[h2]Greetings, all ye who enter here.[/h2] Abandon all hope before you continue to read, lest you are dragged into a world of nightmares, rubber duckies... and other duckies. This shall be the stage of a horror/survival/GM-lead RP that is somewhere in between low advanced (as it has a GM) and high casual (because lax ruleset and situationally short post length). I am looking for between 4 and 8 players, with 5 being the ideal size. There will be puzzle solving, detective-work and likely some (very one-sided) combat. [b]Additionally, there is a delicious twist to all this, that has to do with my name[/b]. [h3]The Setting[/h3] You are an average person, living an average life. Most of the time. An interest in - or a talent for - lucid dreaming has given you the power to shape dreams whatever way you want. Dreams are a refuge for you, a place where you are king, god, the creator of everything. Or so you thought, until someday, without warning, you find yourself in a horrific place of nightmares. You're perfectly aware that you're dreaming, but you remain powerless, alone, unsettled. Soon you will find out that you're not alone in this place, that there are others going through the same nightmare. Will you befriend them? Cooperate with them to uncover the secrets of this place? [b]But can you really trust them?[/b] [img]http://www.zoomcar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Halloween-Factory.jpg[/img] _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ [h3]An early note of the malicious GM[/h3] [h3][b][u]I will contact one or two of you (depending on group size) in private and offer them a chance to become traitors[/u][/b] (see what I did there?)[b][u], to spice things up a bit.[/u][/b][/h3] The story exists in rough drafts by now. I'm holding back on this a bit to adjust it to the participating characters, though I would mostly if not entirely work everything out before we start. Possibly share it with my potential accomplice... or maybe not. This is [u]still[/u] a bit of a work in progress and [u]your feedback[/u] may influence the way I'd set everything up. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ [h3]General structure[/h3] This RP is going to happen in two alternating phases: [hider=Nightmare phase] - The [u]nightmare phase[/u] represents one night of bad dreams. The [s]victims[/s]dreamers find themselves in different locations of the nightmare area (which I will provide a map of before we start) and attempt to find one another. There will be a semi-obvious goal to "work towards" which I will not disclose just yet. In order to reach said goal, they have to work together. People who get killed, forcefully removed or incapacitated inside the nightmare are thrown out of it - they "wake up" in the middle of the night and will remain awake until dawn. Obviously, they can't help the others for the remainder of the night. And depending on why their journey ended for the night, there will be "repercussions" in the real world. This is a crucial element of this RP. There won't always be easy solutions to a problem, sometimes people [i]have[/i] to take a hit in order for the others to proceed. A night ends when either nobody is left, when a significant amount of time has passed or when I feel that a significant amount of progress is achieved. [/hider] [hider=Day phase] - The [u]day phase[/u] happens during the day after the last nightmare. This phase is all about dealing with the repercussions, potentially interacting outside of the nightmare and making plans for the next nightmare phase. The length of this can vary depending on whether you choose to interact in the real world. [/hider] [u]Subsequent nightmare phases[/u] will start with the group being separated again, but certain "changes" done to the nightmare will be [u]persistent[/u], making it easier to meet up and/or progress past the point you reached last time. Depending on [i]what[/i] you did, it could get more difficult as well. At any rate, the dreamers will become more familiar with the area and learn to traverse it faster. Day phase planning supports this as well. [u]Ultimately, the whole thing is like a game[/u]. Your goal is to end the nightmare by confronting the one responsible for it. You can, under certain conditions that may be revealed at some point, [i]fail[/i] to achieve this goal. The exact conditions to [i]win[/i] the game are being kept secret as well. This is inspired by oldschool P&P RPG. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ [h2]A few things about your characters.[/h2] Your character can be anyone. From first-grader to college student to workaholic in their late fifties, everything goes. The only thing that has to be implemented in some form is an interest into lucid dreaming. That involves the possibility of someone being super knowledgeable about it yet failing to actually pull it off! As for the area your characters are living in, that is kind of...open. Since the important part happens inside those dreams, you could literally be living scattered across the planet. Physical proximity would make it easier to interact during day-phases, however. Since I don't need you to be anywhere specific, this is a choice I'll leave up to you. [hider=Notes about powers] I already mentioned that characters are allowed to have a "[u]dream persona[/u]" including specific "[u]powers[/u]", so let me elaborate on that. The dream-self can be used as a form of expression - something the character would like to be IRL. It could be a mask to hide behind, in order to make their identity less obvious (again, maybe the culprit [i]is[/i] one of your supposed allies...). Through being more or less skilled at lucid dreaming, your character may be able to influence the dream world in a specific way. This is obviously entirely limited to dream phases, as the day phases are supposed to be 99.9% realistic. You're no superheroes. You're average, normal people. Those powers can be of physical nature and based on the appearance/physiology of your dream self, such as stone-like skin or the ability to climb up perfectly smooth, vertical walls. But they can also be purely mental, such as the ability to create a small, hovering flame, change/move objects or teleport people around over short distances. [u]That being said, I would like to express a few wishes, regarding these.[/u] - Please limit your character to one thing only. I want to design certain puzzles/situations around these, so it's a lot less chaotic if everyone only has one signature thing going for them. - Please design these within reason and regarding your impact on the RP. God-mode switches make it both incredibly difficult for me to come up with suitable material and outright un-fun for the others. This kinda goes without saying, but I still wanted to bring it up. - [u]POWERS ARE NOT MANDATORY![/u] - Consider that I, being the malevolent GM, will render more powerful abilities more unreliable. - I would like to assess your powers and possibly adjust them a bit before I approve the character. Ideally the adjustment will be at an absolute minimum. Still, let creativity be encouraged. The more unique a power is, the less likely I'll want to change it! [/hider] [h3]CS template![/h3] In accordance with my wish to approve each character individually (primarily because of the power/balance issue), I want you to post your CS in the OOC first. I'll check them out asap, give feedback, suggest power adjustment if applicable or outright approve. After approval, you can post them in the actual characters tab. Also, as a basic brain functionality check, I need you to add a random fact about ducks at the end of the CS. These can be valiantly researched truths or completely made up! [hider=CS Template] Name: (this one should be easy unless someone wants to suffer from amnesia) Age: (measured in human years) Gender: (bird or bee?) Appearance: (can be expressed in words, a picture or both. I honestly don't care whether "real life" pictures, artwork or anime style is being used. Possibly we'll want to coordinate that in the OOC comments first.) Dream appearance: (if different from regular appearance) Personality: (some general info about who they are, how they come across. optional, in case you prefer to reveal this IC) Dream personality: (if different from regular personality) Background: (optional) Power: (if applicable. Did I mention that having a power is not mandatory? In all honesty, those fancy powers only make it more difficult for you.) Other: (surprise me.) [/hider] _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Finally, call-outs to the people who expressed interest in the interest expression subforum where interest is expressed. [@Sir Avita] [@Makky] [@Oni_] [@malmshodes] [@Fillet] Let the games begin.