Story Threads
An Eldar, Ork, and Guardsmen walk into a Sect ( 40k / Wuxia?! )
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Prologue:
Big Daddy Emps was bored. Aside from the mind-crushing pain of having his soul split into tens of thousands of tiny pieces, and the occasional prank from Tzeentch, things were relatively boring on the Golden Throne. Even Paradox-Billiards-Vostroyan-Roulette-Fourth Dimensional-Hypercube-Chess-Strip Poker was losing its appeal. So, as was usual when things got boring, Big E took a gander through mankind's history for something entertaining. He'd been doing a lot of reading lately, especially the fantasy trope, but was running out of good material, and had to start looking in the margins. There was plenty of decent work that was satisfying to read, but it was hard to find the good stuff amongst the mediocre and mundane.
Walking along a long wall of books, he slowly checked through each genre, hoping for something to stand out. Medieval fantasy? No, that's been done to death. Isekai with monster protag? Rarer, but still it'd been done, and overall trope was getting bloated. Modern Fantasy? No, everything else paled in comparison to the Dresden series. Was there truly nothing entertaining left in mankind's history and lore?
The small library formed from Anathema's scattered soul fragments shifted from its usual golden glory to a pulsing purple-blue. Sighing, Big E turned to a small octopus, who was squeezing in through the tiny lock in the library's massive door. After all, the Warp isn't the safest of neighborhoods. "What now, Tzeentch. Can't you see I'm busy? I can't finish the setup for our DnD campaign if you keep bothering me." The octopus flashed Big E with its mating tentacle, before pulling a tiny scroll from inside its innards. Tossing the slightly soggy scroll to the somewhat foggy and undefined form of The Emperor of Mankind, the octopus crawled into its favorite conch shell, and settled in to wait. Emps unraveled the scroll, eyeing it carefully. Inside was a long list of rules, with a short prologue detailing the setting of an eastern fantasy world. Raising an eyebrow, the powerful psyker turned to the octopus. "A Quest? You think any of our usual players can work together long enough to form a reasonable story? Chegorrath and The Deceiver will just derail everything the moment we get distracted."
The octopus waved its tentacles in the air in a rude fashion, before pointing *upward*. Big E frowned for a moment, before he, too, noticed the watching entities. Smiling up at You, he chuckled. "Oh, now you've done it, Tzeentch. The forums of Old Terra are a bigger salt mine than Nurgle after Isha stared too long at Slaanesh's ass last Sanguinala. Oh well, I suppose this will do. Listen up, you lot, it looks like you'll have to help make the decisions here. Tzeentch and I will be in charge though, and I intend a FAIR and CLEAN Quest. You will be cordial and -" A faint snickering quickly filled the room, drowning out the remainder of the Emperor's speech, which lasted for a full five minutes, and was also dreadfully boring.
The octopus waved as the Emperor continued his monologue, drawing Your attention closer. "Hey, You. Yes You. Wanna play a game?"
[] Perhaps.
[] Yes, Daddy!
[] I suppose...
[] MILK FOR THE KHORNE FLAKES!
Waving excitedly, Tzeentch urges you closer. "Perfect! Just the level of excitement we need. Now, below are the rules and the starting options. No Space Marine starts though, those are too OP and boring. Oh, and watch out for the Tyranids, they're gonna show up after about half a year, give or take a few weeks, so make sure to be ready!"
Mechanics and Rules: ( pending several reworks as of 8/8 )
Base Mechanics:
Cultivation Methods, Arts, Techniques, and Resources:
Combat Stats:
Turns and Actions:
Items:
Nearly all mechanics revolve around dice rolls. Most use d10s, with a 7+ counting as a success, and total successes for an action determining the outcome. In general, an action will have skills associated with it, each skill level providing an additional d10 roll.
Skills:
Skills represent your ability in certain fields. They have both Current levels and Max levels. Current levels are what add d10 rolls, while Max levels are the highest a skill can reach before it can no longer improve. Max levels are based on Stats. Skills are limited in their maximum level by their associated Stats. Each skill has two associated stats. The maximum level is equal to the average of these two stats. There are also Subskills associated with each Skill. These represent narrowed proficiency in a field, and have only one associated Stat. This allows for subskills to, in general, reach a higher level than their broader counterpart. When performing an action that has a Subskill associated, you add both the Skill level, and the Subskill level, to the total dice rolled.
Stats:
There are 6 Primary Stats. These are Strength, Agility, Stamina, Wits, Wisdom, and Will. Stats have a Current and Max level, representing the character's current abilities, and their current potential for growth. The Max level increases as you advance through the stages of cultivation. In addition to the 6 Primary Stats, there is a final Stat: Talent. Talent represents one's natural inclination for Cultivation, as well as the ability to invent new Arts and Techniques, or expand upon existing ones. Talent is very hard to improve, requiring successful breakthroughs and frequent experimentation. Increasing the Max of Talent is even harder, as few methods are known to improve latent talent.
Cultivation Ranks ( CR ):
There are two basic cultivation ranks, which represent the power of an individual. The first is Major, which is analogous to the various cultivation stages of Wuxia/Xianxia novels, I.E. Foundation Stage, Nascent Soul Stage, etc. Each Major rank is a large hurdle, and marks a large qualitative increase in power and potential. In addition, within each Major rank are a series of sub-ranks, known as Minor Ranks. These are smaller steps along the path of Cultivation, and provide small increases in power. Each Major Rank requires a total of 5 Minor Ranks to be reached before the next Major Rank is earned.
Leveling Up:
Whether it be Skills, Stats, or Rank, each level up requires XP, earned from associated actions. It takes ((100 + level^2) Rank) XP to level up a skill, stat, art, technique, rank, etc.
Base Skills:
Melee - Stamina, Strength
Ranged - Agility, Strength
Melee ( Spiritual ) - Strength, Will
Ranged ( Spiritual ) - Agility, Wisdom
Avoidance- Agility, Wits
Stealth- Agility, Wits
Resilience - Stamina, Will
Perception - Wisdom, Wits
Social - Wisdom, Wits
Craft- Wits, Will
Labor- Strength, Stamina
Skills:
Skills represent your ability in certain fields. They have both Current levels and Max levels. Current levels are what add d10 rolls, while Max levels are the highest a skill can reach before it can no longer improve. Max levels are based on Stats. Skills are limited in their maximum level by their associated Stats. Each skill has two associated stats. The maximum level is equal to the average of these two stats. There are also Subskills associated with each Skill. These represent narrowed proficiency in a field, and have only one associated Stat. This allows for subskills to, in general, reach a higher level than their broader counterpart. When performing an action that has a Subskill associated, you add both the Skill level, and the Subskill level, to the total dice rolled.
Stats:
There are 6 Primary Stats. These are Strength, Agility, Stamina, Wits, Wisdom, and Will. Stats have a Current and Max level, representing the character's current abilities, and their current potential for growth. The Max level increases as you advance through the stages of cultivation. In addition to the 6 Primary Stats, there is a final Stat: Talent. Talent represents one's natural inclination for Cultivation, as well as the ability to invent new Arts and Techniques, or expand upon existing ones. Talent is very hard to improve, requiring successful breakthroughs and frequent experimentation. Increasing the Max of Talent is even harder, as few methods are known to improve latent talent.
Cultivation Ranks ( CR ):
There are two basic cultivation ranks, which represent the power of an individual. The first is Major, which is analogous to the various cultivation stages of Wuxia/Xianxia novels, I.E. Foundation Stage, Nascent Soul Stage, etc. Each Major rank is a large hurdle, and marks a large qualitative increase in power and potential. In addition, within each Major rank are a series of sub-ranks, known as Minor Ranks. These are smaller steps along the path of Cultivation, and provide small increases in power. Each Major Rank requires a total of 5 Minor Ranks to be reached before the next Major Rank is earned.
Leveling Up:
Whether it be Skills, Stats, or Rank, each level up requires XP, earned from associated actions. It takes ((100 + level^2) Rank) XP to level up a skill, stat, art, technique, rank, etc.
Base Skills:
Melee - Stamina, Strength
Ranged - Agility, Strength
Melee ( Spiritual ) - Strength, Will
Ranged ( Spiritual ) - Agility, Wisdom
Avoidance- Agility, Wits
Stealth- Agility, Wits
Resilience - Stamina, Will
Perception - Wisdom, Wits
Social - Wisdom, Wits
Craft- Wits, Will
Labor- Strength, Stamina
Cultivation Methods, Arts, Techniques, and Resources:
Cultivation Methods ( CM ) :
In order to advance in Rank, you have to practice a specific Cultivation Method. These generally improve the max of a stats on a breakthrough, and sometimes provide skill bonuses or other extra dice rolls, which remain as long as the Rank isn't retrained. Ranks earned can be re-trained in a different Cultivation Method ( CM ). This is most commonly used when a better CM is discovered. However, doing so comes at a cost. All bonuses from the lost Rank are completely removed. In addition, all XP earned is cut in half, AND the required XP to recover the Rank is equal to the XP cost of earning a new Rank, rather than the original XP required when it was first earned. This makes retraining harder the farther you advance, though the resources available at higher levels will likely make the breakthrough much easier than it originally was.
Techniques and Arts:
Arts are a genre or form of Qi usage. Training in an Art provides both passive bonuses, and Techniques, which are essentially abilities. Techniques have a number of uses per encounter, as well as cooldowns, with their use usually providing bonuses to skill rolls, though some can heal, or buff other statistics. Arts and Techniques function much like Skills, with associated Stats limiting their Max level.
Think of Arts like the 13 Step Spear Form, which might give 13 different Techniques, and passive bonuses to the Spear skill and related dice rolls. Techniques and Arts vary widely in Stat usage, and nearly every combination exists, the key is finding them, with better/rarer combos being more illusive and costly to obtain.
A character has a number of Art and Technique slots based on their CR, limiting the number of active Arts and Techniques you can have ready at one time. A character has 1 Art slot for each Major Rank, and 1 Technique slot for each Minor Rank. IE, a Cultivator at the Second Minor Realm of the 3rd Major Realm would have 3 Art slots, and 12 Technique slots, for the 3 Major Ranks and 12 Minor ranks earned. Different Arts and Techniques have different slot costs, with stronger ones having higher costs in general. Slots thematically represent Meridians, which must be attuned to the Art for use. You can re-tune to a different Technique or Art, but can only be done during a full Cultivation Action ( See below ).
Resources and Cultivation Sites ( CS ):
One of the most vital parts of a cultivator's life, Resources and Cultivation Sites improve the XP gain of skills, stats, and cultivation by using said resources, or training at the sites. These are usually extra XP dice rolls for resources, or flat multipliers for sites. The most basic resource are Spirit Stones. These are used in base cultivation, and provide more XP dice towards their next CR. Using too many resources leads to potential damage and lost XP, most commonly with overuse of Spirit Stones. The Resilience skill helps mitigate this possibility. Other resources, such as medicine, tend to only work for certain Ranks, and have a maximum number of uses before becoming dangerous to a cultivator. The specific risks and quantity vary based on the material, but for Spirit Stones, each stone requires a Resilience test, the total being the total number of stones used. If the total successes from your Resilience roll do not meet the total required, then all XP for that session is lost, and you take damage equal to x^2, where x is the number of failures above your success roll.
In order to advance in Rank, you have to practice a specific Cultivation Method. These generally improve the max of a stats on a breakthrough, and sometimes provide skill bonuses or other extra dice rolls, which remain as long as the Rank isn't retrained. Ranks earned can be re-trained in a different Cultivation Method ( CM ). This is most commonly used when a better CM is discovered. However, doing so comes at a cost. All bonuses from the lost Rank are completely removed. In addition, all XP earned is cut in half, AND the required XP to recover the Rank is equal to the XP cost of earning a new Rank, rather than the original XP required when it was first earned. This makes retraining harder the farther you advance, though the resources available at higher levels will likely make the breakthrough much easier than it originally was.
Techniques and Arts:
Arts are a genre or form of Qi usage. Training in an Art provides both passive bonuses, and Techniques, which are essentially abilities. Techniques have a number of uses per encounter, as well as cooldowns, with their use usually providing bonuses to skill rolls, though some can heal, or buff other statistics. Arts and Techniques function much like Skills, with associated Stats limiting their Max level.
Think of Arts like the 13 Step Spear Form, which might give 13 different Techniques, and passive bonuses to the Spear skill and related dice rolls. Techniques and Arts vary widely in Stat usage, and nearly every combination exists, the key is finding them, with better/rarer combos being more illusive and costly to obtain.
A character has a number of Art and Technique slots based on their CR, limiting the number of active Arts and Techniques you can have ready at one time. A character has 1 Art slot for each Major Rank, and 1 Technique slot for each Minor Rank. IE, a Cultivator at the Second Minor Realm of the 3rd Major Realm would have 3 Art slots, and 12 Technique slots, for the 3 Major Ranks and 12 Minor ranks earned. Different Arts and Techniques have different slot costs, with stronger ones having higher costs in general. Slots thematically represent Meridians, which must be attuned to the Art for use. You can re-tune to a different Technique or Art, but can only be done during a full Cultivation Action ( See below ).
Resources and Cultivation Sites ( CS ):
One of the most vital parts of a cultivator's life, Resources and Cultivation Sites improve the XP gain of skills, stats, and cultivation by using said resources, or training at the sites. These are usually extra XP dice rolls for resources, or flat multipliers for sites. The most basic resource are Spirit Stones. These are used in base cultivation, and provide more XP dice towards their next CR. Using too many resources leads to potential damage and lost XP, most commonly with overuse of Spirit Stones. The Resilience skill helps mitigate this possibility. Other resources, such as medicine, tend to only work for certain Ranks, and have a maximum number of uses before becoming dangerous to a cultivator. The specific risks and quantity vary based on the material, but for Spirit Stones, each stone requires a Resilience test, the total being the total number of stones used. If the total successes from your Resilience roll do not meet the total required, then all XP for that session is lost, and you take damage equal to x^2, where x is the number of failures above your success roll.
Combat Stats:
There are three basic combat stats. Armor, Damage, and HP.
Armor:
Armor reduces all damage taken in a round, up to a certain max. Armor has two types, Spiritual, and Physical, and only work against that type of damage. Armor also has a maximum number of damage mitigated in an encounter, called Durability. Characters have a base armor equal to their Major Rank, and a Durability equal to their Resilience plus Toughness or Strong Willed ( two Subskills of Resilience ), for Physical and Spiritual, respectively. Separate Armor bonuses work independently, with the highest Armor rating being targeted first, until its durability is turned to zero, or the damage exceeds its rating, which causes the excess damage to flow over to the next Armor bonus, repeating until there is no armor, in which case, it deals HP damage or causes some sort of debuff, or all damage has been mitigated.
Damage:
Damage comes in two types, like armor, being Physical or Spiritual. It can also have elemental types, which have situational damage modifiers and penalties based on environment and the target in question. Damage also has an Armor Penetration level, which reduces the max Armor that can be applied to the damage. If an attack has 3 AP, and a target has armor 4, it counts as only having armor 1, reducing the damage of the attack by 1, and dealing 1 durability to the armor. This means AP can be blocked if the enemy armor remains higher than the total damage plus the attack's AP, so it isn't all powerful. Damage is equal to the number of successful attack rolls in a turn. Powerful weapons and talismans don't increase base damage, but add extra dice rolls. This keeps damage from snowballing, due to more powerful characters having higher damage, combined with more hit chances with higher skills, turning damage multiplicative.
Health:
Health is equal to 5 + a characters Resilience skill, and can be increased both temporarily and permanently by certain resources, techniques, arts, and cultivation methods. Permanent increases are rare, and should be treasured.
Armor:
Armor reduces all damage taken in a round, up to a certain max. Armor has two types, Spiritual, and Physical, and only work against that type of damage. Armor also has a maximum number of damage mitigated in an encounter, called Durability. Characters have a base armor equal to their Major Rank, and a Durability equal to their Resilience plus Toughness or Strong Willed ( two Subskills of Resilience ), for Physical and Spiritual, respectively. Separate Armor bonuses work independently, with the highest Armor rating being targeted first, until its durability is turned to zero, or the damage exceeds its rating, which causes the excess damage to flow over to the next Armor bonus, repeating until there is no armor, in which case, it deals HP damage or causes some sort of debuff, or all damage has been mitigated.
Damage:
Damage comes in two types, like armor, being Physical or Spiritual. It can also have elemental types, which have situational damage modifiers and penalties based on environment and the target in question. Damage also has an Armor Penetration level, which reduces the max Armor that can be applied to the damage. If an attack has 3 AP, and a target has armor 4, it counts as only having armor 1, reducing the damage of the attack by 1, and dealing 1 durability to the armor. This means AP can be blocked if the enemy armor remains higher than the total damage plus the attack's AP, so it isn't all powerful. Damage is equal to the number of successful attack rolls in a turn. Powerful weapons and talismans don't increase base damage, but add extra dice rolls. This keeps damage from snowballing, due to more powerful characters having higher damage, combined with more hit chances with higher skills, turning damage multiplicative.
Health:
Health is equal to 5 + a characters Resilience skill, and can be increased both temporarily and permanently by certain resources, techniques, arts, and cultivation methods. Permanent increases are rare, and should be treasured.
Turns and Actions:
Turns:
Turns are a representation of the passage of time. Each Turn lasts a whole week. During each Turn, players vote on a series of actions to take, as well as what, if any, resources they wish to use.
Actions:
During each Turn, you can perform 3 Actions. These include Training, Cultivating, Exploring, Laboring, Hunting, Research, Crafting, and Event. Exploring reveals Cultivation Sites and potential Encounters, and relies on Stealth and Perception skills. Laboring earns resources by performing a specific type of craft or labor, with the rewards being based on a skill roll, with other social and situational modifiers. Hunting involves seeking out weak prey to kill. Hunting will generally avoid actual combat encounters, and focus on weaker enemies for small amounts of XP and resources. Research reveals new Arts and Techniques, either from personal experimentation, social bartering, or archival perusal. Crafting involves the creation of items, either for personal use, or profit. Lastly, Events involve interacting with important plot hooks, such as exploring a discovered Site, participating in a Tournament, etc.
Depending on certain conditions, there may be minor additions to Actions. These often involve seeking out social interactions while performing the chosen Action, but may include other types of Events, depending on various conditions, and of course, QM fiat. If the players wish to improve social relations, it is wise to include peers when performing Actions. They can even improve the results of Actions, such as training with a partner, having a tutor explain the nuances of cultivation, or having a skilled scout assist in Exploration. Of course, to be able to gain the most benefits, there must be mutual benefit, or a certain level of relationship with the individual, otherwise you face being seen as someone who uses others for their own gain, rather than mutual cooperation. Also, people have their own schedules, so not everyone will be available every Turn, though having a closer relationship improves their willingness to alter their schedule for you.
Training Action:
Earns 2d6 XP per Major Level for chosen skill, art, or techniques, as well as the same amount for one associated Stat.
Cultivation Action:
Earns 1d6 per Major Level + 1d6 XP per rank of talent.
You get an additional 1d6 per Major Level when using a Spirit Stone. You can use more than one Spirit Stone, each giving a flat 1d6 XP, but are subject to Resilience tests, whose failure removes all XP, and causes damage. See Resources and Cultivation Sites above for specifics.
Hunt Action:
Earns 1d6 XP, as Training would provide, plus resources, the total depending on a roll of the trained skill, plus any related skill or sub skill.
Laboring Action:
Same as Hunt, but usually earns more resources, to make up for the fact the XP gains are in mostly non-combat skills.
Exploring Action:
Rolls Perception against the difficulty of the selected region. Failure results may result in a dangerous encounter. On a failure, a dice determines whether a dangerous encounter occurs, followed by a Stealth check to determine if you manage to avoid detection. These combat encounters, while rewarding, will be of higher difficulty, and capable of fully killing the player, if a truly dangerous region is being explored.
Research Action:
Depending on the chosen area of Research, a Social or Talent roll will be performed, with higher amounts of success determining the quality of discovered Techniques and Arts. Generally, Research is either done in association with a peer ( using Social ), alone ( using Talent ), or at an Archive ( using a base dice roll based on how good the Archive is. )
Crafting Action:
Rolls a Craft check along with a chosen Blueprint. The total successes are added to an ongoing total, which has a threshold before the item is completed. The more actions taken to craft an item, the more likely it will be of reduced quality, or be ruined utterly. The total successes required vary per item, as well as the number of actions before deterioration begins.
Turns are a representation of the passage of time. Each Turn lasts a whole week. During each Turn, players vote on a series of actions to take, as well as what, if any, resources they wish to use.
Actions:
During each Turn, you can perform 3 Actions. These include Training, Cultivating, Exploring, Laboring, Hunting, Research, Crafting, and Event. Exploring reveals Cultivation Sites and potential Encounters, and relies on Stealth and Perception skills. Laboring earns resources by performing a specific type of craft or labor, with the rewards being based on a skill roll, with other social and situational modifiers. Hunting involves seeking out weak prey to kill. Hunting will generally avoid actual combat encounters, and focus on weaker enemies for small amounts of XP and resources. Research reveals new Arts and Techniques, either from personal experimentation, social bartering, or archival perusal. Crafting involves the creation of items, either for personal use, or profit. Lastly, Events involve interacting with important plot hooks, such as exploring a discovered Site, participating in a Tournament, etc.
Depending on certain conditions, there may be minor additions to Actions. These often involve seeking out social interactions while performing the chosen Action, but may include other types of Events, depending on various conditions, and of course, QM fiat. If the players wish to improve social relations, it is wise to include peers when performing Actions. They can even improve the results of Actions, such as training with a partner, having a tutor explain the nuances of cultivation, or having a skilled scout assist in Exploration. Of course, to be able to gain the most benefits, there must be mutual benefit, or a certain level of relationship with the individual, otherwise you face being seen as someone who uses others for their own gain, rather than mutual cooperation. Also, people have their own schedules, so not everyone will be available every Turn, though having a closer relationship improves their willingness to alter their schedule for you.
Training Action:
Earns 2d6 XP per Major Level for chosen skill, art, or techniques, as well as the same amount for one associated Stat.
Cultivation Action:
Earns 1d6 per Major Level + 1d6 XP per rank of talent.
You get an additional 1d6 per Major Level when using a Spirit Stone. You can use more than one Spirit Stone, each giving a flat 1d6 XP, but are subject to Resilience tests, whose failure removes all XP, and causes damage. See Resources and Cultivation Sites above for specifics.
Hunt Action:
Earns 1d6 XP, as Training would provide, plus resources, the total depending on a roll of the trained skill, plus any related skill or sub skill.
Laboring Action:
Same as Hunt, but usually earns more resources, to make up for the fact the XP gains are in mostly non-combat skills.
Exploring Action:
Rolls Perception against the difficulty of the selected region. Failure results may result in a dangerous encounter. On a failure, a dice determines whether a dangerous encounter occurs, followed by a Stealth check to determine if you manage to avoid detection. These combat encounters, while rewarding, will be of higher difficulty, and capable of fully killing the player, if a truly dangerous region is being explored.
Research Action:
Depending on the chosen area of Research, a Social or Talent roll will be performed, with higher amounts of success determining the quality of discovered Techniques and Arts. Generally, Research is either done in association with a peer ( using Social ), alone ( using Talent ), or at an Archive ( using a base dice roll based on how good the Archive is. )
Crafting Action:
Rolls a Craft check along with a chosen Blueprint. The total successes are added to an ongoing total, which has a threshold before the item is completed. The more actions taken to craft an item, the more likely it will be of reduced quality, or be ruined utterly. The total successes required vary per item, as well as the number of actions before deterioration begins.
Items:
Items include a wide gambit of equipment and consumables, from Pills to Talismans, Weapons to Formations. Items have a required cultivation rank to use, though some allow for reduced ability when used by lower ranking wielders. Most items are consumable, having a single effect after use. These can be used both in and out of combat, though some take time to come into effect. Mechanics-wise, during a combat round, a character can only use one consumable per round, whether it be consuming pill, using a talisman, or activating a formation.
In general, a Craft level of at least twice the total Minor Rank of a resource is required to work with it, as well as the crafter or an assistant having two more Minor Ranks than the resource in question, though they must still be within the same Major Rank ( some Subskills and materials remove this requirement ). Some rarer resources require a higher skill level to work with, but will be more powerful than items of a similar Cultivation Rank, allowing for more powerful items that remain usable at lower levels.
In general, a Craft level of at least twice the total Minor Rank of a resource is required to work with it, as well as the crafter or an assistant having two more Minor Ranks than the resource in question, though they must still be within the same Major Rank ( some Subskills and materials remove this requirement ). Some rarer resources require a higher skill level to work with, but will be more powerful than items of a similar Cultivation Rank, allowing for more powerful items that remain usable at lower levels.
Scenario: The chosen character, along with tens of thousands of other entities from the 41st millennia, have found themselves transported into a stereotypical Wuxia world! The world is used to such events, and new creatures are sometimes sought after for their knowledge and unique experience, but are usually treated as normal, every day creatures/people. Most of the newest wave of arrivals are congregated around a trio of mediocre Sects, nestled in a tucked away corner of a small ( by Wuxia standards ) Empire. Many will be taken in by the Sects, to test their Talent and potential which, thanks to their jaunt through space and time, has greatly increased. But with little to no backing, such transportees often find themselves surrounded by enemies. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.
Warning: Quest may include VIOLENCE, TASTE(LESS)/(FUL) NUDITY, OCTOPODES, AND ILL THOUGHT-OUT JOKES. Consider yourself warned.
Options:
[] Path of the Pointy Stick
Ork: +3 base and max Strength, Will, and Stamina. -2 base and max for Wits and Wisdom. 1.4 XP modifier to all skills related to pointy sticks ( includes Spears, Archery, some Formation variants, acupuncture, pencil drawing, and crochet )
[] Return of the Noble Eldari
Eldar: -4 base and max Social, +2 base and max Wits, +2 base and max Talent. 1.2 XP modifier on all Arts and Techniques.
[] Purge in the Emperor's Name!
Bolter Bitch: Starts with Flamer weapon ( Physical ), which gives +2 attack dice for ranged attacks, and has 2 AP. +4 base and max Will. 1.4 XP modifier to all Fire and Heaven based Arts and Techniques.
[] Weaboo Space Communist
Tau: +2 base and max Social, +2 base and max Agility. 1.3 XP modifier for Earth, Water, Fire, and Air Techniques and Arts.
[] Crazy Murder-hobo
Dark Eldar: +2 base and max Agility and Stealth, -2 base and max Social, +2 base and max Talent, 1.4 XP modifier to Dark and Cold based Arts and Techniques.
( Note: Name/Gender vote will come after first vote and next base chapter, as the choices will vary widely between options. Regarding Polling: In order to leave room for comments on the actual chapter, as well as general discussion, polls will not start until 1 hour after the chapter publish. After that, the poll will last for another 24 hours at minimum, and will close when I'm ready to resume writing. Pace will likely be set at 2 major releases per week, maybe 3 or 4 if I'm pushing things, or the content is short for whatever reason.
Please note, this is my first Quest, so be gentle~! Pffft, who am I kidding, Daddy likes it rough. Bring it on, we're here to have fun! If I mess up math, grammar, or am generally being a bad boy, make sure to give me a good spanking, so I learn my lesson. )
Current Character:
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Character Stats:
- Strength: 4 (7) - 0/116
- Agility: 6 (11) - 0/136
- Stamina: 3 (5) - 0/109
- Wits: 7 (14) - 0/149
- Wisdom: 4 (6) - 0/116
- Will: 6 (11) - 0/136
- Talent: 7 (9) - 1/149
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Character Skills:
- Melee - Stamina, Strength: 1 (3) - 0/101
- Ranged - Agility, Strength: 2 (5) - 0/104]
- Melee ( Spiritual ) - Strength, Will: 1 (5) - 0/101
- Ranged ( Spiritual ) - Agility, Wisdom: 2 (5) - 0/104
- Avoidance - Agility, Wits: 3 (6) - 0/109
- Stealth - Agility, Wits: 2 (6) - 0/104
- Resilience - Stamina, Will: 1 (4) - 0/101
- Strong Mind - Will: 1 (5) - 2/101 (Resilience)
- Perception - Wisdom, Wits: 2 (5) - 0/104
- Social - Wisdom, Wits: 1 (1) - 1/101
- Craft - Wits, Will: 4 (6) - 0/116
- Wraithbone Craft - Will: 1 (6) - 0/101 (Craft)
- Labor- Strength, Stamina: 0 (3) - 0/100
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Yellow Spirit Stones: 2x
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None
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Character Stats:
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None
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Six Fold Foundation Method
[Balanced] ( Any affinity modifier applies, using highest of multiplier and base gain )
+1 max to one stat each Minor Level. Cannot choose one stat multiple times in a single Major Level.
+1 to one stat per Minor Level gained using SFF on gaining Major Level. Cannot choose one stat multiple times.
Silver Cloud Foundation Method
[Air] [Lightning] [Metal]
+1 max to Wisdom, Agility, or Wits per Minor Level. Required for more advanced Silver Cloud Methods.
Firm Flesh Foundation Method
[Earth][Wood]
+1 max to Strength, Agility, or Stamina per Minor Level
Desert Wind Foundation Method
[Fire][Wind]
+1 max to Agility, Stamina, Will, or Wits per Minor Level. Required for more advanced Desert Wind Methods.
Wind of the Snowy Peaks
[Ice][Wind]
+1 max Agility, Wits, or Will per Minor Level. Required for more advanced Wind of the Snowy Peaks Methods.
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None
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- Location
- Philippines
[x] Yes, Daddy!
[x] Purge in the Emperor's Name!
[x] Purge in the Emperor's Name!
- Location
- yorkshire
[X] Path of the Pointy Stick
ERE WE GO ERE WE GO
[X] Yes, Daddy!
[X] Return of the Noble Eldari
[X] Return of the Noble Eldari
NeonLights
Formerly Reliable_2IC
- Location
- In shambles
[X] Yes, Daddy!
[X] Return of the Noble Eldari
[X] Return of the Noble Eldari
- Location
- Somewhere
[X] Yes, Daddy!
[X] Crazy Murder-hobo
Mur-der! Mur-der! Mur-der!
[X] Crazy Murder-hobo
Mur-der! Mur-der! Mur-der!
@useofstrike32 The other factions will exist, but aren't playable. Partly due to not wanting too many options, and having the votes be extremely split, but also for balance and story purposes. Necrons OP AF, while lacking even the small potential of socializing that Orks have ( Read, Blood Axes ).
As an aside, I apologize for the weird posting times, as I edited the main thread, which took it down for official review for a day. For official voting purposes, I won't be closing the polls until 8 PM tonight.
As an aside, I apologize for the weird posting times, as I edited the main thread, which took it down for official review for a day. For official voting purposes, I won't be closing the polls until 8 PM tonight.
- Location
- Leeds
Not before today I didn't.
Disgusting, they don't get a malus to punching things. This shows that Tau are perfectly capable of GLORIOUS melee and just chose not to.
Also when the Dark Eldar have a smaller social Malus than the regular eldar.
[X] Purge in the Emperor's Name!
Bolter Bitch: Starts with Flamer weapon ( Physical ), which gives +2 attack dice for ranged attacks, and has 2 AP. +4 base and max Will. 1.4 XP modifier to all Fire and Heaven based Arts and Techniques.
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- Location
- Britain
Sigh, would have liked to side with the crons, but if we can't?
[X] Path of the Pointy Stick
Da WAAAAGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!'s the next best thing.
Also you guys realize the Yes Daddy vote is showing support/patronage from Slannesh right?
[x] I suppose...
Perhaps. = Indecisiveness / Of two minds = Indecisive mollusk/ Tzeentch
I suppose... = Sloth = Nurgle
MILK FOR THE KHORNE FLAKES! = Khorne (obviously)
Yes Daddy! = (By elimination and association) Slannesh
[X] Path of the Pointy Stick
Da WAAAAGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!'s the next best thing.
Also you guys realize the Yes Daddy vote is showing support/patronage from Slannesh right?
[x] I suppose...
Perhaps. = Indecisiveness / Of two minds = Indecisive mollusk/ Tzeentch
I suppose... = Sloth = Nurgle
MILK FOR THE KHORNE FLAKES! = Khorne (obviously)
Yes Daddy! = (By elimination and association) Slannesh
- Location
- GA
[x] MILK FOR THE KHORNE FLAKES!
[x] Purge in the Emperor's Name!
We must purge
[x] Purge in the Emperor's Name!
We must purge
Prologue part 2
Atop the Silver Cloud Mountains, sat a wide expanse of small villages. Tens of thousands of lesser cultivators made their residences in the lofty mountains, taking advantage of the higher concentration of Heavenly Energy. These cultivators spent most of their time farming and hunting, gathering up various cultivation resources for themselves, their families, and, of course, the Silver Cloud Sect. The Silver Cloud Sect was not an old Sect, having been around for barely three hundred years, but it was a powerful Sect. Insomuch as a Sect can be powerful, when it is located in the middle of nowhere, far from the great Heavenly Rivers of the central continent.
Though a relatively peaceful and relaxed place, today, the Silver Cloud cultivators were hurrying to and fro, at the orders of their Elders. The newest members whispered amongst themselves, wondering what event could cause such a ruckus, but their elders quickly enlightened them. Today was a lucky day. Rare resources would be appearing all across over the mountain range. Six Leaf Lotus, Green Iron veins, and even the occasional Rank Three Spirit Beast could be found. This was met with an uproar from the new cultivators. Such treasure! They could earn enough resources to cultivate non-stop for months with such a find. The greed in the eyes of the students was clear, but the dutiful Elders cautioned them properly. For not only would rare resources appear, but also strange and deadly creatures, whose worth could rise above even the rare resources that would appear. When questioned as to the sort of creatures that would appear, the Elders could only shake their heads with a knowing smile. Curious, the cultivators spread across the mountain, looking for tall trees or peaks from which to view the mountain-sides. And soon enough, they began to sense spikes in Heavenly Energy.
With a cry of excitement, ten thousand cultivators sprang into action, heading to the closest whirlpools of Heavenly Energy. And though the rules of the Silver Cloud Sect where strict when it comes to inter-Sect conflict, even the most stoic of Elders merely whisked away those who came close to death from the hands of their supposed allies, without a word being spoken of broken rules. For when faced with such wealth, what hot-blooded youth could stand to see such riches taken away by their peers without a challenge?
And so, for hours, cultivators fought both beast and man for wealth and power. Hundreds of thousands resources were found, from rare metals to potent herbs. But not all was met with success. Many a greedy youth challenged a mighty beast, only to find themselves lacking. And those fools were left to die, ignored by their Elders, despite their pleas. Squabbles between cultivators was one thing, but to challenge a beast, whose power was clearly your match? Well, the Sect had plenty of talent as it was.
Throughout the day, fortunes were made and ruined, often in quick succession. But soon, things besides resources and beasts made their appearance. Strange things. New things. /Interesting/ things.
A young man, barely out of puberty, was one of the first to find one of these new things. And after his skull had been mounted on a spear, the new thing let out a bellowing roar, before charging at the closest living creature, promptly disemboweling it, only to start all over again with a new cultivator. Several mountains down, an even younger female found herself at the other end of a flamethrower. And when her answers were deemed insufficient by the weapon's wielder, holy promethium reduced the cultivator to naught but bones, and soon even those were but ash.
In the span of less than ten hours, thousands of cultivators found their end, killed by fire, Bolter, claw, Choppah, and Lasgun. The rest either found themselves destitute, or wealthy beyond their wildest dreams, some without even knowing it. Even now, an older woman stood confronting a being that had the potential of changing the fate of the Silver Cloud Sect forever. But who were they?
[] Male
[] *Male Name*
[] Female
[] *Female Name*
[] A Craftworlder
[] An Exodite
General Crafting and Item Rules:
Though a relatively peaceful and relaxed place, today, the Silver Cloud cultivators were hurrying to and fro, at the orders of their Elders. The newest members whispered amongst themselves, wondering what event could cause such a ruckus, but their elders quickly enlightened them. Today was a lucky day. Rare resources would be appearing all across over the mountain range. Six Leaf Lotus, Green Iron veins, and even the occasional Rank Three Spirit Beast could be found. This was met with an uproar from the new cultivators. Such treasure! They could earn enough resources to cultivate non-stop for months with such a find. The greed in the eyes of the students was clear, but the dutiful Elders cautioned them properly. For not only would rare resources appear, but also strange and deadly creatures, whose worth could rise above even the rare resources that would appear. When questioned as to the sort of creatures that would appear, the Elders could only shake their heads with a knowing smile. Curious, the cultivators spread across the mountain, looking for tall trees or peaks from which to view the mountain-sides. And soon enough, they began to sense spikes in Heavenly Energy.
With a cry of excitement, ten thousand cultivators sprang into action, heading to the closest whirlpools of Heavenly Energy. And though the rules of the Silver Cloud Sect where strict when it comes to inter-Sect conflict, even the most stoic of Elders merely whisked away those who came close to death from the hands of their supposed allies, without a word being spoken of broken rules. For when faced with such wealth, what hot-blooded youth could stand to see such riches taken away by their peers without a challenge?
And so, for hours, cultivators fought both beast and man for wealth and power. Hundreds of thousands resources were found, from rare metals to potent herbs. But not all was met with success. Many a greedy youth challenged a mighty beast, only to find themselves lacking. And those fools were left to die, ignored by their Elders, despite their pleas. Squabbles between cultivators was one thing, but to challenge a beast, whose power was clearly your match? Well, the Sect had plenty of talent as it was.
Throughout the day, fortunes were made and ruined, often in quick succession. But soon, things besides resources and beasts made their appearance. Strange things. New things. /Interesting/ things.
A young man, barely out of puberty, was one of the first to find one of these new things. And after his skull had been mounted on a spear, the new thing let out a bellowing roar, before charging at the closest living creature, promptly disemboweling it, only to start all over again with a new cultivator. Several mountains down, an even younger female found herself at the other end of a flamethrower. And when her answers were deemed insufficient by the weapon's wielder, holy promethium reduced the cultivator to naught but bones, and soon even those were but ash.
In the span of less than ten hours, thousands of cultivators found their end, killed by fire, Bolter, claw, Choppah, and Lasgun. The rest either found themselves destitute, or wealthy beyond their wildest dreams, some without even knowing it. Even now, an older woman stood confronting a being that had the potential of changing the fate of the Silver Cloud Sect forever. But who were they?
[] Male
[] *Male Name*
[] Female
[] *Female Name*
[] A Craftworlder
- Unlocks Wraith Bone Craft. Unique Subskill of Craft. Uses Will. Allows the construction of Wraithbone items, weapons, and armor. Any Craft can be used in conjunction with Wraith Bone, which improves the result, but takes longer to craft. Any item crafted via Wraith Bone Craft takes twice as long to complete, though no extra effort or personal time needs to be spent, as this extra time is merely to allow the item to grow. Mechanically, this Subskill adds another dice pool to improve craft checks, which can lead to higher quality of crafted items, and lower risk of failure. It also allows the crafting of items with a Major-Minor rank equal to the user, instead of the usual -2 Minor rank maximum for basic crafting.
[] An Exodite
- Unlocks Spirit Bond. Level 1 Art, allows the binding of Spirit Animals to the user. The power of the Spirit Animal is limited by the number of Art and Technique slots provided by the user. These slots are what allow the animal to appear, otherwise, they remain in the Dantian, until being provided with the required slots. Spirit Animals don't appreciate being locked away for long periods of time, some more than others, so take care to keep your companions in mind when choosing other Arts.
Total Major Rank reachable = ½ User Major Rank + Art Slots used.
Each Technique Slot gives a +2 Stat bonus to any stat of the animal.
The Spirit Animal gains XP as a normal character, with bonuses based on particulars of the animal. Animals cannot learn new Cultivation Methods, and are only able to use the one they innately have. The quality and value of a spirit animal is usually determined by their Cultivation Method, but some are liked for their higher base stats, despite their lack of overall potential.
Additional Spirit Bonds can be made, costing a base of one Art Slot per bond. However, the cost of raising many Spirit Animals is not small. Having several spirit bonds that are a single Major Rank below you is a good way of making sure you make proper use of lower tier resources, without them going to waste, or being pawned off at reduced value.
Total Major Rank reachable = ½ User Major Rank + Art Slots used.
Each Technique Slot gives a +2 Stat bonus to any stat of the animal.
The Spirit Animal gains XP as a normal character, with bonuses based on particulars of the animal. Animals cannot learn new Cultivation Methods, and are only able to use the one they innately have. The quality and value of a spirit animal is usually determined by their Cultivation Method, but some are liked for their higher base stats, despite their lack of overall potential.
Additional Spirit Bonds can be made, costing a base of one Art Slot per bond. However, the cost of raising many Spirit Animals is not small. Having several spirit bonds that are a single Major Rank below you is a good way of making sure you make proper use of lower tier resources, without them going to waste, or being pawned off at reduced value.
General Crafting and Item Rules:
In general, items have a required cultivation rank to use. Some allow for reduced ability when used by lower ranking wielders, but this is generally not the case. Most items are consumable, having a single effect during use. These can be used both in and out of combat, though some take time to come into effect. Mechanics-wise, during a combat round, a character can only use one consumable per round, whether it be a pill, a talisman, or activating a formation.
In addition to the normal Actions of a Turn, you can spend an Action CRAFTING. This allows for the creation of advanced resources or tools, using more mundane resources. Blueprints are required to craft specific items and resources, but higher Craft skill allows for the understanding of the potential of raw resources, and how they might best be used. Blueprints can be found via the Research action.
In general, a Craft level of at least 2x the total Minor Rank of a resource is required to work with it, as well as having two more Minor Ranks than the resources in question ( some Subskills remove this requirement ). Some rarer resources will require a higher skill level to work with, but will be more powerful than items of a similar Cultivation Rank, allowing for more powerful items that remain usable at lower levels.
As an aside, due to using a relatively new account, editing the main portion of a thread causes it to be hidden until a mod takes a look at it. As such, I will be making a new post with all the new/changed mechanics for use going forward. I'll be thread-marking it as well.
In addition to the normal Actions of a Turn, you can spend an Action CRAFTING. This allows for the creation of advanced resources or tools, using more mundane resources. Blueprints are required to craft specific items and resources, but higher Craft skill allows for the understanding of the potential of raw resources, and how they might best be used. Blueprints can be found via the Research action.
In general, a Craft level of at least 2x the total Minor Rank of a resource is required to work with it, as well as having two more Minor Ranks than the resources in question ( some Subskills remove this requirement ). Some rarer resources will require a higher skill level to work with, but will be more powerful than items of a similar Cultivation Rank, allowing for more powerful items that remain usable at lower levels.
As an aside, due to using a relatively new account, editing the main portion of a thread causes it to be hidden until a mod takes a look at it. As such, I will be making a new post with all the new/changed mechanics for use going forward. I'll be thread-marking it as well.