The name Aria of Ruin totally sounds like a Castlevania title, but, I assure you, it is not...The Rødlev Dynasty. After centuries of bloody conquest, the empire has claimed the entire continent and brought together the largest sovereignty in known history. For the past 50 years, peace and prosperity have enveloped the land.
You are a member of the Rødlev military operative branch, a force tasked with using your talents and skills to solve problems across the vast reaches of the empire. Years of training and several well-performed missions have solidified your position within the branch as a valuable operative.
Your duties take you to the far north-eastern reaches of the continent, to the town of Korsgrad, where rumors say a mysterious giant stone obelisk emerged from the ground one day. Rumors of this obelisk have reached the ears of the palace and caused them to assemble your group to investigate.
AoR will follow a chapter-based structure, like Deliverance back in the day.
The setting is pretty much standard dark fantasy. Story is still WIP for the most part but I have my outlines and the prologue more or less ready. Of course, nothing is set in stone as this is an RP and chapters may change and expand according to your character's actions in the game.
I intend to make my own character as well, but the type of character I make will depend on the rest of the party, so it will be the last one to join.
Also, keep in mind that there are perma-death rules in effect and all PCs (and NPCs) are at risk of dying in combat.
Rules:
Roleplaying
Spoiler:
2. The story expects Human characters. While this is a D&D-like fantasy setting, there are no Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, etc. If you wish to play anything other than a human character, you need to make a convincing case. You are free to choose or make up any class concept you like, however, the story assumes that your characters already know each other and are members of the same organisation, so keep that in mind.
3. Please try to contribute to the story when playing; this is an RPG, after all. Make your character act logically. Strive to make it interesting. A good character has their own personality, their own reasons to fight and their own story. You don't need to type up a whole novel each time you post, especially in battles, but try to make your character interesting so that both you and the other players will be able to love your character (or at least love to hate it).
4. Describe your character's actions in third person, for writing consistency. Write anything your character actually says in "". I also recommend to give your character a personal talking color.
5. Since you will be having quite some code in each of your posts, I recommend copying that code by clicking "quote" at your last own post. Just remember to update any changed values and remove the quote-tags afterwards.
6. If you want to say anything out of character in the game thread, use olive as a color please. If all you want to do is to say something out of character and isn't related to what is currently going on, please do it in the OOC thread, not in a game thread.
7. Whenever I post I'll add a status table that indicates the most important stats of your characters, like formation, or the current HP of each character and enemy (if there are any). The current location is also shown.
8. When you're done talking and want me to move the game forward, make sure to post a clear action on what you're doing next (having your character say that he thinks about doing XYZ and having him actually do XYZ are two completely different things), or else it's possible that I don't recognize it as an actual action and nothing happens.
Spoiler:
HP (Health Points) represent your character's health.
EXP (experience Points) are gained for pretty much everything you do, such as helping other people, disarming a trap, picking a lock, defeating a monster, etc.
Stress is a measure of how taxed your character's psyche is. Stress accumulates during combat and in tense situations, and must be managed carefully to avoid your characters succumbing to its effects. Stress can be reduced by resting, performing calming activities, reaching catharsis in some manner (i.e winning fights, scoring critical hits, role-play), etc.
Stress starts off at 0 and may rise to up to 100. If stress reaches 100, various psychological effects may afflict the character, depending on the situation and the person in question. Some of these effects will be afflictions (negative effects) and some will be virtues (temporary positive effects).
A character suffering from a stress affliction will continue to have their stress increase beyond the 100 point mark. If it ever reaches 200 points, the character will suffer a heart attack and their HP will instantly drop to 0, resetting their stress to 100.
A character with a stress virtue effect will not continue to accumulate stress past the 100 pt mark.
AP (Ability Points) are acquired every level, and are used to learn new skills and abilities that your character can use.
10. Advancing to the next character level always takes 100 EXP. After a level up your EXP are reset to 0, though any leftover EXP will be kept (e. g. reaching 108 EXP would leave you with 8 EXP after the level up). Gaining a level will grant you 50 additional AP and allow you to distribute 2 points on your main attributes (see below).
11. Players may define the abilities and skills that they learn themselves, but I decide how much AP they actually cost to learn. Remember, you can learn almost any kind of ability you like, allowing you develop your character exactly as you like as long as you have enough AP.
There may be some limitations on the maximun amount of AP that skills can have invested in them, but these limitations can be lifted as you play.
12. Each (player) character is defined first by varying scores in the following seven main attributes:
STR represents raw physical strength, skill-at-arms, and weapons training. Every positive point increases your HIT by 1, whilst every second point increases your max HP by 1 and the damage of your weapon attacks by 1.
Negative points do not give a damage penalty, but each negative point still gives a -1 HIT penalty. Every second negative point reduces max HP by 1.
DEX represents dexterity, timing and preciseness. In combat, every positive point increases HIT by 1 and every other point increases AC and MR by 1.
AGI represent agility, speed and reflexes. Every positive point of increases your AC and combat Initiative by 1.
Every other point increases MR by 1.
Agility checks are commonly used to dodge spells and most forms of area attacks and effects.
VIT represents vitality, hardiness, constitution, and resistance to pain and illnesses. Every point adds 2 to your max HP.
VIT affects your ability to resist tackles, poisons, diseases, and harsh physical conditions in general.
Negative Fortitude reduces your HP by 1 per point.
INT represents intellect, learning, mental capacity, reasoning and deduction skills. You can memorize a number of spells equal to your Intellect, and cast as many spells every encounter.
Every second point of INT increases you combat Initiative by 1.
WIL represents Willpower, conviction, faith, and sheer inner force. Willpower contributes to the raw destructiveness and potency of your spells, and helps you resist Stress, mental effects and spells of a mind-affecting nature, and makes you better at inflicting them on others. WIL doesn't affect spell damage directly, but rather, all spell damage is derived from your WIL stat directly (with the specifics being written in the spell's description on a case-by-case basis).
PER represents Perception, or how honed your senses are, how likely you are to notice small details that others may miss, how aware of the situation are you, and how likely you are to detect hidden enemies, traps, secrets, and so forth.
Every point of PER increases your combat initiative and MR by 1.
From your basic attributes, secondary statistics are derived:
+DMG is your damage bonus from STR.
HIT is your hit bonus, added to attacking rolls in combat.
AC is the armor class representing your character's ability to dodge, block or nullify attacks. This is added to your armor's AC in combat (unless your character is unable to dodge for some reason).
MR is your Maneuver rating. This is a bonus added to your maneuver checks. Maneuvers are discussed below.
INIT, or Combat initiative, dictates turn order in battle. Higher initiative means your character acts sooner.
Spellpoints: One point is consumed every time you cast a spell. Your maximum number of Spellpoints is equal to your INT score. Resting recovers your Spellpoints.
13. Distribute your starting stats wisely. Every new character starts out at level 0, with 15 max HP (before STR/VIT), and 300 AP to define your abilities.
Your starting attributes (STR,DEX etc.) are yours do define according to what best suits your character, and range from -5 to +5. The total sum of your starting attributes all added together must not exceed +5.
You will gain 50 AP, 1 max HP and 1 attribute point every time you level up.
14. Abilities are bought with AP. They are the equivalent of D&D feats, and Abilities and skills in our older system.
They fall into four categories:
A. Passive abilities are abilities whose effect is permanent from the moment they are acquired.
Examples:
[quote]
Weapon Mastery: +1 HIT and DMG when wielding my weapon of choice in combat (one handed sword, polearm, bow, etc).
Stealthy: +2 on stealth checks.
Combat Premonition: I can see small details from the very near future. If I am hit by a sneak attack or an ambush maneuver, I get a second chance to reroll my check.[/quote]
B. Active abilities are abilities that must be activated. They can be fancy attack maneuvers, unique actions, reaction abilities, etc. Active abilities have a limit of how many times they can be used per encounter. More uses means a steeper AP cost.
Examples:
[quote]Rain of Steel [1/1]: Allows me to simultaneously throw as many ranged thrown weapons as my DEX modifier, in a single action.
Leap Attack [1/1]: Allows me to attack a target even if their formation or some sort of effect does not normally permit me to do so (for example if another enemy is guarding them with their shield or body and such).
Defensive Roll [1/1]: Once per encounter, when a hit would normally take me below 0 HP, I reduce the damage in half, remaining with no less than 1 HP.[/quote]
C. Sustained abilities are modes that can be turned on and off and offer some kind of bonus in exchange for a malus. You can only turn sustained abilities on/off at the beginning of your own turn, but they are otherwise unlimited.
Examples:
[quote]Combat Expertise: Converts my +DMG bonus from STR into bonus +AC.
Quickened Spell: Casting a spell is considered a minor action in this mode, but my hastened movements and the tremendous concentration they require make me an easier target, reducing my HIT and AC by 2 each.
Daggerdance: Whenever I successfully dodge a melee attack, my AC is increased by 1 for the remainder of this encounter. This bonus is cumulative.
Being hit in melee resets the bonus, causes me to take extra damage equal to the stacked AC bonus, and ends this sustained ability prematurely. Ending this ability manually carries no negative effect.[/quote]
D. Camping abilities may be used whenever your character rests. They do not have a defined number of uses but will only trigger if a reasonable time has passed since they were last used. You must state that your character has used a Camping ability during camp if you wish to activate it.
Examples:
[quote]Encourage: Reduce the stress of one companion by 15.
Psych Up: +10 stress on self, increase damage by 20% for the next fight.
Marching Plan: All allies gain +4 combat initiative for the next 3 fights.
Sharpen Weapon: Increases MR by 5 for the next fight..
Check out this list if you want ideas: http://darkestdungeon.gamepedia.com/Camping_Skills
[/quote]
! Please note that there are some ability restrictions in place to maintain balance. You may not have abilities that behave in the following ways:
A. You cannot pick passive abilities that permanently increase any of the main attributes. (Sustained abilities, or active abilities with a limited duration are fine, but I would prefer if you affected the secondary attributes with those, instead).
B. You cannot pick passive abilities that can result in some form of permanent empowering to your character.
(For example: +1 max HP after killing an enemy.)
C. A single ability cannot have more than 250 AP invested into it. (This max value will change during gameplay)
15. Spellcasting: In order to cast spells, your character needs to learn them, adding them to their spellbook. You can learn spells from scrolls and books you come across in your adventures, and NPCs can teach you spells as well.
The number of spells you can memorize is equal to your Intellect modifier, which is also the number of spells you may cast per-encounter. You can learn abilities to increase the number of spells you can memorize or cast above what your intellect allows, if you wish.
Once your spellbook is full, you will have to forget an existing spell if you'd like to learn a new one.
Unlike in our old PnPs, you cannot define your own spells (balance ahoy), but when you start the game, you can ask for spells of your liking (e.g "I want a spell that shoots fireballs"), and I will assign you the appropriate spells.
This effectively makes spell-casting accessible to anyone with a positive intellect score. A warrior can dabble and learn one or two spells to help turn the tide of battle.
You can affect your spells with abilities, for example:
[quote]Cold Ember (Sustained ability): All fire spells that I cast in this mode deal cold damage instead.
Augment Healing (Passive): Healing spells cast by me are 20% more effective.
Extend Spell [1/1]: Doubles the duration of a duration spell that I cast.[/quote]
Spoiler:
17. If a character's HP drop to 0, your character is in a fatal condition and may be susceptible to a Killing Blow. Your HP can drop into the negative as you sustain damage, causing all sorts of ill effects. Also, the further HP drops below 0, the more likely that your character will suffer a Killing Blow the next time they are struck.
A Killing Blow, is, as the name suggests, a blow that kills your character.
You may create a new character if your old one has perished.
18. In combat, you may do one attack (major action) and one minor action or just two minor actions per turn. Anything that is not just talking counts as a minor action (e.g. using an item from your inventory, changing your formation, etc.). After having done your actions, wait for my next post, unless all you want to do is to make your character say something.
19. You may perform maneuvers in combat. A maneuver is a standard attack targeting a particular spot or performed in a certain way (e.g a feint, a leg sweep, an attack on the head or an exposed spot in the target's armor).
The success of a maneuver is determined by a roll against your character's Maneuver Rating (MR), derived from their attributes. The DC value depends on the circumstance (how flashy/fancy/complex/difficult of an attack it is).
There is no penalty or risk for using maneuvers (aiming to encourage creative combat) - if a maneuver fails but the attack itself connects, your character will land a standard attack instead.
20. You can choose between two possible positions for battles - Front or Cover. The front can be attacked by anything, but can also attack with anything itself. Covered characters can only be hit by ranged attacks, certain skills/spells and attacks that hit multiple characters - however, this only applies if there is at least one character standing at the front. If no-one at the front is left, melee attacks will be able to hit covered characters as well, so beware. Also note that if you're attacked from behind, your front and cover will be reversed from the flanking enemy's point of view.
21. If it looks like you're about to lose a battle, you might want to try to escape instead of waiting until you're defeated. Usually, if you try to escape and there aren't any obstacles in your way, you will succeed. However, if you escape, any party members not capable of moving (e. g. because of being unconscious) will be left behind (carrying them would slow you down too much). Usually, this means that they'll be captured or killed, depending on the situation.
22. Be creative. There are many ways to defeat your enemies, and not all of them necessarily involve defeating them yourself or even reducing their HP to 0 at all.
23. In a battle, whenever a turn passes in which a player hasn't posted (and the other players haven't chosen what that character should do either), his character will simply attack the first enemy on the list with a simple normal attack if he can hit an enemy from where he's standing.
If you don't want that to happen, simply add a "Script" tag in your character's profile (in the spoiler) that tells me what your character should do in which situation. This can be as detailed as you want; if you want, you can even make a whole universal strategy to be used when you're absent, and I will make your character act accordingly to it (unless something happens which isn't covered in your script, in which case your character will resort to doing either normal attacks or nothing).
24. If you don't want to wait for the other players to post in a battle (for example if it just drags on and seemingly takes forever), you can just post a bolded End Turn in the game thread. You can then also give orders to the characters that haven't posted yet, if you want to, kind of like in an actual RPG game. Any characters that do not receive orders and have not posted yet at that point will resort to their script. If you ever actually want a character to do nothing, state so.
25. I may automatically end the current turn in a battle if some players haven't posted their actions after around 24 hours.
26. If your surroundings are safe, you may attempt to rest at any time (as long as you have a reasonable place to do it in), allowing your party to tend to their wounds, and regain spellpoints and active abilities.
Keep in mind that if you rest without provisions of some kinds, you may not recover as much HP/stress (you may even suffer HP and stress damage, depending on the circumstance).
Starting Hit Points: 15 + 2VIT + STR/2
(negative VIT reduces HP by VIT instead of increasing it)
+HP per level: 1
+DMG: STR/2
Hit: STR+DEX
AC: AGI + DEX/2
MR: PER + AGI/2 + DEX/2 + INT/2
INIT: PER + AGI + INT/2
Spell Points: INT
Example character sheet:
Example Man, Lv1 [00] Demonstrator [Front]
20/20 HP // 34/100 [++++++++++]
Spellpoints: ++
+1 DMG | +2 HIT | +2 AC | +2 MR | +3 INIT
Weapon: Example Sword [1-8 Dmg]
Armor: Example Armor [1 AC]
Spoiler:
- Item (Effect)
- Item (Effect)
- Item (Effect)
Spellbook...[ 02/02 ]
- Lukewarm Hands: Can be either pleasant or awkward, depending on the context....
- Jeff's Impenetrable Deception: They'll never figure it out.
Active Abilities[list]Example [3/3]: Provides an example of an active ability your character can learn.[/list]
Sustained Abilities[list]Example: Sometimes provides an example of a sustained ability your character can learn.[/list]
Passive Abilities[list]Example: Always provides an example of a passive ability your character can learn.[/list]
Camp Abilities[list]Example: Provide an example of a camping ability your character can learn when you rest.[/list]
Attributes:
STR: +2
DEX: 0
AGI: +2
VIT: +2
INT: +2
WIL: -3
PER: 0
Ability Points: 300
Scripts:
- nil.
Description: Describe your characters appearance and background here.