O
Orion
Guest
Original poster
You can only push a person so far before they reach their limit. Once reached, some people won't budge, some crack or shatter altogether, but some explode and rise as something entirely different from the ashes.
No one knows which they are until faced with the aftermath, but everyone has their limit.
You live in the largest of the city-states that comprise the Triopolis, the terribly uncreative name chosen by the ruling (presumably three) Bureaucracies of the aforementioned city-states when they chose to form a coalition. At the time the decision was met with widespread approval and support as the times were desperate and the thought of coming together seemed to make perfect sense. In many ways it did. At first people were too pleased with the decision, ordinary folk were able to build small fortunes or explore untold opportunities as trade and travel between borders opened and exploded.
Of course in hindsight it was easy to see there was no way this trend could continue, that the generation that opened the borders were living in “the Golden Age of Triopolis” and that of course things could only go downhill. It happened as you might expect, the little fish were eaten by the big fish until only the biggest of fish remained. It progressed to the point where most couldn't even afford to take a day off, let alone take advantage of the open borders. The ones that could afford it were heavily discouraged from doing so by a ruling class that wished to seize as much control as it could. From there things only got worse.
Population swelled and the job market stagnated, pushing the middle class so low they were indistinguishable from the lower class, leaving a majority of people without work and unable to afford food, or a means to leave the city. The able bodied turned to the military, giving the ruling class an almost unlimited resource to fuel war and further their control of the citizens of Triopolis. The infirm or sickly turned to the streets, most died quickly. The upper class did as they always did, and ate up any of the little fish that somehow managed to avoid sinking to the bottom of the pond.
Today, the Triopolis still stands as three city-states operating largely independent from one another, yet ruled by the same government. An authoritative and oppressing government has given way to civil unrest which in turn gave yield to an extensive crime network that swept throughout the city. If you were poor and weren't directly involved in the syndicate, you knew at least someone that was. People owing money to the wrong people and mysteriously vanishing wasn't considered a shock, and reporting it would see it considered more as a joke than a crime. The city became a thief's playground and a smuggler's paradise. If you could steal it, someone would buy it.
In the city of Lenaire, the city in which our story takes place, the general population live in a state of squalor that few can escape from and those who do manage to get out seldom look back. The island state has been developed to the point that nothing remains uncontrolled by the government, large walls circle the shoreline, and the only true way out to the seas are heavily fortified and guarded ports. Living within the walls of the city means following the rules and keeping your head down, lest you step out of line and risk the wrath of a corrupt law enforcement. Knowledge of the world outside of the city is fleeting at best. You'd be hard pressed to find an elder that can coherently name even the other cities of the coalition let alone other nations there may be. Rumors as told by drunk soldiers or shady smugglers are the best you'll come by for the most part
This brings us to our Goal: Escape.
To do that you'll need a number of things. The proper resources, the right people for the job and most importantly teamwork. The reason few people make it out alive on their own is because of how unforgiving the ocean can be, and without people to support you, your odds are slim.
Griffith Kazolov: High ranking member of the syndicate known to have influenced the government in profound ways in the past. How high up his connections run no one can be certain, but it is known that he has very powerful people in his pocket. He has a penchant for violence against anyone looking into his operations.
Lee Taures: A name known by most of the lower classes, Lee operates as leader of a small group known as “The Runners” most commonly working alongside the crime syndicate, working as couriers, smugglers or small time thieves. Lee grants an ever valuable option to young men and women with few other choices. Run for him, and you eat well.
Otto Vonderhal: Commander of the Triopolis Guard, the local law enforcement in the lower classes, a self proclaimed war hero of a half dozen hazily remembered military campaigns. Not much in the way of a soldier anymore as he's lost a leg, but his cruel spirit still sets the hairs on the back of many heads standing. Even a minor indiscretion with Otto can lead to your immediate transport to your local detention centre.
Carmen Delantos: If there's something you need desperately, and you can afford to pay a hefty sum, she’s who you turn to. Carmen has a way with words few can accurately describe, and where words sometimes fail, her skill with a blade and bullet never have. While not in direct control over any smuggler's guild or any such group, if it's known Carmen has turned you away you'll be hard pressed to find someone willing to, or capable of taking the job.
(More names may be added as time goes on, but for the moment these are the most important.)
Below you’ll find a very general character creation guide. For the most part you have free reign to design whomever you'd like in terms of personality. I ask you to keep in mind that this is a story more of who your character is as a person and who they will become over where they came from. With that in mind realize that you shouldn't have an eleven page backstory. For the most part your characters should follow a template of: Born in squalor, raised in Lenaire, sick of oppression. But that doesn't mean you can't make the most of it, or if you have an idea to good to pass up? Let me see it and maybe I’ll agree.
Name: (Obvious)
Age: (Keep it reasonable)
Gender: (Obvious)
Personality: (This is where you want to spend most your thought process. Who is your character? What do they like/dislike, and what drives them)
Backstory: (Bears repeating and so I'll say it again. Barring special circumstance, your backstory is largely inconsequential, that said, it's your life.)
Appearance: (Text or Artwork is acceptable)
General Stats are a part of the game of course. You’ll quickly notice there is no skill for Intelligence/Knowledge, and that's because I have no way of limiting or raising how you the player acts or reacts to things. Ultimately your characters will be as knowledgeable as you make them so by virtue they’ll be some variances there. Base Stats are a score of 3 across the board, and you initially have 15 points to distribute between 5 categories:
Strength: Your overall physical ability to lift, push, and hit. Affects things like your ability to intimidate. Worth noting that the more points in strength you have, the larger you physically are. This can lead to some people doubting your intelligence.
Charisma: How persuasive can one man or woman be? This skill affects how much of a smooth talker you are, and it can mean the difference between you getting your way or getting shanked.
Agility: Can you dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge whatever comes your way? If so you have a special affinity towards the acrobatic arts and as such earn bonuses in melee combat and athletic ability. (Reaction times)
Dexterity: Less your athletic ability and more how nimble your fingers are. This determines the overall speed at which you complete tasks with your hands, and greatly affects your accuracy in and out of battle.
Luck: You’d be lying if you said you didn’t need it. This will play a role in almost anything you do. Fire at a wall in desperation, and you may score a critical hit. Slamming both fists on a safe at once may unlock the safe altogether. A single tap on a jukebox sets it working like it was fresh from the factory.
On top of your General Stats you have this opportunity to create 2 custom traits to apply to your character. These can be passive things that always play a part, or special abilities that come into play when you need them.
We’ll need resources to escape from the city. Food, Munitions, and a means to escape are the basics, and our initial missions will reflect that. As we see more success other factions will take note. The syndicate won't like us muscling in and potentially taking food. The military won't like our acquisition of munitions. The more resources we have, the more likely a confrontation with another party will be. So we always have to be ready. As time goes on some of you are bound to impress the locals, and playing your cards right with them could see your own posse come into fruition, they’ll be invaluable in defending whatever we have, or in pursuit of your own goals.
The setting is an industrial-fantasy type city (Think Dunwall of Dishonored for reference) airships/dirigibles, monorails, and navies, but not quite reaching any real air force. Magic is a sparsely used resource, but it is available to some. While the city of Lenaire opened its borders to the other members of the Coalition for a time, their bigotry towards others kept most other races from establishing any kind of residence within the city. That means that while the world may have fantasy creatures in it (i.e. Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, etc...) they are few and far between in Lenaire.
Ultimately what matters most is that you have a good time. If you have concerns or would like to speak with me concerning something pertaining to this, feel free to contact me! You’ll find I'm fairly flexible and I'm just as interested in you participating as you hopefully are.
Simple Guidelines to Follow:
1. Don't be a jackass on purpose
2. Show a modicum of respect for those around you
3. Don't be a living embodiment of any deity
4. Mentally prepare yourself for character death
5. I hate to bring it up, but I have final say.
No one knows which they are until faced with the aftermath, but everyone has their limit.
You live in the largest of the city-states that comprise the Triopolis, the terribly uncreative name chosen by the ruling (presumably three) Bureaucracies of the aforementioned city-states when they chose to form a coalition. At the time the decision was met with widespread approval and support as the times were desperate and the thought of coming together seemed to make perfect sense. In many ways it did. At first people were too pleased with the decision, ordinary folk were able to build small fortunes or explore untold opportunities as trade and travel between borders opened and exploded.
Of course in hindsight it was easy to see there was no way this trend could continue, that the generation that opened the borders were living in “the Golden Age of Triopolis” and that of course things could only go downhill. It happened as you might expect, the little fish were eaten by the big fish until only the biggest of fish remained. It progressed to the point where most couldn't even afford to take a day off, let alone take advantage of the open borders. The ones that could afford it were heavily discouraged from doing so by a ruling class that wished to seize as much control as it could. From there things only got worse.
Population swelled and the job market stagnated, pushing the middle class so low they were indistinguishable from the lower class, leaving a majority of people without work and unable to afford food, or a means to leave the city. The able bodied turned to the military, giving the ruling class an almost unlimited resource to fuel war and further their control of the citizens of Triopolis. The infirm or sickly turned to the streets, most died quickly. The upper class did as they always did, and ate up any of the little fish that somehow managed to avoid sinking to the bottom of the pond.
Today, the Triopolis still stands as three city-states operating largely independent from one another, yet ruled by the same government. An authoritative and oppressing government has given way to civil unrest which in turn gave yield to an extensive crime network that swept throughout the city. If you were poor and weren't directly involved in the syndicate, you knew at least someone that was. People owing money to the wrong people and mysteriously vanishing wasn't considered a shock, and reporting it would see it considered more as a joke than a crime. The city became a thief's playground and a smuggler's paradise. If you could steal it, someone would buy it.
In the city of Lenaire, the city in which our story takes place, the general population live in a state of squalor that few can escape from and those who do manage to get out seldom look back. The island state has been developed to the point that nothing remains uncontrolled by the government, large walls circle the shoreline, and the only true way out to the seas are heavily fortified and guarded ports. Living within the walls of the city means following the rules and keeping your head down, lest you step out of line and risk the wrath of a corrupt law enforcement. Knowledge of the world outside of the city is fleeting at best. You'd be hard pressed to find an elder that can coherently name even the other cities of the coalition let alone other nations there may be. Rumors as told by drunk soldiers or shady smugglers are the best you'll come by for the most part
This brings us to our Goal: Escape.
To do that you'll need a number of things. The proper resources, the right people for the job and most importantly teamwork. The reason few people make it out alive on their own is because of how unforgiving the ocean can be, and without people to support you, your odds are slim.
Names to know
While our group will be mostly new to the game of rebellion, there will of course be players that have gamed the system for years. No doubt in living within Lenaire your character will have heard of these people and so should you:Griffith Kazolov: High ranking member of the syndicate known to have influenced the government in profound ways in the past. How high up his connections run no one can be certain, but it is known that he has very powerful people in his pocket. He has a penchant for violence against anyone looking into his operations.
Lee Taures: A name known by most of the lower classes, Lee operates as leader of a small group known as “The Runners” most commonly working alongside the crime syndicate, working as couriers, smugglers or small time thieves. Lee grants an ever valuable option to young men and women with few other choices. Run for him, and you eat well.
Otto Vonderhal: Commander of the Triopolis Guard, the local law enforcement in the lower classes, a self proclaimed war hero of a half dozen hazily remembered military campaigns. Not much in the way of a soldier anymore as he's lost a leg, but his cruel spirit still sets the hairs on the back of many heads standing. Even a minor indiscretion with Otto can lead to your immediate transport to your local detention centre.
Carmen Delantos: If there's something you need desperately, and you can afford to pay a hefty sum, she’s who you turn to. Carmen has a way with words few can accurately describe, and where words sometimes fail, her skill with a blade and bullet never have. While not in direct control over any smuggler's guild or any such group, if it's known Carmen has turned you away you'll be hard pressed to find someone willing to, or capable of taking the job.
(More names may be added as time goes on, but for the moment these are the most important.)
Itching for Freedom?
Well there’s both good and bad news. The good? You’re a free spirited, headstrong, badass motherf**cker (Or whoever else you feel like being). The bad? You’re a civilian standing against one of the most oppressive regimes the lands of Ghilarend has ever seen. Suffice to say odds in your favor are slim. Luckily the masses are never alone in their struggle, and you should be able to find friends in this bleak, bleak cityscape.Below you’ll find a very general character creation guide. For the most part you have free reign to design whomever you'd like in terms of personality. I ask you to keep in mind that this is a story more of who your character is as a person and who they will become over where they came from. With that in mind realize that you shouldn't have an eleven page backstory. For the most part your characters should follow a template of: Born in squalor, raised in Lenaire, sick of oppression. But that doesn't mean you can't make the most of it, or if you have an idea to good to pass up? Let me see it and maybe I’ll agree.
Name: (Obvious)
Age: (Keep it reasonable)
Gender: (Obvious)
Personality: (This is where you want to spend most your thought process. Who is your character? What do they like/dislike, and what drives them)
Backstory: (Bears repeating and so I'll say it again. Barring special circumstance, your backstory is largely inconsequential, that said, it's your life.)
Appearance: (Text or Artwork is acceptable)
General Stats are a part of the game of course. You’ll quickly notice there is no skill for Intelligence/Knowledge, and that's because I have no way of limiting or raising how you the player acts or reacts to things. Ultimately your characters will be as knowledgeable as you make them so by virtue they’ll be some variances there. Base Stats are a score of 3 across the board, and you initially have 15 points to distribute between 5 categories:
Strength: Your overall physical ability to lift, push, and hit. Affects things like your ability to intimidate. Worth noting that the more points in strength you have, the larger you physically are. This can lead to some people doubting your intelligence.
Charisma: How persuasive can one man or woman be? This skill affects how much of a smooth talker you are, and it can mean the difference between you getting your way or getting shanked.
Agility: Can you dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge whatever comes your way? If so you have a special affinity towards the acrobatic arts and as such earn bonuses in melee combat and athletic ability. (Reaction times)
Dexterity: Less your athletic ability and more how nimble your fingers are. This determines the overall speed at which you complete tasks with your hands, and greatly affects your accuracy in and out of battle.
Luck: You’d be lying if you said you didn’t need it. This will play a role in almost anything you do. Fire at a wall in desperation, and you may score a critical hit. Slamming both fists on a safe at once may unlock the safe altogether. A single tap on a jukebox sets it working like it was fresh from the factory.
On top of your General Stats you have this opportunity to create 2 custom traits to apply to your character. These can be passive things that always play a part, or special abilities that come into play when you need them.
Story Progression
By now if you’re still reading you may have questions, and this is where I hope to answer them pre-emptively. The story will be mission based, but player participation is left up to you. NPCs will be there to guide you where you need to go, set up missions and help during them, but ultimately if you decide you’d rather spend a round developing your character that’s fine. (Fine in the sense that not everyone can do that every round, but can definitely be accommodated) Understand though, that your participation (Or lack thereof) in missions will have consequences. Greater success will be achieved with more helping hands. On the opposite end of the spectrum, a mission with poor player turnout may result in devastating repercussions.We’ll need resources to escape from the city. Food, Munitions, and a means to escape are the basics, and our initial missions will reflect that. As we see more success other factions will take note. The syndicate won't like us muscling in and potentially taking food. The military won't like our acquisition of munitions. The more resources we have, the more likely a confrontation with another party will be. So we always have to be ready. As time goes on some of you are bound to impress the locals, and playing your cards right with them could see your own posse come into fruition, they’ll be invaluable in defending whatever we have, or in pursuit of your own goals.
The setting is an industrial-fantasy type city (Think Dunwall of Dishonored for reference) airships/dirigibles, monorails, and navies, but not quite reaching any real air force. Magic is a sparsely used resource, but it is available to some. While the city of Lenaire opened its borders to the other members of the Coalition for a time, their bigotry towards others kept most other races from establishing any kind of residence within the city. That means that while the world may have fantasy creatures in it (i.e. Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, etc...) they are few and far between in Lenaire.
Ultimately what matters most is that you have a good time. If you have concerns or would like to speak with me concerning something pertaining to this, feel free to contact me! You’ll find I'm fairly flexible and I'm just as interested in you participating as you hopefully are.
Simple Guidelines to Follow:
1. Don't be a jackass on purpose
2. Show a modicum of respect for those around you
3. Don't be a living embodiment of any deity
4. Mentally prepare yourself for character death
5. I hate to bring it up, but I have final say.
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