When men and women die, their fate is to rise to heaven or be cast down into hell. Yet some, dissatisfied with the absolute 'perfection' of heaven or seeking to escape the torments of hell, find a another option awaits them. Once a piece of hell itself, those who alight upon it find only a jagged, broken, barren landscape. The third option. Existing only slightly detached from the abyss it was drawn from, it's only offerings are hardship and toil, but also freedom from the puritan law of heaven above and reprieve from the horrors of hell below.
Ripped away from its diabolic origins, it now exists as a refuge for those souls who arrive intact. Those who come here, have immortality: they do not age, cannot starve nor die of thirst, and neither disease, nor poison, nor violence can kill them. Yet they can feel the passage of time and are subject to the pangs of hunger and the torment of thirst, to say nothing of the agonies of the violence, poison, and disease.
And so they called it Purgatory.
On an almost daily basis, new souls fall from the sky like comets and occasionally caught up by the barren land. Those who don't burn up in the atmosphere to fall on the ground as raw crystalline soul-stuff, rise up in human form once again, given a new lease on life. For the lucky few who are not driven insane by this new existence and join the ranks of Purgatory's feral damned, they eventually find their way to The Haven...
Hello all and thanks for looking! For now, this is just to test the waters and see if this idea has any popularity, so without further ado..
Generally a sandbox game, heavy of the social interaction element, with a theme of warriors and slaves. There will be plot in the background, but will only come into effect if the game has at least a few invested players (i.e. after player dropout). This isn't really about player vs. player, though (friendly; i.e. agreed between players) rivalries would certainly contribute to the feel of the setting.
The blurb above should have generally outlined the idea. The story in general follows a small fortified town called Haven, the one place in Purgatory that has managed to form some semblance of community. The Haven is ruled over by group of a Warlord who enforces a rigid caste system between Warriors (who put their lives on the line to keep the place safe) and Slaves (who tend to workings of the Haven and, more importantly, the needs of Warrior caste). Every day life in Purgatory is a constant struggle against oppression and despair - their physiological needs are suspended, yet the psychological necessity of those physical needs is still very much there; whilst no one can starve or die of thirst, they still feel the need for it, and Purgatory does not provide for very much beyond rock, soil, and, very rarely, metal deposits. Livestock and crops have never existed here.
To distract themselves, social prestige and carnal gratification quickly become the chief ways of life, and serves to blunt the ever present hunger and thirst. The Warrior caste defend Haven from those that would threaten this fragile veneer of civilisation - the hordes of damned, broken souls and demons that occasionally creep up from hell that lies, literally, just below them, who come seeking to drag any they can back down into the pit. Because of this, the warrior caste is entitled to their rewards.
The slave caste, despite their seemingly insignificant role other than to serve the warrior caste with their bodies and talents, nevertheless significantly influences which warriors rise to in status and those who sink into common ranks. Skilled slaves gain considerably more leeway and freedoms than those of lesser status, gaining the right to choose who they bed, demand compensation for their time, confer more prestige to the warrior that owns them - the most prestigious of slaves are, in general, slaves in name only. Slaves, in addition, due to the time they have on their hands also have a much higher tendency to unlock mystical abilities, either through deep contemplation on the nature of metaphysical reality or perhaps through madness induced by an almost constant state of hunger and starvation - such seers and witches are highly valued.
Purgatory is a continental-sized ring of almost barren landscape that floats above the crimson, malevolent haze of hell below. Numerous monstrosities lurk that are hunted for hide and bone, and rarely meat, whilst prospectors search for precious deposits of metal. One of the most notable, and feared places in purgatory is the Dreadwood - the only place where lumber can be found, whilst silk can be had harvested from the
worms that inhabit it and generally give the place its name. At the centre of the ring, in its hollow, floats a miniature city built in classical Greek or Roman style, all of which sits in the shadow of a great white pyramid at its centre. It is largely believed that whoever or whatever created Purgatory resides here, but no one has ever been able to get across the vast gulf between the continental ring and the city within.
In general, this is world of stone walls, iron swords, copper javelins, hide tents, leather harness, sheer silk, and mounds of fur for beds.
I'm still trying to decide between Freeform or a Custom System (simplistic and mostly just for knowing what people are capable of), though suggestions would be quite welcome.
Who is it open to?All players, sexualities, and genders. In theory, any character idea is welcome, though I'll only ask that they be built according to the themes mentioned above and that the Ons & Offs of other players are respected. Likewise, male slaves and female warriors are every bit as welcome as the traditional male warriors and female slaves that this type of setting seems to imply.
Non-human characters?I'm going to say that this would be human characters, since the majority of interaction would be based inside Haven, though I am considering the possibility of transformation/corruption of characters. For those so interested in monster on human sex, that's also a possibility, but probably outside the walls of Haven (and if there are players interested in playing the monsters.)
If anyone has suggestions or ideas, I'm more than happy to hear them at this point since this is all just concept work for now. Also, if anybody is interested in helping build and help run a game like this, that would be most welcome too.
If you have an interest, give us a rough idea of the kind of character you'd like to play, which should give everyone a demographic of possible characters they are likely to encounter. Thanks for your time.
A big welcome to all newcomers! Currently, the tally for warriors and slaves appear to be:
Warriors:Chreestafer (Male)
Golden Spider (Male)
LaCroix (Unknown)
VonDoom (Male)
Xanthaine (Female)
Slaves:CurvyKitten (Gender pending)
Blonde (Female)
Etherealgirl (Female)
Max (Pending, Male or Female)
RampantDesires (Female)
Unknown:CarnivalOfTheGoat
NEW EDIT: IMPORTANTAs I mentioned before, I'm still deciding on whether to make this free form or a custom system of my own devising. Those of you who want to look at it, can find it
here. It's in a half-finished state, but I think it's more or less straightforward on how it intends to accomplish results.
At this point, your opinions on whether you'd prefer free-form or this system would go a long way to helping me decide whether I should leave it and start the game sooner or finish it and start a wee bit later (it's about 1 more day from completion), so do let me know you're opinions.
Also, for those who'd prefer a system, would you be comfortable with free-form if I decide not to go with it?
Thanks.
