Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Locked thread
Mors Rattus
Oct 25, 2007

FATAL & Friends
Walls of Text
#1 Builder
2014-2018

Gorbash, Molly, Cirno, Lurks, ARB and devilmaydry, plus ningyou if she wants in! You are my players.

This is the thread to discuss poo poo, hash out what the world is like and so on.

What we know is:

1. The world used to be an MMO game.
2. Due to a Big Event, likely involving the Overlord, all the players online at the time were warped into their characters in the world of the MMO, which is now a living, breathing world (with MMO features overlaid).
3. You can play a PC or an NPC, and your People can be either your character's race or a PC group of some kind. Even if your character does not know all the lore of your People, you still control it.

Please, share and hash out your thoughts so we can create this world together!

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

MollyMetroid
Jan 20, 2004

Trout Clan Daimyo
Gonna make the cutest Dwarf girl. Where Dwarf means flashy phantom-thief guild/group/people/ninjas. Good at knowing about loot because she finds out all the cutest loot and what drops it so she can coordinate her outfit. She's super happy to be in the game because she was never satisfied with her real life self and now she's super cute. Tries to stay in character a lot, but not always because her sibling (Gorbash) refuses to.

Lurks With Wolves
Jan 14, 2013

At least I don't dance with them, right?
Making a Harbinger with Servants of the Dark, as a dev that was running around as a test character set to the enemy faction when Things Happened and just wants to fix this already. Will probably spend a significant amount of time going :| at everyone else's wacky antics.

EDIT: Have some art, why not.

Lurks With Wolves fucked around with this message at 04:28 on Mar 15, 2016

Comrade Gorbash
Jul 12, 2011

My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.
Going to go with The Heir. Not sure about the move choices, etc yet. But conceptually my character is Ridley's sibling, who got roped into playing because Ridley's character didn't have enough people for raid to get a particular item. They realized they enjoyed the game a lot - as a game. They haven't until now not cared about the in-game lore, and doesn't give a poo poo about RPing.

Probably as The Heir my character represents more a group or guild of players than an in-game faction. Though this particular player coalition will probably have gravitated to a particular in-game faction (class, race, whatever). I figure that as a group, they're important because they are a bunch of very powerful characters due to min/maxing, hardcore raiding, etc. But in the current situation, their disinterest in game lore leaves them vulnerable in unexpected ways.

devilmaydry
Sep 3, 2012

I only take special jobs, if you know what I mean.

"You didn't know these rocks were substitute mats for lilystones? That can be really useful you know~ Lemme show you how to harvest them."
Novi Esq

In the real world, Novi was a problem solver. She loved planning out the best stat gains, the best routes to take, the most rewarding and shortest quests. For her first foray into Endless Journey, she mapped out all the info she could, and read all the lore on the game there was so she knew everything there could be about the game as she moved through it at a lightning pace a group of other players racing from 0 to max to reach whatever new content this new update would have. But now, she got stuck in this world the moment she logged in to play.

She had tried to reach the level as the veterans, but now that the game is reality it just wasn't feasible anymore. She needed to eat, sleep, and travel like it was real life. Even when she tried her best to make it out there and level herself up, death after death dissuaded her. So, she decided to explore the world in other ways. She's see how the world worked compared to her expectations after reading so much on it when it was just a game.

Even if she can't protect herself all that well, thats why she's tagging along with a group of veteran players, right? The least she can do is help them out as much as she can, even if there's no way she can help solve the big problems.

quote:

Novi's Sheet
Stats
Blood -1
Courage +1
Grace 0
Sense +2
Wisdom +2

What is your purpose?
~See the world~

Custom Moves
Power of Friendship Your Bonds have the tags Precious and Useful( and you can Use them by erasing them)

We'll Make ItFirst Aid All new players gain the move First Aid until they pick a class in order to help heal wounds instead of having to buy expensive potions in town. Your bonds have the Healing tag, and you can use them by erasing them, your bonds can only heal a person listed in them, and only while you are by their side.

Gear
Some Simple Food(Food, 4 uses)
Traveler's Gear(2 Uses, Useful)
A Starter Sword(Melee)
Under-armor(1-use, armor)
Bandage(2 uses, healing, slow)
Some Extra Food(4 uses, food)
The Overlord's Weakness

devilmaydry fucked around with this message at 04:40 on Mar 18, 2016

Mors Rattus
Oct 25, 2007

FATAL & Friends
Walls of Text
#1 Builder
2014-2018

Official ruling: the game's name is Endless Journey, set on the world of Madhya Prithvi.

Mors Rattus fucked around with this message at 04:58 on Mar 15, 2016

MollyMetroid
Jan 20, 2004

Trout Clan Daimyo
re playbooks Mors has okayed doubling up if that's needed, as long as people are okay with it and there's some variance in choices, which I don't think should be an issue for us!

I just wanted to put that out there so nobody would get discouraged by dwindling playbooks available.

Mors Rattus
Oct 25, 2007

FATAL & Friends
Walls of Text
#1 Builder
2014-2018

Yeah, they can represent different cultures/Peoples that happen to share some traits.

Alien Rope Burn
Dec 5, 2004

I wanna be a saikyo HERO!
Forget everything I said! I'll be putting together a liberated boss monster using the Giant handbook here.

Alien Rope Burn fucked around with this message at 04:18 on Mar 21, 2016

Lurks With Wolves
Jan 14, 2013

At least I don't dance with them, right?

Vivi Cursender of the Eighteenth Circle (aka vvcursender18)

It was just supposed to be another night at the office, you know? I was just testing a few things in-game, nothing special. Checking for clipping issues on a few premium items under high-load conditions, seeing how enemy AI changes when interacting with Fated Circle-flagged players for an upcoming expansion, stuff like that. I know, that's what testers in closed servers are for, but we've been having budget cuts and... That's not the point. The point is, I was just doing my job when everything went wrong.

Now... Now I'm an Arcanist with a legendary sword, everyone's calling me Vivi, and I'm cut off from any outside contact. But that's okay. I can live with that, for two reasons. One, I am a cool Arcanist with a legendary sword, and there are worse things to be called than Vivi. Two, and this is the important part, I know what needs to be done to fix this. It's going to be hard, and the flags we need to set are a bit weird, but it's doable. If it's doable, we can do it. And if we can do it, let's just do it so we can move on with our lives.

Sheet posted:

Look: Messy hair, very old robes, cold eyes, simple jewelry

Blood 0
Courage -1
Grace +1
Sense +2
Wisdom 0
Doom +2

My people are: Servants of the Dark

Agenda:
-Be Brave, Take Risks
-Tell Us Of Your People
-Improve The World Around You
-Fulfill The Prophecy: Tell us about ~The Great Prophecies~ and do your best to fulfill them

Core Moves:
Doomed Soul: The Harbingers are the keepers of prophecy and magic, and their soul is unlike any other. You have a sixth stat, Doom, and an additional +0 to distribute between your other stats. When your Doom stat gets damaged, you must immediately damage one of your other stats as well. When you Finish Them by revealing their fate, by using your knowledge of folklore or the prophecy, or with Wizardry, roll with +Doom.
When you share this move with another, their Doom stat is +1.
When someone who does not have a Doom stat uses a move that rolls +Doom, they roll at +0.

Doom And Gloom: Your Doom makes you hard for others to relate to. You can never have more than one Bond with someone, and others can never have more than one Bond with you.
This move cannot be Shared.

Do Not Trifle With Wizards: Your magic is both dangerous and powerful, for both you and your enemies. When you conjure a powerful spell to destroy something, pay a price, then take up to three points of damage. You inflict that much damage to your target. You then become exhausted, and roll with Despair for the rest of the scene.
Threats To The World and Set Pieces take no damage from this move.
This move cannot be Shared.

Wizardry: When you draw upon the magic inherent to your people, choose one option from below. You may use these spells as often as you need to. When you use one of these magical effects, tell us how it manifested - what does it look like, what does it sound like? What do you need to do to make this happen?
-Conjure a soft light, which floats around you.
-Deliver a message through mysterious means.
-Speak, look or listen as if you were somewhere else that you can see.
-Touch, push or grab as if you were somewhere else that you can see.
When you Share this Move with another, they choose a single spell from the list. That spell is the only one they can use. You can Share this Move with someone multiple times. Each time you do, they learn another of your spells.

Harbinger Customs
Dark And Terrible: When you denounce the deeds of another, you may take one damage to leave a curse upon them. Tell us the nature of the curse, and what must be done to lift it.

Bonds:
-Grid Nótt is my creation given life, and I do not know how to feel about that.
-I am teaching advising Luc1na on the ways of the world.
-Bond with Witch's Broom

Gear:
-Just enough food (2 uses, Food) [][]
-Wizardly baubles (2 uses, Useful) [][]
-A runed sword with a dark past (Melee, Necrotic) - Black Crescent's Waning Blade
-Witch's broom (available in your nearest cash shop for only twenty Crystal Mandalas) (Flight [], Zippy Quick [])
-Source of magic: The leylines of magic that hold reality together (2 uses). You can Use this connection to the leylines to access a sealed location, or seal off an accessible location, bending space to accommodate your needs. [X][X]

Some quick notes, while I'm here:
-Vivi's people are the Fated Circle, an association of soothsayers and arcanists who were previously attempting to control all world governments. Their plans were interrupted by The Event and the massive influx of devs to their ranks that came with it. Between the Overlord, the amount of devs going against Circle mandates to try to fix things and the general chaos besetting Madhya Prithi, the Fated Circle is in a... very strange place. (If it sounds like I'm stretching my people slightly... I am. I'll be honest, I just want an excuse to talk about both a spooky in-universe group and the weird nerd politics that made the game IRL.)
-Is Vivi's magic in-setting, or is it just dev tricks? Short answer: it's hard to tell. The Fated Circle's magicks are mighty enough to appear impossible, and ever any command use from inside the simulation is going to look like magic as long as things are the way they are now.

Lurks With Wolves fucked around with this message at 05:36 on May 12, 2016

MollyMetroid
Jan 20, 2004

Trout Clan Daimyo
Sephilia Lampbright nee Lugh Carlisle

quote:

Look: Bright eyes and shiny goggles, flowing hair, smooth skin, pretty steampunk dress.

Agendas
-Be Brave, Take Risks
-Tell Us Of Your People
-Improve The World Around You
-The Dwarven Craft: Create, restore, and protect things of lasting value.

Blood +0
Courage -1
Grace +1
Sense +1
Wisdom +2
Iron +2

Dwarf option: Ironblast
Your people are madcap inventors and chemists, known throughout the world for their wondrous, and dangerous, creations. Your armor is of unusual design, with many bits and pieces that serve no obvious purpose. Add Various Explosive Devices (2 Uses, Dangerous) to your Gear. You can Use your explosives to create an explosion wherever you need it, as long as you could have conceivably planted them ahead of time.

People of Stone
The dwarves are built tough( You have a sixth stat, Iron, and you have an additional +1 to assign among your other stats. Iron represents your dwarven toughness - your armor, your survivability,your iron gut, and your extreme stubbornness.
When you Finish Them by outlasting them, out- drinking them, or by slugging it out blow by blow until one of you falls, roll +Iron.
When you share this Move with another, their Iron stat is +1.
When someone who does not have an Iron stat uses a Move that rolls Iron they roll at +0.

Clear the Path (iron)
When you charge through something standing in between you and where you're going, roll +Iron. On a 7MI you charge through and leave a path for your allies to follow. On a 7-9,your reckless charge causes problems.You have to go alone, or you leave yourself open to danger, or you damage something important, your choice.

Unbreakable
When you Fill Your Belly, you also heal your Iron stat.

Customs:

All That Glitters
When you have a bad feeling about this and say as much, you may ask the Overlord, "is there a trap or ambush here? If so, where would it come from?" They will answer honestly.

Let Me See That
When you take a few moments to handle or examine an interesting item, vehicle, or architecture, ask the Overlord two of the following questions. They must answer truthfully.
-Who made this and why should I care about them?
-What was this made to do, and how do I use it or break it?
-What's wrong with this, and how might I fix it?


Bonds
TBD (I have 4)
Plus a bond with the Guzzler.

Gear
You start with dwarven hardtack (food, 5 uses) and a solid means of protection, describe it (1 Use, Armor) - a sturdy shield.
-A simple mace- actually a wrench. (melee, dwarf-made)
-Gunpowder! A rifle (ranged, reload, dwarf-made)
-a bag of gems or gold (2 uses, precious)
-The Guzzler.
-A symbol of trust between me and my sister - creates an Unbreakable Bond between us.

Sephilia was super into the game - so much so that she got her sister to start playing to help her get cuter gear. She's a big fan of the game's lore, too, but her sister won't engage in RP, which Sephy thinks is a shame. Her "people" are the mechanists, a faction and class within the game, to which she belongs. They build strange and wondrous devices, like The Guzzler, or firearms - they're the only class in the game to get access to these. They're also known for being dashing highwaymen and women, and this suits Sephy fine, as she wants to be flashy and flamboyant with her cute self.

She is pretty drat happy to be in the game world for real, not least because of her home situation--aside from her sister of course--her family is largely unsupportive or ignorant. She enjoys the chance to roleplay and meet other people, and is genuinely a cheerful happy person.

MollyMetroid fucked around with this message at 02:21 on Mar 18, 2016

Comrade Gorbash
Jul 12, 2011

My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.
Still working on my character.

I wanted to ask a bit about the world in general. My take on is that the virtual world we've been trapped in operates a lot like its an alternate universe - that there are MMOish overlays to stuff but generally speaking anyone inside of it interacts and treats it like it's the real world, rather than having any sense of an interface between them and the world. Players are effectively their characters now, in terms of physical capability, but retain their own minds. Basically, my understanding is that someone could reasonably argue that this IS the real world and rather than being players trapped in a game, everyone is suffering from some kind of mass psychosis or powerful curse.

Am I right to see it this way?

Mors Rattus
Oct 25, 2007

FATAL & Friends
Walls of Text
#1 Builder
2014-2018

Objectively speaking that is correct, yes. Individual characters may view it differently.

Comrade Gorbash
Jul 12, 2011

My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.
Luc1na of the Raiding Rainbows nee Lucy Carlisle


Not everyone who played EnJo did so because of its excellent world building or its deep backstory. In fact, some of them hardly noticed it. Sure, that fanciful architecture and elaborate costuming probably had some kind of explanation behind it all, but as far as these players cared it was just nice window dressing.

These players were here for the game. The thrill of slaying the bosses and gathering the sickest loot, of slaughtering uncounted mobs and dozens of fellow players in exciting battles. Of getting the biggest numbers.

Lucy was one of those players. She'd come to game via an unusual route. Not having any particular interest in gaming, outside of Pokémon or disposable smartphone games, she didn't know - or care - one whit about EnJo. At least, until she got roped into a raiding party because her younger sibling was short a virtual body to complete a quest, one that gave out a very stylish pair of slippers.

To everyone's surprise, once Lucy figured out the controls, she was immediately addicted to the chaotic and competitive combat, and of seeing ever larger numbers pop into existence above the heads of weird looking monsters when she wailed on them with her sword. Somewhat to Sephy's chagrin, Luc1na - as she'd dubbed her character - quickly started logging as many, or even more, hours in the game.

Even more to Sephy's chagrin, Luc1na didn't have any interest in RP or lore or any of that stuff. The way she rapid-fire clicked through quest dialogues until she saw how many spiders to slaughter or which NPC to drag from point A to point B... For Luc1na, all that stuff was just boring preliminaries she had to deal with before getting to the fun stuff.

Before long Luc1na fell in with a crowd of hard-core power gamers and raiders. Just as quickly, she got ticked at their bro-ish behavior and general dickishness, and the way they decided a female couldn't really be serious about the game. So Luc1na gathered up some like minded young women and formed their own raiding guild. In a short time, they rocketed to the upper strata of the ranking boards. Those they displaced tended to make excuses and downplay their success, but the legitimately skilled groups they found themselves competing with quickly learned to respect the Raiding Rainbows.

The Rainbows later became a founding Chapter of the Iron Ladies guild, alongside the Knitting Circle and the Pretty Guardians. Having a support network with more varied in game interests helped, and while Luc1na still had zero interest in the lore, she pushed the other RR members to support their allies through thick and thin. She also managed to bring three of the other top raiding guilds - Epic Epoch, [SELECT A NAME], and Da G Shou - into an alliance (generally referred to as the Fantastic Four). The group was known for their prowess in battle, the ridiculously large holdings they acquired in world, and their complete disregard for anything having to do with RP.

It wasn't that Luc1na disdained it. She just didn't care. And not in way that was passive-aggressive, the one where they want you to know just how much they don't care. Luc1na just didn't even notice it, and neither did most of the people she played with.

Now, though, stuck inside the world, they have to take notice. They possess perhaps the greatest concentration of raw power and wealth of any faction in the game, but their nearly inexhaustible naivete prevents them from wielding it effectively.

In the face of the current crisis, Luc1na has convinced the other members of the Hurdcor (a name taken from a hilarious rant posted by a wannabe raider that had gotten ganked by the Rainbows) that they need to take this lore crap seriously now, and to use their powers to help people.

The Heir posted:

Look: Luscious Blue Hair, Pretty Face, Sharp Eyes, Fancy Garb

Agenda:
• Be Brave, Take Risks
• Tell Us Of Your People
• Improve The World Around You
• Judge, Jury, Executioner Make them pay for their crimes.

Stats: Blood+2, Courage+0, Grace+1, Sense-1, Wisdom+2

The Stalwart Defenders: Your kingdom is all that has stood between the Overlord and the rest of the world for centuries, locking them away. Stopping them now falls squarely on your shoulders. When you Overcome the attacks of a Threat to the World, you never need to pay a price first. When you Overcome an attack that would harm someone you have three Bonds with, you are filled with Hope.

Moves
Royal Treatment: When you visit the ruler of a place and introduce yourself, you and your friends are all given a room for the night and a hot meal to Fill Your Belly, free of charge.

Yes, My Liege: When you issue a command to someone below your rank, they'll do it immediately, no questions asked. Someone is below your rank if they are of your People, if they are a Companion, or if they serve or follow someone who has shown you Royal Treatment. You never need to Talk Sense to someone who is below your rank. When you give a command that directly harms the person you gave the command to, they become immune to this move forever.

How Dare You: When someone insults you to your face, you may choose to last out or remain stoic. If you lash out, roll to Finish Them with +Blood if you lash out with your weapon, or +Grace if you lash out with your tongue. If you remain stoic, ask two questions from the Look Closely list without rolling. Their outburst tells you everything you need to know.

Parry! Counter! Thrust!: When you fight a foe one on one in melee, you may Keep Them Busy as if you rolled a 10+.

Royal Gear
• Some food (3 Uses, Food) ☐☐☐
• Poultices (2 Uses, Healing, Slow) ☐☐
• Sparklepony [A warhorse war-unicorn you have 1 Bond with]
• The First Sword [A beautiful blade with a long and storied past] (Melee, Precious)
• A second sword (Skybreaker, Exalted Saber of the Dawnriders), and Regal armor (1 Use, Armor) ☐
• A rifle (Thunderbolt) (Ranged, 2 Ammo) ☐☐
• Loads of cash (2 Uses, Precious) ☐☐

Irreplaceable Item
Guildmaster's Diadem of the Raiding Rainbows: A symbol of royalty (Infinite Uses). You can use this item to command respect from anyone who knows your line, or to gain an audience with anyone you wish, no matter how important they are.

Bonds
I would give my life for my dear sister, Sephilia Lampbright.
I shall take Novi Esq under my wing, and teach them all that I know.
I am in love with Grid Nótt.
I have never had a more loyal ally than Arduino Mapleleaf.
I spoil Sparklepony shamelessly.

World Detail
I'm taking advantage of PbtA narrative control and saying that there there's a system of Allied Guilds and Guild Chapters in the game. Basically, a guild that's large enough can have separate sub-groups (Chapters). Chapters all have full guild access to resources (guild halls, etc) but can operate under different names and with different approaches. The Raiding Rainbows are a chapter of the Iron Ladies. Other chapters include the Knitting Circle and the Pretty Guardians.

There's also the option of forming Alliances between guilds. Allied guilds function as one big super-guild in most ways, though they can set lower permissions for stuff like guild hall access and shared bank space to the allies. Sometimes the alliances get names, but its not built into the game the way Guilds and Chapters are.

Comrade Gorbash fucked around with this message at 22:25 on Aug 8, 2016

ProfessorCirno
Feb 17, 2011

The strongest! The smartest!
The rightest!
Kawaii Kokoro

There's a lot of reasons to get into Endless Journey. Some are the hardcore raiders, in it to take on the biggest and best challenges the game has to offer. Some do it for the big game PVP, putting their wits and reflexes to the test against other players. Some do it for the roleplaying, to immerse themselves in a fantasy world as whoever they want to be, interacting with the world and other people.

Some do it just to kinda gently caress around.

For Tony Jackson, it was absolutely the last one. Endless Journey was a good chance to just hang out with some silly online friends and just be kinda goofy. He did a moderate amount of in-game content and was pretty drat good at the actual game, he just...never took it all that seriously - certainly not seriously enough to hang with the hardcore crowds. Instead, he was mostly known throughout the server as someone easygoing and fun, and occasionally funny. His social media account for the game was filled with all the stupid jokes and acts he and his friends put on, and was popular enough for some people to recognize his name on seeing him.

In-game, Kawaii Kokoro is a member of the "Picopico tribe" - the neigh mandatory race of small cutesy characters. Kawaii has an absolutely monstrous stockpile of outfits and clothing options in-game to switch between, and he accordingly seems to change things up every other week. Likewise, he managed to rack up a substantial number of subclasses to better fit his playstyle, though he focused more on things like Fishing or the "hilariously" mistranslated Cheffing over more useful ones like Blacksmithing.

Halfling posted:

Look: Twinkling eyes, luscious curls, sunday best clothing, rotund body

Agenda:
• Be Brave, Take Risks
• Tell Us Of Your People
• Improve The World Around You
• Have Fun

Stats: Blood+0, Courage+2, Grace+2, Sense-1, Wisdom+1

Mischievous Tricksters: When you sting like a bee, choose two options instead of one

Moves
The Little Folk (Courage): When you do something clever or sneaky while no one is looking, roll +Courage. On a 7+, you do it and no one will notice what you did until later. On a 10+, they won't even think to blame you for it unless they know you quite well, or you personally tell them you did it.

Sting Like a Bee: When you Keep Them Busy by getting in close and get a 7+, choose one. You can only Sting Like a Bee against those who are larger than you.
• You get them to chase you around, and you both leave the scene.
• You steal something small from them, and they don't notice until they need it or you taunt them with it.
• You get them talking - ask a question from the Speak Softly list.
• You think fast - ask a question from the Look Closely list.

A Friendly Face: You are small and easily trusted. So long as you show a friendly face, anyone not already actively hostile towards you will treat you as a friend, until proven otherwise.

The Courage of Halflings: You are never in Despair when rolling Courage, even if it is damaged.

Halfling Gear

• Trusty Blade(Melee)
• Halfling Packed Lunch (2 Uses, Food, each Use feeds three people) ☐☐
• Burglar's Gear (2 Uses, Useful) ☐☐
• A traveler's carriage, cozy on the inside, which I have 1 bond with. It even has a kitchen (Food, 3 Uses) ☐☐☐
• Halfling Pipeleaf (2 Uses, Slow, Drunk: Blood) ☐☐
• An Address book, filled with family friends (1 Use). You can Use this item to find a friend in any town you go to. You have a Bond with them, write it now. ☐

Halfling Pipeleaf: Halfling pipeleaf is a particularly popular kind of tobacco, especially among wizards. When you share your pipeleaf with another (1 Use), Speak Softly with them as if you rolled a 7-9

Bonds
?

Halfling Companions
Traveler's Carriage. Usually drawn by pony, these carriages are popular homes for the average nomad or merchant. Home Sweet Home ☐ Travel in Comfort ☐

ProfessorCirno fucked around with this message at 07:52 on Mar 18, 2016

Mors Rattus
Oct 25, 2007

FATAL & Friends
Walls of Text
#1 Builder
2014-2018

Okay, now we're just waiting on ARB and Fewture, who will be taking ningyou's slot.

Alien Rope Burn
Dec 5, 2004

I wanna be a saikyo HERO!
Grid Nótt, Carnivale Oni Queen, Final Raid Boss of the Pandemonium Gate

The adventurers had come before, of course, to seal the Pandemonium Gate. But to her, this may as well have been the first time. But there was a feeling of deja vu about it. Like going through the motions, only... this time, nobody came. She felt tense, like waiting for... what? The chamber was silent despite the dramatic trimmings of a macabre party. And so she waited. And waited. And fidgeted and waited. There was something else building, too, a foreign sensation. Thirst and hunger weren't familiar, but they were oddly comprehensible. Still. Her role was to guard the Gate. She hummed a familiar tune without knowing where she'd learned it, but eventually the nagging of her stomach became insistent. Humming a tune that tens of thousands of adventurers had heard, she realized couldn't recall she'd learned it. She had never felt so sick or uncomfortable or troubled. Or felt at all, really. For the first time, she abandoned her duties. She walked out of her zone, past the other myriad creatures wandering the caves, venturing out into the blinding light.

Drinking from the water was the first time she saw her face. A cliche, but she didn't have anything to compare it to. There was a long period where she, sat, pondering her duties, but... there was a certain melancholy. Loneliness? Boredom? She didn't have the understanding to grasp it, but she didn't want to go back. There was something vaguely unpleasant. Like an ill omen, like... something bad had happened to her, but the memories were dim. Furthermore, hunger pulled her onward more insistently.

Though her hunger grew, she didn't feel the need to rest, not yet. The sight and smell of smoke drew her over, before she finally marched heedless into the clearing. Those gathered around the fire stared at her. "Huh, that's a nice outfit.", a fighter said. "Not sure what race, but..." The barbarian pointed, eyes wide. "Don't you recognize what... what that is? That's Grid Nótt! She's a raid boss! She's not supposed to be in the Overworld!" She looked to their cooked meal, not particularly worried about their talk until an elementalist rose. "Look, I'll just scan her-", the spellcaster started, before the barbarian shouted, "No, don't target her, idiot!"

It was more like a programmed reflex from the former raid boss once the scan brought up her information. "Did you come to die by my hands? Congratulations!", she said in a moment of canned dialogue, and swung out with a backhand. The elementalist practically vanished, a line of shattered branches erupting through the treetops before he vanished. She blinked as the others stared at her. "Good or evil? Life or death...", she started to continue in her speech, though all the prerecorded heart went out of it by the end. "... how about weak and... strong? Guess... which... you..." Everything was wrong here. Weren't adventurers stronger? More numerous? The words coming out of her mouth felt like nonsense when she focused on their actual meaning. None of that really mattered, though, as she reached down for the elementalist's cooked chikotrice and picked it up, devouring it hungrily to the bones as she sat down.

"Um...", she mumbled as they stared at her, trying to remember what she could of the adventurer's tongue as it fumbled around clumsily in her newfound brain. "'Sup?"

pre:
Grid Nótt, Giant of Spirit



Look: Burning Eyes, Very Long Hair, Gothic Outfit, Lanky Body

Stats		Agenda			Custom

Blood +2	Be Brave, Take Risks	Feats of Legend
Courage +2	Tell Us Of Your People
Grace -1	Improve the World
Sense +0	Don't Stop Me Now
Wisdom +1

Gear

Fists (Melee)
Huge Object, Thrown (Giant-Sized, Ranged, Dangerous, Reload)
Food (3 Uses, Giant-Sized)
Alcohol (2 Uses, Giant-Sized, Vigor: Blood, Drunk: Sense)
Skin Like Iron
Feats of Legend (1 Use)

Alien Rope Burn fucked around with this message at 04:15 on Apr 10, 2016

Comrade Gorbash
Jul 12, 2011

My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.
Background is up for Luc1na.

FewtureMD
Dec 19, 2010

I am very powerful, of course.


Arduino Mapleleaf, Beastkin Hunter/Shaman



"Why did I start playing Endless Journey? I guess I just wanted to play with my friends. MMOs are more fun when you play with an actual group! I picked a Beastkin avatar, and joined the Woodwalker tribe bc why not play as a cool nonhuman race? Endless Journey is an escape, a fantastical world where you can be anything, and I keep seeing people run around as Human Warriors. I mean, really? Of course, ever since the uh, "Incident" I've sorta regretted this decision. I still haven't fully figured out how to sit without smooshing my tail...of course you know all about that, Moonbeam. No it's not weird that I'm talking to my unicorn mount. I worked really hard to earn your trust (and beat that quest). I've earned this bit of chatter"

pre:
The Elf

Look: Piercing Eyes,  Woodsman-s Garb, Willowy Body

Agendas: • Be Brave, Take Risks • Tell Us Of Your People  • Improve The World Around You  •Perfect Purity

Stats: Blood +0, Courage -1, Grace +2, Sense +2, Wisdom +1

Type: Woodwalker( Wood Elf) 

Core Moves: Shamanic Rituals (Elder Arts), Touch the World Lightly

Custom Moves: Beastkin Eyes (Elfsight), Special Stardust

Gear: Elven Bread-4 uses; Hunter's bow-3 ammo; Archimedes, the Hunting Bird; Moonbeam the Unicron;
 Nightshade the Wolf, Woodwalker Brooch
Bonds!

Luc1na and I bonded over redoing a quest over for the rare Unicorn Mount to drop.

Sephilia and I are rivals, due to ideological differences.

I find Grid Nott's very existence both terrifying and fascinating on a deeply fundamental level.

I have complete and utter faith in Vivi's abilities.

FewtureMD fucked around with this message at 07:02 on Mar 29, 2016

Mors Rattus
Oct 25, 2007

FATAL & Friends
Walls of Text
#1 Builder
2014-2018

Khryos, the Lord of the Ultimate Summit



He appeared on the day of the Event. The Ultimate Summit was to be one of the new major dungeons of the expansion, but Khryos was never in any materials about it - its lord was to be some sort of dragon that hasn't been seen at all. Instead, Khryos has claimed to be Lord of the Ultimate Summit, and no one seems to have any idea what he wants. He is unassuming, even friendly, and yet at his beck and call have come strange and terrible things, while monsters rise and fight at his whim. No one seems clear on what he actually wants, but certainly the Ultimate Summit has become home to creatures and people who will commit terrible acts, acts that resonate with some power that even the great mages do not understand.

His face is not familiar. He was not a player, his name was in no player registry. He was never a character in Endless Journey that anyone can recall. There were no developmental plans for him. He breaks the rules of the game and the world itself with ease. And the worst part is his charm - you know he's got to be the one behind all this, you've seen evidence. But anyone that hasn't witnessed his acts firsthand seems to give him the benefit of the doubt. It's maddening.

quote:

Look: Glowing Eyes, Expensive Clothes, Unassuming Figure, Commanding Attitude

Agenda: Ultimate Power

OVERLORD STATS
Invincible: You cannot be hurt.

Charming: No one will believe you're as bad as you really are.

Out of Context: You may ignore any limitations normally laid down by the metaphysics of the world or the rules of the MMO.

Weakness: World Shards

Moves:
An Offer You Can't Refuse: When a player gets Taken Out in your presence, you may give them an offer. They may attempt to negotiate, but you do not need to listen. If they accept, you fulfill the deal and then leave the scene. If they refuse, they must roll +Courage.
On a 6-, they take the offer anyway. On a 7-9, they refuse and have one good chance to spite you, they'll tell you how. Then, you tell them what you do to them for it. You may kill them.
On a 10+, not only do they spite you, but they manage to escape before you can properly punish them for it, ending the scene with you standing there, alone. Tell us of your rage.

Chew The Scenery: When you are physically present, you can have the Spotlight for as long as you like, when you get it. You and your Generals can never be in Despair.

Cut Them Real Bad: When you are physically present, your Cuts can be as hard as you like. Your Generals do not have this move.

Forge a Bond: When you cause great personal harm to someone or their people, Forge a Bond with them. Your Bonds can be erased only by your own Moves, and you can hold any number of Bonds.
When you reveal a side of yourself to someone you never intended to share it with, they may Forge a Bond with you. You cannot erase the Bonds they hold with you, no matter how badly you might want to.

Heart of Fire: When a player has a Bond with you, you do not become their Companion, but it still holds sway over you. They may erase that Bond with you at any time to buy themselves reprieve. They choose one: You will show them mercy, tell them something valuable or ignore them for the time being.

Heart of Iron: When someone makes a move against you, you may erase a Bond with them to have them automatically fail their roll, steal the Spotlight from them, and Twist the Knife against them. Your attention is entirely focused on them while you use this move - the rest of the fellowship can act without drawing your attention. A player may force you to do this before making their roll.

Master Plan: Whenever the Fellowship Recovers or the Overlord Levels Up, you Advance your Plans. When the fellowship has A Little Downtime, you may Advance your Plans during your turn, but the fellowship will immediately hear about it if you do. When you could Advance your Plans, you may recruit a new General or heal one damaged Overlord Stat instead.
When you Advance your Plans, you choose one and move it one step forward. You always have two plans going at once - whenever you only have one plan left, write a second immediately.

Overlord Damage: You are difficult to harm. When you would take damage, they must first pay a price for each undamaged stat you have. If you would be destroyed, instead damage one of your stats at no cost to your attacker. If you take damage or are destroyed when none of your stats remain, you are finally defeated, once and for all.
If the fellowship seizes a Source of Power, they may use it to erase one of your stats forever. You can never get that stat back unless you can take control of that Source of Power.
When the fellowship Recovers, heal one of your damaged stats.

Overlord Foibles: You are arrogant. Every setback is minor and can be dealt with. You know you can't lose.
You are busy. You have something you want and focus on that. When you engage the fellowship, your goal is not to kill them, but to get them out of your way.
You are honor bound. When you make a promise, you keep it, period.

Threat to the World: You have immunity to a variety of moves. Further, when someone who is not a Threat to the World takes direct action against someone who is, they must Pay a Price to do so.

Twist the Knife: When you speak to someone you have a Bond with about your history with them, you may force them to relive their pain They must either pay a price, stand down and get out of your way, or they must attack you, right now. Their choice. No matter what they choose, you make a Hard Cut against them.

Overlord Stats: Your undamaged stats are immutable truths that cannot be contradicted by any means.
When you Advance your Plans, you may heal a damaged stat instead.
When you seize a new Source of Power, gain a new stat of your choice. When you gain or lose a Source of Power, write down which stat that Source of Power is tied to - if you lose or regain that Source of Power in the future, it takes that stat with it.

My Only Weakness!: When you are exposed to your Weakness, one of your stats is immediately damaged, their choice. Your stats and your moves cannot protect you from your Weakness, but it can only hurt you once per scene.

Your Generals: To create a General, take any Threat you like and give it the Threat to the World trait. Your Generals follow you without question and can never become Companions to the fellowship. Generals have all your Basic Moves and their own minions. You have one Bond with each of your Generals, describing why they serve you.
If one of your Generals suffers a significant failure at the fellowship's hands, you will either execute them, exile them, or give them one last chance. You can only give a General one last chance once.
You begin the game with a single General. When you Advance your Plans, you may recruit a new General instead.

GENERALS
Ordric Marr, Commander of the Summit Gates, the Warmonger

ARMIES
The Organization: An elite group, rather than a proper army, that will compete with the Fellowship and harry them throughout the journey.

GEAR
You do not need to eat and do not want for companions. When the fellowship Recovers, you also recover your Gear.
An elegant sword, exotic in design (Melee)
Magical bolts of energy, able to be reflected back at you (Ranged)
Destructive blasts of fire and lightning (Dangerous)
A powerful special attack (1 Use): The End of Days. Use this instead of erasing a Bond to trigger Heart of Iron.
A traitor (1 Use): Use to make anyone in the scene who is not part of the fellowship reveal their allegiance to you, complete with a dramatic moment where they betray the fellowship and cause them trouble.

Reason: :iiam:

BONDS
Ordric Marr is sworn to serve the master of the Ultimate Summit, which is me.

Bonds:

I destroyed _______'s hometown.
I have caused great harm to ______'s people.
I killed someone important to _______.
______ killed someone important to me.
______ knows the details of my previous defeat.
______'s people serve me now.
Only _______ knows my Weaknesses.
I have fought ________ before and left a wound upon them. It burns in my presence.
______ was once my friend.
______ secretly admires me and the things I do.

Everyone can pick one!

Mors Rattus fucked around with this message at 19:26 on Mar 24, 2016

Mors Rattus
Oct 25, 2007

FATAL & Friends
Walls of Text
#1 Builder
2014-2018

Now, let's go through Guided Establishment.

Step one: Tell us about your hero, why you're one of the champions and three facts about your People. (Since half of you or more don't ICly know the lore, that's fine - you don't have to ICly know the facts of your People, if they aren't a PC group like the Raiding Rainbows.)

devilmaydry
Sep 3, 2012

I only take special jobs, if you know what I mean.
Overlod Bond: "I killed someone important to Novi Esquire."

I used to try leveling up with some other newbies. the game was definitely harder now and traveling was really hard, but I used to try it. Most of them hang out around Treetrunk Vista, moping around hoping things'll get better. The travel wore them out, and what's the point of leveling if there are already so many veterans walking around?

I've decided to go out with the best of the best though, to help any way I can.

Because I can't forget.

There was this one guy, Lolpoko; dumb name, but a cute enough player. He was pretty bad at the actual game but he loved exploring and seeing new stuff. One time he gave this weird little crystal called a World Shard. He said he'd show me where he got it, because it was really cool and secret, but then he was killed. Murdered by someone I'd only heard about before, Khryos. No one believed me, hell, a lot of people thought he must never have logged in if he's not showing up as online. I started to give up hope, but once I knew people were going to try and fix this, I knew I'd come along.

Hopefully I can convince them not to trust that murderer no matter what.

devilmaydry fucked around with this message at 23:04 on Mar 25, 2016

Lurks With Wolves
Jan 14, 2013

At least I don't dance with them, right?
I'll take "______'s people serve me now.", and will also wait until I can come up with some more facts and bonds to write anything down.

MollyMetroid
Jan 20, 2004

Trout Clan Daimyo
I'll take 'was once my friend" - Sephy believed in him until a BETRAYAL!

OK so Sephilia's People are not a guild, nor are they actually dwarves in the game's fiction - instead they're a playable race, remnants of an advanced society, rebuilding lost technologies and crafting new ones. In practice many of the players of this particular race are crafters or RPers due to some of the bonuses provided by the race. Which probably has a name. All of the members of this race have slightly pointy ears, and some also sport a cat's tail. (If Sephy has one, she conceals it.)

That's three, right?

Sephilia's one of the better known players of the race, because she ran a fan-site on coordinating in-game outfits with given loot drops and where to find them. She's also known for her connection to Luc1na, though she's not directly a member of Luc1na's guild (they wouldn't RP with her). She ALSO tends to be one of the more knowledgeable players when it comes to the game's history and lore - a real nerdy girl.

It's been decided that the name of Sephy's People is the Nisse

MollyMetroid fucked around with this message at 02:45 on Mar 25, 2016

Comrade Gorbash
Jul 12, 2011

My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.
Going to take I have caused great harm to Luc1na's people, see below for more.

Luc1na's people are the player faction known as the Hurdcor.
• Though Endless Journey features numerous player races, most of the Hurdcor are members of the Anth (the baseline human analogue) or Jaan (humans with elemental powers). The two races shared certain stat bonuses prized by power gamers, and a starting area convenient to some of the best questing zones.
• The Hurdcor were the first to feel the full brunt of the Tower's wrath. Their power and the proximity of their fortresses the stronghold made this likely from the beginning. But the Hurdcor attempted to take down the Tower on the day of the Event itself. That strike force was destroyed, and further fighting has depleted the Hurdcor's ranks since.
• Previously concentrated in a relatively small region, about half the Hurdcor are in the process of an exodus, spreading out into other parts of the world and bringing their wealth with them. This was an intentional policy, intended to accomplish two things. One was to make it harder for the Tower to wipe them out a stroke. The second was to make sure at least a few powerful combatants where around to protect every major player settlement. The exodus has caused a lot of friction, though, especially with former NPC groups.

Luc1na was chosen as the Hurdcor's Champion because of her connections outside the raiding community. Though she's pretty innocent of game lore, unlike the other major players among the Hurdcor she actually has friends in RP circles thanks to her sister and other friends. Plus, she's used to working with more diverse player groups because of her connection to the Iron Ladies.

Her prowess in battle and experience as the Raiding Rainbows leader certainly gave her the qualifications, but that was true of Whiteblue (of Da G Shou) or GenericInsult ([SELECT A NAME]) as well. Eriic the Read (Epic Epoch) was disqualified on account of having disappeared in the raid on the Ultimate Summit.

Lastly, Luc1na was chosen because she knows the truth. Only the upper echelons of the Hurdcor's leadership know that their defeat at the Summit was due to Khyros' intervention. Due to the overlord's popularity, they've kept it a secret, lest it rend their fragile alliance apart. For now, their forces are openly opposing only the Tower and its denizens, fighting a rear guard action while Luc1na focuses on the true enemy.

Comrade Gorbash fucked around with this message at 22:27 on Aug 8, 2016

Lurks With Wolves
Jan 14, 2013

At least I don't dance with them, right?
Vivi's people serve me now. On one hand, the Fated Circle infiltrates other people's organization It's what they do. It's only natural that they'd start serving Khryos with varying amounts of sincerity once he showed up. On the other hand, there's been some weird business dealings around EternaSoft lately. Weird board meetings behind closed doors. Strange lines of code that no one on the dev team remembered writing that they weren't allowed to remove. The CEO poking around the servers in the middle of the night. In short, things that look incredibly suspicious in retrospect. Put those two things together and Vivi is running real low on associates that definitely aren't on Khryos' side.

Three facts about the Fated Circle:
-The Circle has splintered into three main factions from the stress of the Incident. The largest faction is the Garnet Tower, which has decided that they will simply puppet Khryos' burgeoning empire the way they have done for everyone else. The next largest faction is the Black Pearl, which believes the way forward is to just bunker down and wait for things to settle down and the skeins of fate to realign before they begin moving on anything. Finally there are the Unraveled, which is less a faction and more just a collective name for the various antisocial weirdos and confused devs that won't align themselves with any of the other factions within the Circle. (Coincidentally, this is Vivi's faction, mostly because she dgaf.) Maybe enough members with similar philosophies will come together to form an actual third faction, maybe they won't. Either way, every faction thinks they're the true masters of the Fated Circle and that their rivals will fall in line when it is proven necessary. This definitely won't lead to the Circle exploding in the near future.
-The Fated Circle specializes in divination and ley line manipulation, using these magicks to better manipulate society and to make things go the way they should go. Which is to say, the way that benefits the Fated Circle the most.
-There is only sure way to identify a Fated Circle member with 100% certainty. During their initiation rites there is a runic circle tattoo'd somewhere onto the applicant's body, unique to them. Normally this somewhere easily covered by clothes, because it's a secret society.

Vivi wasn't so much chosen by the Fated Circle as nominated herself in the Fated Circle's stead because no one else was particularly interested in doing anything about this. Well, there's probably a few other fellow devs who know what the Prophecy to end all this is. They just don't have any particular power in this world because their dev characters were level 2, or they'd rather just amass power in this brave new world, or they're just too busy freaking out and getting drunk on faerie wine to do anything. The point is, as far as Vivi cares, she's the best person for the job.

ProfessorCirno
Feb 17, 2011

The strongest! The smartest!
The rightest!
"I have fought ________ before and left a wound upon them. It burns in my presence."

Kawaii's people are the Picopico, but to understand his place there, you have to understand his barely organized guild known as Western Anth Imports. Founded by Kawaii himself - mostly just as a means to stay in touch with some regular friends online - it slowly grow more and more into the...well, WHATEVER it is now. It had it's own weird eclectic mix of roleplayers (though never in guild chat), raiders, PVP all-stars, and just plain casual buds. There weren't many rules other then being respectful to others, not being a little poo poo, and join in guild events. Pre-event they could be relied on to supply plenty of social atmosphere to the game, both in and out of it, whether it was guild officer Hobo J doing his monthly "Naked Brawl Night," the popular video series where Elel Icebird went around to hang out and learn about other guilds, WAI's unofficial FUNNY JOKES TIME celebration in April, or Kawaii's own "Pimpmaster Potato" tours of major cities, WAI was known thoughout the server. When you saw that guild tag, you knew it was someone interested in helping you have a good time.

Post-Event, things have changed. Quite a FEW things have changed. For starters, the NPCs are alive. WAI always had a lot of Picopico - after all, they were kinda inherently hilarious - but now that they're actually, you know, sentient, it makes things a bit more awkward. To the Picopico, WAI may as well be perfect. A group of vague nomads who all just wanna have a good time and love playing dumb jokes and pranks? Even the ones who weren't Picopico soon became seen as honorary ones. WAI for their part have adapted readily; they always had a few roleplayers in the guild who helped them get "in character," and they've never been the kind to get pulled into drama or get real angsty about things. As guild leader, Kawaii Kokoro (the other Picopico have accepted his bizarre name - and bizarre nonstop costume changes - with grace) is almost a minor Picopico celebrity now. After certain events, it became a no brainer to make him champion.

Facts
  • Picopico are small, adorable, fun-loving, and incredibly emotive. Literally - they actually had more emote commands then the other races. Physically they're a decent amount shorter then all the other races, and way shorter then boss NPCs. Mechanically, they were kinda garbage.
  • Picopico racial abilities, again, were never all that great. In turn, they were mostly popular with less serious players or very serious roleplayers. This meant most Picopico players tended to get along and acted fairly tight-nit. The addition of NPC sentience has only helped this, and few races in the game have the same level of amiable PC-NPC relations, and Picopico characters, be they PC or NPC, tend to make a lot of friends in other races, too.
  • WIP

Chosen
Kawaii never fully trusted Captain Noshoes. The Picopico at one point were getting hit real bad with the monsters he was summoning, and while nobody would admit it was him, Kawaii knew what was going on. When Khryos made a "surprise visit" to a small city Kawaii was at to hold a minor event (along with a lot of nasties), Kawaii realized rather fast there was only one way to save the others in the village. He attacked the invincible final boss. Surprising nobody, he didn't win, but he did hold him off long enough for everyone there to evacuate in the wake of the monster attacks. Maddeningly enough, nobody actually saw the fight against Khryos - only him fighting off the monsters. Oh, they'll believe he saved them, just not who he saved them from. Either way, the already minor celebrity amongst the Picopico became their champion for his bravery.

MollyMetroid
Jan 20, 2004

Trout Clan Daimyo
Bonds!

UNBREAKABLE: Luc1na is my sister and I will always stand by her!

Vivi seems to know the lore of the game, I can RP with her!
Novi is new to all this and should be shown the ways of RPing!
Grid has cool fashion sense and a unique point of view in this new world!
Kawaii Kokoro has no respect for the lore and must be shown the true ways.

Lurks With Wolves
Jan 14, 2013

At least I don't dance with them, right?
Guess I should post some bonds too.

Grid Nótt is my creation given life, and I do not know how to feel about that. Okay, not my creation per se, but Pandemonium Gate was the first dungeon I worked on and that dungeon means a lot to me so... whatever, you get the idea.
I am teaching advising Luc1na on the ways of the world. Is it because advising very important persons is the Fated Circle's default tactic? Or is it just because Luc1na skipped every cutscene and doesn't know the High Tower from a hole in the ground? Perhaps it's both.

This broom has been the best mount money can buy. Literally, it's the fastest flying mount they had in the Cash Shop. It's the main reason I stuck it on Vivi in the first place.

devilmaydry
Sep 3, 2012

I only take special jobs, if you know what I mean.
Bonds:

Kawaii still thinks I believe the lies he says.

I don't know why but Sephilia really trusts me.

Luc1na looks out for me.

I've never seen someone like Grid Nott before.

devilmaydry fucked around with this message at 06:51 on Mar 26, 2016

Alien Rope Burn
Dec 5, 2004

I wanna be a saikyo HERO!
Guided Establishment

Grid's "people" are the raid bosses of the world. As far as the "new world" of Madhya Prithvi is concerned, most raid bosses are just as unusual as adventurers - that is, they didn't have a "natural" place in the world before. There might be a few exceptions, but raid bosses are to normal bosses and monsters what PCs are to NPCs. Of course, now that they're out there, they're likely to have their own impact on the world, though nowhere near as organized or widespread as adventurers would be. In addition, some of them don't have human-level intelligence, and others may have limited roles, like a guardian automaton attached to its zone.

Their awareness of the previous game is more dim, though, because unlike adventurers, they didn't have an active intelligence at the time. It acts as a sort of primal core to their mind, largely subconscious, like the earliest memories act in humans. They don't remember why they have a catchphrase, how they learned to do the Seven Crashing Angels attack, but they do instinctively, because it was programmed into them. Their backstory seems to have come with them, but there are at times inconsistencies that seem unresolved (but then, that always seems to be true of lore, anyway). A few may actually retain some dim awareness of past battles, though this seems to be tied to those that previously had a lot of interaction with adventurers; i.e. were grinded for stuff. There's no seeming logical reason why their code would carry this information, but perhaps there's more to them - or the code -than was immediately obvious in the game...
  • Grid is one of four raid bosses with the type "Oni Queen", which are very tenuously connected the "four oni generals" of Japanese mythology, have roughly Norse names, and festival themes. Generally speaking, they're a mishmash of inspiration. Technically there is also an Oni King in the lore, but not in the game prior to the expansion. Not much is known about him other than that he tries to command or court the four Queens ineffectually, more rival than ruler. There are also other oni-typed enemies, but none are raid bosses.
  • Raid bosses are easily identifiable by the flashing red skull symbol they have in place of a level, though players who never raided may not be familiar with this. (The game usually showed overleveled enemies with flashing red level numbers.) They can't gain levels like adventurers do, but are usually at least on par with max-level adventurers, albeit with much stronger or wider attacks. Some have demonstrated an ability to break reality somewhat, as if there were a conflict between their coded abilities and the new reality they've found in, which can have dangerous effects on the world around them. An enemy that calls up a caldera in an MMO and one that can call up a caldera in a real world are troublingly different things.
  • Grid, of course, wasn’t the only boss in Pandemonium Gate; there was Radost, the skeleton with a dance troupe, Rahmy, a witch with a gatling wand, and Yuanbo, a ghostly general who fights with formations of headstone “troops”, amongst others. The general theme was of the chaotic Pandemonium realm corrupting and stirring up the land of the dead, with Grid just throwing a festival in celebration. Without “guests”, she never fully unsealed it, but it may be troublingly unguarded, depending how the raid zone’s hierarchy shakes up in her absence.
Grid is the main representative amongst the raid zones mainly due to having the strongest connection to other players. Her source was the main area for drops of carnival and gothic-themed garb, and some powerful status effect-inflicting items. She actually might remember some high-level players dimly, and was the first to exit her zone. Where other raid bosses might react in horror or trauma if they knew how many people had been “killed”, she’d probably settle into “So, when are we going to fight again?” after the initial shock. While other bosses might interact with adventurers, she's more likely to put with their nonsense in the interest of exploring new ideas and having a good time.

Bonds

"Sephilia raided my dungeon repeatedly." Grid doesn’t quite know how she knows her, but she does, like an old rival or friend.

”Vivi knows a secret regarding my original code.” It could be a bug, reveal something personal, or be something more sinister. But she knows it, alright.

”Grid secretly admires Khyros’ summit.” Onis value the height of the mountain you can claim.

FewtureMD
Dec 19, 2010

I am very powerful, of course.


Overlord Bond: "I destroyed Arduino's hometown" Each of the three Beastkin subtypes have their own hub area functioning as a sort of cultural center. When the race as a whole started rising up against Khyros, he made an example of the Wood Walker hub, Hollowhearth, a gigantic empty tree full of various platforms, walkways, and tents with the air of a busy bazaar. One night, the Lord appeared over the tree, and called down a raging tornado full of flame and lightning. Anyone who couldn't escape quickly enough was incinerated, but luckily the nomadic nature of Beastkin prevented any major loss of life. However, the spiritual damage was done, and the beastkin elders publicly swore fealty to the Lord of the Ultimate Summit. In secret however, a plan was set in motion... Arduino was "voluntold" for this mission, as he lost the Nose Game at the secret beastkin summit. Unsure of his abilities, he'll try his best to save the world, and set things back to the way they used to be.

Facts:-The Beastkin are divided into 3 different subraces, based on their beast half, and therefore which biome they live in: Terrestrial creatures are Wood Walkers, flying animals and some insects are Sky Strikers, and anything aquatic is termed a Depth Dancer.

FewtureMD fucked around with this message at 05:50 on Apr 5, 2016

Mors Rattus
Oct 25, 2007

FATAL & Friends
Walls of Text
#1 Builder
2014-2018

We're almost up. We've now got one last bit of Guided Setup.

First, some questions:

1. Whose People did the Overlord hit first and hardest?

To me it sounds a lot like Luc1na's, because of their day 1 raid, but if you guys want to discuss that more, go ahead.

2. Whose People has the Overlord mostly ignored?

3. What impossible thing has the Overlord already done.

The Event itself seems the obvious answer there to me.

And last: Choose another player. Tell us a rumor or superstition your People hold about their People. They cannot tell you whether or not it is true.

Once this is done, thread will go up! Bonds should be finished by then. If you want to ask people questions about their People, do feel free!

Alien Rope Burn
Dec 5, 2004

I wanna be a saikyo HERO!

Mors Rattus posted:

2. Whose People has the Overlord mostly ignored?

I'm think the raid bosses / oni seem likely candidates for this.

MollyMetroid
Jan 20, 2004

Trout Clan Daimyo
The Nisse believe that the Beastkin once stood alongside them at the forefront of invention and technology.

Lurks With Wolves
Jan 14, 2013

At least I don't dance with them, right?
The Fated Circle doesn't give much thought to the Nisse. Why waste time with yesterday's emperors when they have the ear of tomorrow's? But there is one thing whispered about them. That they have an ancient wonder kept safe within the heart of their oldest ruins. That this wonder tangles the skeins of fate whenever they try to divine it's nature. That it is only a matter of time before the Nisse do something with it. Something that will cause a great many plans to be thrown to chaos...

ProfessorCirno
Feb 17, 2011

The strongest! The smartest!
The rightest!
Bonds:

I have mesmerized Grid Nótt with my stories.
I once told a lie so good Vivi STILL thinks it's true!
I will never lie to Luc1na
Arduino Mapleleaf has my back when things get touch out here.

Questions

I agree the boss NPCs are a good choice for who the Overlord has ignored the most.

Choose another player. Tell us a rumor or superstition your People hold about their People. They cannot tell you whether or not it is true.

The Picopico believe that the Hardcor found more then they've claimed in their myriad of raids, and haven't revealed everything. They're not lying to keep it secret - what they found was some particularly juicy in-game lore, and none of them paid enough attention to it. Of course, that lore might end up being quite important now.

Comrade Gorbash
Jul 12, 2011

My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.
Id say boss NPCs or the Picopico (for maximum hobbit analogy) for ignoring, so if ARB is cool with it being the boss NPCs, I'm on board.

As a note, I think the Hardcor tend to refer to it as the "Day Zero Raid," since it probably crossed over the Event itself, as well as happening before they really understood what had happened.

Rumors
The Hardcor are convinced the Fated Circle knows a way to communicate with the "real world," and are receiving special instructions from outside. Opinions differ widely about just how this clear this channel actually is, with most falling on the side of "cryptic at best." There's also a lot of discussion on whether or not it's two-way (again, with most on the side of "not").

Alien Rope Burn
Dec 5, 2004

I wanna be a saikyo HERO!

Comrade Gorbash posted:

Id say boss NPCs or the Picopico (for maximum hobbit analogy) for ignoring, so if ARB is cool with it being the boss NPCs, I'm on board.

Given I proposed it, I better be!

Grid thinks the Machinists might be responsible for the Ars Machina (that's "mak-in-uh"), a variety of robots that haunt ancient ruins and mostly just try and bisect adventurers with their buzzsaws or slam them with their hammers. That would explain why they're folk of the highways instead of living in that giant robot that is also a city / mountain that almost seems like they built it, maybe? It's not taking visitors anymore, tho, or at least not letting people leave.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

FewtureMD
Dec 19, 2010

I am very powerful, of course.


Rumor: A growing faction of Beastkin have turned away from the tradition of nature- and ancestor-spirit worship, instead venerating the Raid Bosses as lost and fallen gods...

  • Locked thread