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itsaboxstravaganza2016-09-13 11:44 am
prof) wrote in itsaboxstravaganza2016-09-13 11:44 am
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MINUS WORLD: A new campaign hook
Minus World is a dark magical girl Valor campaign with horror overtones and an extra-high level of challenging combat. Inspirations include Yuki Yuna is a Hero, Sleepless Domain, Stephen King's IT, and every time in a video game when you glitch out of the world geometry to find weird shit you weren't supposed to find.
PREMISE
Centuries ago, in a day of darkness and fire, the once-vast world was mostly erased. The small remaining fragment of it is what was protected by the Pearl, an artifact of unknown origin that now stands as the exact center of the inhabitable world. A wide circular barrier projects out from it, holding at bay whatever evil force claimed the rest of the old world, allowing humanity one last bastion of safety.
However, the entity that destroyed the rest of the world apparently couldn't be satisfied with not finishing the job. Monsters roam the ruins of the old world, but they can't break through the Pearl's barrier. However, they can sometimes get around it by using the Minus World, a broken mirror of reality existing unsteadily alongside it. Within the Minus World, the rules of reality are inconsistent, space behaves in unpredictable ways, and nothing works like it's supposed to. The monsters hunting mankind can sneak through frayed edges in the Minus World to reach inside the barrier, then use crackes in reality to ultimately make their way back to the world we live in. Once they get there, disaster awaits - either from simple death and destruction, or from the worst case scenario of one of them reaching and destroying the Pearl.
Despite the powerful forces working towards humanity's destruction, there is still hope. The same power that created the barrier, the Pearl, is also the key to preventing monsters from wiping out mankind. Whenever a human first touches the Pearl, there is a chance that it will awaken great power within them. The rules of this are still poorly understood, but there are trends - those who successfully awaken are those who try between the ages of 13 and 18, and they are almost uniformly female. Those granted power are formally called Guardians (or more colloquially, Magical Girls), and are humanity's last vanguard against the monsters. Their power allows them to travel to the Minus World and do battle there in order to save the world from the forces of darkness.
It's common practice for most teenagers to visit the Pearl to try and awaken at some point. Those that succeed can choose either to register publically as Guardians or to fight under an alias to keep their personal life separate from their gauntlet of battle. Some fight alone, while others form teams to protect each other and fight together. The exact nature of their powers varies widely from person to person, but there are some points of consistency as well - the vast majority of powers are normally latent, and are accessed by transforming into a magically-attuned state for a temporary surge of power. Being magical in nature, they're much more powerful in the Minus World, where the laws of physics are already tenuous at best. Magical powers grow with use, but gradually fade in strength as the Guardian gets older, giving them a decade or so in which to fight in their prime.
While their powers are great, the trials Guardians face are far beyond anything a normal human could ever overcome. The monsters lurking in the Minus World are endlessly varied, seemingly changing after every battle to respond to the methods used to destroy them. Some of the most powerful monsters are intelligent enough to communicate with humans and even directly attack their minds - however, every appeal to kindness or mercy to those monsters apparently smart enough to understand them has fallen upon deaf ears. When facing impossible odds and certain death, a Guardian has one last weapon at their disposal, in the ability to ask the Pearl itself for more power. The Pearl will always answer their call, but it will ask for a price to be paid in exchange. Each time, the price will be steeper.
Over history, monster attacks rise and fall in rough cycles spanning several years, gradually building in intensity and frequency before suddenly stopping. Right now, we're in the middle of another rise, and it's happening with unprecedented speed. If things continue as they have before, humanity will eventually be wiped out by a force they were never able to understand.
MECHANICS
System will be Valor, with a minimum of house rules. Campaign will run from level 1 to level 10. You can find the basic balancing house rules here. Aside from those, three major changes.
One, death is easy to come by in this world. If at any point your character falls below negative 40% HP - the reverse of your Critical value - you will be forever lost to the darkness. Players who lose a character can either bow out (if we have other players ready to join) or create a new character to replace them.
Two, asking the Pearl for power. When all hope seems lost, you can appeal to the source of your power for a glimpse of victory. You will be asked to pay a price - if you are willing, then your Health and Stamina will be fully restored, your Valor will be set to 10, and all negative statuses and expended ammunition will be restored. The only thing that won't be reset is expended Ultimate Techniques. The price will be paid once the battle ends.
Three, combat in the Minus World. Because the geometry of this world is borked beyond recognition, there will be lots of cases of strange battlefield features. Expect walls that only exist from certain angles, battlefields that wrap around some edges, and whatever other glitchy insanity I can come up with. On the other hand, if you're forced to fight in the real world, characters will be fighting at a sharp disadvantage. The exact mechanical effects of this have yet to be determined.
As a final note, as the game progresses, I will be building the encounters hard. I plan to push the limits of what's reasonable as a Valor encounter, to see how far the party can push to surpass their limits and claim victory.
SCHEDULING
This game will begin after Fists of Asphalt comes to an end. It will meet weekly, for about 3 hours, some time between Monday and Friday, depending on player availability. Seeking 3 to 5 players, ideally with one of them being newly-awakened and the rest being an established team of Guardians. Valor experience is not required but at least some tabletop knowledge is a plus.
INTERESTED?
Reply with the following:
PREMISE
Centuries ago, in a day of darkness and fire, the once-vast world was mostly erased. The small remaining fragment of it is what was protected by the Pearl, an artifact of unknown origin that now stands as the exact center of the inhabitable world. A wide circular barrier projects out from it, holding at bay whatever evil force claimed the rest of the old world, allowing humanity one last bastion of safety.
However, the entity that destroyed the rest of the world apparently couldn't be satisfied with not finishing the job. Monsters roam the ruins of the old world, but they can't break through the Pearl's barrier. However, they can sometimes get around it by using the Minus World, a broken mirror of reality existing unsteadily alongside it. Within the Minus World, the rules of reality are inconsistent, space behaves in unpredictable ways, and nothing works like it's supposed to. The monsters hunting mankind can sneak through frayed edges in the Minus World to reach inside the barrier, then use crackes in reality to ultimately make their way back to the world we live in. Once they get there, disaster awaits - either from simple death and destruction, or from the worst case scenario of one of them reaching and destroying the Pearl.
Despite the powerful forces working towards humanity's destruction, there is still hope. The same power that created the barrier, the Pearl, is also the key to preventing monsters from wiping out mankind. Whenever a human first touches the Pearl, there is a chance that it will awaken great power within them. The rules of this are still poorly understood, but there are trends - those who successfully awaken are those who try between the ages of 13 and 18, and they are almost uniformly female. Those granted power are formally called Guardians (or more colloquially, Magical Girls), and are humanity's last vanguard against the monsters. Their power allows them to travel to the Minus World and do battle there in order to save the world from the forces of darkness.
It's common practice for most teenagers to visit the Pearl to try and awaken at some point. Those that succeed can choose either to register publically as Guardians or to fight under an alias to keep their personal life separate from their gauntlet of battle. Some fight alone, while others form teams to protect each other and fight together. The exact nature of their powers varies widely from person to person, but there are some points of consistency as well - the vast majority of powers are normally latent, and are accessed by transforming into a magically-attuned state for a temporary surge of power. Being magical in nature, they're much more powerful in the Minus World, where the laws of physics are already tenuous at best. Magical powers grow with use, but gradually fade in strength as the Guardian gets older, giving them a decade or so in which to fight in their prime.
While their powers are great, the trials Guardians face are far beyond anything a normal human could ever overcome. The monsters lurking in the Minus World are endlessly varied, seemingly changing after every battle to respond to the methods used to destroy them. Some of the most powerful monsters are intelligent enough to communicate with humans and even directly attack their minds - however, every appeal to kindness or mercy to those monsters apparently smart enough to understand them has fallen upon deaf ears. When facing impossible odds and certain death, a Guardian has one last weapon at their disposal, in the ability to ask the Pearl itself for more power. The Pearl will always answer their call, but it will ask for a price to be paid in exchange. Each time, the price will be steeper.
Over history, monster attacks rise and fall in rough cycles spanning several years, gradually building in intensity and frequency before suddenly stopping. Right now, we're in the middle of another rise, and it's happening with unprecedented speed. If things continue as they have before, humanity will eventually be wiped out by a force they were never able to understand.
MECHANICS
System will be Valor, with a minimum of house rules. Campaign will run from level 1 to level 10. You can find the basic balancing house rules here. Aside from those, three major changes.
One, death is easy to come by in this world. If at any point your character falls below negative 40% HP - the reverse of your Critical value - you will be forever lost to the darkness. Players who lose a character can either bow out (if we have other players ready to join) or create a new character to replace them.
Two, asking the Pearl for power. When all hope seems lost, you can appeal to the source of your power for a glimpse of victory. You will be asked to pay a price - if you are willing, then your Health and Stamina will be fully restored, your Valor will be set to 10, and all negative statuses and expended ammunition will be restored. The only thing that won't be reset is expended Ultimate Techniques. The price will be paid once the battle ends.
Three, combat in the Minus World. Because the geometry of this world is borked beyond recognition, there will be lots of cases of strange battlefield features. Expect walls that only exist from certain angles, battlefields that wrap around some edges, and whatever other glitchy insanity I can come up with. On the other hand, if you're forced to fight in the real world, characters will be fighting at a sharp disadvantage. The exact mechanical effects of this have yet to be determined.
As a final note, as the game progresses, I will be building the encounters hard. I plan to push the limits of what's reasonable as a Valor encounter, to see how far the party can push to surpass their limits and claim victory.
SCHEDULING
This game will begin after Fists of Asphalt comes to an end. It will meet weekly, for about 3 hours, some time between Monday and Friday, depending on player availability. Seeking 3 to 5 players, ideally with one of them being newly-awakened and the rest being an established team of Guardians. Valor experience is not required but at least some tabletop knowledge is a plus.
INTERESTED?
Reply with the following:
- Your Plurk handle.
- Times/days during the week when you're available for a session.
- Possible character concepts.
- Setting/game questions, if you have any.
- A video game gif.