Ashgan

Tiers of the People (1x1)

Hey PrizeFighter, welcome to the forum :)

I'll preface this by saying that I am here primarily to ask questions. It's by no means a promise of me biting. If I end up liking where it's going, it is possible however.

Now, I have a lot of questions about your setting. You don't have to have an answer to literally all of them in the interest check, admittedly, but it's a collection of my thoughts. Here we go:

• You say the "world" is tiered, and it very much seems to be a physical tiering, a layered city. Is the "world" in this case just a megacity? Is it, in fact, a planet-encompassing city (like Corsuscant in Star Wars)? Or is it a space station/ship?
• What is the state of space exploration/colonisation anyway? Is this world the only place people live, or have colonisation attempts into the cosmos been made?
• Building on the above, what kind of tech level are we looking at for this? Is this near-ish future or is it more distant than that? If we take real life as a basis, what kind of year would you date this story at?
• This is an important one for me: What are your primary inspirations for this? My first thought when I heard layered city was Deux Ex: Human Revolution's Hengsha city, which made me think of a distinctly cyberpunk kind of setting. But you could have been thinking more about the manga Blame! for instance, which is a very, very different kind of vibe.
• What do people do for a living on any tier that isn't Business and Working? Do people from Elite go down to work in the Business tier? What about the rest? How do people make their money? Do we even use money in this society?
• What do people eat? Where does it come from? This one seems pedantic but it's more important than you might think :)
• What's the history of this world? How did people develop this tiered structure in the first place, what was the motivation behind it? And did every tier always have its designated name and purpose? I feel like no government would designate not one but two tiers to have no purpose beyond giving illicit operations an unmonitored platform to develop in.
• Speaking of them, is there really that much difference between the No Man's Tier and Nameless Tier? They feel functionally very overlapping, and could possibly have been consolidated.
• And since I mentioned the government, what kind of government are we looking at in this "world"? Who has power here, who backs this power?
• What's the state of religion? Are there any major faiths, and if so, what are they like? I imagine that especially in the poorer tiers, religion might be the only thing left to some people.
• Last but not least: What is the plot premise? What kind of character requirements do you have?

Hopefully I didn't put you off with this avalanche of questions :D Thanks for indulging me.

The Depths of Blackmire Keep - A Quest of Peril and Certain Demise

Since everybody is pitching in with a game suggestion, I'll add my own to the mix: I have not actually played a game in it yet, but I would suggest to take a look at Zweihander. It's a setting-agnostic spiritual successor to Warhammer Fantasy RP, ergo it lends itself to games where players are low-powered, filthy peasant fops who have to face soldiers, orcs, demons and worse while trying to avoid dying of disease or going insane. The system is quite dangerous, wounds are explicit, fights lethal. Magic exists, is dangerous and difficult to control, but is not mandatory and it is very easy to run mundane groups (even if they might face supernatural foes). And it is entirely contained in a single rule book.

In theory. As said, I haven't been able to try it, but I like its philosophy and ideas. The only downside is that there are, essentially, no modules/scenarios for it. There's one pre-made adventure in the rule book, and that's about it. You can convert Warhammer Fantasy modules to Zweihander rules, but beyond that you homebrew it or you're out of luck.

The Depths of Blackmire Keep - A Quest of Peril and Certain Demise

In the meanwhile, there's a few more things on my mind I'd like to task about.

First, since this is a setting of your making, do you permit some amount of world building from your players? If yes, to what degree? Can a player, for example, make up a given organization, band, noble house or other such body as part of their background lore?

I understand you have typical high fantasy elements/creatures in the setting, even if players themselves cannot play as such. Still, do you have a rough estimate on how much we'll be seeing these things, i.e. how on the nose the fantasy will be? Are orcs, wizards, undead so common that our reaction would be closer to gruff annoyance, or so rare that we should be frightened and shocked to witness such a thing? Or anywhere in between?

You say faith cannot be proven in the setting, and belief is a personal choice; but nonetheless, is there a central church? If yes, can you describe it more in the ooc?

Lastly, can I ask what tabletop system you're using and if you play online or IRL? I'm rather fresh when it comes to tabletop rpg, but I do wish I had more people to play with on occasion. Being on this forum, it's clear you value storytelling, so the interests align to a reasonble extent already.

The Depths of Blackmire Keep - A Quest of Peril and Certain Demise

I like the tone you're going for, with the gritty low-fantasy. If I'm being entirely frank, I think your world can offer more interesting premises than a good old-fashioned dungeon crawl, but maybe you can surprise me down the road. Either way, roleplays that hit my personal preferences are few and far between, so I'd like to let you know that I'm keeping a watchful eye on this.

𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝙻𝚘𝚜𝚝

It's quiet, but if y'all want I can make something happen tomorrow. Been quite busy since the weekend and today.

𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝙻𝚘𝚜𝚝

"It's possible," Trisha interjected between Joe and Alex's nervous talking, "There was incense in any case. Didn't recognize the smell, but I'm not in drug enforcement. But it wasn't a hallucination. We've all seen it and I don't think a collective, shared hallu is - plausible."

She had to pause for a moment, thinking about the use of the word plausible. None of what had just happened was, technically, plausible by any stretch. How could she discard the notion of a collective hallucination as far-fetched when the alternative was to accept that she had just seen a, for all intents and purposes, monster? When it meant that she had to admit that something like this existed, that it was real? There were no good options here.

"Sometimes," she went on, sounding a bit wistful, "we find out that there are things in this world we wouldn't have thought possible. Happens all the time when you're young, but there are surprises even for adults. We just have to adjust."

Adjusting was hard in this case. There were so, so many unknowns. About the creature itself: what was it? What motivated it? How did it operate? Where did it come from, where would it go? Where *could* it go? Was it intelligent? Were there more? Could they procreate? Could they die? What from?

There was no body of knowledge to rely on here, no scientific papers to consult or even just a basic wikipedia article to read. And Trisha felt decidedly unenthusiastic about establishing the basics through empirical testing in the future. Of course, there was one person who might consult her on the ins and outs of what had just happened - what had he called it again? An 'obscure event'? The term fitted like a glove.

"But more importantly, I want to dig. I can't rightly say that we've been made victim of a crime, but I sure do want to talk to McCoy. If that's his real name, I'm sure I can find him soon."

There was no guarantee, of course, that there ever was a doctor by that name. This could all have easily been a hoax to force them into a trap. But why? She could see no conceivable motive. If the goal was to get them killed there would have been far more effective methods. So much more effective that she wanted to rule out the possibility that murder was the motive. But what else could it be? Was it just a set-up to make them *see* the thing? Was it a way to force these people, and herself, to expand their notion of what was real in a way that exposed them to danger, but did not kill them? But again, why?

She needed to find the doctor, and soon. If for no other reason than to better establish a basis for further investigation.

𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝙻𝚘𝚜𝚝

Joe retorted something back in the room; probably didn’t agree with her order to evacuate. She had no intention of repeating herself; the others complied, or they died. Their choice. Whatever he had said, she understood not a single word of it. There were far more pressing things on her mind: the shuffling creature before her, and the chilling thoughts it dredged up from the unconscious. Indeed, her predicament reminded her of something very specific, something she would rather not have remembered until it returned to collect its next due.

It was similar to a recurring nightmare she had every few years: She would be alone in dark place. A corridor or a basement perhaps, someplace lightless where abhorrent things happened out of sight. There too, an undefined thing was lumbering towards her, vaguely humanoid but with no discerning features. She could not describe its aspect, but she knew who it was. A demon who had given up humanity long ago, whose only purpose for humans was for him to slake his unnatural and vile desires. He approached her ever so slowly, but with inexorable certainty. In this dream, she was unarmed. She had nowhere to run. But the worst of it was this:

In this dream, she was a child.

Even if Joe had been drinking and intended to yank the gun from her hand, her fingers clutched the metal in a deathly cold grip, like rigor mortis. Save the index was at ease, hard discipline overriding her instincts even in this situation and preventing accidental or ill-conceived shots. It was the unmistakable sound of a photo being snapped that pulled her out of the mire and back to the present. Somebody had… snapped a photo. A photo? Were they out of their minds?

“The fuck are you doing?!” she hissed, eyes trained on the monster, “Get out already!”

More people were mobilizing now, including the unruly thug. It seemed that curiosity got the better of him and he too became witness to the thing that was coming uncomfortably close. Joe took hold of a fire extinguisher; normally, Trisha would have to see about disarming and calming him, but in this situation she figured it was permissible. Perhaps it was better this way. He urged her to shoot, but she would not. She was not a cowboy or a gangster, not a movie hero. Shooting at someone had to be the last resort, the purpose of which was not to subdue or kill, but to prevent greater harm. Shooting was a choice for the lesser of two evils. Moreover, discipline forbade her from being goaded towards violence by a third person. She would fire only if there was no alternative… or if she found the Violator.

The room emptied surprisingly quickly all of a sudden when the realization of real danger finally dawned upon every last person present. With nobody left inside, Joe suggested the two of them leave as well; his tone was almost agreeable.

“Is everyone out?” she asked, casting a brief glance into the meeting room to confirm this. Her feet were carrying her slowly backwards, arms still extended towards the thing. “Okay Joe, let’s move!”

With his agreement, the two of them would run for the staircase where, hopefully, the rest of the patients had already descended towards the lobby and the street.

𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝙻𝚘𝚜𝚝

Follow your own judgement here, but I'll move us along before the weekend is over. You can always write retroactively.

@Poet

All right. I'll see if I can't get something up within the next 24 hours or so. If it's relevant for your post and you go before me, Trish is essentially going to retreat after making sure everyone else has done so before she has. Will fire on the thing only if she has no choice, i.e. if it's getting too close.

𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝙻𝚘𝚜𝚝

I think everyone except Trivval's character have left the room, right? With an update on what he does, I feel I am ready to make a post.

𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝙻𝚘𝚜𝚝

@Poet All right, cool. So it's basically like most RPs I've been in then; that rule could do with a light re-write. ^^

@Bishop That's why I rolled a whopping 8 willpower. Somebody has to keep their cool when things get dicey :P