Eternal Dream: Abyss Of The Lost [Role Call for Masq]

Spoiler:

"To my old friends of the Eternal Dream,

I have lived all my life in this small town in the Wasteland of Destruction, just near the escarpment of The Crevasse. The residents and I live in a place that no longer sees the sun; our sky is but a reddened canvas, devoid of solace and hope... with only the raven's cry streaking the horizon. For years we have lived without worry, but our age of ignorance has been shattered into a terrifying reality. Prophets and soothesayers have oft spoken of this day when the dwellers from beyond would surface amongst humanity. We were brash and foolish; unprepared for the arrival of these grisly guests of grotesque guises. Ferocious demons, Eldritch beasts, and lawless marauders now walk among us; their amassed animosity driving us from our homes. I beg of you reader... to be the beacon of truth and the messenger of righteousness. Take back the town, and seize my estate to find the archives that hold my research. My notes will contain clues to find the origin from whence these nightmarish ghouls spawned. Find them. Rout each and every one of their damned breed and slay them all.

I wish I could live long enough to see the day when the light shines its favor once again on our accursed lands... but alas... you will receive this letter when I am already long dead."

-The Lorekeeper

(This is going to be a 1x1 Statplay between me and Masq, heavily inspired by the game Darkest Dungeon. The purpose of this thread is merely to explain the working mechanics of this roleplay to him.)

The Eternal Dream consists of many tales, weaving the stories of legendary heroes who were destined with a great power to save the world. Unfortunately, those are mere fables told by those of false hope... wish fulfillment for what could never truly be. The truth is, evil is simply a greater force than a rag-tag group of misfits could ever hope to surmount alone. This is a tale that regales such a horrible truth. Mercenaries, fameseekers, and so-called heroes alike will respond to the call of the Lorekeeper... but the hand of death will ultimately attend them all the same. This is a roleplay in which you (Masq) will either use a pre-existing character of the Eternal Dream or create a new profile for one as a designated "Party Captain". The Party Captain will lead the allies they hire into dungeons where they will combat the forces of darkness and if they're lucky, make it back to the town in one piece. Expect many of your recruits to die within a moment's notice, for there are many factors that will lead to their doom other than the creatures themselves. Dungeons are littered with hidden traps awaiting to be sprung by the careless victim, sickness and hunger may get the better of them, and at some point, they may be overtaken with madness under the pressure of it all.

"The story only ends if you think it's about you."

Once an ally falls in combat, they're gone for good. If a Party Captain falls, you lose everything and must start from scratch with a new ambassador from the Eternal Dream. Here are some new mechanics featured in this roleplay; those that aren't fully explained here will be done so when the time is appropriate.

1. Dungeons

After you reclaim the town, you will perform missions by exploring designated dungeons, which will have their own dungeon map. Each room of a dungeon will be presented as a grid similar to statplay battles, and cells will be marked to indicate entry points to other rooms. Mission objectives will vary from dungeon to dungeon in order to claim the entire reward. At any time, the Party Captain may attempt to retreat a dungeon should it be too much to bear, but at the cost of forfeiting all spoils obtained thus far in the dungeon as well as receiving stress penalties.

2. The Town

The town offers all matters of goods and services, from itemsmithing to places where an ally may relieve their stress. The Party Captain may recruit new allies to fill up the roster capacity, or make use of other commodities to help better manage resources.

3. Recruiting

The foolhardy and brave come in droves to aid in the Lorekeeper's plight. Each time the Party Captain returns to town, there will be a new list of fresh recruits to send to their inevitable demise. Only their names, profession, and rankings will be displayed. Their abilities will only be seen when recruited. Recruits of higher rankings or unique professions may have requirements to hire beforehand.

4. Embarking

Before setting off to a dungeon, the Party Captain may purchase necessary supplies that will aid the party on their quest and select 3 party members from the roster in which to accompany on the journey. Among these supplies are torches, pickaxes, and rations that are mandatory to survive into the deepest levels, and others can have practical uses such as curing minor afflictions, opening locks, or purifying relics. At the end of the dungeon, all unused supplies are consumed and only partially refunded.

5. The Light

When starting in a dungeon, the light level will be at a maximum of 100 out of 100. As the party progresses the light will begin to fade, growing dimmer and dimmer making areas and monsters harder to see, until it goes out completely. The darker it gets, the riskier it gets for the traveling party. While in full darkness, both player and enemy critical chances are increased as well as better loot drops, however the fiends become increasingly vicious and dangerous. Using torches or certain skills can raise the light level back up.

6. Piety

Some characters may choose to be religious or paganistic as part of their nature. Actions may shift their alignment one way or the other and this doesn't really affect much other than some of the items and skills they will have access to.

7. Stress

All allies other than the Party Captain will have a stress mechanic. This starts at 0 out of 200 and will increase as they become unnerved. Unfortunately these heroes are not as stalwart and valiant as the ones depicted in the Eternal Dream's fables, and are very much human. You must manage their mental health along with their physical health in order to ensure that they are in fit condition. There are many actions and events that will increase stress, just as there are methods to relieve it. Once stress hits 100 out of 200, the character's resolve will be tested, granting them either a virtue or more often, a mental affliction. On the rare chance that an ally receives a virtue, their stress is reset back to 0 with all other allies' stress levels being relieved by a small amount, and they will receive a buff appropriate to the virtue for the remainder of the dungeon or until their resolve is tested again. If they receive a mental affliction, they will receive penalties appropriate to the affliction along with other negative effects, and cannot be cured unless their stress level is completely brought back to 0. An example of a negative affliction may be Paranoia, where the afflicted will suspect their allies of conspiring against them and may have a chance of refusing items and healing offered by them. At 200 stress, a character will die of a heart attack.

8. Quirks

As you travel through dungeons, allies and The Party Captain may receive traits that may grant bonuses or penalties depending on the kinds obtained. Hardened adventurers will not be without their share of trauma and experience after all. You must learn to lead them to victory despite their flaws. There is a service in the town that may cure unwanted quirks for a price.

9. Hunger and Sickness

Characters may eventually become sick or diseased, which may cause penalties or periodic damage to them over time. If left unattended for too long, sickness may beget more sickness or even worse, death. There will be a service in the town that may cure diseases and sickness, as well as certain classes possessing the skills to do so. Randomly throughout dungeons, the party may be prompted to eat, in which case the Party Captain must distribute rations to the party. Eating when prompted to will restore a percentage of health and relieve stress, while forgoing a meal will result in damage, stress increase, and a chance of sickness to occur.

10. Camping

On longer dungeon expeditions, the party will receive a number of camping equipment in which they may use to initiate the camping sequence. The sequence will begin by distributing rations for food, and then the party may proceed to converse among each other. Each party member will have a set of camping skills they may use during camping which may greatly aid during the quest. Each Camping Skill will consume a certain amount of points. You are only given 12 points to spend during each camping session. After the camping session is done, light level is brought back to maximum, however there is a chance to be ambushed by enemies during the night. Examples of camping skills may look something like the following:

+ Spelunking - All traps become visible until the next camp. 3 Points.

+ Comfort - Reduce 10 Stress from an ally. 3 Points.

+ Prayer - Reduces Stress from the party according to each member's Piety. 7 Points.

+ Blood Ritual - Increases the user's damage output the lower the user's Piety until next camp. 4 Points.

11. Ranking

Along with levels, characters will develop rankings to show how much of the hell they have endured. Higher rankings will allow access to more exclusive boons, while also reducing the amount of stress they receive overall.

12. Death's Door

Once a character's HP falls to 0, they will not die instantly. Instead they will be put under a condition called "Death's Door". At that point, each time they receive damage they will have a chance to be permanently put to rest according to their Deathblow Resistance stat. By default most classes will have a 66% base Deathblow Resistance. This means that at Death's Door, roughly 2 out of 3 times they receive damage will not be the fatal strike. Though the odds are in your favor, it would not be wise to tempt fate, as it only takes one unfortunate roll to end them for good. Some enemies may even have moves that ignore a certain percentage of Deathblow Resistance as well. Any healing that would bring a character above 0 HP will get them off of Death's Door. Once a character hits Death's Door, their stress and the stress of the party will increase, and they will receive certain stat penalties. Some professions however, like to live dangerously and actually benefit from teetering on the brink of life and death.

13. Other skill information

R-Abilities do not cost skill points and are unlocked automatically at level 4. Each character starts off with and can only have 3 Camping Abilities, and these abilities may only be changed under certain circumstances.

14. Submitting the profile

Preferably, I would rather have Party Captains be existing characters of Eternal Dream roleplays, however creating a new person for this roleplay is perfectly fine.

Submit your profile in the following format:

Code:

[b]Name[/b]:
[b]Gender[/b]:
[b]Age[/b]:
[b]Appearance[/b]:
[b]Profession[/b]:
[b]Blood Type[/b]:
[b]Origin[/b]: (The world or story from which they hail)

[b]Weapon[/b]:
[b]Armor[/b]:
[b]Accessory[/b]:

[b]A-Ability[/b]: Title

[b]+ (Name)[/b]:

[b]+ (Name)[/b]:

[b]S-Ability[/b]:

[b]+ (Name)[/b]:

[b]R-Ability[/b]:

[b]+ (Name)[/b]:

[b]C-Ability[/b] Title

[b]+ (Name)[/b]:

[b]+ (Name)[/b]:

[b]+ (Name)[/b]:

[b]LVL[/b]: 1
[b]EXP[/b]: 0%
[b]RNK[/b]: 1
[b]SP[/b]: 0
[b]SKP[/b]: 0

[b]HP[/b]: TBD by host
[b]MP[/b]: TBD by host
[b]PTY[/b]: <-----/----->
[b]ATK[/b]: TBD by host
[b]DEF[/b]: TBD by host
[b]INT[/b]: TBD by host
[b]SPR[/b]: TBD by host
[b]EVADE[/b]: TBD by host
[b]CRIT[/b]: TBD by host
[b]MOVE[/b]:TBD by host
[b]DBR[/b] 66%

Quirks (Positive):
-None

Quirks (Negative):
-None

Sickness:
-None