At the center of it all. . .
There layeth the seat. . .
Awash thereupon its bed of starlight. . .
Brilliant, enticing, The Cosmic Throne.
'Ode to thee o' Mystic one whom beareth magicks beyond mortal repute. Thou hast truly transcended the bonds of thine pitiful body through ensorcelled spells and powers unknown, or thou simply wouldst not find thyself in this stagnant domain.' Indeed as your gaze is led astray across this land, it is found wanting. The lands, featureless and haphazardly carven without care bear little resemblance to the reality you once called home, they are barren, devoid of any form of life. No more than stone and silt across an untamed sea. And even yet, that very sea is just as purposeless, without motion, without swells, without beasts of yore. Through your hands it is like naught but empty weight and wet. But you have not come to this dead land without purpose, through an imperceptible veil you have arrived with one goal in mind. . .
It is there, where the sea ebbs and transfigures itself into stardust, there in the center of this world. Behind an ever-twisting coat of nebulic dust it warps your vision, bends all your will upon it. There, between eight diamond pillars of ancient stone it sits, a massive slate bearing utterances that no magicks can decipher. It is said the Creator of Creators once sat in that very place, amidst this quiet, sullen reality. Could all that you know have begun here? In this place? You are uncertain, but what is clear, The Cosmic Throne allures and pulls the greatest mystics of many ages to its clarion call, where only one may be seated. Indeed, this land bears the scars of many past conflicts, you see it when you look for it. . .
Will you be the next body eroded to dust amid these impossibly ancient shores? Or will you take your rightful seat upon The Cosmic Throne?
Hello! Unraveller here, this is the first game I'll be running on this awesome forum I've come to love. Hopefully, it won't be the last! But we'll see about that won't we? Anywho!
The Cosmic Throne is a game inspired by countless other forum games I've seen over the years, it's by no means especially unique, but I thought I'd start with something simple and not mechanically overbearing first.
Boiled down to its most basic parts,
The Cosmic Throne is a game highlighting the conflict of powerful magic users in their final battle to claim the seat they believe will lead them to ascendancy, to create the
next world. Actions in this game are entirely freeform, though they must fall into a few basic rules for some level of structure/balance. The ultimate goal of course is to beat the rest of the players to death or submission and take your seat. All actions made by each player will be tested by rolling a
ten-sided dice with relevant modifiers based on a number of contextual circumstances. One or lower resulting in utter failure (potentially even backfire) and ten or more resulting in the most powerful effects possible, and complete manifestation of your will.
- Movement, Location, and Actions -Though locations of each Mystic will be recorded carefully upon the map of the world as it shifts and changes, your character does not necessarily know the precise location of another without scrying magics. Within a reasonable distance however, one mage may detect the general mystical power emanating from another, though this is by no means perfect, one may obscure themselves with shadows and so on. A large part of your goal is to locate others and defeat them, or mould the land to your advantage, or even hide away creating a vast army of iron golems. With that said, please do attempt to not metagame to hone in exactly on a character's location when it would be otherwise bafflingly unreasonable. Though this game is very asymmetric in nature, I'd like to keep a good level of !!FUN!! balanced with the competitive aspect.
Relevant to the above is movement, unless one has the reasonable ability to do so, crossing the world instantly in a single post is generally disallowed. Unless perhaps the character spends their turn casting some for of teleportation spell. Otherwise, movement is a free action within certain parameters based on context. Maybe a character's main aspect is wind, and they find levitating a simple matter where an earth mage may find themselves more grounded. Ultimately be believable, even if you are immensely powerful mages.
In efforts to make turns flow somewhat easily on my end (especially because I post on mobile) Mages are limited to one spell action per turn. This could range from dredging a mountain out the sea or casting a lightning bolt from your fingertips and anything in between. Some spells may even require multiple turns to complete based on their power and scope. Whereas physical actions tend to vary a bit more. The most basic of things such as movement or speaking are of course free, something like swinging a blade however you might only be able to do coupled with a small spell of limited scope, such as cracking the earth beneath someone, or enchanting your sword with flame. Ultimately I'd like to keep the options of the players very free form in nature, and rely heavily on dice to dictate outcomes wherever possible. However, I will step in if things require more specific mediation.
Below is the form in which you'll submit and create a character!
Name: What designation does your magic user go by?
Appearance: What do they look like? Are they humanoid? Are they a talking goose? Perhaps green or maybe purple?
Extra Info/Trivia: Tell me as little or as much about your character as you'd like! This'll of course give everyone a more clear idea of the foe flinging fireballs or raising mountains alongside them.
Primary Mystic Aspect: An aspect is this character's governing sphere of magic, perhaps they excel at the movement of earth, or sea. Maybe they focus on creating life or draining it away. Perhaps Golemancy or more abstract concepts such as dreams or stars. Be as creative as you like here. Magics cast relating to one's Primary Mystic aspect will most often gain a +2 to their action roll.
Secondary Mystic Aspect: A character's second focused aspect of magick, most often receiving a +1 to their action rolls when used.
The concept of these aspects are quite loose, and your character can most certainly weave magicks far beyond the scope thereof. Context will be everything in determining whether bonuses will be applied.
Wounds: A gauge of your characters physical/mental health and well-being. Hostile actions made against your character may end in causing you one or more wounds depending on the outcome of rolls. When a character reaches zero wounds, they've either died of horrible physical trauma, or been rendered a blubbering willless mass. Wounds can be recovered by magic, though this is not a quick and easy process. It would be prudent for one to find some manner to hide away or escape active combat if they wish to retain their life and restore lost wounds.
Finally, there are four physical stats that govern your mage's body beyond a vast assortment of magic trickery. Each character begins play with six points at which to distribute amongst these statistics at will, though you may not begin with an attribute greater than five. These attributes will modify relevant rolls in all forms of play.
Might: Physical strength, melee combat, brute force! 1 denotes the strength of the average adult human, while 5 or more is a physical powerhouse with which to be reckoned, they might be able to hurl boulders or destroy an iron door without even the need for magic!
Skill: Coordination, dexterity, speed, accuracy. A character with a high amount of skill will find that they can more easily weave through showers of flame and arrows. And just the same might be far more proficient at incredibly precise effects of both the physical and magical.
Hardiness: Shrug off bodily effects, poisons, wounds! Essentially the attribute of physical defense, stamina, and general endurance. An earthquake will have a much harder time of knocking you down, noxious fumes will find themselves ineffective at draining your consciousness.
Willpower: Mind is key! All manner of mental effects from fear to charms to scrying your thoughts. A high willpower stat will make your characters indomitable and able to defend against the most ardent of abstract mystical attacks. Willpower also affects ones ability to exude their thoughts and will upon created life and constructions, such as golems or a race of mushroom people you've raised to do your bidding.
Name:
Appearance:
Map Color:
Extra Info/Trivia:
Primary Mystic Aspect:
Secondary Mystic Aspect:
Wounds: 3 + 1/2 Hardiness + 1/2 Willpower
(six points to distribute, do not exceed five in a single stat)
Might: 1
Skill: 1
Hardiness: 1
Willpower: 1
Inventory: Robes (for now)
I don't have an exact number of players that I desire to get in on the fun, but I'll definitely be happy to accept a good bunch of 'em. I'm still considering whether or not to accept players after the game has begun. That is. . . If this rather tired concept of a game can generate any interest. Haha. As a warning from here on, I'll repeat that this is my first hosted game, so I'm a bit nervous and it'll definitely be rough around the edges, but I hope you'll go easy on me, and we can have a good bit of fun!
