timidAristocrat
Isabelle Enjoyer
Hey there, this is a setting that I've worked with for a while, I've done a few RP's in said setting but now I kinda wanna expand it and the first example of that is wanting to get a group to rp it out with me rather than 1x1! Typically in the past my partner and I have run the whole family, splitting it between us, but with a group, perhaps only 2-3 characters each will be needed. Anyways, onwards to an explaination of exactly what is happening here in the world of the Stelorana Family.
This RP is about a somewhat evil familial group in a 1920's inspired fantasy city known as Dunwich. It revolves around (shockingly) the Stelorana Family, a crown-backed noble group who have odd traditions that result in each of them having a unique magical power, as well as a unique magically tarnished appearance. The Family keeps the sprawling coastal metropolis of Dunwich under the Crown's control, through union busting, organized crime, politics, and business. There is no low they are not expected to go to. The group for this rp would play as members of the family, preferably a few of them. We would go through their lives, perhaps the conflict between two who disagree with racketeering a business, or perhaps two members in conflict over controlling a certain port of the city, or things such as dealing with the grief of one of their parents dying, even smaller stuff like having family brunch where a few people really dislike each other or going to a gala and meeting a royal.
I've nerded out a lot over the idea of this setting, and have plenty of lore, speculative family trees, relationship spreadsheets and maps to go through. So, hopefully I can find people cut of the same cloth!
Overall I'm looking for people who want
Family dynamics
Familial drama
To play as bad guys, but still people who love each other
A pinch of dark comedy over how blasé everyone is over being bad
To explore some eldritch horror
Enjoy pouring over spreadsheets and family trees to build out the family and setting
and mostly just people who are chill and fun to play with!
If that speaks to you, then hopefully I'll be talking to you soon!
Ok cool time for me to lore dump on you.
Magic is scarce, used only by creatures of the deep and deals struck with them. Those deals always come with a cost, and usually are messy affairs, except with the Stelorana. The family knows her as Grandmother but she predates them all by more than eight generations. Long ago, she made a deal with a deep entity known as the Benefactor. He would bless her with a family wherein each would be given a unique ability meant to help the family in whatever ails them. In exchange, the family must sacrifice 10 innocents a year, as well as periodic sacrifices of wealth. The biggest payment though, is that no one in the family can have children.
So, if they can't have kids, how does the family persist?
In Stelorana Manor, within the sub basement, is an octagonal room with walls made of slate, and a large metal vault door. It is called the Black Slate Room, and it is the reason the Stelorana are around today. Every of age member of the family can have momentary visions of a person, usually a boy or girl of notably young age. That, is the sacrifice, as well as the newest member of the family. It usually takes a few tries, between 5 and 20, to get the process right, but one day, eventually, after the sacrifice is complete and the door is sealed, the Black Slate Room is opened to the corpse, and something new takes up the space. The corpse wakes up, healed of its injuries, and becomes a new family member. Now, they don't have the memories of their old body, nor are they blank slates. Rather, they have the memories of someone from another world. Many in the family believe it to be that the soul of someone from another dimension is brought to the room, selected by the Benefactor. Others that the Benefactor fabricates these identities to its own end.
Each member of the family has two important aspects to them, a Gift and a Scar. The gift is a magical talent, from something straightforward as pyrokinesis to the ability to stitch dolls of others and puppet them in order to control people. Every member has a gift, and they are expected to use it for the betterment of the family. A scar meanwhile is often the price of the gift, not just taking the form of actual scars, but often blemishes, mutations, or other bodily oddities. Small gifts give hard to notice scars, such as slight levitation perhaps resulting in stark paleness of skin, while larger gifts such as self duplication perhaps results in rabbit ears.
The new members are indoctrinated, and brought up again as new members of the family.
Also yes I do!!!
I think there's two to four easy starting conflicts that we can use to drum up some interactions and then play it by ear afterwards. We don't have to do these all, but they're good starting points.
First is I could play the newest member of the family. It gives us a good reason to gather the whole family and for everyone to be in the same room for a bit. It gives us some lower stakes chances for everyone to interact, and additionally perhaps multiple family members are already vying to get this new member under their wing seeing their new ability as useful to their end goals, or more innocently, family members wanting to make friends with them giving a good excuse for interaction.
Second one is the Winter Tithe! Every solstice and equinox the family has to sacrifice a number of people to the Benefactor, preferably those who are innocent. We can go through the stress of finding a suitable candidate, perhaps we try someone willing who follows a Family run church? Or instead perhaps some of the more combat-inclined members go out in the dead of night to capture someone. What if a family member opposes the sacrifice this year? Especially given the winter tithe is the most important, it could cause some wonderful drama.
Third, what if a royal who is diametrically opposed to the Stelorana existing comes to the city. They begin undermining their existence, and is against using the power of Deep Entities in general. Perhaps he or she is a religious person, riling up the populace against these unholy freaks. The family would have to band together, even those who dislike one another need to work side by side lest they be caught by the ire of the crowded masses. We could also invert this and have it be a royal suitor looking to marry into the family after being sent away from Capitol.
Fourth, the simplest, what if the air of revolution has taken over Dunwich? Communist revolution was common in Europe at the time, and given the Crown Isle is based on England it would make sense. Remember we're bad guys so being against this is part of the fun of being evil! But, maybe some teenage members of the family are against the union busting nature of it. Or even more interesting, what if some of the family thinks they can ride the tide of this revolt, and end up as the new top dogs?
Together I think we can make something really nice! Or really messed up, violent, horrifying, and darkly comedic!
Primer
This RP is about a somewhat evil familial group in a 1920's inspired fantasy city known as Dunwich. It revolves around (shockingly) the Stelorana Family, a crown-backed noble group who have odd traditions that result in each of them having a unique magical power, as well as a unique magically tarnished appearance. The Family keeps the sprawling coastal metropolis of Dunwich under the Crown's control, through union busting, organized crime, politics, and business. There is no low they are not expected to go to. The group for this rp would play as members of the family, preferably a few of them. We would go through their lives, perhaps the conflict between two who disagree with racketeering a business, or perhaps two members in conflict over controlling a certain port of the city, or things such as dealing with the grief of one of their parents dying, even smaller stuff like having family brunch where a few people really dislike each other or going to a gala and meeting a royal. I've nerded out a lot over the idea of this setting, and have plenty of lore, speculative family trees, relationship spreadsheets and maps to go through. So, hopefully I can find people cut of the same cloth!
Overall I'm looking for people who want
Family dynamics
Familial drama
To play as bad guys, but still people who love each other
A pinch of dark comedy over how blasé everyone is over being bad
To explore some eldritch horror
Enjoy pouring over spreadsheets and family trees to build out the family and setting
and mostly just people who are chill and fun to play with!
If that speaks to you, then hopefully I'll be talking to you soon!
Some inspirations
Dishonored, Blades in the Dark, Adams Family, (weirdly) The Amazing Digital Circus, and various 'adopted by the villain' archetype manhua.Ok cool time for me to lore dump on you.
Loredump
It's the year 1913, the Great War has yet to start, and none have realized quite yet that they live in the end of the age of absolute monarchies, especially here on the Crown Isle. From Capitol the king rules, but all the money is made right here, in the grand city of Dunwich, and Dunwich is held in the grips of one family, the Stelorana. Under a quiet alliance with the crown so old no member of either group has reported to remember it, the Stelorana have ruled Dunwich. They are the politicians, titans of industry, and heads of the underworld in this city. But above all else, they are the most magical group in the country.Magic is scarce, used only by creatures of the deep and deals struck with them. Those deals always come with a cost, and usually are messy affairs, except with the Stelorana. The family knows her as Grandmother but she predates them all by more than eight generations. Long ago, she made a deal with a deep entity known as the Benefactor. He would bless her with a family wherein each would be given a unique ability meant to help the family in whatever ails them. In exchange, the family must sacrifice 10 innocents a year, as well as periodic sacrifices of wealth. The biggest payment though, is that no one in the family can have children.
So, if they can't have kids, how does the family persist?
In Stelorana Manor, within the sub basement, is an octagonal room with walls made of slate, and a large metal vault door. It is called the Black Slate Room, and it is the reason the Stelorana are around today. Every of age member of the family can have momentary visions of a person, usually a boy or girl of notably young age. That, is the sacrifice, as well as the newest member of the family. It usually takes a few tries, between 5 and 20, to get the process right, but one day, eventually, after the sacrifice is complete and the door is sealed, the Black Slate Room is opened to the corpse, and something new takes up the space. The corpse wakes up, healed of its injuries, and becomes a new family member. Now, they don't have the memories of their old body, nor are they blank slates. Rather, they have the memories of someone from another world. Many in the family believe it to be that the soul of someone from another dimension is brought to the room, selected by the Benefactor. Others that the Benefactor fabricates these identities to its own end.
Each member of the family has two important aspects to them, a Gift and a Scar. The gift is a magical talent, from something straightforward as pyrokinesis to the ability to stitch dolls of others and puppet them in order to control people. Every member has a gift, and they are expected to use it for the betterment of the family. A scar meanwhile is often the price of the gift, not just taking the form of actual scars, but often blemishes, mutations, or other bodily oddities. Small gifts give hard to notice scars, such as slight levitation perhaps resulting in stark paleness of skin, while larger gifts such as self duplication perhaps results in rabbit ears.
The new members are indoctrinated, and brought up again as new members of the family.
So do you have a starting plot in mind?
Oh thank god you asked.Also yes I do!!!
I think there's two to four easy starting conflicts that we can use to drum up some interactions and then play it by ear afterwards. We don't have to do these all, but they're good starting points.
First is I could play the newest member of the family. It gives us a good reason to gather the whole family and for everyone to be in the same room for a bit. It gives us some lower stakes chances for everyone to interact, and additionally perhaps multiple family members are already vying to get this new member under their wing seeing their new ability as useful to their end goals, or more innocently, family members wanting to make friends with them giving a good excuse for interaction.
Second one is the Winter Tithe! Every solstice and equinox the family has to sacrifice a number of people to the Benefactor, preferably those who are innocent. We can go through the stress of finding a suitable candidate, perhaps we try someone willing who follows a Family run church? Or instead perhaps some of the more combat-inclined members go out in the dead of night to capture someone. What if a family member opposes the sacrifice this year? Especially given the winter tithe is the most important, it could cause some wonderful drama.
Third, what if a royal who is diametrically opposed to the Stelorana existing comes to the city. They begin undermining their existence, and is against using the power of Deep Entities in general. Perhaps he or she is a religious person, riling up the populace against these unholy freaks. The family would have to band together, even those who dislike one another need to work side by side lest they be caught by the ire of the crowded masses. We could also invert this and have it be a royal suitor looking to marry into the family after being sent away from Capitol.
Fourth, the simplest, what if the air of revolution has taken over Dunwich? Communist revolution was common in Europe at the time, and given the Crown Isle is based on England it would make sense. Remember we're bad guys so being against this is part of the fun of being evil! But, maybe some teenage members of the family are against the union busting nature of it. Or even more interesting, what if some of the family thinks they can ride the tide of this revolt, and end up as the new top dogs?
Setting Example Characters
So I have a few ideas for my character and then I'll give you example characters you could play for this so you can get an idea for the kinds of characters this setting is best for!- Calliope was never a very courageous girl. No, she was always a coward from what she can remember. Her old family used that quite a bit, leaving her wary of the family dynamics seen here now, but perhaps a warm hand can guide her to a more trusting space. Her gift and scar has to do with her breathing. When she breaths in, her hair floats as if underwater, falling when she breaths out in turn. Her gift appears as she holds her breath, until it's released, time is stopped for any but herself, limited only by her lung capacity.
- Horror enthusiast Jenny, who's in way over her head. She woke up looking similar to the girl from the ring, Sadako. Long black hair covering her face, and two small additional eyes underneath the hair. She's dealing with living in a real life horror movie, the bodies are real, the eldritch creatures aren't cgi, and all the tropes are just spread out in front of her. Her ability is invisibility and intangibility, making her a passive observer much of the time. She could one day be a great spy, if she can pull herself together and fully side with the family.
- Once a wealthy architect, Rosalyn highly valued herself and her place in society. Likely to be the most resistant to having a new space in a hierarchy (ie, having to exist underneath all of the older members of the family) she would be the easiest to convince towards the dark side. She looks fairly normal, but wears long arm length gloves all the time, due to everything under having random protruding bits of stone coming out. Her power is to shape, she can mold things like clay that touch the stones, which has resulted in a lot of new doorhandles and silverware needing to be ordered while she gets used to how things work.
- Vivian doesn't know who she was. She knows her name, she knows she doesnt belong here, but what she was before is wiped clean. The few images she's seen however are terrifying. Blood, gore, sinew, torn by her own hand. Was she more of a monster before, or now? Her abilities stem from her black-charred fingers, brought to claws that allow her to control blood. However, like her memories, Vivian's control is shaky at best, and her fear of violence only makes this power a worse burden for her.
- Victoria was a seamstress in her last existence, within a early modern world. But once she awoke here, her ambition became true. Now part of the older generation of the Stelorana Family, she is known as the businesswoman of the family, from corrupt board member to ruthless stock trader. She wears all red, including a large wide brimmed hat that never lets you fully see her eyes, a part of her hidden scar. She is cunning, quick, and intelligent, willing to do anything for the success of the family. Her ability is reading the mind of anyone who meets her gaze which comes very handy for dealing with outsiders to the family, and in controlling her 'kids' too.
- Alexander is uh... he's a real shitter. A man of the cloth who never cared much for gods, but rather the position of privilege it gave him. He enjoyed a lavish life in his old world and intends to do the same here as well, sitting back and never helping too much, but making sure he's too valuable to be messed around with. He uses his gift to see the future in order to run a series of churches, performing miraculous scrying rituals to keep the huddled masses amused and faithful. His scar is hidden behind his red circle glasses, eyes of a goat, and possibly hooves too, if he ever took off his shoes, which he insists upon never doing.
- Rell is considered quite protective of her family. She never speaks of her past, or the type of world she came from, but most can surmise she lacked the familial structure she has now. Now she's an older sister or older cousin to many of those in the house, she'll offer to accompany anyone to events or walk them to school. Just to keep an eye on them. She often sucks up to authority above her, even if its not in her best interest. Her skin is cracked like that of stone, revealing golden colors beneath. Her ability is replay physical feelings on people she's touching, typically meaning excruciating pain, but she can be versatile with it.
Epilogue
Well! If you have any interest in even part of this please hit me up! I will autistically ramble about this at you for as long as you want and set up so much for the setting with any OC's you bring my way (I'm a Dungeon Master at heart after all so I love setting up your characters as much as if not more than my own!) .Together I think we can make something really nice! Or really messed up, violent, horrifying, and darkly comedic!
