- Invitation Status
- Looking for partners
- Posting Speed
- 1-3 posts per day
- One post per day
- Multiple posts per week
- 1-3 posts per week
- One post per week
- Online Availability
- Mon thru Thurs & sometimes early Fri
- Writing Levels
- Intermediate
- Adept
- Advanced
- Adaptable
- Preferred Character Gender
- Nonbinary
- Transgender
- Agender
- Primarily Prefer Male
- No Preferences
- Genres
- fantasy (of all stripes; high, low, modern, etc), post-apocalyptic, sci-fi / space opera, pretty much any "-punk" genre (steampunk, mythpunk, cyberpunk, etc.)
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🙦 . 2 / 6 slots . 🙥
Most books contain stories within them, and they often know where the story will go and what, exactly, will happen. But one must be careful with stories — they are violent and cruel things after all, full of heroes and villains and triumph and conquest.
Stories are for kings and dragonslayers and for the blood-soaked hungry blades. It is easy, I have found, to seek to imprison the world inside our stories. To glorify the lives of powerful creatures, to celebrate their victories and mourn their tragedies. To build a reality where everything ties up neatly with a bow, and everything makes sense. There is a comfort in stories like these, disconnected from what it means to be alive.
But I'm not here for a story. I'm here for the journey.
"The Roads We Take" is a small group roleplay that uses the Wanderhome system & setting, focusing on traveling animal-folk & the changing of seasons. This roleplay will have no set Gamemaster; instead, all players will equally share the role of storyteller.
The very baseline of Wanderhome is thus: you are animal-folk in a world which was once at war and is now at peace. The game is about journey, exploration, and fellowship. It's interested in the way the seasons, world, and people change. It's not really concerned with overly complex stories, or extreme physical conflict.
While this will be my first here on Iwaku, I'm no stranger to running smaller-knit group roleplays! I want to keep this limited to about 3 to 6 active players at a time, but anyone will be able to come and go as they please due to how Wanderhome is set up. Players can bow out whenever they wish, but also come back and rejoin us if there's enough slots open at the time; new players can hop in just as easily, too.
Wanderhome does not use dice or numbered stats, and instead relies solely on collaboration, kindness, and a give-gain token system. You get a token when you do something at a cost to yourself, or by describing a moment in the world around you. You spend a token to push the story forward, solve something important, or make the world a kinder place.
Interested players can download and view the playkit demo to view an abridged version of the mechanics & a limited number of the available character playbooks, though a pdf of the full rulebook will be provided later via private messages to help further facilitate play.
If you're interested, you're welcome to fill out the questionnaire below! This is to gauge what everyone's exceptions are & figure out what kind of tone we want for our journey.
[LIST] [*]Would you want a more pastoral and upbeat journey, or a world that lingers more heavily on trauma and recovery? [LIST] [*]your answer here [/LIST] [*]Do you want a more personal journey, focused on mundane issues and quandaries, or do you want a more tangled journey filled with mysterious and magical forces? [LIST] [*]your answer here [/LIST] [*]What kind of characters do you usually enjoy playing, or find interesting to explore? [LIST] [*]your answer here [/LIST] [LIST] [*]If you have a variety of archetypes you enjoy playing, what's your least and most played type(s)? [LIST] [*]your answer here [/LIST] [/LIST] [*]What are any hard limits you might have, regarding plot topics, tropes, genres, storylines, etc? [size=8px](This could be anything from love at first sight, kidnapping, or specific character dynamics; whether it squicks you out, is a trigger, or you just don't care for it, it should be listed here.)[/size] [LIST] [*]your answer here [/LIST] [*]On the flip side, what are some subjects, tropes, genres, or character dynamics that you absolutely can't get enough & would want to include? [LIST] [*]your answer here [/LIST] [/LIST]
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Rules & Guidelines
All rules are subject to alteration & editing, because I don't always word something the way I actually want to the first time lol
Players are generally expected to follow common courtesy rules for roleplays, such as not metagaming, not godmodding. mitigating character bleed, and making sure they're familiar with the mechanics of the game itself.
There is no "X amount of time in the real world = Y amount of time in-game" mechanic, since this is meant to be a fairly laid back environment.
Time skips and season changes must be agreed upon by all active players.
Consent is key, above all. If you plan on doing anything that would affect another player's character(s), make sure they're okay with it!
AI generated faceclaims are not allowed. AI image algorithms are trained off stolen art, so I would prefer players not use them at all. Original beginner art, even if you deem it "bad" & don't consider yourself a (visual) artist, is worth a lot more than anything you'll get out of a generated prompt.
Posting expectations are roughly Intermediate & above, but higher Elementary-level writers are welcome as well!
The main thing is making sure to provide something for other people to bounce off of.
Participants are allowed to have 2 player characters active at a time. You're allowed as many concepts as your heart desires, but the active limit is in place to keep character bloat to a minimum.
You'll be allowed to swap characters pretty much whenever you wish, but there may be a cooldown depending on how many you've already switched out! Do note this isn't a strict rule, though! This is a "just-in-case" rule, because Wanderhome has a pretty big focus on relationships and character growth; so changing your characters left and right would kinda defeat the purpose of that.
Speaking of character creation: keep in mind that the setting is low fantasy! There won't be any modern items or clothing, but there is some very light steampunk elements. Think very early industrial revolution levels of tech; trains and steamboats, for example, are viable (if not shiny and new, and thus somewhat far and few between) methods of travel.
In terms of character design? The only real limit is that insects & fish aren't applicable as playable species. However, marine mammals, such as seals, would be playable. General rule is if it can't survive above water, it probably won't fit for this setting.Other than that, go absolutely hog wild!! Semi-realistic is a baseline suggestion, but if your heart wants a pink cat, then make 'em pink. Accessories & clothes can be of any aesthetic that would best fit your vision for your character.
Mythical creatures as playable characters may be limited, depending on their lore. (Example, a unicorn would be fair game, if not incredibly rare to see just Out and About, but a classic dragon might be a little bit harder to sell.)
A few notes on the possibility of sensitive content that may or will crop up:
- There will be bugs. Insects of many stripes serve as this setting's wildlife & domestic species, so insectophobes might wanna sit this one out.
- There may be references to "natural" drugs such as pipe weed & smoking, as well as alcohol in varying amounts, given the Tolkien-esk setting.
- Violence will be relatively tame (unless we decide otherwise).
- Mental health issues, such as grief, depression, anxiety, among other struggles, may crop up in varying amounts, depending on the tone we as a group wish to go with.
- There won't be any explicit scenes in the main thread; anything of sexual nature will fade to black / switch scenes, but players are welcome to take these elsewhere!
- There will be bugs. Insects of many stripes serve as this setting's wildlife & domestic species, so insectophobes might wanna sit this one out.
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The Hæth
Taken from the entry on pages 7 & 8...
It is not my place to describe the entire history of the land of Hæth. After all, it wouldn't make for a good journey if I were to tell you such a thing, before we even put on our shoes.
Instead, I will simply mention that there are legends about this place that hang from the lips of every old shrew, a legend buried in every crevice of every stone. I will tell you there is a tale of the Slobbering God, and the Heavenblade used to kill her. I will tell you there are stories of the Lightning Dancers and their twirling bodies, stories of the North Wind God and the one brave mouse who stood against him. And there is, too, the tale of the great death that all dragons feared and faced.
These tales live on to this day in the land of Hæth, but they are not mine to tell. More importantly, there are some facts you'll need to know about the Hæthland for your own journeys. And this may be the most important part of it all.
The Hæth is a beautiful and boundless land, full of life and soul. It is composed of small communities separated by vast stretches of wilderness, and these communities are connected by dirt paths, waterways, and the rare hot air balloon passage. Beauty lives in endless shapes and forms in the Hæth: everything in this land holds the capacity to be appreciated and admired. Gods and spirits can be found everywhere, from the small, forgotten gods hidden behind rocks and waves, to the fish-headed crossroads daemons and even the great sky gods themselves.
The Hæth is a land of animal-folk. I've seen pigeon merchants, squirrel musicians, gecko fishermen, and at least one very distinctive bartending toad. In the Hæth, you can't assume much about someone based on their look. Both meat-eaters and herbivores are likely considerate and kind, and even the smallest mouse can have a lion's heart. The families of the Hæth may look fairly similar to one another, or they may look wildly different (and it's frankly none of your business to inquire where familial lines end and begin).
The Hæth is full of buggy livestock, pets, and wild creatures. From herds of chubby bumbles to stag beetles the size of houses, from the striders dancing across water to moon-lit carrier moths carrying letters from tower to tower, bugs and animal-folk live together in harmony. You'll encounter plenty of these buggy creatures throughout the Hæth, and while they tend to do their best to make clear both their look and role in Hæth, interpret generously and use your imagination to fill in the gaps.
The Hæth boasts a widespread culture of hospitality. A traveler who arrives in a new town will always be able to find some sort of lodging (even if it's sleeping in a barn with some bumbles) and will always be given food and water of some sort. There is, however, a trust within this hospitality — if you hurt or lash out at your hosts, they'll have no problems kicking you out. But if you're kind and mean well, you'll be welcomed with open arms.
In the Hæth, we'll be meeting people who are fundamentally good. This will not be true of all the places you go in your life, but on the journey contained within this book, nearly everyone can be trusted to be kind. The exceptions are the mighty — generals, lords, heroes, soldiers, and all those whose souls have become weighed down by power. While they may still be good, that goodness has likely been poisoned by struggle. Thankfully, folks of this nature are exceedingly rare nowadays, and most everyone knows to give these lonely conquerors a wide berth.
The Hæthland was recently caught in war, but is no longer. There is no violence here anymore. -
Character Sheet
You're free to customize your character sheets as you see fit! The sheet provided is the minimum amount of information you'll need to include, full stop (such as playbook information). That said, you can arrange it in whatever order feels best, add whatever additional categories you want to include, & pretty it up with as much or as little coding as you please~
If you need a visual example, check this post in the extras thread!
Code:[b]Name:[/b] [b]Age:[/b] [b]Pronouns:[/b] [b]Species:[/b] [b]Playbook:[/b] [ Insert your "2 Things" pick-list choices here, in the form of your playbook's wording. Example: "You are [trait] & [trait], and you wish you were better at being [trait] & [trait.]" ] [b]Describe your look:[/b] [ Insert your playbook specific choices for the first pick-list. ] [ Insert your playbook specific choices for the second pick-list. ] [b]Some things you can always do:[/b] [ copy & paste the list from your chosen playbook. ] [b]During each seasonal holiday, you can choose 1 you haven't chosen before:[/b] [ copy & paste the list from your chosen playbook. ]
Check out the Extras Thread if you wanna brainstorm with other players, check NPC profiles and location writeups, or need a refresher on some of the mechanics.
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