Fantasy Cartographers of Spiral Deep (OOC)

[Ayama]

ThaDruid I could totally see Alek and Magnus being drinking buddies.

 

[ThaDruid]

ThaDruid I could totally see Alek and Magnus being drinking buddies.

Magnus is a bastard of a man, but if he manages to warm up to sir knight they'd make a great duo :p

 

[BakaTheIdiot]

Magnus looks absolutely excellent. Now we've got 2 "le stronk" archetypes, which is good because we're absolutely gonna need them! Rhabdophobia is one I was hoping somebody would pick lmao

 

[Ayama]

Magnus is a bastard of a man, but if he manages to warm up to sir knight they'd make a great duo :p

Pretty sure those two's version of 'warming up' is sitting not looking at each other and not talking while passing a flask back and forth xD

 

[ThaDruid]

Magnus looks absolutely excellent. Now we've got 2 "le stronk" archetypes, which is good because we're absolutely gonna need them! Rhabdophobia is one I was hoping somebody would pick lmao

I thought that fear of magic would go really well with our only healers being a pair of mages so far hahahah

Pretty sure those two's version of 'warming up' is sitting not looking at each other and not talking while passing a flask back and forth xD

 

[Ayama]

I thought that fear of magic would go really well with our only healers being a pair of mages so far hahahah

Magnus: -gets carved up doing some dumb shit-
Healers: -approaching him to help with magic sparks-
Magnus: -yells and runs away or panics and tries to kill anything magical that comes near him-

 

[idiot]

Alright, I've posted what I hope will be the last lore post for a while, with the kingdoms and a quick rundown. I tried to include what Grejetian lore was already established since I thought it was cool. I'm gonna be pretty busy tomorrow so I may try to draft a post tonight so I can get it up and running by tomorrow night once I'm home. As always, Lore is not all-conclusive, and can be very easily molded to fit everyone's needs.

Ayama Humble1 Characters look great, in case it wasn't clear by the heart reaction!

@CharmingCthulhu @Henley any ETA on the character sheets? Definitely excited to see them. Same goes for idiot if you're still interested! Like I said, I'm hoping for a main post by tomorrow night, but if you need more time I can just as easily push that back. Wanna make sure everyone's ready and clear before we jump straight into it!

I unfortunately might have to watch from the sidelines instead. don’t really have the time to create a character and also considering the frequency of posting — I don’t want to slow you guys down!

but all the best guys, this is such a cool idea and I’ll be watching to see what these poor characters endure !!

 

[BakaTheIdiot]

I unfortunately might have to watch from the sidelines instead. don’t really have the time to create a character and also considering the frequency of posting — I don’t want to slow you guys down!

but all the best guys, this is such a cool idea and I’ll be watching to see what these poor characters endure !!

It's a shame you won't be able to hop in, but it is what it is. Thanks anyway for showing interest!

 

[g r i m]

If you’re still accepting I can try to get a character up today!

 

[BakaTheIdiot]

If you’re still accepting I can try to get a character up today!

You're just in time! Characters thread should be indexed above. A heart reaction is a seal of approval!

 

[Meredith]

Now that my sheet is up, I thought I oughts to pop in to say hi!

 

[BakaTheIdiot]

Now that my sheet is up, I thought I oughts to pop in to say hi!

Welcome welcome! Can't wait to enter a nightmarish purgatory with you lmao

 

[apocalypse tv]

hi !! if this is still accepting i would love to join! i was thinking of making someone who had an affiliation with elric (disgraced intellectual dandy type of beat) and i was wondering about the extent and mechanics of transmutation?

 

[OBESE]

Dont know what to expect from this, but Im down for some challange iC and ooc. Gonna leave my CS in the thread and if you happy with accepting me, then let me know with reaction or something .

 

[BakaTheIdiot]

Dont know what to expect from this, but Im down for some challange iC and ooc. Gonna leave my CS in the thread and if you happy with accepting me, then let me know with reaction or something .

Magnifique! He fits just well. He's approved - and so long as you've read the CWs in the original interest check, it's totally cool with me! Welcome aboard!

hi !! if this is still accepting i would love to join! i was thinking of making someone who had an affiliation with elric (disgraced intellectual dandy type of beat) and i was wondering about the extent and mechanics of transmutation?

You're just in time! I was planning on closing the Interest Check today, so you just barely managed to squeeze in. So, I'm operating mostly on Full Metal Alchemist rules with this one, specifically following the laws of that show since it's simple, mostly balanced, and nobody has any prosthetic arms that can be turned into weapons. Alchemists mostly focus on trying to make gold, so there's that. Either way the character premise looks good!

 

[Meredith]

Trying something novel because I think it's funny and it might help define some early relationships.

These are some basic opinions from Aoife's POV on some of the more visible character attributes noted in the CS (ie, stuff that may come up in the first few pages of a game). Some of these attributes might influence your own character's opinion of her in a different/opposite way to that listed here, and in that way this is fairly monodirectional, but it's a way of throwing down a list of notable relationship points for later consideration. I'll update this for later characters or just post again, nbd.

I'm living for the aesthetic, keep doing what you're doing yall!

BakaTheIdiot
Aoife Camden
Lite-Combat Unit Non-Combat Unit
Struggling with Addiction/Disability Struggling with Addiction/Disability
Utilitarian Earnest
Detached Caring
Military Civilian
Status Unclear Volunteer
Faithful to Nasta'iir Faithful to Bastet


Ayama
Aoife Aleksei
Military Service Military Service
Detached Morose
Utilitarian Honourable
Low-caste Noble Background
Hemophobic Tank
Status Unclear Nihlistic Volunteer
Faithful to Nasta'iir Devotee of Vol'numul


Humble1
Aoife Nezhnaya
Hemophobic Healer
Distantly Affable Well-Spoken
Village Sentimentality Common Witch
Pragmatic Investigative
Military Civilian
Status Unclear Volunteer
Faithful to Nasta'iir Follower of Vol'numul

ThaDruid
Aoife Magnus
Disfigured Visibly Scarred
Status Unclear Draftee
Rondon Native Rondon Native
Cowardly Cutthroat
Wary Distanced
Military Convict
Faithful to Nasta'iir Piety Uncertain


OBESE
Aoife Goran
Soldier (Non-Combat) Ex-Solder (Ranged)
Utilitarian Stoic
Rural Background Rural Background
Status Unclear Draftee
Wary Wary
Rondon Military Grenjen Military
Faithful to Nasta'iir Faithful to Vol'numul


apocalypse tv
Aoife Nathaniel
Lite-Combat Unit Non-Combat Unit
Struggling with Addiction Struggling with Addiction
Wary Loose-lipped
Low-Caste Noble Background
Military Civilian
Status Unclear Volunteer
Faithful to Nasta'iir Unknown Faith

 

[ThaDruid]

beautifully done.

 

[apocalypse tv]

Magnifique! He fits just well. He's approved - and so long as you've read the CWs in the original interest check, it's totally cool with me! Welcome aboard!

You're just in time! I was planning on closing the Interest Check today, so you just barely managed to squeeze in. So, I'm operating mostly on Full Metal Alchemist rules with this one, specifically following the laws of that show since it's simple, mostly balanced, and nobody has any prosthetic arms that can be turned into weapons. Alchemists mostly focus on trying to make gold, so there's that. Either way the character premise looks good!

awesome i went ahead and posted - i took some liberties, so please let me know if anything needs to be changed to scale properly with the setting!!

 

[BakaTheIdiot]

awesome i went ahead and posted - i took some liberties, so please let me know if anything needs to be changed to scale properly with the setting!!

I think he fits great! As our first volunteer from Neu Bachtern that's where we were least developed, and it suites what's already there. I think he's perfect, and therefore approved by our lovely sanitarium - with a grain of salt, of course, haha.
Well, this is certainly shaping up to be one hell of an expedition!

 

[Meredith]

Editing this back, but edits don't tag, so here goes nothin'. Sheet looks good~

apocalypse tv
Aoife Nathaniel
Lite-Combat Unit Non-Combat Unit
Struggling with Addiction Struggling with Addiction
Wary Loose-lipped
Low-Caste Noble Background
Military Civilian
Status Unclear Volunteer
Faithful to Nasta'iir Unknown Faith

 

[BakaTheIdiot]

Righto, y'all will probably see this on the other thread, but just so it's here too the interest check is officially closed. Congrats! Now this is an exclusive club of sorts, oh la la!

I'm going to start drafting an opening post for the main, which I'm shooting to put out tomorrow. If you're still wanting in, go ahead and post your CS if you haven't already - even if it's partially complete and missing some details, I'm willing to bend a little bit and work with you. You can fill in the blanks after the fact, so long as I can still get a pretty decent idea of what your character looks like and what they're bringing with them!

And of course, if you need to bow out of this for any reason at all, it's unfortunate but I understand. I wish no ill will towards you whatsoever; real life always comes first!

(Edit: bleh can't spell)

 

[SavannahSmiles]

Righto, y'all will probably see this on the other thread, but just so it's here too the interest check is officially closed. Congrats! Now this is an exclusive club of sorts, oh la la!

I'm going to start drafting an opening post for the main, which I'm shooting to put out tomorrow. If you're still wanting in, go ahead and post your CS if you haven't already - even if it's partially complete and missing some details, I'm willing to bend a little bit and work with you. You can fill in the blanks after the fact, so long as I can still get a pretty decent idea of what your character looks like and what they're bringing with them!

And of course, if you need to bow out of this for any reason at all, it's unfortunate but I understand. I wish no ill will towards you whatsoever; real life always comes first!

(Edit: bleh can't spell)

Sorry, I've been a bit busy and havent had a chance to work on my character yet; I was playing around with the idea that character would have volunteered, but only because she desperately needs the money to pay for medicine for her sick sibling, would this idea work?

 

[BakaTheIdiot]

Sorry, I've been a bit busy and havent had a chance to work on my character yet; I was playing around with the idea that character would have volunteered, but only because she desperately needs the money to pay for medicine for her sick sibling, would this idea work?

That would work! I don't see any issues with it. After all, "volunteer" means whatever it means to the character, and the expedition does compensate rather handsomely...

 

[OBESE]

Was just wondering - are we gonna have some sort of DnD aspects as well in terms of fights or info checks?

 

[BakaTheIdiot]

Was just wondering - are we gonna have some sort of DnD aspects as well in terms of fights or info checks?

So that's a very good question, and I'll probably find some way to "pin" this later so that everybody can find it easily.

The answer: Sometimes.

For the most part you and your party (that is to say, all of you ) will have control over what happens in the story. I would ask that you act in what you feel is the best interest of the overarching story or the development of yours or another's character, but outside of that how combat happens mostly comes down to what you determine. If that means you escape some battles without fighting, awesome. If that means you win with some scrapes and bruises, that's also fine.

There's something I wanna draw attention to: in combat.

Outside of battles, a lot of "things" are going to take place that the collective you will have no sway over, and while I'm going to be fair about some of those things (some stuff is already predetermined), some of it is going to be determined by a coin flip. An actual coin flip, 50/50. The effects of a bad flip can range anywhere from "damn, that sucks," to "oh my god, Baka just murdered one of our NPCs," to "sweet merciful Nasta'iir half of us are missing limbs." Here's an example: let's say you find a box. Just a regular box, nothing special, but it feels pretty heavy, like there's something inside. Choose to open it, and I'll present a coin flip to whoever is opening it. If they correctly call heads or tails, I might reward you collectively with something nice, like some food, an interesting trinket, a sedative to take the edge off, or a tincture to prevent infections - y'know, stuff to help you keep going. Fail the coin toss, and you'll either get something you can't use, or nothing at all. This is a more tame example.

This also applies to exactly 3 situations in combat: loss of life, loss of limb, or loss of healing items (code for "very big ouchie"). Many adversaries down in the Deep will have "coin flip attacks" that can have anywhere from bad to disastrous effects on a failed heads/tails call. Let's say Camden is trying to dodge an axe swing or something of that nature. He's presented a coin toss. If he succeeds, he just barely managed to duck out of the way, and avoids harm - if he guesses wrong, the axe falls, and hacks off his left arm, leaving him permanently dismembered for the rest of the roleplay, and bleeding heavily until treated. Now not every attack is going to be like this, but the point is that coin flips mark when something either entirely luck-based will take place.

That being said, outside of combat, coin flips are never randomly occuring, and not a surprise: you will always know when doing a certain action needs a coin flip before you take it, and you can simply choose not to if you're suspicious. The only times where you can't predict coin flips are during fights, and i try to be sparing with those, since it makes for a pretty unfair experience to have every attack rest on luck alone. Some enemies have zero coin flip attacks, but the enemies that do have them never have more than one.

So, no, there aren't any "ability scores" to keep track of, since you should be pretty well aware of what your character is good at and what they're not. I highly doubt that Aleksei gives the most rousing motivational speeches, haha. However, there are scenarios where a coin flip will determine an outcome, and those are at my discretion. Depending on how this works in practice, I may introduce something to help balance that out (like for example, spending an item to flip 2 coins instead of one, doubling your odds of success) but we'll just adapt as needed to that.

You're probably feeling something along the lines of "Gee, Baka, that seems kind of unfair. How are we supposed to prepare for a spell of bad luck? How do we get out of situations determined by some piece of copper 3000 miles away?"

That's kind of the point.

At times this roleplay might feel unfair, or even cruel, in the treatment of the characters. You can have all the skills in the world going into Spiral Deep, but at the end of the day, everyone in the party is human - and sometimes, skill simply isn't enough. To survive our tour of the Deep, all of you will need to bring your A-game for the whole team, and that's not always going to be possible, for any number of reasons - and that is exactly what I want to tap into for the emotional impact of this roleplay. If we wanna make it to the end, we're gonna have to get a little lucky - or slog through the absolute gauntlet of Spiral Deep, dragging our destroyed bodies back to the surface as we slowly go insane.

TL ; DR - I will flip a coin sometimes to determine things. I choose coins and not dice because it's less fair, not more, and it fits the tone and narrative better.

Hope that clears up some of the confusion, I promise it'll make sense in practice!