This is intended to be the first thread, hopefully of many.
The following rules are only for this roleplay.
Format: Collaborative Fan-Fiction
Specifics:
1) I am the Dungeon/Game Master. This means I do not RP in the story but will influence story events and will enforce rules.
2) As collaborative fan-fiction, you may post anything you want as long as it's within reason, furthers the RP's plot, and is not an anachronism or out-of-character action. Note, RPs are NOT the place for spam. Do NOT post an action simply to post. If you have any doubts, PM me.
3) This RP is intended to be short, simply to warm everyone's feet, so to speak. It's also to ensure this RP will be finished. In fact, I already have elements of the plot decided, but the ultimate plot lies in the hands of the players. If you look around the forum, you might even realize what my plans are before I put them in place; I will try to give hints.
4) Don't violate any forum rules while participating in this RP.
5) Have fun!
Setting: The Substitutes Pub, a crowded one-floor pub in the slums surrounding Zeltennia Castle
OOC: SWEET! So, what about character sheets? >.>"
Do we just pick whatever class we feel like being and roll with it? Is there a limit to our skills? I need a little more information here....
Quote from: MysticKnightFF5 on January 13, 2011, 02:25:42 pm
OOC: SWEET! So, what about character sheets? >.>"
Do we just pick whatever class we feel like being and roll with it? Is there a limit to our skills? I need a little more information here....
This is a free-form RP; you don't need character sheets. As for a limit to your skills, if you're afraid your character is OP, you can PM me beforehand. Otherwise, feel free to post, though if you go ahead and make an OP unit anyways, I probably will be forced to use my DM powers to nerf him/her/it after consulting it with you in a PM.
In a corner of the bar sits a young knight, Gareth, having just returned from a recent job. Enjoying a light meal and a round of drinks with his companions, they discuss what to do next.
The female dark knight sits there in a corner with her friend, talking about the TOTALLY AWESOME TEAM VS TEAM ARENA ACTION AND THE TOTALLY CHILL TEAM COOPERATIVE MISSIONS!
They talk about it a little bit longer before her friend walks out of the door. She sighs, having heard some very bad news.
Hiding under the pub, a group of orphans sit in the cold, starved, waiting for the chance to sneak up and steal some food. They wait with the rats, who are feasting on moldy cheese and poisoned bread, and yearn for the days they can become heroes of legend.
Having returned from a rather heavy rewarded job, Kylar, an assassin for hire, is enjoying a meal by himself thinking about what his next job is going to be.
Quill sighed as he leaned back in his chair. Pushing his glasses up on his nose, he contemplated his situation. He had almost no money, and barely any items to sell after he was ambushed by monsters while attempting to cross finath river. To make things worse, even after all the hardships he endured traveling here all the way from Warjilius, he was told that the exorcist he was looking for had packed up shop and moved to Gariland!
He turned around in his seat, glaring at the ghostly trio that followed him everywhere he went nowadays. Currently, the three were engaged in (badly) reenacting a scene from an old play, what was it called again? I want to be your crow? Quill shook his head and sat down again, at least they weren't directly bothering him this time, though the bar's other patrons seemed more then a little off put by their presence, or at least by their horrible acting.
The dark knight kept a hand on her sword and glared at the ghosts. She always hated the undead, they'd reverse her Sanguine Sword...
Annoyed at the terrible play, Gareth steps outside the bar for some fresh air. Closing his eyes and breathing a sigh of relief, he notices some sounds coming from under the pub. Kneeling down to see what the noises are, he makes out the shapes of some small humanoids. Using a small amount of his spell-casting abilities, he causes his blade to glow, casting enough light to see that the figures are children. Hungry children from the looks of it.
Stirred by the sorry state of these children, Gareth says, "Come here, children. Let me buy you something to eat."
Upon being blinded by the bright light shined upon them, the children immediately huddled in the corner until their eyes could recover. Upon regaining their eyesight, they see an unshaven man looking at them, speaking in a foreign language. Frightened, they all scatter except for one, who understood the language of the man. Staring at the man while the others run into the sewers, the lone child speaks in a high pitched voice, "Who are you?"
The bar door suddenly flew open as four figures emerged. Their eyes glared at the barkeep while the archer produced his crossbow.
"There's been a bounty put out on four louts that call this place home. They've been killing other groups for fun all around Ivalice. We hear you've been hiding them ever since the bounty went out, barman. Bring 'em out now, or..."
Tucking her curls behind her head, the ninja withdrew her spell edge. The two mages flanking her produced their staves, tipped with gleaming crystals.
Seeing what appeared to be some sort of soldier talking to a nuisance of a child, Lyra decided that such a weak and giving person would surely be the best source of information and a free meal.
"Hail and well met good sir knight" Lyra said cheerfully, giving a mild curtsy as she said it. "Are you familiar with this town? I've just arrived today and am getting continually lost in these slums."
Immediatly annoyed, kylar turns around to look at the intruders. He sighed and rested his hands on the hilts of his swords in case trouble came his way. He looked at the barkeep to see if he would respond.
Upon hearing a noisy disturbance above her, and the man being distracted by a random person, she decides to take the opportunity to sneak up to the hidden storage room in the bar through a loose board on the floor. Rummaging through the boxes and crates, she supplies herself with a few daggers, a bag of gil, and her favorite gun. Opening the door to the main room of the bar, she sees her father, the barkeeper, astonished at the rather loud arrival of 4 bounty hunters. Taking aim, she fires a single shot through the back of his head and flees through a secret passage in the storage room.
Having just watched a girl emerge from the storeroom and shoot the barkeek only to return to the storeroom, Kylar drew his Dual Swords and chased the girl into the storeroom only to find it empty. Kylar starts searching the room when a figure appears in the doorway. It was the ninja girl from the group of intruders from before.
Quill froze in his seat, quietly he grasped the handle of the Main Gauche tucked into his belt, waiting for the moment he knew was coming when his hauted escort would..
"Oooooooh! And that's a right Scaaaaaary how-to-do we've got here don't we?" the Revneneant, Argyle, moaned. "It'd send a chill up my spine, if I still had one, yeeheeheehee!"
...do that, Quill silently facepalmed as the haunted sisters continued.
"Mmm-humm, but this archer here is a right handsome fella, I think I'm in looooove <3!" Beato, the second sister said, as she appeared next to the archer, and pinched his rear.
"I-I t-think that mu-mu-mister Quill is far more handsome t-then that bu-bu-bu-bu-brute." Cassiel, the third ghost sister said, blushing furiously. Quill at once mentally thanked her for the compliment even as he cursed her for drawing the attention of what seemed like the entire bar directly to him...
Balek sat on a stool, listening to the outbursts of the three undead sisters. They irritated him, but at least they were done with that godawful re-enactment. He turned his focus to the four intruders. The young Samurai knew the mages would be no problem, it was the archer and ninja he would have to worry about.
He rested his hands on his Murumasa and prepared for the worst. 'Or maybe I'll get lucky and they'll ignore me.' he mused to himself, 'But when have I ever been lucky...'
He looked over at the dead Barkeeper, blood flowing from the new-found hole in his head. "Pleasant..." He remarked to nobody in particular.
As the events unfolded, the dark knight sighed, feeling a pang of vehemence at how this ALWAYS happens with her. "Why can't anything ever be simple?" she asked herself quietly. "Us heroes sure are busy." she thought.
She finished downing her ale in time to watch the ghosts act like lovesick puppies and she sighed.
"Even if it's true..."
She drew her Valhalla and set it uneasily in her lap, ready to suck the soul from those weak intruders. Except the mages...they could pose a danger to her.
Momentarily distracted by a woman asking for assistance, Gareth hears the gunshot, and replies to the woman, "Unfortunately, it soulds like the best person to give you assistance has just been shot. Now if you'll excuse me."
Muttering under his breath, "Stupid kid," Gareth re-entered the pub, and surveyed the scene. He hadn't planned on fighting so soon after returning from his job, but things don't always go as planned. He quickly made his way over to his companions, and they readied their spells and weapons.
"Syd, come 'ere. That girl just shot the boss!"
"Free...we're finally free."
"From what? Case you didn't hear, there's hunters after us, right here on our turf!"
"For what? For offing those Shrine Knights on the last assignment? They were easy; it's not like these guys are any tougher."
"Yeah, but we gotta clean up these guests too. They all look like fighters, probably some deserters too, I bet."
"The boss is dead...we don't gotta to his dirty work anymore. We're done chasing deserters...the rumor's that even Goltana's been offed by one of his knights."
"Yeah, but our jobs were the only reason why we were off the blacklist."
A female voice piped up, "Ash, you worry too much, you know? We've lived on the road for half our lives anyways, and the war's about over anyways. Hokuten and Nanten have nothing left to throw."
"The Chur..."
"As long as we've got useful idiots in this bar, we don't got to fear their thugs."
"But..."
"Let Callie handle it. She's better at this than me, you know."
A female voice filled the room, seemingly emanating from the table where the dark knight was sitting.
"HEY, YOU THUGS! WE'RE RIGHT HERE, YOU KNOW!"
"Nera, this isn't right. The wanted poster..."
"Can be damned for all I care. If these idiots want a fight, we'll give it!" Removing a shuriken, she threw the spinning dirk straight at the dark knight's eyes.
From behind the counter, the foursome sniggered.
The dark knight rose quickly and broke the dirk in two with a powerful sweep. Her dark eyes shone with vehemence. "I will kill you all." she stated, ready for battle. Her darkened blade Valhalla glowed with a purple aura, ready to unleash its first outrageously deadly attack.
Laughing as she ran in circles, her face was contorted into an evil smile that would bring the evilest of clowns to shame. "Finally, the man that killed me is dead, and all the blame shall go to our flesh and blood," she thought. Suddenly, as she turned a corner, a burst of light came into her view. She ran full speed into what looked like a dark knight, and was knocked unconscious by the force of the impact against raw armor, her face looking as peaceful as ever as if she were a newborn baby.
Quill threw himself at the ground reflexively, only belatedly noticing the blade wasn't aimed at him. Meanwhile, Argyle was flying around the room, shrieking with delight at the sudden outbreak of violence while Beato continued her advances towards her recalcitrant paramour, all as Casielle darted about nervously, wringing her transparent hands together and imploring for everyone to stop in a shaking voice.
From his position on the floor, Quill could see and hear the fight beginning to break out, he would have liked nothing better then to jump on his chocobo and ride away, but the (bounty hunters? assassins?) stood between him and the door. Thinking quickly, he started crawling towards the kitchen.
Balek watched as a fight broke out between the dark knight and the bounty hunters. He smirked to himself, delighted the fight did not involve him. 'Now all I have to do is keep a low profile and enjoy the show.' He thought.
He reached over the counter to get a free drink - the bartender was certainly incapable of stopping him - and he could've sworn that he heard laughter coming from under the counter.
"....had too much to drink I guess..." He muttered as he spun back around to "enjoy the show."
As the youngling ran at her, she grabbed her by the head (and thanks for assuming I had armor, which I don't) and threw her aside, then pointed the sword at the ninja as though to stab, a blue laser shot through the ninja (unavoidable) and a large bursting force surrounds her, ready to decimate her. (Crushing Blow)
A female monk walks into the bar.
Upon seeing the fighting that is happening. She jumps into a Defensive Stance. Readying for anything.
She then spots a Man reaching over the bar stealing drinks.
Realizing that, thats the man the killed her best friend Agaith the Chocobo.
She stands in an Offensive Position, running at the man who killed Agaith.
"Balek! Time to die!"
She screamed as she was readying a punch, aimed at his face
...so much powerplaying, this is getting upsetting. Organization REQUIRED. >.>
I could care less if its power gaming or such.
As long as there are no numbers.
No as in, people are controlling eachother's characters, it's retarded.
"Upon seeing the insides of the ninja spread out across the bar." ~It did no such thing. Crushing Blow compresses the enemy, not make it explode.
"Landing a nice firm fist across his face." ~You're not supposed to assume you hit unless given good reason.
ah. I see what you mean.
Sorry. bad place for me to jump in.
He was drunk. I also never said that I killed or hurt him very badly.
I shall edit that ninja thing. I am sorry for that.
EDIT:
I edited my entire post.
Its now me seeing the fighting. instead of ninja guts.
and getting ready to punch.
OOC: I warned st4rw4k3r about it.
Typically, as a matter of courtesy, you don't assume the actions, words, or thoughts of other players, much less control their actions. Only exceptions are in cases of extreme player inactivity, when both players agreed to the "control" and its extent beforehand, or when the action is trivial enough to the person being "controlled" that they don't mind (or is what their character would have done anyways).
IC:
The blue light enveloped Nera, contorting her body as she screamed. Ducking under a table to avoid the horrible light, the archer fired his crossbow at the Dark Knight's exposed head.
The screams ended as the harsh light faded. Now standing on quaking knees, Nera could only point at the wizard's satchel as she gasped for air. The wizard uncorked a blue bottle and stuffed the contents down the wounded ninja's throat.
"Mir, that Dark Knight's got ghost friends after the boss."
"Way ahead of you, Serin." Pointing her staff at Beato, the summoner shuffled away from the doorway, while furiously muttering under her breath. As she took her position behind a worn barrel, a white orb of light materialized above the ghost's head.
As the fight ensued, the foursome behind the counter beamed at each other while they alternated watch.
"She's...ha...a dark knight...those guys are...you really outdid yourself this time, Callie!"
"...oooh, that must have been nasty...did you see that beam?"
"...ha...ha...quiet down...we've got company!"
The foursome ducked their heads as Balek seated himself on a scratched maple rotating stool and grabbed the nearest open bottle of ale.
"He's blocking...."
"SHH! We've got to come up with a..."
A monk suddenly burst through the backdoor. Fists raised, she paused to survey her new environment. As her gaze fell upon the seated man, she screamed through gritted teeth and lunged.
"All right, we keep waiting."
"What if they come back here?"
"Not our problem, yet. Only if they attack."
"The pantry's got lots of drinks...I'm sure that's a better spot."
"You still got the key, Ash?"
"Course; as long as you still got the lock, Syd."
Quill had almost reached the back door when the monk burst in and launched herself into the fray. Reinforcements? Whose? Does it matter? Shit! What do I do now? Lost in panicked thought, Quill didn't notice Casielle trying to get his attention until she appeared right in front of his face.
"Bwaaaa!" cried Quill
"S-s-sorry Mr. Quill, b-but you weren't p-paying attention to me. I was t-trying to say that I think you can hide out in the p-p-p-pantry, I just s-saw some other people go d-down there, this way!"
Meanwhile, as Quill followed Casielle down into the pantry, Beato cried out in pain as the summoner completed her spell of revival. Argyle whirled around just in time to see her sister vanish, temporally discorporated. Enraged, she let out an unearthly scream as she swooped down on the summoner, her life-draining claws outstretched...
Leaping up from where he had crouched, Gareth slashed at the archer with his sword, attempting to smash the crossbow with one good strike. His companions, meanwhile, snuck up behind the mages. The thief, Kyle, stabbed the wizard with his Mage Masher, in the hopes of silencing the caster. Winter, with his spear in hand, made a sweeping strike at the summoner's feet, hoping to both knock him off his feet and interrupt his spell.
Balek turned from the ongoing fight just in time to see a fist rocketing towards his face. The fist connected with his flesh, and the force of the hit knocked him off the barstool.
He got back up onto his feet, cursing himself for not being more aware. He located the source of the attack, a female monk. 'Haven't I seen her before?' He thought, 'Wait.....wasn't she there when that blasted chocobo tried to maul me? She can't honestly blame me for killing the damned bird, it got in my way!'
Balek grimly withdrew his Murasame and pulled it into a defensive position. He quickly surveyed his surroundings. The archer had fired a shot at the dark knight, and three people were combating the mages and archer. The ninja was still disoriented. He caught the sight of one ghost from the annoying trio leading a man into the pantry.
'The pantry....' He thought, 'I suppose I could run into there and elude this woman; I'm not going to count on my fighting skills when I'm this drunk!'
Balek quickly reached back over the counter, grabbing a bottle of ale. He then threw it at the monk, and sprinted towards the pantry
A bottle of ale hit Nautia, and smashed against her, making her lose sight of where Balek was.
As she quickly recovered from the hit she took, She began to observe her surroundings more to see what is going on here. As she was scanning the room, she heard a noise from behind the counter.
Eyle rolled over behind the counter, to find a group of people.
They didn't look like they were in the fight.
So Nautia choose to talk to the four people.
In a hushed tone she asked. "Whats going on?"
The dark knight deftly avoided the arrow and stood there, preparing something, but not seemingly charging.
Quote from: MysticKnightFF5 on January 20, 2011, 09:50:08 pm
Quote from: MysticKnightFF5 on January 19, 2011, 08:29:18 pm
then pointed the sword at the ninja as though to stab, a blue laser shot through the ninja (unavoidable) and a large bursting force surrounds her, ready to decimate her. (Crushing Blow)
" ~You're not supposed to assume you hit unless given good reason.
lolwut?
When the fuck was crushing blow avoidable? Follow FFT lore yo.
So I'm guessing this is dead now.
:(
EDIT:
AH! So I have been told differently, that it is not dead!
Tis' a good thing.
OOC: This hasn't died. I was just busy.
Let's keep the suspense and confusion going.
IC:
"What's going on...I...we don't know." Holding his hands behind himself, Syd quickly slipped the iron lock around the pantry's door.
"Never mind Syd here; he's always clueless." Before Syd could voice a protest, Callie glanced sharply into his eyes. Syd looked away, as Callie resumed her hushed conversation. "The barman who used to own this place was a thug. He made some powerful enemies during the War and now he's dead. The bounty hunters are here to hunt down his associates, but they're a bunch of idiots from out of town. Except for that Dark Knight, the rest of them aren't even involved. That's why we're staying back here; we don't want to draw any trouble our way."
Rolling away from Gareth's blade, the archer's back struck the leg of the table he was hiding under.
"Ahh...oww, damnit! Nera, that Dark Knight's yours! I've got company!" Fumbling his hands, he loaded another bolt into his crossbow.
Fleeing from the shrieking ghost, the summoner ran directly into the outstretched spear. Falling onto her face, she observed a scrawny young man sneak up behind the wizard with his knife.
"HEY, SERIN! There's someone behind you!"
The wizard turned to block the attacker's knife with her staff.
"What a foolish boy. Want to be burned to a crisp?" As she spoke, the crystal on the end of her wizard staff gleamed red.
Nera stretched her crushed muscles as she observed her target ready her Fellsword for another energetic strike. As her breaths slowly deepened, she dug into her left pocket and withdrew two shurikens while her right hand clenched her spell edge. Now grinning, she burst forth, launching the first dirk at the Dark Knight's torso.
OOC: Can we get off the fighting soon?
IC: The Dark Knight sighed and blocked the dirk with her left arm, charging her sword for another powerful attack.
"I too would like to say from the ways these people. Do you have any ideas on escape or hiding? I would be glad to help."
Says Amor the monk to Callie.
Oh, by the way, she just let it stick in her hand, and she just kinda shook her hand so it came out.
OOC: Where is everyone? IN particular, Tigerspike and Skip have characters actively involved in combat. They need to post.
IC: The shuriken fell off the Dark Knight's arm, ripping a hole in her sleeve while rending a small piece of her flesh.
Navigating her last obstacle, Nera leapt onto the table separating her target and her and flung her second shuriken at the Dark Knight's head. Instinctively, her left hand fell against her other scabbard as her head curled forward. Leaping off the table like a diver, Nera rolled off her bruised shoulders into the Dark Knight's shins.
OOC: FDC, you went too far. Back up to before you powerplayed.
Amor (my monk's name) pulls out a piece of paper, a pencil and starts to draw a very detailed picture of the Dark Knight.
When The picture is finished she titles the picture;
"WANTED"
Then on the bottom of the paper;
"This Dark Knight is worth 10,000 War Funds"
"Dead or Alive"
"Twice the reward if dead"
"~Signed Arien Calit"
Then runs from her hiding spot avoiding fighting, then puts the paper on the front of bar door in view to the entire street.
Then runs back to her hiding spot.
"That should take care of her!"
She says aloud.
As the shurikan sliced the dark knight, the ninja felt an equal amount of pain, realizing then their souls were bonded, and the Dark Knight turned her head to avoid the shurikan, then stabbed the ninja as she neared the dark knight.
Switching tactics, Gareth lunged forward, closing the gap between himself and the archer. Using
the opportunity afforded by the archer rolling into the table leg, he unleashed an attack that was taught to him by his cousin. "HELLCRY PUNCH!"
Standing over the summoner, Winter pressed the point of his spear into the neck of the prone woman. "Don't even speak."
Kyle, smiled at the mage, grabbed the staff and swung behind the mage.
OOC: This is not dead. I was just busy between midterms, work, and ASM.
MKFF5, as for "power playing", let's not forget that:
1) A Dark Knight in FFT has 0% C-EV, while fellswords have 0% W-EV. From our PMs, you made it clear you weren't wearing armor (so no shields either) or mantles (just clothes).
2) Since I personally think 0% C-EV is too unrealistically strict, I probably would have allowed you to block a few hits (especially since you weren't wearing armor). But three factors weigh against you.
a) You insisted on strictly using FFT mechanics when it was in your favor (when using Crushing Blow at 100% hit, no evade).
b) You evaded virtually every attack sent your way, including attacks even a ninja would realistically have trouble dodging (like a crossbow shot at point blank range right after charging an attack).
c) Virtually every other player has told me in chat and/or in PMs that your character is OP (pulling off strong attacks and evades without any cost).
A free-form RP doesn't demand any unified battle system (with the corresponding numbers and dice rolls). However, that does not mean you can exploit the lack of rules to your favor; consistency, realism, and good sense still take priority.
IC: The momentum of Nera's roll knocked both women to the floor, yet the fellsword still sliced across her shoulder blade and pierced her left lung. Fresh blood surged out from her wounds, eating away the internal scabs formed from drinking that X-Potion. The mocking echo from the Dark Knight's mental laughter filled her head as she spat blood onto the Dark Knight's pants. Even as her vision blurred, her right hand still managed to withdraw her spell edge. Burying herself into her assailant, she plunged the blade into the Dark Knight's abdomen.
"...I...still...have..."
His crossbow now shattered, with pieces of shrapnel scattered all around him, the archer moaned as he pushed himself up. Blood dripped from his right sleeve as he clenched his fists.
"I gotta get that sword off him. That, or knock the breath outta him."
Feinting with his bleeding right hand, Kasan clutched his crystal shield with his left, readying himself for an uppercut.
Seemingly obvious to the fate of her comrades, the mage retained her cocky demeanor. Walking backwards towards the lancer, she beckoned the thief to follow.
As the monk darted across the bar to attach her poster, the foursome began to whisper.
"You think that's real?"
"It can't hurt to check. All we have to do now is clean up."
"Can't we just squeeze it out of that monk? There's one of her and 4 of us..."
"Quit your daydreamin'; Syd, she doesn't have 10,000 gil."
"Callie...you're just jealous..."
"Quiet! She's coming back this way!"
As the monk returned, Merle waved and beckoned her over.
"You really want to be careful with posters like that. The barkeep used to be involved in all kinds of shady stuff and you don't want to give his underlings any reason to do something dumb. They'll come after you."
OOC: I have a better idea. I'm quitting until further notice. this combat is retarded and I need to reconstruct my character anyways, should it ever get to the point where it matters (it won't)