Wolf Rawrrr
Wolf-Knight
Hi. I'm Wolf *woof*
As one of the older members of this fine community (joined waaay back at the start of 2012), I am the proud owner of the oldest still running game on the site. My Amaranth has been active since the Summer of 2012, and despite all of the changes and setbacks over the years, it is still going strong. Here's a few interesting facts about the RP:
- Running for 6 years, 7 months, and 27 days
- Accumulated a total of 4,484 posts over 54 threads
- Gone through 15 players, 3 of which are still playing (none of the original six remain)
As you might have guessed, Amaranth is in need of some fresh blood to revitalize it. While I've always aimed for 2-6 players, it is definitely more interesting and fun when you lean towards the higher of the two numbers. Thus I would very much like to find up to three new recruits to join the game. Before you sign up, however, a disclaimer: Amaranth is an old game by now, and one close to my heart. I am not desperate for new players, and I won't simply let anyone join. This is not a first come, first served. I will review every single application I get (and be thankful for it), but it's entirely possible that I end up not admitting anyone.
I realize the offer is probably not very appealing, but here I am anyway *woof*
If you are interested at all, please read the rest of this post carefully.
Q: What do you expect from your players?
This is a very important question, so I'm placing it first. I do need new players, but I also have to make sure they're the right type. For my sake, the sake of the game, the sake of my existing players, and finally your own sake. So please do not apply unless you meet the following criteria:
- Willing to join an already running game
Amaranth's been running for six and a half years. That's a lot. Granted, we were quite slow and much of the time has been wasted, but it still means that
a lot of stuff has happened. Joining such a game means less freedom in character creation and having to adhere to some already established rules.
- Prepared to stay with the game for a longer term
I neither expect nor want this RP to take another six years. But I won't lie to you. The fact of the matter is, it's going to take more than another year to finish it.
Quite likely another two or three. While I can't ask you to promise you'll see it through (stuff happens), I do need you to enter the game with the attitude to stick around.
- Capable of quality writing
There's no minimum post length in Amaranth. You need to be equally able to write one liners as well as longer, more detailed posts. It depends on the in-character
circumstances as much as on the out-of-character ones. Generally, we do prefer at least one or two paragraphs. That said, you must also be at least acquainted with
proper grammar, make use of the aforementioned paragraphs and just generally... write well. Amaranth is a story first and a game second.
- Active
This should probably go without saying, but if you join, I am going to need you to post on a regular basis. We have a post-per-week minimal rule, though it's not
very strictly enforced. Sometimes it's more, sometimes it's less. Tends to be less, but I expect everyone to strive to maintain this pace. Myself included.
And last but not least... And I am purposefully setting this point aside... You've gotta be friendly, open-minded, and a little selfless. We're all in this together, and the overall goal of the game isn't really to find X before Y does Z with it, all the while hoping to restore W to its former glory (spoilers, heh). It's to create a unique, amazing place where we can relax, explore, face danger, and laugh about it around a campfire :] *howl*
Q: What can I expect from you, as a player in your RP?
A fair question. I'm afraid there's no way to answer that without coming off as proud and boastful, but here it goes anyway.
I care deeply about this roleplay, and by extension, about my players. I have done everything in my power to keep the game going, to keep it interesting, to keep it fun. And I will continue to do so. The amount of time and effort that I've poured into this game is quite honestly beyond belief. I mean, it's been here for six and a half years. Most people on this site probably haven't even been around that long, but I've managed to keep this one roleplay alive through it all - the good times and the bad. Every single post I make, I put my heart and soul in it. I re-read. I re-write. Sometimes it takes an hour, other times it takes several hours (or days, even). Sometimes what I write is not good enough; you might or might not notice, you probably won't complain, but I will criticize and chastise myself anyway. And I'll try even harder to do better next time. I create my own maps for places and locations to make sure we're all on the same page and visualizing the same things, when it's important (and sometimes when it's not). I search the Internet for hours just to find that perfect picture or soundtrack that really sets the mood we need. I introduce, scrap, and re-introduce new stuff like game modes or custom rules into the game to freshen it up every now and then. I welcome and appreciate feedback, constantly communicate, and am always ready to answer questions and lend a helping paw.
And of course, I am extremely grateful to my players for their loyalty and support, without which this roleplay would not exist. I could go and write a book for myself and title it Amaranth, but it just wouldn't be the same without your creative minds involved, and I am keenly aware of that. That's why I'll always be trying to make this game the best that it can be, for all of us. And incidentally, it's why I am making such a fuss with this interest check. To make sure everything is and stays right.
Q: So what's the game about?
Amaranth is a fantasy story set in Asgard, an advanced medieval kingdom that spans most of the continent it resides on. Three years ago, the kingdom was invaded by a vast demonic legion in what would come to be known as the Great War. While Asgardians were used to dealing with the occasional demonic incursion, they had never faced a threat of such magnitude before. The defending Royal Army was overwhelmed and defeated in a matter of weeks, owing mostly to the person responsible for the invasion in the first place - a young human sorceress who not only commanded the demons' allegiance, but also wielded great and terrible power of her own. The Sorceress destroyed or swayed those who stood in her way, took the capital city, slew the old king, and usurped the throne, but all that was just the beginning. Seizing the throne had been merely a convenience for the Sorceress, a means to an end, or perhaps some vain ambition as well. Her true goal was to find a mythical artifact known as the Amaranth, a divine tool supposedly used in the creation of the world, which would grant her unlimited power and control over the world itself.
Our story started three years later, with Asgard under Ilhirel's firm rule and her secret quest well underway. A mysterious entity called the Spectral Council had summoned six individuals (the six original players) to serve as their Chosen, told them of the Sorceress' evil designs, and tasked them with stopping her at all costs, for the fate of the world quite literally depended on it... They're doing alright so far.
But they can use all the help they can get. We're sort of at a turning point at the moment, where things are about to get real.
Q: How far along is the story at this point?
We're about halfway done - but it's definitely not too late to join! Most of the game's beautiful, exciting, and dangerous moments are still ahead of us, and the start of the next chapter is perfectly suited for seamlessly introducing new player characters into the story (I've planned ten chapters and we are currently wrapping up Chapter VI). The biggest downside to joining so late is that much of the world has already been defined, so you will be somewhat limited in your character creation. For example, I can no longer admit new custom races into the game; you'll have to make do with the four that are available.
Q: Am I expected to fill a certain role with my character?
Both yes and no, but mostly no.
Amaranth is not a classic tabletop game. It is asymmetric in that the characters are not all equal, and many of the standard RP tropes hold less weight here. That means that some characters are inherently more important/powerful than others, and a party does not have to comprise of a fighter/cleric/mage/thief. This may or may not be to your liking, but the reason behind it is that Amaranth is first and foremost a story, and a game second. Above all else, I want each and every one of my players to enjoy roleplaying their characters. In my opinion, having another player's character superior to yours (in one or even multiple ways) does not have to necessarily take away from your roleplaying experience. This is contrary to most tabletops, where players typically have to be the same level or close at all times. But like I said, Amaranth is a story - and stories come in all shapes and sizes, just like the characters who drive them. If you are like-minded, we'll have no problems.
That said, I would heavily recommend your character to be combat capable in at least one way. Otherwise you will not find fights enjoyable, and we'll need to find a good reason why the party is even allowing you to tag along if they're going to have to look after you every step of the way. It would also be advisable to try and make your character unique somehow - diversity of classes does help in the end, but it's mostly for the sake of making the story more interesting. That's not to say you can't make a character similar to one of the other players'; just make sure to make yours stand out somehow. Here's the current player lineup:
- An old Drakkar diplomat and former mage/warrior, somewhat held back by his age and physical shape (played by
Purr
) - A young Human priestess, inexperienced in battle but capable of performing an array of powerful Miracles (played by
Kaerri
) - A seasoned Human thief, master of stealth and silent assassination but poor choice for the front lines (played by
Jack Elarithon
)
Note that I have not mentioned any of the NPCs who are also core members of the party. This is because drastic changes are pending for the NPC lineup as of next chapter, so don't be afraid of creating a character that would essentially perform the same as one of them. Remember - the key thing here is that you enjoy roleplaying your character, and that you find the game fun and interesting.
Q: How does the game play, anyway?
Ah, yes - I left out the specifics about the game mechanics, haven't I? That's because they're less important than everything else I covered so far. You see, Amaranth was and always will be, at its core, a freeform roleplaying game. Over the years I've made several attempts at custom tailoring the rules in order to make things more interesting, ranging from some very poor dice implementations to mildly entertaining minigames. I ended up scrapping all of that, and for the longest time we've just been winging it. However, some time ago I announced W.A.R.S. - Wolf's Amaranth Reloaded System, which is supposed to be a very lightweight homebrew system meant to supplement Amaranth's freeform play style, rather than replace it. I am currently still working on this, but it should come in effect as soon as the next chapter. Yes, that does technically mean that you'll have to learn a new system, but I promise it's quite a short read and mostly common sense stuff. And of course, if it fails in the field I will scrap it rather than see it turn into an unwelcome burden on the players.
Q: Uhh... I have to do even more reading before I can play?
Yeah, sorry. No way of getting around that if you're joining an already long-running game. Though to be honest, there's not *that* much ground to cover. Here's a list of resources which I consider to be required reading in order to join Amaranth:
- Recapitulation: The Story So Far
This is a friendly summary of everything noteworthy that's happened so far and will get you up to speed in no time. Your character doesn't
start off knowing all these things, but very soon after joining the party we will assume they've been briefed. Chapter VI recap coming any day now.
- Races of Asgard
Pretty self-explanatory. In order to even create a character, you must be familiar with your choices.
- W.A.R.S.
Documentation for my homebrew system. You only need to read the Core Handbook. It's quite straightforward.
I heartily recommend checking out the other player's character sheets in The Chosen subforum, and then slowly over time the Archives as well. It's not mandatory, but I write up these resources because I believe it helps my players roleplay better. It's basically world lore and stuff that IC your characters most likely know (though in the end you decide if they do or not).
Q: Anything else?
That's all I can think of for now, and it's probably already a lot to process. Hopefully it's enough to get a few interested candidates who will be both suited for the RP and not intimidated by the joining process. Of course, any and all questions are welcome, preferably here in this thread so everyone can access them (unless for some reason you wish to speak privately, which is also fine).
And if you got this far... Thanks for your interest, if nothing else! *howl*
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*woof*
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