Opening Post
Hestia&theCourt
Turns out we're plural too.
- Location
- In transition
- Pronouns
- She/Her
IC Thread
A woman dressed in a white toga floats in the void, looking contemplative.
"Hmm. That could have gone better," she muses. "Even so, it was quite entertaining."
She taps her chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps... perhaps it is time to try again. But with a few more limits, I think. I think I'll lock them into one plane of existence, to avoid complicating matters more than they need to be. And perhaps a more developed setting. An already-inhabited world, perhaps?" She frowns thoughtfully. "Low tech base, though, I think. Medieval? Yes. That sounds good. But with a few extra... features." Her eyes sparkle mischievously. "And this time, I think I won't tell them what's going on. Let them figure it out themselves."
A wave of her hand, and the arrangements are made. A plane of existence is created and sealed away from the other planes. A solar system is formed. A planet is made, and populated with humans and more. Time passes, until all is done.
"The stage is set," the woman declares, rubbing her hands together eagerly. "Now, who shall the players be?"
To those who came here from my last RP, the rules are mostly the same, except that now, your in-game selves have no clue what's going on, and I expect this to be role-played appropriately. (This doesn't stop your characters from assuming they're in a dream, though, or from making accurate assumptions about the existence of an ROB. Or from wishing fictional things into existence. Or... well, you get the idea.) Furthermore, you can't wish yourself out of the plane of existence you're in, through loopholes or otherwise. You're stuck in this plane.
A woman dressed in a white toga floats in the void, looking contemplative.
"Hmm. That could have gone better," she muses. "Even so, it was quite entertaining."
She taps her chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps... perhaps it is time to try again. But with a few more limits, I think. I think I'll lock them into one plane of existence, to avoid complicating matters more than they need to be. And perhaps a more developed setting. An already-inhabited world, perhaps?" She frowns thoughtfully. "Low tech base, though, I think. Medieval? Yes. That sounds good. But with a few extra... features." Her eyes sparkle mischievously. "And this time, I think I won't tell them what's going on. Let them figure it out themselves."
A wave of her hand, and the arrangements are made. A plane of existence is created and sealed away from the other planes. A solar system is formed. A planet is made, and populated with humans and more. Time passes, until all is done.
"The stage is set," the woman declares, rubbing her hands together eagerly. "Now, who shall the players be?"
Signup is not required for this game. You can just post in the IC thread at any time. The default assumption is that you will be playing as yourself; however, if you want to play as your avatar, a fictional character, or as the half-Filipino cousin of George Washington, nothing's stopping you. (It won't mean anything mechanics-wise, though.) Just let people know in this thread that you intend to do that; if you're playing as a giant cyborg dragon with a fish tail, other players will probably want to know so that they can react appropriately. The only hard-and-fast rule on this one is that you may only play as and directly choose the actions of one character.
In some ways, this game runs like a quest, in that the GM (me) puts forward a basic scenario, the players choose what to do, and the GM makes a post in which things happen based on those choices, whereupon the players make another choice about what to do with the consequences of their actions. However, there are two major differences (which is why this is in Roleplaying rather than Quests):
First, each player is playing their own character.
Second, it's more open-ended. Imagine a quest where every IC post ended with "Write-In" as your only option.
So then, how does the GM decide what happens when you choose an action? While some of it is up to GM discretion, the primary decider is a six-sided die. When you post your action in the IC thread, you will also use the forum's die roller to roll a d6. How well you succeed at your attempted action is based on what you rolled.
First, each player is playing their own character.
Second, it's more open-ended. Imagine a quest where every IC post ended with "Write-In" as your only option.
So then, how does the GM decide what happens when you choose an action? While some of it is up to GM discretion, the primary decider is a six-sided die. When you post your action in the IC thread, you will also use the forum's die roller to roll a d6. How well you succeed at your attempted action is based on what you rolled.
- Rolling a 1 is a Spectacular Failure. You have bungled your attempt in basically every way possible. Mechanics-wise, one of three things will happen: most commonly, you'll get a permanent -1 on rolls related to whatever you failed at doing; if the situation warrants it, you'll be attacked by something and will have to roll to dodge (more on that later); or you may just wind up dead, although that last one is rare and you're far more likely to roll to dodge. (Note that even if you die, being dead doesn't mean the game is over for you. You can adventure in the afterlife, try to return to the world of the living, or just influence the world without bothering to un-deadify yourself.)
- Rolling a 2 is a Failure. Whatever you did didn't work.
- Rolling a 3 is Almost a Success. You tried your hardest, but it didn't quite work out. Alternatively, you technically succeeded, but it's not working out the way you wanted it to.
- Rolling a 4 is a Success. You succeed at doing the thing.
- Rolling a 5 is a Good Success. You succeed at doing the thing, and it goes better than expected. You get a +1 on your next roll related to whatever you did.
- Rolling a 6 is a Spectacular Success. You have succeeded beyond your wildest dreams! You get a permanent +1 to rolls related to whatever you succeeded at.
Now, the astute reader is probably thinking one of three things.
Q: How do I know what a +1 or -1 will apply to in the case of actions where it could go more than one way?
A: The GM chooses and will let you know in the IC post.
Q: Okay, that makes sense. But do the +1s and -1s stack? If so, how do you keep things from getting unbalanced?
A: Yes, they do stack. However, as the GM, I do have the ability to mess around with things. On a 7+, you'll succeed spectacularly, but you'll also find that other things will start going wrong for you. You may have tamed all the dragons, but now people are trying to kill you because they fear you'll become a dragon-based tyrant. That sort of thing. The higher you roll, the more things will start going wrong for you. On a 0 or less, though, you'll fail spectacularly, but the universe will throw you a bone. Perhaps you've been thrown into a pit of lava and killed, but your consciousness may inhabit the magma, turning you into a powerful volcano spirit. The lower you rolled, the more the universe will make it up to you. The universe will conspire to not let any one player constantly rise or constantly sink.
Q: Okay, I guess that might work. So what does it mean to "roll to dodge"?
A: I'm glad you asked that! Whenever something would harm you, another six-sided die is rolled. You can post your die roll either in the IC or OOC thread once you're aware that someone is taking hostile action towards you; if it would happen in the GM post because of something you did, I'll roll it in the OOC thread.
Once the die is rolled, what happens depends on what you rolled:
Q: How do I know what a +1 or -1 will apply to in the case of actions where it could go more than one way?
A: The GM chooses and will let you know in the IC post.
Q: Okay, that makes sense. But do the +1s and -1s stack? If so, how do you keep things from getting unbalanced?
A: Yes, they do stack. However, as the GM, I do have the ability to mess around with things. On a 7+, you'll succeed spectacularly, but you'll also find that other things will start going wrong for you. You may have tamed all the dragons, but now people are trying to kill you because they fear you'll become a dragon-based tyrant. That sort of thing. The higher you roll, the more things will start going wrong for you. On a 0 or less, though, you'll fail spectacularly, but the universe will throw you a bone. Perhaps you've been thrown into a pit of lava and killed, but your consciousness may inhabit the magma, turning you into a powerful volcano spirit. The lower you rolled, the more the universe will make it up to you. The universe will conspire to not let any one player constantly rise or constantly sink.
Q: Okay, I guess that might work. So what does it mean to "roll to dodge"?
A: I'm glad you asked that! Whenever something would harm you, another six-sided die is rolled. You can post your die roll either in the IC or OOC thread once you're aware that someone is taking hostile action towards you; if it would happen in the GM post because of something you did, I'll roll it in the OOC thread.
Once the die is rolled, what happens depends on what you rolled:
- On a 1, you are Dead. As noted, that doesn't mean you have to stop playing. Death tends to be pretty transitory when every action has an equal probability, after all.
- On a 2, you are Wounded. You haven't died, but you did get hurt. If you get Wounded again before you manage to heal yourself, you are then Dead.
- On a 3, you've been Nicked. You avoided the worst of it, but you do have some slight injuries. You get -1 on your next roll.
- On a 4, you Dodge. You're perfectly fine.
- On a 5, you perform an Excellent Dodge. Not only do you avoid harm, but you've learned something about your attacker in the process. You get +1 on all future Rolls to Dodge against that particular opponent. Unlike other +1s, however, any bonuses earned this way do not stack.
- On a 6, you Counterattack. You avoid harm and then counter, forcing your opponent to Roll to Dodge. Yes, that can turn into a game of Roll to Dodge ping-pong if your opponent rolls a 6.
Okay then. For the purposes of this example, let's say that your action was to Go Fishing. (I picked a simple action for the sake of example; your action doesn't necessarily need to be this simplistic.)
- On a 1, you fished up... the Jaws shark. It's trying to eat you! Roll to Dodge. Alternatively, you manage to somehow light your boat on fire with the fishing pole and only barely escape. You get a permanent -1 to fishing rolls due to trauma.
- On a 2, you fished and fished, and then you dropped your fishing pole into the lake. -1 on your next fishing roll.
- On a 3, you fished and fished and fished, but nothing seems to be biting. Alternatively, you got a fish, but it's not the kind you were looking for.
- On a 4, you succeeded in catching a fish!
- On a 5, you caught a lot of fish! You probably won't be lacking for fish for a few days. +1 on your next roll involving fish.
- On a 6... you fished up a Gyarados! Awww, he likes you! You get a loyal laserfish and a permanent +1 on rolls involving said laserfish. You may name your Gyarados as a free action.
- On a 1, the Jaws shark eats you and you are Dead.
- On a 2, you manage to swim to shore before he eats you, but... oh dear, that's a lot of blood. And is that one of your arms in his mouth? You are Wounded.
- On a 3, you swim to shore quickly, receiving only a few scrapes from his rough skin. -1 to your next roll.
- On a 4, you manage to swim to shore without getting injured.
- On a 5, you swim circles around the Jaws shark, learning his attack patterns, his speed, and his temperament. +1 on all future rolls to dodge the Jaws shark.
- On a 6, you swim circles around the Jaws shark and fire your harpoon gun! The Jaws shark must roll to dodge!
While you already have the core of the game down if you've read this far, there are a few additional rules that will help make sure that the game runs smoothly.
- You may not post the same action twice in a row. It kind of circumvents the random chance bit if you just keep attempting the same thing until you roll a 6.
- You may not take actions that target the dice themselves. You can't try to make someone roll a 1 or make your next roll a 6. However, people's bonuses are fair game. You can target anyone's +1 or -1, or just take an action that has a decent chance of canceling that out.
- While player-on-player combat is allowed, you may not take hostile action against a player until that player has taken two turns. NPCs are fair game, though.
- You only control your character. If you picked up a Gyarados, you can take an action to have your Gyarados do something, but you cannot take an action and have your Gyarados take a second action.
- You cannot retroactively change a roll. Just, no.
- While you can target a group of people such as "anyone who posts after me" or "all dictators in Russian history", you get a -1 on rolls targeting such groups. Primarily because it makes a lot of work for the GM.
- You may not use an action to control the actions of another player. For obvious reasons. NPCs are fair game, though.
- No blatant metagaming. At least pretend to be in-character and stick with the information your character could reasonably know.
- Rolls cannot change the fundamental rules.
- You cannot affect the GM directly. Similarly, you cannot affect anything IRL. If you roll to control Sufficient Velocity or some such, you control the in-universe version, not the real one.
- You may not wish for omnipotence, omniscience, or anything similar. Can't believe it took me so long to put this in here.
- You cannot roll to ret-gone. You may roll to erase an NPC from existence, but you cannot make it so that they never existed in the first place. That's a pile of headaches I don't need.
- You cannot wish your way out of this plane of existence, directly or indirectly. You're stuck here. Guess you'll just have to make the best of it.
- No time travel. Just, no.
In the event of complicated events that make it matter in what order things are done, I will use the following format:
- The first player to post will have their action resolved.
- That player will then have any environmental events resolved, in the order that said events were posted.
- I will then proceed to the next player and do the same for them.
To those who came here from my last RP, the rules are mostly the same, except that now, your in-game selves have no clue what's going on, and I expect this to be role-played appropriately. (This doesn't stop your characters from assuming they're in a dream, though, or from making accurate assumptions about the existence of an ROB. Or from wishing fictional things into existence. Or... well, you get the idea.) Furthermore, you can't wish yourself out of the plane of existence you're in, through loopholes or otherwise. You're stuck in this plane.
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