquatic and you'd have a good idea of where this process started. The second common race is goblinoid and halfling inspired. They are relatively short, standing around 3'8 to 5'1 at tallest. With green skin, sharpened canines and a nack for stealth. While generally benign, they have some relatively savage and warrior-like beliefs which given their size makes them somewhat dubious. They live in isolated tribes, usually electing to stay on their home islands and stay away from other races with a few members of each tribe training as warriors, in spite of their size. Out of all the races, they have the greatest nack for technology, although they do it by trying to restore lost technology rather than creating their own. In some supposed civilized countries, they are often found as slaves. The third race I have settled on is orc/were-humanoid inspired. Living far away in another one of the continents, there is a race that has existed in almost complete isolation. The rule of this race is rather simple; "no one in, no one out." Anyone who isn't of their race that arrives on their continent is instantly taken for an enemy, any member of their race that leaves is considered a traitor and if seen again will be put to death. As such, most of the time when we find members of this race out in the world they are just trying to survive and as such take jobs that benefit a humanoid-beast that stands somewhere between 9 to 12 feet tall. While I am not sure about the implementation, I also plan to have an "elven x fairy" like race along with something mermaid like, although both of these are still too early in the planning and changing phase to really consider usable at this moment. I know some of the things I want from them, but not enough to really nail it down yet. All of these races are playable, however if you intend to start with the majority of the cast (getting arrested, leaving the prison, stealing the ship, escaping into the new world) then you must start as a Hume. We will be visiting all of these races and more throughout the journey but if you want to be something other than Hume, we would need to talk about it. |
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| Keith | October 20, 2013, 11:24 am Post #5 |
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Mage
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what about kobolds |
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| NTNP | October 20, 2013, 12:09 pm Post #6 |
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Admin
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Nope, I'm generally staying away from pre-created races as much as I can because I want to play around with a few ideas. While there will certainly be aspects of many races built into the new ones I am creating (like say the kobolds might be represented somewhat by the goblinoid race and the were-beast race in certain ways) they won't be present directly. Like take the fey x elven race for example. I'm considering taking the whole snide superiority thing associated with both, the idea of extremely long lifespans (elf), a trickster mentality (fey), relatively small size (kinda the inbetween of the two) with command over magic being greater than most races (both). Their society will be less imperial (a la the elves) but more indirect kingship with individual families having greater control with a figurehead leader that basically just tries to keep balance between them. I'm also running with the idea of adding some vampiric tendencies, although not direct blood drinking... maybe they enjoy eating the flesh of other humanoid races- in particular the goblinoid races? I've been liking the idea of them being a slave holding race but the idea that they are used as both beasts of burden and as food just seems too fun to pass up. So while I am still playing around with it, our version of the 'elves' is less tolkien and more a hodgepodge of different aspects, mixed together with some sprinkles of strangeness (like the vampiric flesh eating as a hobby of the upper class) and maybe a few unique characters that highly the stereotypes associated with that race and inversions of them. |
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| Keith | October 20, 2013, 5:19 pm Post #7 |
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Mage
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dropped |
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