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RPG Ideas and Wishes

AllHailThrall

Well-Known Member
I've expanded and typed out the first idea (the Omni-Terra idea) but I'm not sure if I'm able to post it here. I don't want to flood the box with this giant wall of text. That's the reason I was against elaborating so fully, I've worked on this setting for over 2 years and it's very in-depth.

However, I'm also really wanting to do that third idea (the one with the swashbuckling and the merfolk). So many decisions!
 
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Avenger Angel

Warrior of Heaven
@ AllHailThrall

Idea #1

Of the three ideas, I like this Omni-Terra one the most, but that's probably because I love fantasy. Anyway, I kind of assumed that what you had was just an intro, but I'd figure I'd just bring it up anyway. I've seen times where people just copy and paste a not-so-ready idea from here into a sign up thread, and I figured I would just make sure.

The Argentry-Zakudo conflict sounds like a great start, but I wouldn't stop there. Thinking along the lines of Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings, having secondary conflicts might be a good idea to add some twists and turns in the storyline and give the whole setting more depth and breadth. Maybe there's a severe blight or other crisis that the characters and nations may have to deal with. What you have with the Heart is really good, but maybe just one more secondary conflict and I think it'll be really good.

Also, I see you have elves, dwarves, and most likely humans as races to pick from, but would there be any others? If you feel confident that just about any kind of fantasy race could be interwoven into your setting (provided role players would give background on that race and how they came to be in your world), then maybe give role players that option, but if you would rather limit the kinds of races people could pick from because some might be hard to incorporate, then it might be a good idea to come up with a list of potential races people could pick from to use for their characters. Just be forewarned, if you let people make races, you will almost definitely end up with some vampires and werewolves. People just seem to love them around here.

Still, everything looks quite good. I'll keep a look out for it.

Idea #2

That's actually a good point about the Wreck-it Ralph characters being like actors, never really looked at it that way, but you're right about that. The Subspace Emissary approach sounds better, I think that could be brought out into a good RP.

I think a little bit more light needs to be shed on the nature of the "catastrophe," though. What makes it so bad and what exactly has it been doing? And what might happen if it just continues getting worse? Those might be good questions to answer. And again, having that as a primary conflict would be great, but having a few secondary "curveballs" thrown into the mix might give it that extra edge in being a good RP with many things to do.

Idea #3

Well, just about any kind of race is fine as long as they all have their own advantages and disadvantages. I'm mentioning this human to merfolk idea because there was one similar RP I saw a long time ago that had humans and merfolk, but people didn't play the merfolk race simply because they were completely confined to the water, and as a result, people stuck with humans simply for their ability to stay on land and use ships. So I figured combining them in a way might work for better results.

The Atlantis idea is definitely usable as well. But yeah, judging by the ideas you have, I think any of these three can be worked out into a really good RP. Good luck and all the best with them.


@ aggiegwyn

Having the world map is great, glad to see you have that, because that makes finding locations and having a good relative idea of what the world is like much easier. It doesn't even need to be pretty or graphically artistic (although that does help make the RP look more attractive), just as long as you have continent shapes and location labels, that's already a good start, but describing areas a little bit might help also.

Again, the griffin statue makes for a great start, but putting in a few extra secondary conflicts might help give it that extra depth, and definitely be open to role players inserting mechanics. I've noticed that more lighthearted RPs often get this, and it helps significantly in terms of letting people feel comfortable bringing out interesting new ideas that people can have fun with.

But yeah, best scenario would be for the characters to be aware of each other's presence and have some way of communicating and interacting with each other (even if it's by some magical means), but yeah, don't crowd them all together. It's okay for a pack of three or four RPers to get together, but more than that ends up being a problem in most cases. Sadly, too many times, I've seen great RP ideas hit the wall and all that happened was a bunch of characters got together, had a chat, and then no one actually got up and headed out into the field.

Still, I think it's a great idea and I'm hoping to see it in action, soon.
 

Blivsey

DATA_ERROR
@AllHailThrall While I have a neutral opinion of your third concept, I have a few things to note about your other two ideas:

- Original worlds need to be conceived well and vividly described to get people interested. Most RPs on this board start with the advantage that the player is familiar with the concept. You seem to have a good handle on this, but keep in mind that it has to be conveyed very thoroughly to the players - they can't see what's inside your head until you paint them a sufficient picture.

- I've seen ideas like this tried on the RP boards here - twice, and by a mod no less. The problem with a game like this where the players take charge of pre-existing characters is that it runs in large part on novelty, which is good for initial sign-ups but will kill you in terms of longevity, especially since with established characters there's very little room for the . (e.g. It was really fun to sign up and play as Megaman in RazorLeaf's Subspace Emissary game, but the novelty in doing so wore off after the first few posts, after which there was little left to keep my interest in playing. I may sound like a naysayer, but it's been proven in the past that games based on this type of concept doesn't lend itself to lasting RPs.

I suggest that you stick with and develop your original idea. You've obviously put a lot of thought into it, and with a bit of refinement, it will definitely stand the best chance of the three of going somewhere. Best of luck.


One fandom which I've seen brought up as an idea for a game around here is Puella Magi Madoka Magica (which I also know has a decent share of followers in these parts). Since it's a world and concept which is very driven by the individual characters, I feel like it's something which would translate well to a forum RPG.

I'm aware that its greatest strength also creates a few issues: firstly, that there would inevitably be quite a lot of PvP involved, so the GM would have to work out a robust system to handle this regularly. Also, since it is so character-focused, it would require a group of appropriately invested and skillful players to pull off. But with the right players and the right amount of interest, I feel like it could make a strong showing.

At this point, I'm mainly just declaring my own interest (I'm not confident in my own ability to be a sufficiently-active GM, but would be willing to assist with the organization), but I'm also curious as to whether there is current interest involved in a game based on Madoka Magica.
 

AllHailThrall

Well-Known Member
I understand. The second idea is fairly weak, I know, so I'm probably going to be scrapping that one. As for the other two:

1) The question I asked in the post was whether or not I could post the info in this thread or not. The info I made for the Omni-Terra idea is almost 2,500 words long. I didn't want to cause a hassle by posting that big a post so I'm clarifying if I may post that much in one post in this thread. In that giant 2,500 word long file are tons of info on the playable races and every area on Omni-Terra: humans, dwarves, two different kinds of elves, halflings, and two homebrew races. There are indeed alternate conflicts besides just Argentry vs. Zakudo: Elves and dwarves hate each other because the dwarves were the ones who originally mined the Heart from the ground and the elves took it as a prize for winning a war against the dwarves. The kingdom of halflings, Santorem, is constantly under siege from Zakudo's forces. And of course, there's the omni-present threat of Faela and the Fallen Ones. Also, there's a wicked cult to an eldritch god, dragons, oni... Omni-Terra has plenty of conflict.

3) I had originally planned merfolk to be antagonists, not playable characters (think of ye olde myths, where the sirens would sing and wreck ships). Yet, the Atlantis thing is becoming more and more interesting as we discuss it. And I do agree that if merfolk were to be playable they'd have to be able to go on land or no one would play them. I do think, however, that I may need help fleshing out the world itself for this idea. ^^;;
 
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Avenger Angel

Warrior of Heaven
@ AllHailThrall

I'd have to agree with Blivsey on this one, your first and third ideas seem much better. The second idea... I have a feeling Blivsey is right that not having original characters would end up having a rapidly-wearing novelty that does fade off after a while.

Maybe instead of video game characters, have it so original characters from many worlds and/or time periods are summoned into one world. One character could be a magician from a fantasy world, a second could be a cowboy-esque character with some kind of supernatural ability, and a third could be a space marine with high-tech weapons. But in the end, each of these characters would have their own advantages and disadvantages compared to each other. Then introduce your catastrophe crisis, and the whole reason or situation as to why these characters from many different worlds were summoned/dragged to this one.

Ultimately, I think that may be the better way to go, since pre-established characters, as Blivsey mentioned, may not be the best route. And this way, your role players feel a bit more connected to their characters since they made them up themselves rather than took someone else's creation. But yeah, if you want to salvage the idea, you can work around with it and get the same kind of effect, but in a different way that may even be more rewarding.

As for posting a large plot, I don't think people would mind. If I remember correctly, I think the character limit per post is actually quite big. That shouldn't be a problem.


@ Blivsey

Basing an RP idea off of Puella Magi Madoka Magica is fine, but a pet peeve of mine is when the GM/role play creator expects knowledge of the fandom as a prerequisite to taking part by assuming anyone who reads it already knows everything about the fandom and because of that, nothing needs to be detailed or explained and it's okay to assume everyone knows what you're talking about. I've seen this happen often, and usually the result is a lot of role players end up feeling excluded because they don't know the fandom and won't enjoy the RP because of it.

I feel the best approach is to introduce everything and carefully explain and detail the concepts as if it's your original creation while avoiding the temptation to mention what fandom it is based off of. That, and don't be too strict on canon material. This, I feel, is a lot more fair and will reward you with more role players getting in on the action instead of only getting the hardcore enthusiasts.
 

AllHailThrall

Well-Known Member
All right... I'm still putting the places and races in spoiler tags to conserve space.

http://oi39.*******.com/30nji15.jpg

Argentry: The largest city on Omni-Terra and the home of the survivors of Aurentine, it is a mercantile city combined with a fortress. It is nestled within the Silverwoods, and is surrounded by a thick stone wall, which itself holds a mighty tower guarded by archers and mages. Inside the tower is the magical Heart of Argentry, which protects the people from ill fate. Argentry is led by an emperor, much like ancient Rome, and has a culture similar to Rome combined with medieval England and Renaissance Italy. They are a proud nation with proud ambitions.

Silverwoods: This northern forest encompasses the northeastern portions of Omni-Terra. A fertile land well-suited for the growing of crops (especially to the south where the trees thin out), this is where Argentry gains most of its food supply. The farming villages of Solshire and Evendell keep the population of Argenty well-fed and happy, possibly to the detriment of the small villages.

Fort Righteous: An island to the east of the strait leading into the Central Sea, Fort Righteous is a defensive stronghold protecting Argentry from naval attack. The city keeps troops stationed on this island constantly, and it makes Argentry very difficult to invade by sea.

The Starplains: Nestled between two mountain ranges and the Silverwoods, the Starplains are a wild frontier. The eastern portions are mostly fertile and green, while the western areas dry out often, turning the grass a warm gold colors. At night, the Starplains give an unparalleled view of the sky due to the absence of trees or unnatural light sources, hence the name. Unfortunately, the presence of oni and dangerous wildlife makes the Starplains fairly difficult to live in.

Verducci: A colony of Argentry located to the south of the Starplains, Verducci has the misfortune of being located nearby the Verdok Marsh, where it is rumored a dangerous dragon keeps his lair. Nonetheless, this forboding town is quite friendly and welcoming, if you can get past the sense of danger. The amiable ranceau make their home here as well: an amphibious race skilled in natural magics.

Chill Pass: The grass gives way to trees to the north of the Starplains, and coniferous trees at that. It is the only terrestrial route to Eisvelt and the temperature sharply drops when this area is entered. Warm and humid winds from the Central Sea rarely reach this region due to mountains blocking winds and rain.

Eisvelt: A cold and nearly inhospitable northern region, frozen cyclones buffet the northernmost portion, making it icy and barren. The southern bits are dominated by huge taiga forests, chilled by the northern winds and the dominant ice giants.

Karbor: The stronghold of the Eisvelti, a faction of humans used to living in cold climates. If you would ask any man from Argentry, they would find Karbor barbaric; the buildings are constructed from thatch, fur and bare stone and the Eisvelti do not hold on to marvelous landmarks like the Aurentinians did. However, the Eisvelti have a strong sense of warlike spirit, making them rather similar to Earth's Viking warriors.

North Watch: A small Argentrian outpost on the borders of the Western Wastes. This area is one of the driest portions of the Starplains, quite a bizarre contrast from the nearby Chill Pass, being very hot.

The Western Wastes: A vast desert to the west of the Bolgdan mountains, inhabited by lizard-like beings known as ghillah. They are a very greedy and thieving race, and thus travelers through the Wastes are either asked to be careful or on the ghillah's good sides. Sand dunes stretch as far as the eyes can see, and there is very little water here. Travelers to this hot and dry area are recommended to pack a full waterskin!

Al-Kalir: Off the beaten path between North Watch and Santorem, Al-Kalir is a trading outpost manned by the Kaliri humans. The western portions of Al-Kalir are surprisingly lush and fertile, and the Kaliri Bay is a small boat-port as well. Usually travelers take boats between Al-Kalir, Santorem and Zakudo to get out of the Western heat.

The Bolgdan Mountains: The largest mountain range on Omni-Terra. Despite being right next to the hottest and driest portion of Omni-Terra, they are cold and snowy at the tops due to their height. They create a rainshadow that dries out the western portion of the continent, and they are home to two very different races: the dwarves and the sky elves.

The Underbolg: The Underbolg, rivaling Omni-Terra itself in size, is a massive sprawling network of caverns and tunnels that winds like a web underneath the continent. It is constantly being dug and expanded by the greedy dwarves looking for gold and jewels. The stronghold of the dwarves is located here, in the area under the north of the Bolgdan Mountains.

Dragonsmouth: This is a pair of cliff faces jutting off the side of a mountain, where stalactites and stalagmites form the illusion of a dragon's teeth. In between the cliffs, where the dragon's "throat" would be, is the sky elven capital of Dragonsmouth. The sky elves live here in seclusion from the rest of the continent. Their culture resembles most closely the Plains Indians of the American Midwest; they have a vast respect for nature, they are aloof, and they are wise.

Santorem: The halfling homeland is a barren waste. Unlike the Western Wastes, the land is hilly and rocky, and is similarly unsuited for growing anything. That is, however, except for within the Delta, an area surrounded two rivers (the Rico and the Domino). Life flourishes in the Delta, and the capital city of the santorin (Ciudad Santor) thrives alongside the twin rivers.

Clearwood: An Argentrian outpost to the south of Santorem, it exists primarily to keep Zakudo in check, and soldiers are sent there to keep the place safe. The civilians living there often feel threatened by the military presence of their own people, wishing only to live in peace. The waste tapers off into deciduous forest to the east, then into dense jungle.

The Lin'taki Jungle: A small rainforest near the southern part of the Central Sea, this area is very lush and rich in wildlife. However, most of the wildlife is dangerous and predatory. For this reason, many people head south to Zakudo to avoid the jungle. The recent war has made this difficult, so the zao have stepped in to guide travelers through Lin'taki. The dangerous Koatlan live here, a vicious and evil race of snakemen who capture travelers as sacrifices.

The Mermaid Isles: Some of the only large islands jutting out from the great Central Sea, they are named for their lovely inhabitants: the sea elves. They are tropical and lush, much like most of the islands of the central sea, and they have gained a mythic lore and reputation. There is a legend that any man drawn to these islands will find himself unable to leave.

Merae: The stronghold of the reclusive but friendly sea elves, it was an elven stronghold even before it was flooded in ancient times. The inhabitants were transformed and the city was left intact, even after thousands of years beneath the waves. Because it is so difficult to reach by terrestrial races, there are many rumors about this place. A veritable Atlantis of Omni-Terra, it hides many secrets.

Linatharan: The primeval forests of Linatharan are one of the oldest-standing woodland areas on the continent. They are protected by elven magics, and it is said that all the ley lines of the world meet in this elven land. Hill elves are native to these woods, and thus the land is permeated with arcane magics. It is a pristine deciduous forest where grassland should exist, and aside from the jungle is the most lush landscape on Omni-Terra.

Liniatha: The ancient stronghold of the hill elves, Liniatha is literally as old as the Central Sea. The very air here courses with magic, and it is the most magical area on Omni-Terra. Sorcerers and wizards the world over come here to study and hone their magical skills. The tall spires here hold the elven king's palace.

Nanako: These foothills taper off from the Bolgdan Mountains to create a cool steppeland where nature thrives untouched, under the hill elves' protective hands. Unfortunately, the oni thrive here too, making Nanako almost as dangerous as the Starplains. In addition, the violent sarui come up from the southern areas of Rossick.

The Fallen Lands: This ravaged, plagued landscape used to be the human empire of Aurentine. Now it is Faela's stronghold. The ground is cracked and barren, the trees are dead, and an evil aura contaminates the land. It is a land where men rise from the dead, and indeed the dead keep this inhospitable nation. The empire of Argentry want nothing more than Faela's army destroyed permanently, and Aurentine restored to its former glory. The other nations of the continent simply wish this hellish area to be abandoned to its fate.

Zakudo: This is an island nation off the southwestern coast of Omni-Terra. The islands are rich and volcanic, providing the empire with quite a bit of defense. The Zakudan navy circles around the islands protecting it from harm as well. A deeply spiritual people, the Zakudans are similar to Argentry in that they are noble and imperialistic, but they are much more in tune with nature than their brethren (having an animist religion), and closely resemble feudal Japan in culture and demeanor.

Rossick: A cold and brutal waste south of the Nanako foothills, instead of trees there is nothing but permafrost and ice. Very little can survive here, yet the simian sarui are able to eke out a living here. They are incredibly violent and xenophobic, and attack settlers trying to live here. It is for this reason that Rossick is considered to be a dead land, and with the encroachment of the Fallen Ones into this region, it is becoming an increasingly true moniker.

Human- The most common race on Omni-Terra, and relatively young by the standards of other races, they are a fragmented and diverse race that is very versatile and open to new ideas. Compared to most races they are somwhat average but they make up for this in their unique way of shaping the world they live in. Humans are found all over Omni-Terra, but primarily in the areas of Argentry, Zakudo, Eisvelt, and Al-Kalir. Due to their adaptable nature they can follow almost any path they put their mind to. In Argentry and Zakudo, they tend to be noble and imperial folk. In Eisvelt they tend towards a more rugged, warlike lifestyle due to their harsh climate. In Al-Kalir, they tend to be fairly mercantile and stay out of the ongoing conflicts of Omni-Terra.

Dwarf- Dwarves are a stout, hard-working yet sullen race that is most commonly found in the areas of the Bolgdan Mountains, specifically in the Underbolg. Created from clay by Bolg the Great Thane (their deity), they more resemble golems or earthen constructs than living flesh. However, they have souls, minds, and are fully living. They do not need to eat, drink, breathe or rest, but unlike humans they tend to be dead-set in their ways: incapable of using arcane magic to its fullest degree, they focus on prowess with the sword and axe, and occasionally fight with divine magic granted by Bolg.

Hill Elf- Hill elves are tall, lithe, fair-skinned and fair-haired. They are native to the primeval forests of Linatharan, and the foothills surrounding it. Very attached to family and house, they may seem a little stuck-up to members of other races. Their skill with arcane magic is unmatched; they are the race that allowed it to spread across the world, and most arcane spells are elven in origin. They are also rather proficient in the ways of archery. Unfortunately, they are not as well-trained in melee combat, being frail and physically weak. Nonetheless, the noble hill elves are the first to come to the aid of their friends.

Sky Elf- Sky elves mostly resemble hill elves, but there are a few major and key differences. Mainly, they are darker skinned, have large talons on their feet, and have the wings of large condors growing out of their backs. Unlike their hill elven brethren, they show very little experience in arcane magic, but make up for it in natural magic born from the elements and the wilds. Sky elves make the best druids because of their unparalleled connection to nature. They revere dragons, and thus make their homes in a mountain formation known as the Dragonsmouth, a natural formation in the southern Bolgdan mountains that resembles a dragon's toothy maw. Because of their seclusion from most other races, sky elves tend to be aloof and care little for the laws of others.

Santorin- These dimunitive people from the land of Santorem were given the insulting nickname of "halfling" by Argentrian diplomats. A pious and proud people, they are excellent sailors, navigators, and explorers. They have an uncanny sense of direction and a compulsion to travel. Because they often resemble human children (only with pointed ears and large, hairy feet), santorin are often looked down upon by members of other races, so many santorin have taken up less noble paths (such as thievery or deceit) to make ends meet. Their size means they are not the best in brute strength, and they have little skill with magic in general.

Akumajin- There are no orcs in Omni-Terra. What does exist are the terrifying oni, bestial demons with a wicked cunning and a fiery temper. When oni influence the development of other races, most often humans and elves, akumajin are the result. Akumajin can thus be found wherever oni are plentiful, mainly in the Starplains and in the Nanako foothills. Akumajin resemble oni quite closely, having red, blue, or green skin and shaggy black hair. However, they much closer resemble humans or elves than oni, and are not all evil. Many in fact wish to put their reputation behind them and become upstanding members of society. It is no secret that akumajin are deadliest in close-quarters combat, but what is less known is that they are often very skilled at arcane magic as well.

Zao- The zao are a short race of mantis-folk from the jungles of Lin'taki. These honor-bound insects have a centauroid body type, with four legs holding up a partially upright body with two long clawed hands for manipulating objects. Yet, they are the smallest race on Omni-Terra usually only coming up to a human's thigh. They have a strict moral code, and prefer to fight bare-handed. Their fighting style, the Zaodin way, has been adopted by certain sects of human and elven monks, but they also show interest and skill in divine and natural magics.

I'm just wanting to abandon the 2nd idea at this point. Any ideas to improve the third one?
 
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Avenger Angel

Warrior of Heaven
First off, the map looks HOT. Great job, that's pretty much all you need. And the location descriptions you provided are perfect. Lots of terrain variety, location variety, I think you definitely got the cartography part nailed down nicely, so now it's pretty easy for your role players to know where they are and have a good, working idea of what's going on at each location, but leaves it open for them to play around with it as well. Also, the one continent setting is a good idea. Usually I end up making entire worlds with multiple continents and ultimately, only 20% of those maps actually end up getting used. So you made the right choice here. You can always expand later on if the need or desire arises, but shrinking down is usually something that can't be done.

As for the races, again, great job with those, having seven to select from gives everyone who signs up great variety for their characters without being a massive and overwhelming selection. Meanwhile, each of these seven races is tied to the setting of the role play, so you don't need to try and incorporate a potential oddball race that someone might come up with, which is a good call. Overall, I like where you're going with this and I think you're well on your way toward establishing a great RP.

As for the third idea...

Again, if you could make the same kind of map you did for the Omni-Terra one, you'd be off to a solid start, only in that map, you might also want to consider mapping out underwater cities, reefs, ruins, and other important locations in the oceans since the RP will also focus on both what's in the water and what's on land.

As for the merfolk, there's several ways you could go about this, to the point where you actually can have your cake and eat it too. To do that, just have several different races of merfolk and let them have both protagonist and antagonist roles. You could have the ones that are versatile and can shift from going on land to going in water. But you could also have different kinds, the sirens that wreck ships and stuff which look different from other races of merfolk, but again, still live in the water. And they could be clashing simply because they see the other species of merfolk as inferior beings. Physical distinctions between the multiple merfolk races would be easy. One could have green fish tails while another could have red, or something along those lines. Or you could have one race of merfolk where each member uses the traditional mermaid upper half human, bottom half fish appearance while another race looks more like the members of Davy Jones's crew from Pirates of the Caribbean, taking on the anthropomorphic fish appearances. Meanwhile, differences in terms of weaponry, magic, and culture between the multiple merfolk races would help make it even more interesting.
 

AllHailThrall

Well-Known Member
Thanks for your comments on the map for Omni-Terra (as I will now call "the first idea"). :D It's amazing what MS Paint, 2 years of planning and going for a graphic design major will do for you. Anything else I need to establish before sending this one for approval?

Fun Fact: The map of Omni-Terra is based on a map of what scientists project that Earth will look like in about 225 million years, and then rotated 90 degrees to the left. (The islands of Zakudo are the Canadian islands, Rossick is Alaska, the tip of Linatharan is the tip of South America, the Kaliri peninsula is Scandinavia, the Verducci peninsula is India, and Argentry is Australia mashed into Indonesia/Southeast Asia.)

As for the World Sea (as I'm calling this "third idea" because it's now the second idea and argh my brain), the thing about a map would be that the entire thing would be ocean, with a few islands, some bigger than the others. I established that it was like Wind Waker in that most of the land is now flooded. I can understand establishing the location of Atlantis, the ruins of human cities pre-flood, coral reefs, underwater volcanoes, trenches/abysses, et cetera. As for the different races of merfolk idea, that works. The thing I have in my head for that idea is that there are three: "standard" merfolk (completely human with a green/blue/silvery fish tail, Classical Greek sort of culture due to the whole Atlantis thing), "reef" merfolk (brightly colored hair and eyes, with fish halves based on colorful coral reef fish like surgeonfish, angelfish, clownfish and the like, with a Caribbean/Polynesian sort of culture due to the reefs in the Caribbean and the Great Barrier), and "deep" merfolk (deformed, monstrous-looking, fish-halves looking like sharks, anglerfish, viper fish, and other deep sea monstrosities, no idea what to do for culture with those). How I'm going to do the siren thing is most likely going to be that certain merfolk are simply bad apples and hate humans (or alternatively think humans are tasty). But yeah, how much should I put in the World Sea map?

EDIT: I made a preliminary map, containing three factions of human to counter-balance the three types of merfolk.

http://oi39.*******.com/9rhftw.jpg

The other idea I thought of is that the World Sea is actually Earth, just hundreds or thousands of years and years after everyone has forgotten about the "old" culture of the planet. And by Earth, I mean modern-day Earth. The underwater ruins would be things like San Francisco, Tokyo, et cetera. However, the tech of the people on the surface is highly 16th century to 18th century, sails and ships and swashbuckling. The three factions are the Kingdom of Nara, descended from Americans and Europeans; the kingdom of Andellos, descended from Central Americans and South Americans, and the Malaian Empire, descended from Asians.
 
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Avenger Angel

Warrior of Heaven
I'd say Omni-Terra is all set. Unfortunately, I won't be able to take part in it myself, at least not immediately anyway. I have a two-week trip to France and Belgium coming up very soon, so I won't be around for it.

As for the World Sea idea, that map you just made works fine, although I would simply make it a whole new world and not base it around a future, post-apocalyptic version of Earth. Otherwise, you're going to have to go deep into what events transpired to cause all that, and that could be a handful of stuff to cover. As for the Standard, Reef, and Deep merfolk, I think that kind of system works great. Deep merfolk could be more along the savage side with a subhuman intelligence, kind of like fast-moving, underwater zombies. As for sirens, they could function like witches, in a way. Something along those lines.

One last thing. Maybe consider hosting Omni-Terra and the World Sea RPs at different times. Hosting them together could work, but your attention would be divided between the two, and role players that join one might not be able to join the other due to time constraints.
 

Sheps™

Tick,Tick,Tick....
Thanks for your comments on the map for Omni-Terra (as I will now call "the first idea"). :D It's amazing what MS Paint, 2 years of planning and going for a graphic design major will do for you. Anything else I need to establish before sending this one for approval?

Fun Fact: The map of Omni-Terra is based on a map of what scientists project that Earth will look like in about 225 million years, and then rotated 90 degrees to the left. (The islands of Zakudo are the Canadian islands, Rossick is Alaska, the tip of Linatharan is the tip of South America, the Kaliri peninsula is Scandinavia, the Verducci peninsula is India, and Argentry is Australia mashed into Indonesia/Southeast Asia.)

As for the World Sea (as I'm calling this "third idea" because it's now the second idea and argh my brain), the thing about a map would be that the entire thing would be ocean, with a few islands, some bigger than the others. I established that it was like Wind Waker in that most of the land is now flooded. I can understand establishing the location of Atlantis, the ruins of human cities pre-flood, coral reefs, underwater volcanoes, trenches/abysses, et cetera. As for the different races of merfolk idea, that works. The thing I have in my head for that idea is that there are three: "standard" merfolk (completely human with a green/blue/silvery fish tail, Classical Greek sort of culture due to the whole Atlantis thing), "reef" merfolk (brightly colored hair and eyes, with fish halves based on colorful coral reef fish like surgeonfish, angelfish, clownfish and the like, with a Caribbean/Polynesian sort of culture due to the reefs in the Caribbean and the Great Barrier), and "deep" merfolk (deformed, monstrous-looking, fish-halves looking like sharks, anglerfish, viper fish, and other deep sea monstrosities, no idea what to do for culture with those). How I'm going to do the siren thing is most likely going to be that certain merfolk are simply bad apples and hate humans (or alternatively think humans are tasty). But yeah, how much should I put in the World Sea map?

EDIT: I made a preliminary map, containing three factions of human to counter-balance the three types of merfolk.

http://oi39.*******.com/9rhftw.jpg

The other idea I thought of is that the World Sea is actually Earth, just hundreds or thousands of years and years after everyone has forgotten about the "old" culture of the planet. And by Earth, I mean modern-day Earth. The underwater ruins would be things like San Francisco, Tokyo, et cetera. However, the tech of the people on the surface is highly 16th century to 18th century, sails and ships and swashbuckling. The three factions are the Kingdom of Nara, descended from Americans and Europeans; the kingdom of Andellos, descended from Central Americans and South Americans, and the Malaian Empire, descended from Asians.

The world sea idea is strangely similar to an idea I was working on having to do with a futuristic time period where most of the world in under water and everything else is considered islands. And Pirate/bountyhunters rule the land. People could play as just human pirates, government officials attempting to stop the chaos, or various sea creature mutations caused by the flood (Mermen, kraken, ect.) If you plan on going through with your idea becuse I'll stop working on mine and eagerly await yours. Or we could possibly Co op it if you were interested.
 

AllHailThrall

Well-Known Member
All right. You're right, it's kind of a hassle to make it post-apocalyptic Earth. I don't even know why I suggested that considering usually I hate post-apocalyptic stuff. So yeah, let's just say it's a maritime world that was flooded by a goddess (should the place still be called Atlantis then if it's not Earth?) The three types of merfolk could be like how you said, of course. However, that makes it so that there are only two playable merfolk factions (since the Deep Merfolk are animalistic and savage now). And what do you mean by witches exactly?

We could of course rectify the whole "three races of merfolk" thing by making there just be one type of merfolk that can either look like an ordinary human or have brightly colored hair/eyes, and have duller fish or brightly-colored fish as the tail.

Sheps, you could very well help me on this at a later date, I'm just really intrigued by the World Sea idea in particular. While in the Omni-Terra idea I've done it before and it's a little less interesting. Besides, I've always had a fascination with the sea and water-dwelling beings in general, hence why I just so happen to love merfolk. But yeah, I'll probably try and start up the Omni-Terra idea some time next week or the week after. How do I go about getting it approved?
 

aggiegwyn

Well-Known Member
One fandom which I've seen brought up as an idea for a game around here is Puella Magi Madoka Magica (which I also know has a decent share of followers in these parts). Since it's a world and concept which is very driven by the individual characters, I feel like it's something which would translate well to a forum RPG.

I'm aware that its greatest strength also creates a few issues: firstly, that there would inevitably be quite a lot of PvP involved, so the GM would have to work out a robust system to handle this regularly. Also, since it is so character-focused, it would require a group of appropriately invested and skillful players to pull off. But with the right players and the right amount of interest, I feel like it could make a strong showing.

At this point, I'm mainly just declaring my own interest (I'm not confident in my own ability to be a sufficiently-active GM, but would be willing to assist with the organization), but I'm also curious as to whether there is current interest involved in a game based on Madoka Magica.


I would love to see a Madoka Magica game, I'm a fan of the series myself, and I think it's a pretty interesting idea to work around. There could be a consistent supply of enemies, and engaging character arcs from when some would grow to be witches, and others to beat up stuff.



@Avenger Angel

Thanks for your advice, I'll be trying to get up the RPG sometime this or next week.
 

AllHailThrall

Well-Known Member
Um... by any chance could someone co-GM Omni-Terra with me? I've... never ran an RP on this site before and I don't want to screw up.
 

Sheps™

Tick,Tick,Tick....
So I've recieved quite a lot of inspiration from the Big Sea discussion and it has finally helped me realize a solid plot for the Pirate Based RP I've been working on. Decided to combine Pirates with a little bit of mythology and Dystopian aspects to make it a little more intense and less sort of goofy than it was before. I'm pretty happy with the plot result so I shall post it here. Please let me know what you think. (@rail, I'd love to assist with Omni-Terra if you would like since I planned on signing up for it right away anyway. And as far as the sea idea if this plot ends up being too close to what you had in mind. Then I'll hop off of it.)

Setting

The world is a place created by the God Poseidon. The area is a near 50/50 split between vast and land and deep oceans until Poseidon is angered and floods the world. Making the ratio closer to 80/20. The world is now a large mass of water with occasional islands that are usually vastly populated due to the lack of land. Any human who doesn't live on land is living on what people call "City Ships". Extremely large boats created to hold populations. These boats are, like their name suggests. Floating cities, but most are also very capable for combat. The haul holds enough weaponry to start a small war if Poseidon tries to start one. The world is full of Pirates, and many have their own ship arrangements as well. These ships lean far more towards the combat side as Pirates survive through theft, hostage money, and hunting dangerous creatures. Humans who became mutated by the flood (Referred to as Washers, they are humans who have developed fish traits like gills and flippers to survive.) live in under water sites along side all of the other peaceful sea creatures. There is more city life under the surface than their is up top. For this reason the pirates have developed a UBA capable of lasting several days if needed known as the "Scavom" or Self Contained Air Vortex Operating Machine. The Pirates are currently developing other weapons for underwater use and attempting to create a more stable air supply. (The Scavom is a helmet that can be pierced, which, if the user is deep enough could obviously lead to death.) The government is also involved. They were attempting to stop the pirates from mayhem before, and now strive to eliminate the Pirate population in order to please Poseidon and receive mercy. The usable land on the surface is divided between the civil islands run by the government. And what is known as the "Rogue Belt" which is a cluster of islands under pirate control. This is where black market trades take place. It is also unfortunately an important trading route for civilians. Thanks to this the hostage business is booming for the pirates. Under the sea is a different story. It is actully more peaceful than the surface. There are sections that no human or peaceful creature dares to venture, like Kraken Cove, home to Poseidon's pet and tool for destruction. This place is the closest anyone ever gets to Poseidon's kingdom. There is also an area where the sirens live, as well as the mermen. Both vicious creatures created by Poseidon that nobody ventures to unless for stupid reason. The rest of the sea is happy albeit oppressed. The washers live with a peaceful species of merpeople (Yes this was partially taken from things said above.) among other peaceful creatures.

Plot

Like mentioned a few times above, the world is run by Poseidon. This world is in the hands of the pirates however. The pirates became very capable at bounty hunting and began hunting the peaceful merpeople population for their flesh to sell on the black market. This angered Poseidon to the point of action. He flooded the world in an attempt to wipe out the human race. Many people died. Those that did not had either developed freak aquatic mutations or were a part of the minor points of land that did not flood. The pirate population took a huge hit, but those that survived were angered by Poseidon and grew back like an infection. They now spend their time creating technology and preparing for an attack on Instead, they hunt the new creatures Poseidon unleashed on the land after the flood. Sirens, Sea Serpents, Mermen, and other vicious and deadly fish haunt the sea now as a further punishment of Poseidon. The pirates travel to the areas these creatures live to cause chaos. The government eventually made a comebakc as well. These officials would attempt to protect the innocent from the pirates with war ships but were often more unsuccessfull than they would like to admit. Now they are stepping up their game in order to please their god and save the lives they have left. City ships were built for this reason. Under the water, the Washers were able to live peacefully with the other sea creatures for a while until the new vile beasts began to join the underwater communities. The evil creatures are not accepting of the mutations often end up killing or chasing away the ones they find in the under water villages and cities. The mutations must now either find refuge on land amongst their old kind or fight back against the monsters while trying to gain the support of the peaceful merpeople. Poseidon is on edge. Conflict is about the take off. The world will shift, but the question is....how?

Gameplay Details

I figure this setup offers a lot of different choices of things for people to play as. They can go as pirates, government officials, mutations, a peaceful merperson or other peaceful creatures. I plan on putting up descriptions of each creature if people respond well to this as well as put up the under and above water maps and more plot details. Plese let me know what you think!
 

Avenger Angel

Warrior of Heaven
@ Sheps

It's a decent idea, and while there differences between your RP and AllHailThrall's World Sea idea, they do seem highly similar for the most part. Maybe you guys could work together on it and just combine your ideas into one RP.

My only thing is it seems unlikely for the Poseidon side to lose, since Poseidon is a god after all. The City Ships could probably withstand any amount of flooding that Poseidon inflicts, but if Poseidon is capable of other sea-based attacks, such as tsunamis or whirlpools, those could easily kill the City Ships.

Instead of Poseidon, maybe use another demigod-like entity that has vast amounts of power, but isn't quite at the level of being a god and isn't immortal. That way, that side has power and leadership and it would be challenging for the pirates to overcome him, but not impossible. Otherwise, the pirates face a pretty much inevitable losing battle if they can't ever kill the head honcho.

As for choices for people to role play as, letting them role play as peaceful merfolk or creatures just seems meaningless if they're not getting involved in the main plotline and conflict. Somehow, some way, they should be involved in one way or another. If they're not involved and they're just role playing as some dolphin in the middle of nowhere, I don't even think people would bother reading that person's posts, and eventually the novelty of role playing as that character will wear off fast. But again, somehow, someway, every character should be affected by the conflict in one way or another, even if they don't want to take a particular side.
 

Sheps™

Tick,Tick,Tick....
All completely valid points, and I would love to work with thrall on this RP if he is interested ^.^
 

AllHailThrall

Well-Known Member
I would be very happy if Sheps helped me on the Omni-Terra idea! Thank you for offering!

As for the sea idea, yeah, that is /REALLY/ similar to my idea... perhaps we could combine the ideas. I personally think there should only be humans and merfolk, adding too many others would bog things down, and besides, the "creatures" would be confined to the sea and not too intelligent.

While yours seems more futuristic, mine is more about the "swashbuckling Golden Age of piracy" sort of pulp fiction-y feel. Perhaps the different human factions have different tech levels (one medieval, one 16th-18th century, one modern). That way, people who want to play this idea a certain way could choose a faction to do so. Also, perhaps the god/goddess (I kind of prefer goddess since it's kind of like Eris from the Sinbad movie) is weakened and trapped within the sunken city, and the Kraken, Leviathan, etc are her pets that guard the city. In addition, there could be factions of merfolk that fanatically serve the goddess and attack humans. That could be where sirens come in.

Nonetheless, various artifacts made of orichalcum could have been plundered from Atlantis and scatter the world on the black market, being hoarded by pirate lords, stashed in warehouses by the modern faction's government, et cetera. The orichalcum-based artifacts could probably have magic or at least have supernatural powers. For instance, I'm imagining necklaces that allow the user to turn into merfolk and back (a mer could use it to become human, allowing a mer character to have land/ship-based adventures) are quite common, allowing lots of opportunity for land, ship and sea-based action. Other stuff might be an Orichalcum sword that moves through water as through air, orichalcum armor that is very light yet very tough, orichalcum jewels that fortell the future, stuff like that.

What do you think?
 
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Sheps™

Tick,Tick,Tick....
Okay:

@only humans and merfolk.

I can agree with that, I feel like a good way to differentiate between the types is how human vs merman they are. Among other things. Assuming you were okay with the idea of humans get genetically modified by the flood. As far as protagonists go. The idea to change the type of merman to get the different types of characters is a good idea as well (I.e Peaceful mermen vs Sirens) for the antagonists

@Different tech factions.

Brilliant, and easily explained. After the flood, different sections of the world had more resources and different resources than others. All made do with what they had and then became customed to their culture.

@Goddess and Atlantis.

Perfect, solves the problem addressed by angel. Adds another element and incorporates Atlantis which I couldn't figure out how to do.

@Oralchalum or however it is spelled.

I loved all of that. It adds motives to what the pirates do. And adds more flexibility to the abilities of characters. Would people be able to choose if they start the RP with an item? Or would they have to obtain one within the story? Perhaps a certain item or certain amount of items are needed to fully destroy the goddess. And on the other side. The goddess needs to recover a certain amount of magic to free herself. Just doing some idea tossing.

So if there are three factions, Do you think they would be isolated from each other at the start of the RP or open? I'd prefer them open to begin with but if that was the case we would need a way to explain how the more modern factions don't dominate the older. I'm also wondering where this would put the undersea groups amongst the ranks. Don't get me wrong, bsolutely love the idea just playing devils advocate because it helps me not miss stuff :3

Finally, where are you on city ships? I feel like they could be pretty pivotal in allowing travel within the RP if we can explain them.
 

AllHailThrall

Well-Known Member
@humans and merfolk
I don't think they're "genetically modified" per se by the flood, as is "cursed"/"blessed". The goddess transforms those caught in the flood into merfolk, and lets them live as long as they promise to serve her and fight the humans. Some would side with her, some would side against her, most likely.

@tech/city ships
I'm assuming the modern faction is also the most isolationist (kind of like Japan pre-Imperial era). Either that, or they are starting to run out of materials (iron is pretty hard to come by on island nations in our NORMAL Earth as is, let alone on an entire world made of islands. Japan, to bring that back up again, has to import most of its iron). The city ships could be.... well, I'm starting to think of them somewhat like this: the modern tech means better medicine, which means population booms, and thus the landmass is too small to contain them all. Hence, they take up residence on city ships. I don't think they'd be for travel, more for residence. There could be ferries between continents/islands/city ships most likely, either by sail (for older factions) or for motorized boats (for more modern factions).

@orichalcum
I do agree that characters should start off with at least one orichalcum artifact. However, I don't think it should be too powerful. Most will probably start off with the necklace that turns you into a mer. If you want something different (like, say, an orichalcum dagger or shield) it will be there instead of the necklace and someone will have to buy or find one. I can't imagine the necklace would be too difficult to find, however. What WOULD be difficult are the more powerful stuff. Adventure hooks for the win!

@faction dominance and activity
Maybe there's some sort of peace agreement that keeps the three nations in relative stability, or the modern faction is simply isolationist/in need of resources that the other nations can provide. You don't bite the hand that feeds you. Of course, there'd always be some political intrigue: the entire point of privateers back in the Golden Age was that you could harass someone you didn't like without going into full-out war. Many pirates did start off as privateers and became all-out pirates when the nations were buddy-buddy with each other, to keep their livelihood.

@merfolk in the world
Merfolk would probably differ on a case-by-case basis when it comes to their standing with the three factions. There would be combatants against the humans, some would favor certain factions, others would stay out of the conflict entirely (or at least, as well as they could considering all the plundering going on). Some merfolk, like some people, are just bad.

Anything else we should discuss about this?
 
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Sheps™

Tick,Tick,Tick....
I think all of that sounds right. The following stuff is just minor details to be sure of and then I'll start to prepare a more up to date post of all the stuff which I will send to you. (If I'm not mistaken, I sent you a FR.)

-Name/Any other important information about the goddess worth having in the plot since it seems you had thoughts about the character already.

-"Class" or faction of the underwater cities and whether or not they differ.

-Playable characters, I think as of right now it is just pirates/Government people/ Fish people/ Other stuff people come up with that we approve of. Which I think sounds about right.

-How the artifacts effect the plot. (I.e How they effect the goddess, how others found out about them, what they do when you get many of them.) Just minor detail stuff, I think I mentioned some long run effects of them in my last post.

-Finally the map layout. I was thinking something like where the three factions make a triangle. The modern being isolated, would point to the north while the other two would be the two south corners. The center is atlantis and the closer ones travels towards the center the more dangerous the travels become. Throughout all of this would obviously be the under water cities and pirate clusters. I loved the ide about the Rogue Belt from before but am trying to figure out where to incorporate it.

Oh yeah, and if you need any input, help, writing up of Omni-Terra before it starts let me know!
 
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