Duel Of The Azure Court [Moderated, System Light, Possible Extreme]

Started by AmandaWho, January 24, 2016, 02:57:39 PM

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AmandaWho

Duel Of The Azure Court [Moderated, System Light, Possible Extreme]

The kingdom of Lorenth is beset with conflict. The once peaceful realm has been invaded by barbarian hordes from the north. Unprepared for such a vicious onslaught, the people have fought back as bravely as they can, but they are losing badly. The ruling Council of Lorenth has taken an extreme measure to counter the invasion: they have summoned the Azure Court. The Court, from the world of Faye, is a collection of otherworldly magical beings who intervene into conflicts when summoned to settle disputes with a duel of their own devise. Summoning the Court is risky, as once they take over they decide the rules, and with their immense power, they have the ability to enforce whatever conclusion they think the duel represents.

The Azure Court decides which factions are involved and then chooses champions from each faction. These champions are expected to seek each other out and battle. The Azure Court watches the proceedings, magically viewing the activities of the champions. Being the capricious beings that they are, the Court will reward champions for the entertainment they bring as much as for victories; the Court wants this to be interesting. Rewards come in the form of magical endowments, granting of wishes, and bestowing of mystic artifacts. Eventually, the Court will decide that there is a winner. Whichever faction that champion represents will become the victor of the overall conflict, and the Azure Court will deal with the losing factions. There can be more than one champion per faction as the Court may decide a faction deserves more consideration, plus they aren't exactly fair-minded.

WHAT THIS MEANS IN GAME TERMS
I'm looking for 7 players to play the chosen champions. I will play all NPCs and the Court. The game is moderated, meaning I decide the outcome of uncertain actions using a simple, behind the scenes dice mechanic. Players are expected to locate each other and battle. You are looking to not only defeat your opponent, but also to humiliate them or to otherwise behave in a manner that is most entertaining to the Court. Keep in mind that the Court is made up of alien Faye, they do this not out of a sense of justice but because they think it's fun. This is why the game is marked as Extreme, so keep in mind that you're encouraged to play nasty tricks on the other champions, you can use sex as a form of humiliation, you can use humor, whatever you like. This means you can choose your play style, whether you're a smart ass, a sociopath, or whatever. Even the hero who stands up and makes a grand speech would be entertaining to the Court, as high drama.

SCORING
The Court will score champions on their actions and keep point totals on each of them. For instance, a simple defeat of an opponent may get you 2 points. Let's say you trick an opponent and they end up in a pile of horse dung. The Court may find that hilarious and give you 4 points. Rewards generally come in 2 point increments, so usually 2, 4, or even 6 for something considered epic. After every 5 points the Court will bestow a gift to the champion, usually a power or item that is helpful in the duel. Whoever reaches the total score first wins for their faction, and the game wraps up with an epilogue that explains how the Court dishes out "justice."

DEATH
You can die and you can kill opponents. The Azure Court will resurrect you, but will strip away one of your advantages or give you a weakness, so you will come back weaker than before.

CHARACTER CREATION
To submit a character, please use the following format. Post it here in the thread where we can discuss it.
[float=left][img height=200 width=150 padding=5]URL LINK TO A PHOTO OF YOUR CHARACTER[/img][/float]
[b]Name:[/b] YOUR NAME
[b]Faction:[/b] YOUR FACTION
[b]Role:[/b] YOUR OCCUPATION
[b]Strengths:[/b] THREE THINGS YOUR CHARACTER IS GOOD AT
[b]Weakness:[/b] ONE AREA YOUR CHARACTER IS WEAK IN
[b]Current Location:[/b] WHERE YOU ARE
[hr]



FACTIONS AND ROLES
You choose a faction and a role in that faction. This will grant you several starting bonuses, like spells or advantages. The advantages will be kept secret and maintained behind the scenes by me so other players can’t see them. Your Strengths and Weaknesses are common knowledge, advantages are not. As you acquire Azure points, you will gain more advantages that will also be secret. This stuff will be worked out behind the scenes through PM as needed.

FACTION: Castle Lorenth
This is the ruling class of Lorenth, the royal family and the Council of Lorenth, who reside in the castle. They are the primary protagonists waging war against the invaders.
  ROLE: Soldier: You are a soldier of Lorenth, one of the best. Your strengths are probably all martial in nature, such as swordsmanship and horse riding, while your weakness is likely one of education. You can choose two advantages, such as a sword of excellent make, a full suit of armor, or you can choose a single advantage and have it be extraordinary, like a magically sharp sword or a ring that allows you to summon your steed.

FACTION: Commoners
This is the average folk of Lorenth, who are paying the heaviest price for the invasion.
  ROLE: Any standard town dweller, such as street thief, bartender, or pastry merchant. Strengths will be something to do with your profession, your weakness is likely something martial or a quirk you have. The Azure Court recognizes that these people are not combatants, and so will gift this champion with a supernatural ability. If you choose this role, you will be given a choice of two advantages that you must choose between. For instance, if your role is barmaid, the Court may give you these two options: Twice per day you can instantly make someone feel drunk; or, twice per day you can charm someone and make them docile.

FACTION: Invaders
These are the barbarians descending from the frozen north. They are plundering Lorenth. They are a viscious and cruel culture who believe might makes right.
  ROLE: Barbarian. You believe the best defense is a strong offense, and that brute force is the best solution to most problems. Your strengths are likely combat and endurance related, your weakness likely something intelligence related. You can choose two advantages that are extraordinary character traits: For instance, maybe you have an uncanny ability to hold your breath under water, or you have an amazingly high threshold to pain.

FACTION: Priestess of Lorenth
This is a peaceful group of female mystics who have served the kingdom as healers and doctors.
  ROLE: Priestess. You have mystical talents of healing and tend to seek peaceful solutions. Strengths would be medical and diplomatic skills, a weakness may be martial skills. As an advantage, you can heal wounds three times per day and you can choose one other thing to heal once per day, such as curing poison.

FACTION: Sorcerers of Thule
In the nearby woods reside the secretive Sorcerers of Thule. They have traditionally kept to themselves and are feared in Lorenth, but they have come under pressure from the invaders as well.
  ROLE: Sorcerer. You deal in dark magics and you’re not afraid to push the limits of morality. Power is what is most important. Your strengths are likely to do with magical rituals and poisons, your strength is likely martial or a quirk or addiction. As an advantage, you can choose to know two spells and you will have a third spell assigned to you randomly. You have 12 spell points per day to cast with, and each spell costs 2 points to cast.

Here’s a sample character:
Name: Vanta
Faction: Sorcerers of Thule
Role: Sorceress
Strengths: 1) She is sneaky and quiet; 2) She has a knack for mind control magic; 3) She’s skilled with a dagger.
Weakness: She’s not terribly observant.
Current Location: Forest
Spells: Word of Command (say something and the target must do it, unless resisted); Sleep; Poison touch.



Don’t feel completely locked into the character roles. For instance, you can choose to have a Priestess of Lorenth who is skilled with swords. Maybe she’s more of a temple protector. Since you only get three advantages, you can put them wherever you like. These advantages will factor into the behind the scenes dice rolls. For instance, Vanta above is skilled in being sneaky, so will have a bonus when sneaking up on someone. Her knack for mind control magic will make her Command and Sleep spells harder to resist.

LOCATIONS
Everyone starts off in a general location. When you post, include your current location. You can move between locations, just make sure to mention it at the end of your post. Locations inclue:
The Forest: The forest is close to castle Lorenth and is thick with trees. This is the home of the Sorcerers of Thule.
The Castle: Lorenth castle itself, a formidable fortification with many rooms and hallways inside.
Lorenth Town: This is a midsize town that lays at the feet of the castle. Shops, winding cobbled streets, and taverns, all you would expect.
Foothills: Adjacent to the town are the hills, which are craggy and rocky with many good places to hide.
Underdwell: There is an extensive network of caverns that lie underneath Lorenth. These are part natural, part man made, with access points in all other locations making it a good way to travel, although the place is dark and dangerous.

ENCOUNTERS
When two or more characters are in the same area, I will post how the characters meet up with each other. This will be based partially on how you describe your action. For instance, let’s say Vanta above starts in the Woods. At the end of her post she says, “Vanta makes her way to the town, doing so at night and sticking to the shadows as she slips into tavern after tavern, seeking out a champion to challenge.”

If you come upon another character by surprise, I will send you a PM to notify you, which gives you the advantage to post how you initially deal with that character.

BOTTOM LINE
To keep things running smoothly I will adjudicate issues as the GM to keep things flowing. Feel free to post questions to me, either in PM or in the OOC area. I want this to be fun, but also competitive. There will be a winner at the end. My word is final as GM. Be sure to only post things that your character actually does, do not post the outcome to uncertain actions and do not post your opponent's reactions. You can make up standard parts of the game world, like describing a tavern you're in and you can make up NPCs as you need them, but I reserve the right to control those NPCs if need be. I may have to step in at times to keep the game moving.

When you post, please start all posts with this header so we know right away who is posting, where you are, who is with you, and what kind of shape you’re in. This will help keep everyone straight as the thread gets busier.

[float=left][img height=200 width=150 padding=5]URL LINK TO A PHOTO OF YOUR CHARACTER[/img][/float]
[b]Name:[/b] YOUR NAME
[b]Role:[/b] YOUR OCCUPATION
[b]Current Location:[/b] WHERE YOU ARE
[b]Condition:[/b] WHAT SHAPE ARE YOU IN, HOW ARE YOU LOOKING
[b]Interacting With:[/b] WHICH OTHER CHAMPIONS ARE YOU CURRENTLY INTERACTING WITH
[hr]

Faeli

This game sounds super-interesting.  I'm not sure I have time to play it, but I am definately marking it for... erm... research.

AmandaWho

We'll see if it gets off the ground. So far, no takers. I'll let it bake in the oven a bit more and see if any cookies develop ... ok wow, that was a terrible analogy lol

eternaldarkness

Really interesting idea and i'd be all over it, except that when there's a system I prefer to be able to interact with it and know how it works. I'll mark this and see how it progresses, though.

AmandaWho

I got no takers on this idea, so I am putting it in Ziploc and tossing it into the freezer.

Faeli