’Would you like to hear a story? Yes? Then gather closer. For once the story begins, who knows where it will end. But of course, every story needs a setting. And here is ours. A world, at our fingertips, where the flame of life flickers and dances at our every whim.’ The lone isle. The land in the void. Viewed from outside, there is at first nothing. Then come closer, and the near transparent streams of water flowing from its rim into the immeasurable depths become visible, the land itself seemingly ripped from the surface of some greater world. As you come closer still three distinct landmasses emerge out of the fog, surrounding within them a gargantuan spring, from which fresh waters spring eternal.
Some say this spring was formed by the spirit Water as its gift to the world, as Earth gave rock, Air wind, and Fire motion. Others say the spirits simply came upon the land at a later time. Regardless, it was they who truly made the Isle what it is today. For they made the peoples of the lands. From Earth were born the dwarves, hardy and practical. Men arrived from Air, infinitely resourceful. Orcs were kindled from Fire, warlike and honourable. And from Water sprung forth the Mira, peaceful and graceful beyond compare.
But even more was to come. Bitter rivalries sprang up between the traditional and practical Earth and the innovative and creative Air, and between the aggressive Fire and the peaceful Water. And new life sprang up between those who were not opposed. Between Earth and Water came the trolls. Peaceful shepherds at peace, their stamina and regeneration made them powerful foes once roused. Elves came from between Water and Air, gifted in the arts of all kinds, and possessing a unique attunement with nature. From Air and Fire came the Drow, a race of thieves and assassins, with the violence of the orcs but without their morales. And from Fire and Earth came the Ogres, physically powerful and aggressive, but sparse and isolated from their innate savagery.
And now, now the gods seem to rest, but for indulging the wishes of some of their more pious followers. The magic of the world now lies focused in runes, a language some say was written by the gods themselves. The land abounds nonetheless with peoples of all professions and kinds, from mages who seek only to discover more of the tongueless language, to mercenaries seeking gold and glory.
’Ah, such a vibrant place, so full of life. But all of it so…. irrelevant. What we need are characters. Heroes. Perhaps even villains. We shall call them…. the Fated. yes. it seems to fit.’ Gamblers speak of the Grey Lady, snake eyes and charms. Adventurers speak of the fates, the tides of battle. Some cultists even speak of Ranog, the god of randomness, though we know that there are no gods besides the Four. But we shall call this figure, this force, simply luck. And it favours few. In fact, it favours so few, that the chances of them ever meeting are one in a million. And as we all know, one in a million chances happen nine times out of ten.
’And what a coincidence, such a chance is happening right now. I’ll be quiet, and let the story flow. After all, we wouldn’t want to break the story, would we?’ We look now to a single island, floating in the middle of the sea, on the isle in the void. On this island, there is a city. A hub of the world, where it’s cultures and races mingle and mix in peace. But not all is so quiet. A number of houses lie in ruins in the wealthy district. A mansion, once spanning a road by an overhead walkway, lies sundered in two, passage between it’s halves blocked by rubble. The palace lies unharmed. Most would say thankfully, too. A few scorch marks ordain it’s walls along with the banners parading the royal crest, but it stands. And in the courtyard in front a single soldier kneels before the queen, an elvish spearman, as a plume is mounted on his helm. We could call him Fated, and no doubt he will have a part to play in many tales to come, but he is not the focus of this one. Nor is the focus on the corpse lying in the park next door, a dragon, terrifying even in death. In it’s belly rest a number of spear wounds, courtesy of the now-knight we saw moments earlier. The Alchemist, who many consider mad, and rightfully so, crawls over the cadaver with cleaver in hand, seeking new materials for experiments so volatile that his laboratory sits on a separate outcrop of rock out in the bay itself. Another Fated, another world changer. Another that is not ours.
No, ours are elsewhere. They still rest in this city, this crossroads, besides which the spring that replenishes the oceans of the world glistens in the light. But they rest beyond the reach of the mists that fall from this titanic column, in a place known to many as the home of those who have no home. The Traveller’s Rest, perched on the third of three tiers, overlooking the frantic recovery occurring down below, and ignoring it completely. The inn is a place of rest for those better accustomed to panic and haste, and only the ending of the Isle itself could break the rest of those within. Whilst a rather different place to the inn on the bottom tier, with it’s smell of fish and the sea, but it has a similar agreement with those looking for workers - that is, a free drink in return for listening to a list of jobs in need of doing. It profits everyone. Including a number of figures sitting at various positions in the room.
A bell rings as the barman walks round said bar, made of crimson bloodwood and screaming opulence almost as much as the finery the man wears himself. His gold ringed hand clutches a sheaf of papers and he sighs at the rabble occupying his shop. The lower inn received major damage in the dragon attack - mainly the lighting of it’s stores - and its usual custom has come here instead. Then he plasters a weak smile over his face, and calls for all those seeking work.
Welcome to The Lone Isle (which now has a
WIP wiki). This game will be a PBP RPG, with high emphasis on RP and a large amount of freedom (though not sandbox)
All likely rolls will be 3d6, with modifiers added and depending on the situation. Sometimes this will be against a DC (fixed number), other times against an opposed roll.
Most characters have 5 basic stats:
Offense (a measure of offensive power)
Defense (A measure of ability to negate damage - ie dodging, reducing impact)
Support (A measure of supporting ability strength - ie. healing, buffing)
Expert (A measure of skills, charisma, and fine dexterity, or other rogue associated abilities)
Vitality (A measure of health and ability to absorb damage)
The average hero has stats of 2, whilst the average commoner has stats of 0
These will be abbreviated to their first letter often.
O, D, S & E usually function as modifiers for rolls.
Each point of V gives +3 HP, +1 HP/day regen, and +1 to all thresholds (see combat).
Base HP is 20, and base HP regen is 1 HP at the end of each day.
You have 10 points to divide between these stats (which all start at 0) before class and racial modifiers are applied. You can remove points from an ability score to a minimum of -2 before modification.
You then choose a race and a class.
Mira: +1 S, +2 on all heals
Elf: +1 E, +1 S, -1 O, -1 D, +2 on rolls utilising the outdoors environment
Men +1 E, +1 attribute point to spend as you wish.
Drow +1 O, +1 E, -1 S, -1 D, +2 using the underground environment
Orc +1 O, -1 to enemy thresholds
Ogre +1 O, +1 D, -1 E, -1 S, Immune to unconsciousness, Large
Dwarf +1 D, +1 to all thresholds
Troll +1 D, +1 S, -1 O, -1 E, Regen 1 HP/5 min, Large
Large races take a -2 D penalty, and need larger equipment than the other races, but gain +10 base HP, and +2 to base thresholds.
Your class grants you an additional 2 attribute points, as well as 3 passive abilities, which should be described, and will then be moderated by me. (For ideas as to the strength, see the example character)
Basic combat consists of opposed rolls. The attacker adds O as the modifier, and the defender D. The difference is the HP damage inflicted.
However, the difference is also compared to the defenders thresholds, and the corresponding effects inflicted. Values given are the base thresholds for PCs.
10 - Crippled (-2 to all rolls. Stacks. All stacks removed when (15 - V) HP healed consecutively.)
15 - Unconscious + Crippled (Unconsciousness lasts (3hrs - 20*V) min, minimum 20 minutes.)
20 - Death
When HP hits 0, you become unconscious, ending when HP become positive again.
When HP hits -10, death occurs.
The only magic available directly is runic magic. All characters can use this, although they need to know the runes. It functions as written commands, and each rune takes roughly the same amount of time to draw as a sword strike, unless it is particularly small or large. Runes known will be PM’d on acceptance, and depend on your backstory and class.
Name:
Gender:
Race:
Class: (give attributes and abilities, as well as a description)
Backstory: More detail will give you a better chance of being accepted.
Stats - in the format (base+race+class=total)
O:
D:
S:
E:
V:
Thresholds & HealthHP:
HP regen:
Cripple:
Unconscious:
Death:
ExampleName: Bard Girionson
Gender: M
Race: Human
Class: Bowman (+1O, +1E),
>Final shot: Enemies receive a -2 to death thresholds vs you.
>Leader of men: +2 to persuade humans to follow you.
>Smuggler: +2 to concealment
Backstory: Bard is the son of the last king of Dale, who tried but failed to slay the dragon Smaug, knocking loose a scale. Bard was next to try. (the rest is omitted for spoilers sake
)
StatsO: 4+1+1=6
D: 1+0+0=1
S: 2+0+0=2
E: 2+1+1=4
V: 1+0+0=1
Health & ThresholdHP: 23
HP regen: 2/day
Cripple: 11
Unconscious: 16
Death: 21
I intend to take 4 players, although more can be accommodated if necessary. A waitlist will be take. Feel free to ask any questions that the OP or the
wiki don’t answer.
I’ll be away until the 27th, so any applications before then are guaranteed consideration.
Author
Topic: The Lone Isle RPG: The return (Read 22534 times)