Post by Glitch on Aug 16, 2017 16:33:23 GMT -5
Player Guide
The World
Note: The Lore and the Local Lore are both required reads, but this is a briefing.
The site setting is Portland, Maine, East Coat of the USA, where the winters are cold and the sea is, at times, colder. A thousand years after the world's inevitable collapse due to the Lamia plague, all electricity and modern amenities have faded into nothing more than old, dusty legends. Compounds and homes are lit by candlelight and gas lamps, and everything is made by hand.
The entire Earth has been reclaimed by nature, forests and grasslands filling what once was modern society. "Portland", or at least, the "city" portion of it are truly only differentiated from the rest of the world around them due to the higher density- though still rather scarce, scattering of old, decrepit buildings and rubble.
The Creatures
The Earth was once crowded with humans, driving many animals to near extinction. Now, animals once again dominate the Earth, and many species once nearing the brink have returned full force. These, however, are not the only living factors to the world, and while by no means the "dominant species" anymore, humans still exist. They are now, however, joined by our other species.
Humans: Humans walk the Earth in small groups, those in this area known as Ashwatch and The Maw. Relatively slow and weak without ability-boosting-serums, they craft weapons and trade food to survive. In Portland, their survival depends on the Lamia population staying low.
Gorgons: Gorgon is a broad term encompassing both the children of two Naga as well as the sterile children of a Naga and a human coupling. These creatures are not very common, though outnumber their parents, and very rarely live among humans. Most Gorgon live in small, sometimes nomadic groups far outside of human compounds, as they are persecuted as harshly as the Lamia and Naga. They rarely have limited magical abilities, and only show their Naga heritage occasionally with small, inconspicuous patches of scales, odd eye color, or sharp teeth. More often than not, they look rather human and very slowly grow in to their abnormalities. We only allow one gorgon per person, and at no time should gorgons outnumber humans.
Lamia: The Lamia are the world-enders, the creatures that drove nations to their knees. They are mindless, reptilian beasts with a venomous bite that spreads their disease, if they don't eat you first. Lamia vary in appearance based on what reptilian strain they were affected with, ranging from long snake like creatures with twisted faces and human torsos, to lick body raptor like creatures with a mouth full of wicked teeth. Lamia are NPCs only, you may encounter them on your own, or they may be staff controlled and you may be forced to fight them, or evade them. Encounters with Lamia may lead to your character's death.
Naga: Under very specific, and extraordinary circumstances, a person bitten by a Lamia may not turn into a slobbering beast intent on ripping everyone and everything apart. These creatures are referred to as Naga, and can change form at will between very human like and a full reptilian form. They are powerful magic wielders who live in close communities near bodies of water. Due to their rarity, they are often believed to be a myth, though they do exist. Naga may not be created, and must either be purchased from the shop, or won in an event.
The Skills
Here on Lamia, we have an interesting way of doing things, in attempt to be fresh and spicy. We run on a die-roll/random number system. This benefits, and hinders, players in a few ways. The first way is with Foraging or Scavenging. Ultimately they are the same thing, however foraging is for the locations outside of Portland, and scavenging is the term used within the city. Here's how it works.
If you wish to "officially" scavenge (i.e, not just searching through rubble to fluff your post or to plot advance something between you and another player) you must tag a staff member (@staffmemebersname) and/or get our attention in the cbox if we're around. Continue your post as normal with your character digging through your selected area. A staff member will join your thread and roll dice two to three times. Depending on the number rolled (1-20, with each number being a different item, one being nothing and 20 being a rare item), the second (occasional) roll being for some items that have different amounts of different levels of rarity within, you will receive an item.
Be wary, however, you may forage/scavenge as many times as you like in a thread, but with every roll for an item, our (second or third depending on the first number rolled) we roll a final time for risk factor. Depending on the roll, you may either be fine, your chance of encountering Lamia increases, or you may be ambushed by 1-5 Lamia. Beware, as this could mean character death, and if you have a Clairvoyance Gem, at least the loss of any items acquired.
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The second skill based thing of note is arbitrary at worst, interesting at best. We have an occupation claim that is open, within reason, to whatever you wish. Note your occupation in your character's bio, and make sure to claim it in the appropriate claim. Unacceptableclaims will be denied and required change. This leaves the occupation open to you. Some jobs only have one position open (Maw General, Ashwatch Witchdoctor), while others have an unlimited opening. Want to be a Maw soldier? An Ashwatch bard? Maw library transcriber? Ashwatch Horsemaster? Go at it!
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The final, brief note is magic. Magic, for characters granted such abilities either through species, birth, or a shop item, will have their magical abilities decided on by staff based on personality and history. With those in mind, we will convene and decided what suits (or doesn't suit) your character best. Powers start of weak but may grow with practice, however they may also be very unpredictable, so be warned.
The Bloodshed
The finals tips I wish to share with you today are our combat system. It's relatively simple to grasp, as for you, the player, it should be as it is on any other site. The only thing is, everything is a gamble. Wandering out into the woods is not a leisurely outing, and your character may very well die.
Every character is allowed a starter weapon upon creation, those available to you being the same ones that you may find for sale in the shop, swords, broadswords, clubs, bows, daggers. At this time, each character is only allowed to wield one weapon type (i.e, no sword and bow users, just sword, just bow), as well as have a hunting knife or dagger as a backup weapon.
In a player v. player battle, it's entirely between you and another player, play nice, place fair, and if you have any disagreements on who is winning/who won/etc, feel free to contact staff.
Encountering Lamia may also be done in thread between players, and that is entirely up to you as well. However, during events, or staff-controlled NPC Lamia attacks within posts, we once again revert to a dice roll system. We will RP with you fairly, but we will also be rolling a dice for each attack we launch. Ultimately, if we land on the wrong number, your character may either be killed, or bitten. If bitten, your character will likely turn into an unplayable Lamia, though there is a slim chance that bite may turn your character into a Naga. This is not a risk you wish to take.
We will, however, make this as uncommon, as Lamia are somewhat unlikely creatures to find under normal roaming circumstances, and in-your-favor as possible. We're not totally heartless and don't want everyone's characters to die, and you may also try to flee from your reptilian attacker.
Note: Fleeing from Lamia, especially a swarm, may cause them to follow you back to camp and start a Siege Event.
