White Sand Empire an original universe Forum.

[Spooder Queen]

White Sand Empire Forum





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Welcoming Address, Strongly advise you read.
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Hello, I am known as Somber, I have posted this entry with the hopes of eliciting potential wayward roleplayers. This is a call to adventure and intrigue set in a fictional universe, loosely inspired by Middle eastern and Mongolian culture and myths. The setting is a Darwinian arid landscape, where one may traverse the rolling dunes of bleached sands, hearing the distant call of sandworms as they rise to the surface to mate. A world where magic catalyzes society, inspiring tech and the cultures of its diverse denizens. It is a realm without Gods, as the verse is merely a dream, where Elder beings keep the originator asleep and serve as representations of the human psyche. From the emerald city, a capital of monolithic spiral towers of white stone, jaded glass, and golden roofs.

Beyond the mountain range, known as Bandit pass, lies the Beastkin territory. Sandslout is the breadbasket of the domain, a large farming community protected by walls and armed sentries. To the south, a canyon of obsidian, where the Kitsune hail, known for its sakura trees. Within the center, a magical volcano spewing ash into the heavens, surrounded by a bone city known as Nirvana, the structures composed of their fallen, prey and the once plentiful remains of Dragons. Along the northern coastline, is a sprawling abode of fungus, a forest of sorts, where the roots are alive and the residents formerly venerated their spongey overlord. Living within the carved remains gifted from their dictator's carcass. To the far east, a settlement tucked within a crystalized woodlands, serving as a port town for goods to be ferried. Nuzzled between this hamlet and the fungal forest, is the center of arcane/chi knowledge, the Whitestone college.

You may play whatever you wish, be it an offworlder or a local. The canvas is ripe with treasures, secrets buried by the granules of time, and threats prowling the very umbra inundating the Sands inhabitants. Beyond this harsh world, to the north, lies a mysterious primordial jingle, ruled by Aztecian Moth folk, Drumvar (Bettles), Ape humanoids, Goatkin, Dwarves, Toadlins, and Giants, where within the river slumbers swarms of leeches and the plant life release toxins and flesh-eating bacteria. Using magic, these folk never moved beyond the wood and bone age, finding creative methods of keeping their "primitive" tools relevant against the Empire and the Beastkin union. The Empire is run by a two queens, their ranks are composed of Humans, Elves, Kitsune, Wulfgar, Gnolls, Rakatta (Large rats), Ysstmar (Lizard people), and Jackalfolk.

The core Mantra, which is an ethos that guides every facet of our community is simple. "Everything earned, nothing given." In short, you will not start as a noble, wealthy merchant, a master samurai, grand politician, or Archmage. Everyone here has strived to earn their claims and altered the history of the Sands. This doesn't mean you must be weak or useless, think of it along the lines of Middling. We are an MP community, this being stated, if you work and become quite powerful, that was earned, and what is merited none may strip from you. We pride ourselves on unbridled player freedom, in short, you can play the villain and destroy society or run it with a cruel hand. Exterminate entire factions or species, or usher in a golden era of stability, we are an RTK forum. We define RTK as "Possessing an IC motivation, that denying it based on another character's offense, would result in God Modding your creation." In short, you can't murder someone because they smell funny, or "My characters insane." But disposing of a character due to a cultural offense, theological infractions, or if they are belittling your character as a proud warrior (honor killing) is all permitted if aligned with their sheet and how they have been played.

The White sands have been around since 2000, we are proud of our lore, so we suggest you peruse it at your earliest convenience. I advise specifically looking at the Culture of our Lore section. We welcome players of all skills, as long as you're willing to read, improve, and have fun, you'll be a natural fit. When it comes to sheets, we don't care what template you use, though, we loathe ambiguous powers. In short, everyone should be able to understand your character's strengths, weaknesses, and limitations with clarity. Given this stance, we have a zero-tolerance mindset regarding Metagaming. So do not fret, anyone caught meta gaming will be given a singular warning, followed by them forfeiting the fight, or banishment if it should warrant such extreme actions. We are not like 99.99% of rp communities out there, we see ourselves as one of the last bastions of literate Roleplay nested within a consistent, believable fictional universe. If you have any questions, concerns, complaints. Contact me, or any Mod. Either over DM or @ us. I hope you enjoy your stay and look forward to the narrative you may weave.

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Sincerely, Matsumota.
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Frequently Asked Questions​

Q: How does this world differ from others?

A: Short answer, it's not a european setting with knights and it is a world where things matter. Your chance of dying is high and you do not have to have permission to kill someone. Everything everyone does can potentially affect your character and possibly in ways you cannot avoid, like if a food supply dies, people will starve. When you start, you are not a noble or someone with fame, you are just another face in the sea of the people. The world is original and while one may come close to it, chances are you have never seen it. If you cannot handle that your character will die, that your character is not a god or center of attention, and your character is not blowing up entire cities because they were bored, you are best looking elsewhere.

Q: What is Mild-Powered?

A: It is a general level of power in the world. In Mild Power, you won't be moving at the speed of sound, creating tornadoes or blackholes, or mind controlling anyone as a day one character. You cannot be a tank as just like Australia, everything will kill you. Day one abilities for everyone are generally 10-20 ft spherical AoEs and up to 40 ft in beams and you are not melting metal or creating lava.

Q: How does power scaling work?

A: It is based on what your character does. A person who does nothing but drink tea will not gain as much as a person who spends their time training and honing their skills.

Q: Why can't I have certain spells?

A: Magic in this world is a force interacting with natural forces. A shadow doesn't punch your face. Other spells require knowledge that your character could not have, like quantum physics for example.

Q: How does the world organically evolve?

A: Short answer, everything characters do in the world changes the setting. It may be as simple as changing the grains of sand where you stepped, or devastating the entire world through extensive planning. There are no retcons, and when someone does something significant, everyone tied to it is affected by it.

Q: What is permadeath RTK?

A: Reason To Kill, meaning that if a person cannot reasonably and justifiably explain why your character's actions wouldn't invoke the desire to demonstrate a physics test of how their character's sword fits inside of you, they have a reason to kill your character. It does not mean they can kill your character because they smell, but if said character dishonors a warrior's spirit then they challenge you to uphold their spirit, they have full reason to do so. Permadeath means when you die, it is permanent. There are no gods, no afterlife, the character is just nothing now.

Q: What are the limitations of invention and creating things?

A: The only limitation is explaining how your character learns and applies what they know and understand into the invention. So for example, you are not building a tank because you read up on it, you have to delve into the realm of ideas leading up to the invention, prototyping the invention, and getting funding for it all. No man rules or builds alone and this is no exception.


Q: Why are guns not allowed?

A: Short answer, you can't dodge a bullet. Why cast a spell when you can just shoot someone in the face?

Long Answer, it's due to how magic has shaped the cultures and technologies employed. Traditional guns didn't come into existence because magic already does more and more accurately but also the invention of caster arms. Why have a crappy, muzzle loaded, inaccurate musket when you can have a laser gun.

Q: Do I have to adhere to the race's culture?

A: No, you can be a scholar in a warrior culture. You just want to have a justifiable reason if you want your character to hate the culture.

Q: What does it mean when the race is extinct?

A: Short answer, you cannot play them or bring an offworlder of that race because someone killed them.

Long answer, the people who lead that race buried them in the ground through both action and inaction. In most cases, it was not a result of everyone else but rather the leader (normally taking 5+ years of OOC play to happen) of that race who led them to the grave. We don't allow offworlders of those races because it circumvents the extinction.

Q: You say you're 18+; what does this entail?

A: In short, we have adult thematic elements that may or may not be suited for those under age. Furthermore, our world is grounded, and its extreme views do not reflect any player or the mod team. This is a fictional fantasy setting and we are playing characters, not ourselves. So you may see bigotry between the races, death, some sexism, narrow-minded views on gender identity and sexuality, child soldiers, and workers. Thankfully, player actions have mitigated some of these darker aspects of their depraved psyche. Slavery is no more, and the Kitsune are no longer sexist, for example. Sex itself is relegated to up to 3 posts per player. It can enhance but shouldn't be the focus of the plot. If you want unbridled smut, keep that over PM or on another medium such as discord. If this is something you can't handle, then sadly, this isn't the community for you. I do, however, sincerely thank you for your time thus far invested.

White Sand Empire Forum



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