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Ryu Viranesh -> RE: What kind of Rp's do you want to see? (9/17/2013 17:04:52)
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A little while ago, I mentioned that I was working on a few ideas for RPs that could be run here (and perhaps bring some more life back to these boards). Well, I’ve managed to develop a couple of those far enough that they’re at a point where I’m willing to present them and gauge interest, since I feel that they’re capable of speaking for themselves. If I get enough interest for either of these, then I’m likely to run one of them and save the other for a later date. So without further ado, here’s a look into what I’ve been ruminating on for the past couple of weeks..
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Felicity -A Tale of Thieves- (AQ)
Nam-Exetus, 407
The peasant rebellion that had been plaguing the great nation of Battleonia was at last put to rest; the armies of the venerable Lord Ritik cornered the bulk of the dissenters at the Gillentran Gorge, driving those whom refused to surrender into the River Daria. This tragedy, which became more widely known as “Ritik’s Retribution”, ushered in a period of uneasy peace that dominated for many years. The farmers, thoroughly cowed, returned to their homes and sought to salvage that which remained of their shattered lives.
The damage caused to the land by the revolt had been severe, with much of the year’s harvest trampled underfoot by careless abandon. The worst though, was reserved for those towns who had seen fit to deny the imperial soldiers provisions. They were ravaged, pillaged, and burnt to the ground, naught but ash left behind. The following food shortage was doubly devastating for the lower class, since both their lives and their livelihood were on the line.
As late summer turned to fall and winter started to bear down on Battleonia, many were forced to abandon the only homes that they’d ever known and make their way to the cities. To the towers of those whom they hated and despised, but whom they would bite their lips and beg employment from. Humiliating and demoralizing though it might be, and for all the strength of their hate, they knew that it was better than the alternative. Since one could only “hate” if they kept on living.
--Sage Martin, “Battleonia: The Dark Years”
14 Nam, 417
This accursed outrage shall not stand - I care not the price, I shall have their heads! Today I was forced to suffer yet more embarrassment as another of my storefronts was burglarized; the third in the past fortnight. My losses have started to pile up, and yet I’m still no closer to catching these caitiffs than I was two weeks prior. Worse, I’ve been forced to reimburse several clients for items that they’ve already paid for. I can just hear the laughter rolling down from the guildhall at this very moment.
Even if I know not where these thieves are, I certainly know who they are, for it could be no one else. Why did we see it in ourselves to take pity on those miscreants and let them into our cities, and after all of the damage that they’d caused? I saw the High Priest’s words for the cloying platitudes that they were, but he had the others wrapped right around his finger. Our kindness would “indebt” them to us? Pah, we should have let the scoundrels starve.
It certainly would have saved us more than a modicum of annoyance now. Now we have to rely on the incompetence of the city guard to bring them in, and we’ve seen how well that goes. Years and years of robberies, and only a couple of the thieves caught each year, and none of them will talk, even on threat of death. Not anymore - I care not for the edicts; if the law won’t properly protect me, then I’ll be forced to take matters into my hands. I won’t be the victim of such a farce any longer!
--From the Journal of Lord Farith
So, if the two above excerpts (and the title) have given you any idea, Felicity is a Role Play about thievery. Thievery and so very much more. I’ve set this RP far in the past of the current AQ timeline, in a sort of Victorian era where Battleonia was a more notably established kingdom (this is obviously my own creation, and is not official in any way). The historical pieces above are meant to explore the background of the situation (Nam and Exetus are month names that I’ve devised; Nam is late summer/early fall, while Exetus is late fall/early winter - the RP will be starting late in the month of Nam in the year of 417) into which you’d be entering as characters, and to give you an idea of just how great the animosity between certain members of the aristocracy and the more common classes are.
The RP itself will be taking place in the capital of Battleonia, a city by the name of Alavey, wherein you’d have a chance to play one of a large group of thieves that operates within the city’s walls. Just as Lord Farith suggests, the genesis of the group is related to the frustrations and desperation of a group of peasants who were forced to travel to the Alavey following the destruction caused by the revolt and its subsequent quelling. Though it started as a small group of pickpockets and robbers, it’s grown into a more far-reaching organization that deals in anything from forgery and embezzlement, to burglary and blatant blackmail. Assassination however, is strictly forbidden by the group’s code, and you’ll be excommunicated or worse should you violate this rule.
While I do hesitate to call the grouping a guild, it does have a fairly well-defined, if fluid structure. There are two general levels that are akin to a law office’s “associate” for the younger, newer members, and “partner” for those who have been members for several years and been part of and run a few successful operations. Beyond these, there are several specific positions that one can be tapped for, but they’re rare, and most are unknown to the bulk of the band. The only authoritative bodies that need be known by them are the Council, which runs the organization and makes sure things are kept in check, and the “Wisps”, which are the council’s direct personal agents. Both tend to operate as silent, invisible entities, though it is clear to the group that they do in fact exist, based on multiple events that have occurred in the past.
The council often post any news that they have via coded-bulletin at several specific locations, and rarely appear in person. During these rare occasions, they wear a set of masks made of wood that appears to have had its outer bark burnt. The news they carry varies as does the ciphers, often mixing in simple boasts of success to throw off any interception by authorities while frustrating the royal codebreakers. Warnings of scouted hazards are also notably common, while more rarely these turn into announcements for recruiting individuals of the organization for approved mercenary ventures. After all, while the Council may be perfectly happy seizing opportunities within, occasionally an outside client may prove far more lucrative an investment of time and energy.
Of note, there is also no defined “headquarters” for the group, as the Council has judged such to be too unsafe. There are several safe-houses and gathering points located throughout the city of Alavey to fulfill those purposes though. They serve as hubs for the groups activity, and one can usually find the Council’s decrees at a couple of the larger ones.
Now, I suppose you wonder where you all would fit into this. As I said earlier, you’ll all be able to create various different kinds of thieves and miscreants that would be able to be members of this group, of varying seniority (the chance is open to be both an associate and a partner rank, though do keep the ages realistic for such). At the start of the RP, you’ve all been scouted by the Council to handle a very specific job that they’ve just come by, and as such you’re about to be briefed by one of the Taskmasters, who will send you on your way afterward.
Of the two RPs that I’ve devised, this one is definitely the more serious of the two and will be quite plot and character driven, but I believe that there’s also a payoff to be had from that. This also does not mean that I’m expecting excellence or that posts be of some ridiculous length every time. While I’m a naturally long-winded writer, I know that there are others whom are not, and it’s not like quantity equals quality. Though, I will say that I at least expect a couple of good-sized paragraphs each post, which I don’t think is too demanding.
If I get enough interest for this, I’ll organize this a bit more into an OOC post and post a basic bio format and example character that will show you what I’m looking for. Just for reference, this will NOT be a combat focused RP (though there will be some), and will rely far more on stealth and creativity (the guards will frankly out-arm you quite a bit in most cases). In addition, I’m pushing for magic to be rather … subtle in this setting, so while it exists, you’re probably not going to be throwing fireballs around.
Following that, I’ll put up an IC intro post. So be sure to let me know what you guys think! Now, onto my other idea.
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Nerves of Iron (AQ)
This concept is somewhat more straightforward than the previous one, but this doesn’t mean that I’ve put any less thought into it. “Nerves of Iron” is meant to be set somewhat in the future of the AQ timeline, during a period that mirrors that of the Industrial Revolution in our world. With some key changes of course - namely, the technology for firearms is oddly absent from this setting, leading to some more creative weaponry designs. There will be steampunk influence here, I’ll be quite frank about that, so things like heated-blades and pellets that exude heated air, as well as plenty of interestingly designed metal pieces will abound.
The basic concept behind the Role Play, though, revolves around something that anyone who’s played AQ or any other RPG will find fairly familiar: hunting monsters. The port city of Ballast has long been home to a set of three monster-hunting orders: those who hunt monsters who ply the seas, those who hunt the creatures of the drylands/plains, and those who deal with what roam the wetlands/swamps.
They’ve kept the city safe for many many years, and have all done their jobs admirably, however, the Orders have recently run into some money problems as a result of some investors pulling funds. As such, Ballast’s government has taken ownership of the Orders, and in order to better manage them, merged them into one single Order. As a result of this, it’s thrown together many people who have never worked together and will have to work together in order to keep the city safe. As such, the new administration has decided to randomly assign people from each of the Orders into new groups, which will then be given a job to test their effectiveness together.
This is where you guys will come in - you’ll be playing as members of one (if I get enough people, perhaps two) of these new groups. As compared to Felicity, Nerves is much more light-hearted and focused on the basic ideals of characterization and battle - at least at the very beginning, it will run on a kind of “monster of the day” format where the group in question will be dispatched to deal with a particular creature someone, sometimes involving interaction with the nearby locals, and eventually finding and killing the creature (though this won’t always be easy). I do already have several such adventures planned, some longer and more time-consuming than others. There is a loose main storyline present in the background of this RP, but it’s not nearly as prevalent as in the previous idea, and won’t matter as much until later on.
Your characters for this RP will of course be more geared for combat, most likely proficient with some type of weaponry or magic, and most probably have some type of experience at their job (it is possible for a character to be a squire of a more experienced hunter, but we’d have to talk about that). The same notes about posting length and quality that I mentioned in my Felicity write-up also apply here.
So, with this I think I’ve proposed two RPs that are on the opposite side of the spectrum from each other; both will most likely attract their own audience, though I’m personally looking to run the one that gets more interest now, and shelve the other for another day. However, I’m not quite finished yet. I also mentioned that I’d be throwing out some idea for more general use, and I do indeed have more ideas than just these two RPs (they’re just the ones that I decided to take all the way).
So, below you’ll find some of the other ideas that I came up with during my two week brainstorming session:
- A very, VERY lighthearted RP about a group of apprentice mages learning from an old master in large tower somewhere.
- An RP that uses Virtual Reality (probably using ED or MQ as a setting) as a means of creating an RP both inside and outside of the VR.
- An RP about running a city council and making decisions that affect what happens to the city itself (I anticipated this to be very niche, hence why despite my like, I didn’t go forward with it myself).
- I’d support an RP within which people played various types of magical creatures that have conflicting needs/likes trying to live in the same society/town.
- I’ve wanted to see another mecha RP come to life for quite a long time, since I quite love them - I’ve had an idea about using them in an underwater setting for some time now, but never sat down and figured out how it would work.
- An RP based on exploring a world as designed by the Host COULD be fascinating if done right.
- There is of course always the option of using a non-AE world, which would definitely need to be discussed with both me and RP staff, but is definitely a possibility if something has a compelling enough idea.
I hope that some of these have been useful in spurring some muses to life, and I’m very much looking forward to feedback on my two ideas, since I’ve spent a pretty good amount of time thinking them through (there’s a lot to both, though particularly the former, that you haven’t seen yet). Nonetheless, thank you for your time and enjoy! Oh, and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. :)
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