Crossroads of Chaos - signup

Durandal · Crossroads of Chaos - signup

Hello ladies and gentlemen. Allow me to introduce to you my first ever RP!

Geographic/political landscape
This game takes place in the land of Rinval, the largest continent on a planet of the same name. The time period and technology level is closest to Western Europe during the 14th century. Rinval is divided up into five nations:

Tasmivar, a republic.
Anturon, a constitutional monarchy.
Ebilana, a theocracy.
Erosia, a criminal oligarchy.
Norovis, an imperial dictatorship.

I made a map with paint, but I'm not very good at it and it isn't too detailed. If I need to I'll add terain to it as I go along, but here's what I have so far: map. Please forgive the lameness of it.

In just recent history peace has settled across all of Rinval and each nation had been able to turn its attention inward and focus on improving its own infrastructure. Our story begins in the nation of Anturon, where the improvement in the country has led the king and queen to decide to host a several-day banquet at the royal court.

At this celebration there is to be a mighty feast and warriors and nobles alike from all over the nation are to gather to join in the merriment. In addition to the party, a tournament has been declared and all those who would seek to prove their worth in battle are sure to attend. As players, your characters are the sons and/or daughters of nobles or warriors who have attended the celebration. Also, I will need two people to play as the children of the king and queen, one prince and one princess of Anturon. Your characters are to be between the ages of 16 (the end of childhood in Rinval) and 18. You need to give them German-sounding names. If you don’t know what German names sound like there is a great website to help you out. You can use a name from it or come up with your own once you get a feel for what constitutes a ‘German’ name.

Character classes
Your character class plays a very important part in how your character develops. Your class affects your attributes, any special skills you might get, and even the weapons or magic you have available to you. At the start you will all have a beginner class. This is a class that has only 10 levels and once you get to 10 you immediately get to pick which class you want next. In a normal class there are 20 levels. There are usually two classes after the trainee class, and each one is better than the last. At every level up you will get an increase in one or more attributes. It’s mostly random as to which or how many attributes bonuses you get at level ups, but it is based off of probabilities that your class has for an increase in each attribute.

Here are the beginning classes you can take:

Scoundrel- a shifty fellow, the scoundrel can become either a thief or a myrmidon and uses swords.
Apprentice- a student in the ways of magic, the apprentice can advance to a mage or a sorcerer through the use of Anima magic.
Squire- a squire is always training with a lance, trying to earn the title of knight or cavalier.
Trainee- a ‘child of the skies,’ the trainee rides atop a pegasus and wields a lance in an attempt to become a pegasus knight or a wyvern rider.
Novice- the novice is a swift fighter attempting to become one with his sword in order to be called a mercenary or a myrmidon.
Pupil- the pupil, ever diligent in learning the ways of Anima magic seeks to join the ranks of the sorcerers or shaman.
Journeyman- the journeyman is the determined soldier, searching for the skills with an axe needed to become a knight or a fighter.
Hunter- a hunter practices the art of the bow in order to be promoted to a full archer.

These classes each lead to higher level classes which will be explained later on. If you have any questions or would like me to explain them before you pick your initial class then feel free to ask me to do so.

Magic
Magic in Rinval exists in the world at large, but can only be used through mystic tomes which a practitioner of magic must have on his/her person in order to use. The user does not need to read from the book, but simply to hold it in his/her hands. Magic is divided into several schools or practices, and the main three are:

Light- also called sacred or holy magic, Light is often used by those who strive to live for good and end the threat of evil to the world. Light magic has an advantage over Dark.
Dark- also called ancient or evil magic, Dark users would say that it is not inherently evil, even though it is often used for such a purpose. Dark has an advantage over Anima.
Anima- also called nature or elemental magic, Anima is probably the most common form of magic as it is easier to use than Light but does not have the stigma of Dark. Anima has an advantage over Light.

Each of the three schools has multiple books that provide different attacks with different effects. Some Dark magic has the ability to steal the enemies health and use it to replenish the attacker’s health. Some Anima magic has farther than normal range. And some Light magic can do extra damage to beings created from darkness.

Additionally there are three practices of magic, each indirectly linked to one of the three schools:

Enchanted staves (staffs) can be used to heal allies in combat or cast a variety of helpful effects like shield, antidote, teleport, etc.
Necromancy is used to manipulate the dead and create minions out of those who have fallen in combat.
Summoning magic draws energy from the earth to create an elemental being that will fight for the summoner.

Weapons
There are four types of weapons in Rinval: lances, swords, axes, and bows.

Lances- these are the long-reaching spears used by skilled soldiers. They can be fast while doing large amounts of damage. Lances have an advantage over the shorter swords.
Swords- easy to wield and reliable, the sword is the back-up weapon for many warriors and can make an excellent primary weapon for faster combatants. The sword’s swiftness gives it an advantage over axes.
Axes- heavy, slicing, bludgeoning tools of destruction, axes tend to be used only by the strongest fighters but can deal out pain in large portions. Their chopping abilities give them an advantage over lances.
Bows- the tool of choice for an archer, the bow can assault enemies from afar. Against air units (pegasus or wyvern riders) the bow does extra damage.

Although the majority of ranged combat is done with bows, there are weapons inside the other three categories that have a range greater than melee. Javelins, throwing knives, and hand axes can all be thrown at enemies from a distance.

Attributes
Okay, so it’s time to talk about attributes. These are like abilities in the d20 system, only there are more in Fire Emblem. Here they are along with their description:

Hit points- How much health your character has. If it reaches ‘0’ you’re dead.
Strength- How much muscles your character has. Affects how much damage you do.
Skill- How able your character is to use a weapon or tome. Affects your accuracy.
Agility- How quick your character is on his/her feet. Affects dodging.
Luck- What your character’s fortune is like. Affects a lot of things.
Defense- How well your character can take hits. Determines damage from enemy attacks.
Resistance- The degree to which your character is resistant to magic. Determines damage from enemy spells.
Constitution- How tough/strong/big your character is. Determines the size of weapons you can use easily.
Speed- How fast you can run or ride. Determines how far you can move in one turn.

Additionally, magic users don’t have the attributes ‘strength’ or ‘constitution.’ Rather, they have ‘intelligence’ and ‘willpower,’ which do effectively the same thing as the attributes they replace.

Weapons and tomes also have attributes which determine their quality. These attributes are:

Class- (Lance, bow, Anima, etc.)
Range- Melee weapons have a range of 1, magic usually 1 or more, bows 2 or more, etc.
Weight- for weapons this is physical weight, for tomes this is the mental weight of the spell, if the weapon or tome is too ‘heavy’ then the user is slowed down and suffers an agility penalty and a skill penalty equal to the difference between the weight and constitution/willpower.
Damage- how powerful the weapon is. Determines damage done with it.
Bonus- weapons or tomes sometimes give attribute bonuses like +2 skill or +1 agility. This can happen if it is extremely well made or enchanted.

Combat
I'll go over combat later. You don't need to know it now. If you would like to though, just PM me and I'll send it to you.

Character sheet
Name: (Remember, German sounding name please. Also, no last name unless it is a von something, which basically means from [the town of] something)
Age: (16-1

Description: (hair, eyes, face, build, height, weight)
Class: (choose from the beginning classes)
Attitude: (What is your character's outlook on life? How do they see the world and interact with others on a normal basis? Can be a couple words)
Background: (If you would like to sign-up for the prince or princess of Anturon, PM me. Otherwise you can make up any background you would like. Tell how you are related to someone important who was invited to the banquet.)

Okay, so that's all I can think of for now. If you have any questions please do ask me because it's quite likely I have forgotten something. Also, if you need something clarified go ahead and ask because it's likely you're not the only one who thinks I'm confusing.

Durandal

Also, if there is a call for it, I can put Anthros (most likely feline Anthros) into the storyline.

Like it's a genetic trait that can show up in certain people, etc... It wouldn't affect the plot or attributes at all but it would allow you to have a cat person.

Dr. Salem

Where do we put all the attributes under? Class?

Durandal

You don't put the attributes. You just put a class. Each of the classes has a set of starting attributes, along with its own set of probabilities that an attribute will increase at a level up.

Also, I added "attitude" to the list of things in your character sheet. This is just so you can set up at the beginning what your character is like in social interactions.

Give me a bit and I'll write up more about the classes, such as what attributes each one specializes in and what the later classes are like. This is important because a big part of choosing your first class is knowing what secondary classes are available to each one.

Durandal

Okay, couple of changes. I got rid of the barbarian class because it was too close to the fighter class. Now, Journeymen promote to Knight or Fighter.

Also, for your initial class you can chose one of the eight beginner classes or you can chose Priest or Troubador. They don't have an initial class that lead to them. Here I shall post for you the secondary classes that the initial classes lead to and a description of those secondary classes.

Class promotions
Scoundrel --> myrmidon – thief
Novice --> myrmidon – mercenary
Squire --> knight – cavalier
Trainee --> pegasus knight – wyvern rider
Journeyman --> knight – fighter
Hunter --> archer
Apprentice --> mage – sorcerer
Pupil --> sorcerer – shaman

Class descriptions
Myrmidon- Swordsmen who possess superior speed and technique. They specialize in killing strokes.
Thief- Fortune hunters whose sticky fingers and quick reflexes can prove very useful.
Mercenary- A swift warrior who fights with bravado and a flair for powerful attacks.
Knight- Heavily armored combatants. Superior defense outweighs their poor agility and speed.
Cavalier- Mounted units with superior speed. Well balanced for agility, defense and attack.
Pegasus knight- Knights who soar through the skies. They resist magic but are weak against bows.
Wyvern rider- Soldiers who rule the skies from wyvern-back. They are vulnerable to only bows and magic.
Fighter- Axe wielding powerhouse whose wild fighting style leaves them with poor defenses.
Archer- Lightly protected warriors with Bows. They can attack from a distance.
Mage- Magic user who specializes in Anima magic but does not let his/her body be ignored.
Sorcerer- Sinister magic users who wield Anima but also dabble in Dark magic in the search for personal knowledge and power.
Shaman- Member of the ancient shamanistic ranks who use Anima, the magic of nature.

As I said, you can also chose Priest or Troubadour as your initial class. Here are the descriptions for those:

Priest- Ascetic wielders of sacred Light magic. Superior ability to hit but low attack power.
Troubadour- Mounted maidens whose sacred staves aid allies. They are swift but do not fight.

Okay, so class strengths and weakness:

Scoundrel - high agility, luck, skill. Low HP, defense, constitution.
Novice - For the most part very average. Low resistance.
Squire - high strength, defense. Low resistance.
Trainee - high speed, agility. Low defense.
Journeyman - High constitution, HP, strength. Low defense, resistance.
Hunter - High agility, skill. Low defense, HP.
Apprentice - High skill, resistance. Low defence.
Pupil - High power, skill, willpower. Low agility.

Squires ride on horseback and Trainees ride on a pegasus.

I'm not going to post the final class descriptions or the promotion list from the secondary classes to the final ones. If you want those just PM me and I'll send 'em to you. I don't want to worry people with too much information. I fear I've already done that anyway.

Spirit Wolf

Name: Abel
Age: 16
Description: 5'10, silver eyes, blond hair, chiseled, caucasian, 172 Lbs.
Class: Novice
Attitude: He tries to be as honorable as he can. He doesn't lie unless he absolutely has to. He's the stoic type, and so he doesn't usually start a conversation with strangers.
Background: Abel is the son of Garet, the man who was the strongest swordmaster to come out of the Period of Turmoil. When death finally took him, many were sad to see him go. A close friend of Garet’s, the Baron Duessel von Busse, volunteered to adopt Abel out of his sympathy and kindness, as Abel would have been otherwise on his own. Normally this would not have been a big deal since 16 is the official age of adulthood in Rinval anyway, but the baron knew Abel's disposition and didn't want him to feel alone in a world of strangers. When the banquet was announced Abel was naturally invited to the banquet in honor of his father's service. He accepted, not wanting to be rude, but is rather reluctant to go. A banquet means talking to complete strangers, which he doesn't like to do.

Durandal

Approved!

Also, I forgot to add the journeyman class in the first post. It's there now.

ginpu

I was about to ask about races. heh.
So other than human would be for cosmetic purposes only for the most part then, right?

Durandal

Correct. No affect in the plot or character attributes.

You could base your class on whatever type of race you wanted to play though. What did you have in mind?

ginpu

I didn't. LOL
I have to actually read this still. I'm sorry Durandal. I'll try tomorrow, if not by the time I get back. My mind won't hold still right now. One day of work, then sleep and a 12 hour drive to the middle of nowhere in southern Virginia.

BlackBlade

I'm most likely not joining this one too busy right now.

Durandal

Name: Alaric von Busse
Age: 17
Description: 5'9". Large eyes the color of burnt ash. An open, honest face with an easy, lopsided smile. Long, straight, midnight black hair bound in a ponytail. Sleek and athletic form. 168 lbs.
Class: Squire
Attitude: Although he has a bit of a competitive side, Alaric is very laidback when around friends. He is kindhearted and enjoys helping people, distressed damsels in particular, and he considers himself especially lucky when doing so causes others to notice and praise him. The main character flaws he suffers from are pride and overconfidence, a deadly combination should he ever not have the strength or skill to back them up.
Background: Alaric aspires to be a member of the cavalry like his father, the great knight Baron Duessel von Busse. Having a father in such a powerful position has both helped and in some ways harmed young Alaric. Ever since he was young he lived around horses, developing an almost unnatural bond with them. He began training for life as a knight earlier than most and if he has his way he will one day be the most powerful knight in the land. Of course, he would use that power to create a better, happier nation... but it certainly would also help in meeting women. (Chicks dig powerful dudes in armor)

Just recently a friend of Alaric's father passed away. Alaric had been away from home training during the time, and when he finally he returned he found out that he now had an adopted brother, Abel. At the same time he was also informed that the entire family had been invited to a banquet hosted by the king and queen. Alaric was thrilled at this... banquets meant maidens flocking to find a knight in shiny armor to support, and Alaric knew where they could find one.

Durandal

Okay, Daniel's character and my character have been changed a bit and are both approved.

That is, of course, unless anyone else wants to build off of or add to any existing backgrounds. If you do, just let me know.

Daniel and I are planning on starting the RP just for fun because we're bored for the weekend. This won't affect the plot once the actual RP gets going and we won't be leveling up without everyone else, so don't worry.

Durandal

I should have gone over equipment a bit better before now.

Don't get too attached to any one weapon, because in Fire Emblem weapons break after a certain number of turns using them (like 60). This is rather realistic, and unless we find a blacksmith who can repair our weapons on our journey we will be going through multiple weapons. Same can be said for tomes and recharging them.

For starting weapons you have a choice but they have to be the lowest tier ones because our characters aren't too skilled with the type of weapons we can use yet.

So, Daniel, I know you've already described your weapon, but what type of sword do you want it to be.

There's: rapier, shortsword, and longsword, and all of them iron.

The rapier doesn't weigh much and is eaiser to hit with but doesn't do as much damage. The longsword hurts more but also weighs more. The shortsword weighs as much as the rapier but isn't as easy to hit with because it does slightly more damage.

Spirit Wolf

Abel isn't going to be using the one he has. It has sentimental value to him I.E. it was his fathers. For sparring he's going to be using a standard longsword.

Durandal

Ah, good idea. Okay then. Let's go over combat now, hm?

Here are the stats for your weapon:
Iron longsword
Class- Sword - E
Range- 1
Weight- 5
Damage- 5
Bonus- None

Alaric is using a standard slim lance:

Iron slim lance
Class- Lance - E
Range- 1
Weight- 5
Damage- 4
Bonus- Skl +1

First you need to consider your weapon. Your sword has a weight of 5, and you only have a constitution of 4. For every point the weight of your weapon goes over your constitution, you lose one point of agility and one point of skill when attacking or defending. This isn’t permanent damage, and if you were to switch to a lighter weapon or get another point of constitution your stats would be restored, so don’t worry.

Okay, so in order to hit, you compare your own stats first to determine your accuracy. Skl*2 + Lck/2. Your skill is 2 (after the 1 point penalty) and your luck is 4. So you accuracy is 4+2=6.
Next you look at your enemy’s stats. Agi*2 + Lck/2. My agility is 2 and my luck is 3. So, my dodge rate is 4+1=5.

You’re accuracy is one point higher than mine. If they were equal you would have a 50/50 chance of hitting me. With each point higher (or lower) it changes by 2.5%.

So, you have a 52.5% chance of hitting me.

You don’t need to really worry about that or roll any dice or anything, but just try to keep it in mind. Fortunately we won’t be doing each other any damage, so we don’t even need to worry about that yet.

Let me know if you don't get something in here. I'm pretty sure though that if you just read it very carefully you'll understand, as it isn't too difficult.

Spirit Wolf

Alright, I get it. What I don't get is how a lance overpowers a sword. Lances are easy to read, therefore easy to dodge. And once you get past a certain point it's easy to take down the person using the lance.

Durandal

Not in my continuity it isn't. I'm actually not applying any bonuses for the weapon advantage triangle in this battle. But later on that's what will happen. The person with the weapon that trumps the other person's gets a +2 bonus to agility and skill and a +1 bonus to strength and defense.

There are also special 'reaver' weapons that turn the triangle around. The lancereaver sword has a bonus against lances.

Also, there are weapons that gives bonuses against certain types of units. There's a buster sword that is effective against mounted units. There's a wyrmslayer that is effective against wyverns, etc...

Dr. Salem

I wish to join now. I'm not playing as Xavier, but his son Alphonse.

Name: Alphonse Kay von Alternon
Age: 17
Description: Brown hair, green eyes, handsome clear face, skinny, 6’, 195 lbs, lightly dark skin
Class: Novice
Attitude: Alphonse (Al) is basically wild, fun loving, mostly care-free kind of guy that’s kind of lazy (Won’t fight unless it’s for competition or he has to) and really is only serious when the time comes for it. He’s also very into the ladies and a bit of a show-off.
Background: Alphonse is the son of Lord Xavier von Alternon of the famous carriage company. This has allowed himself grand opportunities such as education and training from his father and his partner, Mack, who happened to be champion swordsmen of their generation along with the best chariot racers of their generation. Al has always been quite talented with knowledge, strength, balance, and of course the ladies much like his father.

He has been invited along with his father and Mack to a banquet hosted by the king and queen of his country due to their fame.

Spirit Wolf

Aw man. I was hoping to be the only novice. Oh well. T_T

Dr. Salem

What, I like swords? Especially Rapiers and claymores.

Durandal

Hmm, skinny at 220 lbs? Even for six feet tall that's a bit heavy to be considered skinny. And what is 'lightly dark?'
Also, green eyes are kind of rare, but I'm not going to make you change that.

Besides those you're approved. There can be two of each beginning class, but no more than two. Besides, as a novice you'll have a chance to become either a myrmidon or a mercenary, and from there you can be either an assassin, a swordmaster, or a hero.

And your stats will increase differently anyway, so you won't have identical characters.

One thing I forgot to mention though, is that, like the medieval days, there are no last names. If you want to have one you need to use 'von.'

Von is the German equivalent of the Spanish 'de,' the Italian 'da,' and the English 'from.' So my character is Alaric von Busse, which means Alaric from [the town of] Busse.

He can have Kay as a middle name though. That's fine.

Dr. Salem

Have you seen Johnny Tsunami? (I don't know if anyone watches Disney Channel). Johnny's skin tone is the same one as Alphonse's.

Durandal

Alright then. Stamp of approval.

Do you know when or how you want to join in?

Dr. Salem

Hmm, is through a stampede of horses acceptable? Standing on two feet on top of a Mustang? That's the kind of show off Al is.

Durandal

Eh, sure. Just wait until we get to the tournament grounds before he does it. Otherwise it wouldn't make any sense.

marlamin1 · signing up

Name: Derek
Age: 17
Description: hair:black
eyes:Green
build:Muscular
height:6'0"
weight:210
Class: apprentice

Attitude: Funny in a sarcastic way, people get a kind of nervous feeling around me, have a "not care about others, kind of kept to myself" kind of attitude...

Background: grew up as an orphan because my mother died at birth. My father died when I was 6 months old, He protected me from a gang of thieves on his walk back from town (we lived on the outside of our village). I then grew up with an old man and his grandson. The old man was named Alfred. His grandson, who was 4 years older than me, was named Horst. When I was 10 I studied basic Magic, while my "brother" Horst trained in combat. Horst also tried his hand at blacksmithing, he was quite good. Back to me though, I studies about different types of magic. I thought I did well in basic elemental spells (produce flame, spark, etc). I also helped Alfred (my foster parent) to chop wood, repair the cottage, and feed our 2 horses, cow, and 3 chickens. I sparred every once in a while with Horst, but I was never good with a sword. I prefer magic attacks.

Durandal

What makes green eyes so incredibly popular around here?

All three of you want green eyes?

Spirit Wolf

I'll change to Silver then, if you want.

Durandal

Ooh, interesting. That wouldn't be fair to you though... after all, you did pick green eyes first.

Durandal

You can keep the green eyes, it's not that big a deal.

Okay, marlamin, your character is almost approved. Just one thing left you need to work on.

For your background I stated that you need to "Tell how you are related to someone important who was invited to the banquet."

Otherwise you're just a lower class fellow who won't be interacting with the main events of this RP...

marlamin1 · green eyes

i am actually part german

And Mason (my real name) is a german desended name

-let's say Derek is blood related to a prince or something and he invited Derek to the baquet to get a chance to try am known derek better.

Durandal

Alright, edit it in to your profile and you're approved. I'll post your character sheet tomorrow. I'm goin' to bed now.

G'night all.

Oh and I'm part German as well. Busse is my last name and it's directly from Germany. ((And yeah, I am arrogant enough to name a town in my RP after me...))

Durandal

Salem and marlamin, you guys need to choose your beginning equipment.

Salem, you can chose from: iron rapier, iron shortsword, and iron longsword.

Iron Longsword
Class- Sword - E
Range- 1
Weight- 5
Damage- 5
Bonus- None

Iron Shortsword
Class- Sword - E
Range- 1
Weight- 3
Damage- 3
Bonus- None

Iron Rapier
Class- Sword - E
Range- 1
Weight- 3
Damage- 1
Bonus- Agi +1, Skl +1

Marlamin, you can choose from: Fire tome and Frost tome.

Fire Tome
Class- Anima - E
Range- 1-2
Weight- 4
Damage- 5
Bonus- None

Frost Tome
Class- Anima - E
Range- 1-2
Weight- 5
Damage- 4
Bonus- Status effect: cold

For the Frost tome, if you manage to hit an enemy with it, that enemy suffers an agility penalty of -1. This will make them easier to hit in future rounds.

Dr. Salem

Rapier, don't ask. I just like them.

Durandal

Hey, nothing wrong with a rapier. Check out your stats now; they're posted.

This is for everyone. I went ahead an calculated your accuracy, dodge, and damage rates just so you don't have to worry about them all the time. I'll recalculate them anytime you change weapons or level up.

When in combat all you have to do know is compare your accuracy rate to the enemy's dodge rate to see how likely it is you'll hit. The damage you do is equal to your damage rate minus the enemy's defense.

Dr. Salem

I may have a low damage but man I'm fast and accurate.

Durandal

Sorry guys, I haven't been able to do everything I wanted to for this RP yet. I'm pretty busy now, but I should have some more time after tomorrow.

Here's a list of what I still need to do (mostly for me but just so you guys know that I'm not being a lazy GM):

Timelines (religious, folk, military, political, maybe magic)
Weapon and magic stats
Enemy stats
Opposition plotline

Dr. Salem

Still waiting for your arrival at the tournament grounds and my little stampede of mustangs. Still waiting...

Spirit Wolf

Zzzzzzzz....

Spirit Wolf

I'm not being impatient. I'm just bored. Wish Demecas and Ginpu were here, then we could get going in POX and BP.

Dr. Salem

Sorry... I thought, but now I see. I'll be quiet. I will.

Durandal

Ugh, I'm sorry I snapped like that. That was rude...

I should have just explained that I've been really busy lately, not much free time. College is keeping me too busy. Unfortunately I can't even see an end to it. I just need to work on my time management.

But either way I shouldn't have taken it out on you. You were perfectly right to want to know when things are going to happen. I'll try and get the next post up tonight, but I can't promise.

Dr. Salem

Don't do that! Yell! Vent it! It'll make you happy!

Lose control and curse at your work and you'll find yourself in a better mood and ultimately be more happy in your class for it! You sound like a parent apologizing for his attitude towards his own child.

I understand the pain of school (Not University, but vaigly understand); I always feel better after yelling my heart out at the computer that stored my short story. I think J.K. Rowling might have even burned a copy of her own book or two to get rid of some of the stress.

Durandal

I can't even vent anymore. I'm too tired, physically and mentally... maybe later.

Spirit Wolf

Well, don't work yourself too hard. Remember to have fun. If you're ever invited to a party, go and have fun. If you don't, you'll burn out and crash. Believe me, I know.

Durandal

Ah, I feel better now. Turns out our floor was having a video game night in the commons area. I went and they only had some crappy 17 or 19 inch TVs so I had our RA help me bring MY TV to the party. My 37 inch LCD High Definition TV...

So many people told me it was an awesome TV... it made me feel good. And then I got to play some Halo (1, the good one) and I actually got second on a 50 kill round (I got 40 kills) despite the fact that I haven't played in 2 years. So that was nice.

Only now I'm really behind and I'll have to stay up late to get my work done. And I'm not even going to try to pass the King Arthur quiz on the reading tomorrow. Ah well.

The short is that I won't get any writing done for this. Tomorrow ought to be easier, but I have that paper due friday, so it all depends on how long that looks like it will take.

Durandal

Okay, I can do this. I just need to set aside time, like a schedule. I need a schedule to keep me focused so I don't waste any of my time, because I don't have enough of it.

Things to include: Homework time (including reading), RP time, gym time, eating time (yeah, right...), sleeping time.

Actually, I'm no sure why I'm telling you all this. It just helps me to see it typed out.

ginpu

ginpu

Durandal

Well, for eyes and hair, I suppose I should tell you about Fire Emblem protocol. Generic characters, and even named characters who aren't critical to the story always have brown hair, brown eyes.

Also, I should mention that Fire Emblem's characters look like they're anime. So that means non-natural hair colors and unusual eye colors are seen semi-often. That's why Abel's silver eyes are allowed.

I'm not going to do that though.

The King of Anturon has brown-orange hair and hazel eyes, and the Queen has blue eyes and lavender hair.

Durandal

Um, sorry that took so long, my room-mate needed my attention for a sec.

You shouln't have Con or Str, I'll change those, sorry. I have a template and since most of the classes are melee ones those were the terms used. The numbers will be the same though, and they function the same, regardless of their name.

I'll type up the background as well as the bio for the prince, which I shall be playing. Just give me a second to play Alaric as well.

Other than that it's perfect, Ginpu. Approved!

Spirit Wolf

uhh, i pushed you DS.

ginpu

Well, weave my existance into the story. I'll check it out tomorrow.

And guys, trust me, Emily is a bitch, and don't take ANY of it on a personal level.

I was thinking of lavender hair, but well, you made it sound like we should look, you know... German. So I kinda thought of my Grandmother when she was little, and changed the eyecolor. ah well. I'm keeping the amber eyes.

Spirit Wolf

Ok, we now have 1 bitch, 1 uhhh whatever you'd call Abel, 1 asshole, and alaric. Cool XD

Dr. Salem

One moon and I'm immediately called an asshole.

Spirit Wolf

Yep, that's life. Now hold still. *Starts loading shotgun*

Durandal

And... Mason, right?

Ginpu, I only needed the name to be German, not the description.

Sorry about that.

I'll post your history soon. I've been working on it right now. I need you to be at least a little nice when you have to be though... otherwise it won't make as much sense or be as good a story.

Spirit Wolf

Oh yeah, 2 assholes, my bad.

Durandal

Emily's Background: (I'll give you the basics you need to know, and if you want you can add to it. Otherwise you don't need to.)

Emily is the younger of the royal two, her brother, Randall, is one year, two months older than she is. Randall is infinitely patient with his sister, and he has supported and encouraged her interest in elemental magic.

The two grew up with an almost compulsory friendship with the heir of Norovis, Nicolaas (yes, with two 'a's). The three important youths got along and, in fact, managed to become close friends. This continued until Emily was 10 and Nicolaas and Randall were 11. Then, war broke out amongst the nations of Rinval after Northern Norovis declared independence. When Anturon sided with the newly formed country of Tasmivar, Norovis hired the forces of Erosia to help in the conflict to come. What could have been a small clash turned into a continent-wide war.

Emily and Randall haven’t seen Nicolaas since their parents refused to let them meet once relations began to turn sour right before the war. At their last meeting the youths took an oath that no matter what should happen between their nations, the three of them would remain friends and when their parents gave power to them, there would be peace throughout the land.

Peace did come after three long years of intense fighting with the only break in the bloodshed and destruction being a small, four-month cease-fire that both sides of the conflict agreed to. Once tranquility was restored to the land for good though, the three friends were forbidden from meeting again, even though they all wanted to. This was mainly due to the political tensions that still existed between the nations, despite the peace treaty.

Okay, so that's the basic background story, which is why I said that Emily can't be completely evil.

Just a crazy idea to explain it: she might be bitter to everyone now because she really liked Nicolaas but her royal duties forced them apart, or something like that.

Tomorrow I'll post the character sheets for Prince Randall, and maybe Nicolaas too.

Spirit Wolf

Hmm, what WOULD you call Abel? I don't think Stoic is quite right. Stern, mean, I don't know.

Durandal

Silent? Observant?

Also, I don't think Alphonso is being an asshole, but he isn't acting as a warrior of the period would be expected to behave. Mooning definitely isn't something anyone would do in the medieval ages, ever. But he can act that way, he'll just be treated as a knave.

Dr. Salem

You could have told me that. I could have just bit my thumb at you.

Durandal

I didn't realize I had to tell you that you should stay in character.

But I shall now. Salem, make sure your character acts within acceptable bounds of behavior for the time period.

I'm not saying you need to go get some books and research the medieval ages to know what people did back then, but try to use your imagination and keep it semi-realistic. This includes the way you act and how you speak. Remember your background when you have your character do anything. Yes, he can be a troublemaker, but he should be a classy troublemaker; a fiendishly clever prankster always capable of shifting the blame to some unlucky chump, etc. Or, if that sounds too much like Alec (which it does) you can make him more of a socially adept, upper-class youth rebelling against his upbringing that has been preparing him for taking over the family business.

Just try and consider your character and what his motivations are for every action he does. Otherwise you just get frivolous behavior that doesn't fit in with your character's attitude.

ginpu

So drop novice, go scoundrel. Easy 'nough.

Der. I know she can't be a bitch to everyone. We already went over that Durandal.

I will do my best to fake niceness.

Though... I still can't play since I don't know where I am or what I am doing currently. Where my story takes place.

Durandal

You won't be introduced until the feast before the tournament, which happens tomorrow (game-time). I'll start playing Randall when it gets close enough.

It isn't too late for anyone to change their class. Perhaps I should take this time to discuss skills a bit. Skills automatically come with your class. Scoundrels, thieves, and rogues all have the most skills of any classes on their tier.

Scoundrels can use lockpicks to open chests or doors. Thieves can use lockpicks, pickpocket, and disable traps. Rogues can open locks without needing lockpicks, they can pickpocket, disable traps, and have superior vision in low light or thick and even supernatural fog.

Assassins can use lockpicks and have superior vision. They also have the skill silencer which gives them a small chance of delivering a one-hit kill.

Swordmasters have Uncanny Accuracy which gives them a chance to get a critical hit for three times normal damage.

Snipers have Steady Aim which gives them a chance to get a critical hit.

There are others, but I have to go to class now. I'll write them up later. Just thought you might want to know that even though scoundrels and thieves aren't the strongest of classes, they are still very useful. (and they can still use rapiers

)

Dr. Salem

I feel like such a dumbass right now.

Scoundrel's use swords right? Or is Novice the most skilled with a sword in the Beginning classes.

Durandal

You're not a dumbass, I just didn't explain everything sufficiently.

Yes, Scoundrels do use swords, and while they aren't as skilled as Novices, they are very close. Scoundrels have a lot more agility than novices though.
They have less health, constitution, and strength, but they do have higher luck and resistance than Novices. Then again if you always use a rapier you won't need as high a resistance. And with that much agility you won't need high strength because you can always attack twice.

And the skills definitely help.

I would recommend going Scoundrel for you character. And don't worry, Daniel. Just because I made Scoundrels seem so glorious doesn't mean Novices suck. They don't; they're just good in different ways. Everything's balanced, so no one needs to worry.

Except I think I made magic tomes a bit too strong. I'll need to take a look at that.

Dr. Salem

Yeah, Scoundrel me up.

Durandal

Okay, you've been updated. You're one fast sonovagun now, but you won't do much damage. Everything is a trade off. Oh wait, I forgot to give you some lockpicks. Each set of lockpicks can be used 10 times before it breaks for good. They're kinda rare, so always try and find a key before you resort to using the lockpick. If you end up going rogue, you won't need lockpicks to open a locked door. Otherwise you'll still need that skill.

If you choose to go Myrmidon for your second class, you won't gain the other thief skills, but you won't lose the lockpick skill.

Now I need to go talk to the campus police, because I had the money stolen out of my wallet. Fortunately they didn't take the whole thing, but I still need to report it anyway.

Spirit Wolf

Hey, quick question, whats the difference between hero and swordmaster?

Dr. Salem

But I'll do some damage at least when others can barely lay a finger on me. TO me, when your so fast that people can barely have a chance to hurt you, you pretty much got a high chance of winning even with low damage. Just keep hitting and he'll go down eventually of course. Still, I know we're balanced and I have about as much chance of losing as I do winning.

Durandal

Heroes use swords and axes, they are heavy hitters. Swordmasters are very light on their feet and their attacks are so fast they almost blur. Heroes have higher str, def, HP and con. Swordmasters have higher skill, agi, luck, res, and speed. Also, Swordmaster have the skill Uncanny Speed (yeah, I changed the name) that gives them a small chance to score a critical hit. For a Swordmaster, a critical hit means that they are so in sync with their sword and the rhythm of battle that it almost seems like there are three Swordmasters in the place of one. A critical hit does triple damage.

Heroes are like tanks, but they're a bit faster and more agile than Champions. They also have the ability to use axes, which gives them an edge against opponents wielding lances, whereas a lance-user has an advantage over the Swordmaster.

And Salem, you’re right. You will have lower defense, but your opponent will hit you less, so it will take just as long to kill you as a player with a higher defense but lower agility. Just like even though you will do less damage, because you can attack faster and will hit your enemy fairly often it will take you just as long to kill an enemy as a player with lower agility and skill but higher strength.

Durandal

Okay guys. I have to stop for the night. Four page essay due tomorrow morning and I have yet to start.

I've been working on the weapons, searching through Norse mythology for names for the Ultimate weapons of each type. Also, I've been trying to get them more balanced, so the attributes of them might change.

That's all for now. G'night you guys.

ginpu

GDit I wanna RP! I'm gonna go have a hissy fit in my room since mother won't tell me what's going on. HMPH!

((right after I update the comic, site and my forums. Almost done.))

Durandal

Here's Randall's character chart. I went ahead and included Emily and Randall in this stage of the story just to give you something to do, Ginpu. I, however, severely need to work on my essay.

Name: Prince Randall
Player: Durandal
Age: 17
Description: 6'0", sincere hazel eyes, straight platinum blond hair that goes to his shoulders, very muscled (visible six-pack abs and toned pecs), 190 lbs.
Attitude: Randall wants to serve the people to the best of his ability. He aims to be the best prince possible, but he doesn't wish for any glory because of it. He sees it as his not only his duty to serve the people, but also his privelege. As for his sister, her condition saddens him, and he has pledged to always be at her side to protect her from the world's harshness. If ever there came a time when he had to chose between his sister or the people of Anturon, the decision would be near impossible for him, because he loves them both so greatly.
Background: Randall is the older of the royal two, his sister, Emily, is one year, two months younger than he is. Randall is infinitely patient with his sister, and he has supported and encouraged her interest in elemental magic.

The two grew up with an almost compulsory friendship with the heir of Norovis, Nicolaas (yes, with two 'a's). The three important youths got along and, in fact, managed to become close friends. This continued until Emily was 10 and Nicolaas and Randall were 11. Then, war broke out amongst the nations of Rinval after Northern Norovis declared independence. When Anturon sided with the newly formed country of Tasmivar, Norovis hired the forces of Erosia to help in the conflict to come. What could have been a small clash turned into a continent-wide war.

Emily and Randall haven’t seen Nicolaas since their parents refused to let them meet once relations began to turn sour right before the war. At their last meeting the youths took an oath that no matter what should happen between their nations, the three of them would remain friends and when their parents gave power to them, there would be peace throughout the land.

Peace did come after three long years of intense fighting with the only break in the bloodshed and destruction being a small, four-month cease-fire that both sides of the conflict agreed to. Once tranquility was restored to the land for good though, the three friends were forbidden from meeting again, even though they all wanted to. This was mainly due to the political tensions that still existed between the nations, despite the peace treaty.

Durandal

Okay, almost done with the post. Marlamin, I can't do anything for you yet until the day changes. Don't worry, it should come relatively soon.

Salem, I don't describe random people in that much detail.

Ginpu, I hope you don't mind a bit of dramatic fade to black to set up for their comedic entry the next day... If you do I can describe in detail what happens, or just send you a PM with the basic outline.

ginpu

Pft. Your RP. Not mine. I'm the flexible one here, not you. LOL

Durandal

What do you mean, 'I'm not flexible?' I am too!

Besides, that's not how you were supposed to respond...

ginpu

As the GM you aren't supposed to be flexible.

In RL flexible is a great feature of both sexes. But alas, I shall not pull this thread in the gutter.

PM me the details of the plan, please.

Durandal

I don't know, a story that is able to adapt while still staying on track is more compelling, I think. I had several contingencies planned depending upon your decision. Granted, each of them would lead to the same plot, but the ways to get there could have been vastly different.

On another note, yay!!! My public speaking class was canceled for today! I don't have to give my impromptu speech today. That means I can finally devote some time to getting those timelines done, as well as finishing the weapons.

About the weapons, I've made some major changes to the Fire Emblem system of weaponry. Through intensive research (I love you wikipedia!) I've made the weapons more realistic and divided them up to types of weapons that actually existed in the medieval ages. Because of this, the names of the types of weapons will be changing like this:

Lances = Polearms
Axes = Blunt weapons
And swords are still swords.

It had been bothering me that the category of 'axe' includes weapons that aren't actually axes, like war hammers and the almighty halberd. And lance is a specific type of polearm, not the name of the entire category. Since the category includes spears, javelins, lances, and several other weapons, its name has been changed.

Um, there's been a lot more changes too. I'll post them soon.

Durandal

Just so you guys know, you can tell me if you don't have anything to do or you don't want to interject anything and I'll speed the story up.

Currently Derek and Emily and Randall are set for the day to change, Abel and Alaric just have to get back to the tent (I'm not going to describe dinner), and Alphonse just needs to do whatever he's going to do until he goes to bed.

Then the day will change and everyone will gather for the beginning of the celebration. None of our characters actually know what's going to happen, so any previously mentioned schedules are not necessarily correct. The tournament isn't actually tomorrow, because tomorrow is set aside for the hunting expedition and the big banquet. The day after is when the tournament actually occurs. Alaric's just been guessing that the tourney would happen on the first day.

Durandal

I know I haven't been posting on here much, but I've been swamped with work. I just got the last of it done and the weekend is looking pretty free for RPing. I have class now, but I'll get back around 4, probably, and I will post in here then.

I'm sooo looking forward to this little break. This semester is almost over, though. That means final projects and whatnot, which is why I've been absent.

Dr. Salem

Collage Semesters are short. I'm not as scared anymore for some reason.

It's going to be a slow weekend, I just know it.

Spirit Wolf

Yeah. When ginpu leaves a RP for a few, it dies till she comes back.

Durandal

College Summer semesters are short. There's two of them, and they're six weeks each. Regular semesters are twice as long.

And for this RP, Ginpu's character won't be needed until a bit into the hunt. As long as you two and Marlamin are around we should be able to get some stuff done.

I've made some more changes... a lot of changes actually, to the game play mechanics. Most of them won't affect you yet, but some will. I've revamped the attributes and attribute growth rates. Now they better reflect how your character will get stronger, faster, etc., depending upon the equipment you use.

Speaking of equipment, I've changed around the mastery levels. In Fire Emblem, the mastery level of a weapon or magic type doesn't affect anything at all except which weapon or tome you can use. If your mastery level isn't high enough, you can't use the better weapons. Your ability to use a weapon comes from your personal skill, and that skill is the same for every weapon type.

After thinking about it and playing some other medieval fighting type games, I decided that's not very realistic. Now, you can use any weapon at any mastery level, so that isn't a limitation.

What your mastery level now does is give you bonuses when using whatever type of weapon or magic type you are skilled with. At level E (the lowest) you don't get any bonuses; only the ability to use that weapon type. At level A you are very skilled with that weapon and get bonuses to Str, Agi, and Skl. If you reach level S (Superior, i.e. the best) then you get extremely high bonuses.

You can only reach level S in one mastery out of all the skills. In addition to just weapons though, there are several other skills you can improve. There is a Shield skill, an Armor skill, and a Riding skill. The Riding skill is broken up into horse, pegasus, or wyvern.

In all of these you can improve just through use. Some classes come with mastery bonuses, and the maximum mastery level you can reach depends upon your class.

Another change is that I am adding the use of a Shield. Fire Emblem ignored shields entirely, but that never made much sense to me. Now you can use shields if your class allows it. What a shield does is it adds to your statistics a chance to block enemy attacks. While dodging is based on double your agility, your chance to block depends upon your skill added your strength. This is good for those slower characters, or if you just want to increase your likeliness of not receiving damage. This does not get rid of your chance to dodge; it just adds a possibility to block if you have failed to dodge.

Using a shield with a lower level Shield mastery level does decrease your damage and accuracy, but as you get higher levels you can block effectively without any penalty to your other attributes.

The same goes with Armor mastery levels. Your armor type is dependent upon your class, and it increases your defense. There are three types of armor- none, light, and heavy. If you wear heavy or light armor, it limits your agility and speed while providing more defense. As you wear armor more you get better at handling it and you get rid of the penalties and get higher defense bonuses.

Most of this won't even effect you as the players. It will affect your attributes, but I'll be calculating it all anyway, so no biggie. What does matter is your armor.

Salem, as a scoundrel Al don't wear any armor. Just loose robes that allow him to move freely. SW, Abel wears light armor, and he starts off with leather armor. Light armor is basically sturdy clothes with several sections of tough leather protecting vital spots, i.e. outsides of the arms, the front and sides of the legs, on the chest, and the back.

As for your future classes, Myrmidons, and Mercenaries wear light armor, Theives, Assassins, and Swordmasters don't wear armor, and Heroes wear heavy armor.

Most magic classes just wear robes, although some of the higher classes wear enchanted ones that give extra defense.

That's all for now. I'll get to typing up the story post.

Spirit Wolf

I just watched 300 and it kicked ass. So a swordmaster uses no armor? Cool, I can live with that.

Durandal

I still need to watch that. You know, for research

And yeah, a Swordmaster doesn't need armor; it would just slow him down.

I'm currently trying to make sure all the changes I've made are balanced. Lot of trial and error and test runs.

Spirit Wolf

O_O;

OMFG! I actually had the chance to edit one of Durandal's posts! His coloring didn't go to the end of the sentence. I need to mark the calender.

Durandal

Yeah, I'm more error-prone right now.

You see, I'm not typing this on my dinky 19 inch monitor.

No, I'm typing it from my tempur-pedic bed on my wireless keyboard. My cunning wit is spelled out across 37 inches of luxurious LCD high definition television!

It's also harder to use my mouse from here because I don't have a solid surface to put the mouse pad on.

ginpu

I think that is called lazy, Durandal.

I'm home. Can I play yet?

Spirit Wolf

I'm waiting for Durandal to respond...

Durandal

I know, I'm typing it.

I wanted to get in a post for Ginpu's RP first and I'm contemplating an insane dream post for Salem's.

Those are always fun.

Durandal

Okay, I got that part done.

Now the group gets to meet. Last night (read: this morning) I couldn't figure out how Tredan and Derek were supposed to join groups with Alaric, Abel, and Alphonse. It came to me this morning though.

Tredan will need to return to the stable to get his pegasus to hunt, as will Alaric with his horse. Bingo! The two parties meet and realize that they would do better working together.

Sure... it's lame. But it will get the job done. I had a brilliant idea on how we win the competition, so that should make up for the aforementioned lameness.

ginpu

Emily taps her foot impatiently.

Durandal

She should be. She's been waiting in the forest for some time now.

We should get to her and Randall soon though.

Durandal

I think Abel's missing the point of the gift. You're not supposed to want to win it out of greed; you're supposed to want to win it out of magnanimity.

By winning it you can thus turn around and give it away. It's the honor of giving such an amazing gift that everyone wants; not the value of the gift itself.

It’s a mind frame that isn’t common now but persists as a motif throughout medieval literature. Especially those written in the 12th and 13th centuries.

Spirit Wolf

Well, Abel isn't the type to want stuff like that anyway. He'd prefer a sword or something useful. And he isn't going to be dressed as elegantly as most people when going to the banquet.

Durandal

Ooh, very nice signature picture.

But maybe the necklace has magical powers! I don't know if it does; I'm just saying.

I have class soon and since today's tuesday I have another class after that one. I won't be back until like 5 or maybe 6. I'll continue the story once everyone has created a masterful exploration of their character's reaction to the speech, personal thoughts on the prize and the hunt, observations and opinions on their surroundings, etc.

Or if no one posts I'll do something then too. I guess I should do the meet-up with the three A's, and have Tredan lead Derek back to the stable.

After the three A's meet I need to have them head to the stable too, there they find Tredan and Derek. You guys will post "hi" and then I can write another page on us getting out to the forest where we encounter Randall and Emily. "hi" Then we begin the hunt.

I could probably just turn this into a story instead of an RP, now that I think about it... Now I'm all depressed. I need some food. Lack of breakfast really sucks.

Durandal

Mmmm... sandwich. Now I'm happy again. Time for class though. Laters!

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