Mangrale

Tales from Frontier Village: A Rune Factory Roleplay {Always Recuriting/Accepting}

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Vivian

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The young mail carrier let out a light sigh of relief when it looked to her that she was set to finish her route on time, her breath still fairly visible against the cold morning air. Lightly tugging at her scarf as she approached one of the residential houses at the wooded outskirts of the village, her mind began to wander a little as her hand dipped into her satchel. She glanced down at the single sealed envelope in her hand. For every person she'd met in the past few years, it seemed like they'd just as quickly move away to be replaced with someone new. She wasn't going to complain about that. In fact, she was used to being the one doing the leaving.If anything, it just felt strange to be the person staying in one place for a change.

Her final steps toward the mailbox were rather listless ones, some small patches of snow steadily compressing underneath her boots. The sound of it was fairly easy for her to tell as far as anything the size of a person was concerned, but she was so lost in thought that she didn't notice the tiny skittering of a small chipsqueek, seemingly one of the first to emerge from its winter den to forage. Swiftly climbing up to the top of the now open mailbox to observe a pleasantly surprised Vivian, the fluffy animal looked to be grooming itself of the minute frost along its vibrantly colored, bushy tail.

"Oh, hello little guy. Feeling brave after coming out of your den, are we? Well you just sit tight, and once I'm done here, I can go and find something for-" the girl had slowly began to lift the letter into the mailbox when suddenly the chipsqueek lunged itself down and grabbed the parcel out of her hands, and scurried on all fours as she immediately gave chase. "H-Hey! Come back! I need that!" she cried out after it, utterly shocked that the little thing would pull such a stunt and truthfully a tad embarrassed to be in this predicament in the first place.

The First Steps - Personal Ideas and Advancing Projects

@Spambot@BrokenPromise Thanks guys. I believe there is nothing so important that doesn't need a good reminder from time to time.

I will admit that "complete control" probably wasn't the best choice of words, and while I do know what comes easily for me, I do of course recognize the fuller scope of a GM's responsibilities. I had counted on receiving links to premade instructional posts, but I do really appreciate you narrowing it down to one, BrokenPromise. I will refer to it regularly as things progress.

What I hope to accomplish is a game that runs on a fair amount of prewritten pieces like location/object descriptions and main/side quest (for current lack of a better word) progression for when it's necessary. Will even my most favored premade assets need to be altered or tossed aside for the enjoyment and consensus of the group as a whole? - That is a definite possibility. Can so much be written that some things, even in their rawest form, might not even be covered in a single playthrough? - That is the dream.

Although I know why it's done, what I'd like to avoid as much as reasonably possible is that railroading scenario in which the GM posts a gradual series of events, with the goal of leading the players from point-A to point-B, and the players have no recourse but to follow along with their character's respective responses, or reactions to be quite honest, this taking place over the course of weeks.

Again, I know that the basic idea can be called for, but so long as I can avoid that specific case being "all the game is about" for weeks, maybe months, then I'll be satisfied. If a small group of adventurers have to get to a predetermined destination to move the plot along, then I'd want to do that in as few posts and as quickly as possible. What really interests me is for the tools to be available for players to play within, not simply be guided through, the game world. Really sorry I can't articulate it better than that.

I have certain things, game mechanics and such, in mind that should support the end result I want, but they will have to wait until I get to them in future updates to the thread.

The First Steps - Personal Ideas and Advancing Projects

@Spambot I don't believe I could have asked for a better response to have under that starting post of mine, that I can look at whenever I come here. Thank you very much.

I would wish to ponder over and address each and every one of your points on this very thread. But I'm sorry that I won't be able to fit them all into one post. Rest assured that I don't intend to @ you for every one, given you were possibly just passing by and don't rightly care to be pestered continuously on the subject. With that in mind, I'm pretty sure that quoting the pointers should be fine as long as the @ isn't there. Sorry if you get notified anyway to your annoyance. I will take the quote references a step back if there's a problem.

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- Spend some time ensuring you actually want to do something before doing it. Some people, myself especially, can have the spark of GMing passion only to find it dying a few days later. If you're going to make something, commit - if you want to go for the long haul, make sure that you personally are going to put in the effort.

Spambot

It feels to me that on the scale between roleplayer and writer (however amateurish), I likely fall closer to the writer side of things. What I mean is that I'm more comfortable making the decisions on a written work and going at my own pace. With that in mind, I imagine this planning/writing phase of the process will be easier for me as opposed to the active and collaborative effort of GMing.

Underneath both phases however, will lie the motivation that this a project that is under my complete control, something I cannot say after being a mere participant after all these years. I imagine that my thoughts echo the sentiments of many fledgling GMs who enter into this pastime alone, without a devoted circle of players. I do this for myself first and foremost, and I have the willingness to exert myself and make decisions towards a (hopefully) reasonable goal.

GMing, to me, can be likened to a conclusion that occurs and has occurred to me very often in the roleplaying space. And while I cannot and will not by any means pursue it with an obsessive or singular devotion, I don't believe it is a passing fancy for me either.

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I don't mean for this to be my final word on this point, but I will go on to the next one if no one would care to add anything.

Edit: I don't use quotes often, so I'm unaccustomed. It said a quote was sent, so if you do indeed mind them coming your way, I'll see to excluding your name next time Spambot, and that should settle this. Sorry for the inconvenience.

My Hero Academia: Another Story

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Sofia Rousseau - Noctera

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| @KoL |

"Mixed messages" were the words swirling around in Sofia's head as Mr. Hayes addressed the class. Will the value of exceeding one's own expectations be on an upcoming test. There are certain expectations that came with institutions like the USJ, the kind that can't so easily be set aside for the sake of her own comfort. The concept of "people one is meant to save" sounded particularly rich, especially regarding an industry that relied almost entirely on intention, circumstance and capability. There was nothing so romantic at play.

And yet the technical truth of the matter didn't in any way dampen her giddy exuberance as she listened in on Enterprise regaling everyone with delightfully embellished anecdotes in between bits of trivia, a good amount of which she herself knew of beforehand. Sofia was very literally at the edge of her seat throughout it all, her silent captivation all that less bit subtle considering how she was near the back of the bus and fairly certain no one was looking her way.

Being one of the last to step off the bus, no one could have guessed how over the moon she was at being the last in a lineup. It was bound to pay off one of these days. Alphabetically the farthest away from Abigail and now in a group led by Enterprise herself. It could scarcely get any better than that. She felt so good, not even the weird feeling of being watched she got from that pudgy bird could spoil it. The seemingly random and muffled crash from behind the front doors did strike her as odd however. An accident so close to the front of the building wasn't totally unheard of though, but then again she would have assumed such accidents would tend to occur after, not before the lights go out...

"That is... not supposed to happen, is it?" she asked aloud, sounding more sincere than she rightly should have before stopping in her tracks behind Freya and Renard to get a better look. Something peculiar was happening, and like most teenagers that comes in contact with something mildly interesting, she dug into her bag and picked out her phone to start recording the scene. After taking a few steps away from the others, her phone's screen glared under the afternoon sun before she held it steady in view of the facilty's higher windows. "... The first field trip of the year is not going how I imagined it. The power seems to be off and some of us heard a crash near the door."

Aside from just passing the view over the entrance for a few seconds, she was stuck on what to do from there until the next logical step finally came to her. Approaching Enterprise with all the professionalism of a star-struck rookie cameraman, Sofia turned her phone to her. "Pro-hero Ent-Uh, I mean P-Principal Washington? Wh-What do you make of this? Should we um, in-investigate, b-because we or I could call ahead or call something o-or...?" Yeah it pretty clear that the moment was kinda getting away from her, but that didn't change the fact that she sought the heroine's leadership first and foremost. And for what it was worth, Sofia was doing her darnedest to record her from a heroic angle.

The First Steps - Personal Ideas and Advancing Projects

Greetings and thank you for stopping by.

For a long time there has been RP concepts that I've worked over in my head, some of them exciting me to the possibility of finally running a game of my own. Of course, plenty of ground will need to be covered before any one project reaches a state at which it can be pushed forward. My circumstance and diligence are not where I'd deem them optimal, but they probably never will be, so I might as well get the ball rolling now that I'm able. Maybe I'll surprise myself.

That said, this thread will very likely be where I post most of my RP related topics, from inquiries about GMing and world building to updates about future projects. Generally how it will work is that once in a while I'll present either a new topic or update to an existing topic for discussion and so forth. Trying to think ahead, I believe that most of what I might have in store could fit into categories with different objectives in mind, so I'll be sure to make clear my intentions behind each.

Keep in mind that once I update to an entirely new topic, it's usually safe to assume that I've finished talking about the previous subject.

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Table of Contents

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Update 1 - Advanced Game Mechanics (Part 1): Introduction to Structured Elements and Encounters

Update 2 - Advanced Game Mechanics (Part 2): Prototype Character Sheet Template

Update 3 - GM Wanted (1st Edition): The Plan-B For Certain Ideas I Can't Follow Through On

Update 4 - Project Gemini (Part 1): Of the Virtual Frontier in a Futuristic Reality

Update 5 - Project Stratus (Part 1): It's a Fantasy Life Simulator in the Sky and Whatnot

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Opening Discussion

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Words of Advice Welcome

It seemed fitting to start this whole thing off by asking for something as rudimentary as advice, pointers, truisms and so forth that you all have found that has helped you in some way. I will have to admit however, that it's possible that what works for you might not work for me, and that what I've set my heart towards will potentially demand that I operate contrary to what is sensible. Even so, I will always appreciate your constructive input on anything I propose or put out, even months down the line.

Speaking of which, I can tell everyone right now that I have my first project in mind and an overview along with some preliminary details will be coming hopefully sooner rather than later. Aside from that, there is likely a great deal that I've forgotten to mention, but I'm okay to address some things as they come. So for now, no matter when you're reading this, thanks for hearing me out. I'll keep going for as long as I am able.

My Hero Academia: Another Story

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Sofia Rousseau - Noctera

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If keeping her senses about her wasn't such a high priority at the moment, Sofia probably would have taken greater lengths to tune everyone out. Yet as it happened, her head would peek up from behind the seats in front of her when Renard spoke to her. Being called out for being the outlier from time to time, even in a friendly way, wasn't completely new for her, but even so to his offer she would kinda awkwardly wave her hand in acknowledgement. "Thanks, but I am fine where I am... s-safety first," she replied with a finger tentatively scratching at her cheek. On some level, there was a good deal of sincerity under her noncommitted response, especially in light of how hectic things were getting, at least in her opinion.

Regardless, she honestly thought that would be the end of it for the time being, but was alarmed to see Freya come on board just to trip hand-first into a salt mound, Sofia gasping a little at the sight of it. Almost subconsciously, she found herself rushing out of her seat and down the aisle. "Oh mon, Freya are yo-...?!" Sofia frailly blurted out in a hurry before noticing Peter jump into action, clearly more prepared to handle things with a first aid kit of sorts. Slowly the hand she had outstretched began to slowly close and lower. Even if she could be of use, it wasn't like she was close enough for it to matter.

Quietly retreating back to her seat just in time to hear Peter take it upon himself to explain the necessity of heroes, Sofia sat back down and began gazing out the window. If this bus didn't get moving soon, she had half a mind to go to the support company herself. She could use the endurance training and it wasn't like she'd get lost with her phone on hand. For now though, she sought to conserve her strength while she could. For all she knew, she'd need to make a quick escape once Abigail's hero-worthy quirk leads to a worse accident.

Tales from Frontier Village: A Rune Factory Roleplay {Always Recuriting/Accepting}

Vivian only has one definite and eventual stop on my end, but it can wait as far as I'm concerned. I may have a more drop-in friendly post before that, but she's pretty much open to meet just about anyone.

My Hero Academia: Another Story

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Sofia Rousseau - Noctera

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The end of the trial went about as well as she realistically expected, especially with someone like Mr. Hayes being the one judging her performance. While it was true that she indirectly caused one of the robots to get ran down, it wasn't like she meant for that to happen. It was an accident. On top of that, though perishing the thought of arguing against the value of teamwork, she felt it would have been at least worth mentioning how she mostly succeeded in taking on a scenario meant for a group to handle. Wasn't that worth anything? It was clear that she had plenty to say in her defense, but somehow couldn't bring herself to protest in front of the entire class. The apparent demerit she received for getting prodded in the wing especially irked her however, her main pair of arms folding in a small huff as two of her smaller index fingers shyly taped against each other under her chin. "_{I still got through despite that...}" she muttered to herself, unable to look up at the man.

His clapping did indeed catch her attention, but what really surprised her was the arrival of the principal, her face instantly brightening up at the sight of the pro hero, as was usually the case whenever she saw her. This time however, the encounter was rather soured because of how messy her own suit was. She did just come back from a construction site after all. Really, there was no way she wouldn't take the pro up on her suggestion, quickly scurrying off to shower and change to her uniform. In those quiet moments, she spared a few thoughts to how her classmates performed. Some of them had also appeared to have been injured as well, but it was Sofia's impression that Freya might have suffered the worst of it. In retrospect, that just further proved that then and there probably wasn't the time or place to complain to Mr. Hayes.

Her hair didn't even have time to dry before she lifted the strap of her school satchel over her head and made her way to the bus outside, a sudden pause in her step before she up and decided to take a seat near the back of the bus nearby any other exit she could find. It payed to be prepared. Till they got moving, Sofia would flip through her phone to read her messages and look up more info on the support company that made her suit.

Tales from Frontier Village: A Rune Factory Roleplay {Always Recuriting/Accepting}

[GM has spoken. Reply rescinded.]

My Hero Academia: Another Story

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Sofia Rousseau - Noctera

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_{Construction Block}

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City Trial Run - Part 2

(8 Minutes Remain)
Sofia would be lying if she said she felt any empathy for the robot that got run over on her way here. Instead, its partially warped and dismembered remains taunted her as a glaring black mark on her looming evaluation. On the plus side however, it did push her to at least attempt to incapacitate the few pursuing criminals that chased after her. The lone heroine definitely had the mobility to evade them and just as quickly crept around the small group, taking up a nine foot high vantage point on top of a stack of precast concrete wall panels to secretly size up her three pursuers.

We should be out sight of the other machines... I hope. If I can take these down quickly, I should have just enough time to rescue the hostages and lead them to safety. She let out a faintly hesitant murmur as she slowly rose to a crouching position, her secondary arms reaching into the compartment of one of her large sleeves to produce a school-issued hand restraint. She fidgeted with it a little as her eyes zeroed in on a single target, one that luckily seemed to lead the other two along a secluded path she could follow after.

If only I had more time, then I could pick them off one by one... Now if I want any chance of doing this, I have to act before they split up. She belabored the point as she hurriedly flew herself up to the scaffolding besides a business complex in the making, the rattling of the pipework prior to the minor creaking of the wood planks under her feet keeping her on edge till the very last step. The leader seems to have a tranquilizer rifle. Even if it is not lethal, one good shot will be enough to end the test for me if I am not careful. The suit is meant to give me some protection against blunt and sharp weapons, but needles might be another matter...!

With her window to strike closing with each passing second, Sofia dashed her way to the edge of the platform and jumped off from between the metal pipes and with her wings guided her decent towards the back of the unsuspecting leader, one henchdummy at either side. The other two are carrying stun batons. Although dangerous, but I cannot let that rifle get a clear shot. I have to take it out first!... Here goes nothing! Knowing full well that she couldn't work up the force necessary on her own, she let the momentum from her decent ram her knee against the leader from behind, but only after she let one of her silk lashes fly to wrap around the legs of the guard to its right. The impact caused the rifleman to slide front-first passed several feet of dry tire-driven dirt, its firearm stumbling out of its arms, while behind them the ensnared bot would see its feet pulled from under it.

Having latched onto her quarry's back, all four of her arms frantically went about restraining its wrists behind it, taking the robot out of the fight for the purposes of the exercise. She went about the task furiously, and just as wildly turned her head to spot the third cohort emerge from the thin dust cloud to swing its crackling baton at her. The cord from her arm had completely slithered back to her as she leapt up at her attacker, the prod missing her midsection but smacking against the edge of one of her lower wings. The potent flash of pain made her gasp as she rushed closer and grappled onto the guard's torso. Immediately, she clambered her way to the bot's back, it's grasping free hand was met with her own as she used all her strength to wrangle both of its arms behind it.

Before she could wring the baton away however, the previously lashed guard had risen to its feet and approached to attempt to assist its comrade. Spotting the raise of its baton out of the corner of her eye, Sofia's arms gripped onto the collar of the robot she was on the back of, and with an abrupt backwards lean of her entire weight, made the dummy's head and upper body tilt back. It is no good! My wings cannot take a direct hit! She thought as she saw the electric arc inch ever closer.

I just need an extra push...! Her arms strained to pull the robot further down, her face grimacing as another surge of pain hit her wing. Just a bit!... Moooore! In the moment that followed, like her life depended on it, the wings on the opposing side winded up and thrusted forward, kicking up a new cloud of dust into the sky, Sofia pushing herself into a dive that just about dragged the dummy's head in the way of the plunging stun prod, the business end barreling in between her antennae and clashing into the automaton's cranium, sparks flashing at the point of contact.

The training hominoid jolted rigidly in place, Sofia seizing the opportunity to swing ahead and orient herself on its front, after which she kicked off from its midsection and into the air, the two guardbots colliding and stumbling together onto the ground. Though she couldn't get much height due to her injury, the heroine shot both her silk lines into the dirt road on either side of the collapsed duo. Finally, at the height of her jump, her arms ripped away from each other and she plummeted like a guillotine that ended in a loud stomp on the pile of them.

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After the pair of criminals were properly arrested in like manner to their leader, Sofia hurried along to the structure at the area's center, maneuvering around the mechanical watchmen's field of vision and taking them out one by one, from top floor to bottom floor. Though she didn't like how she'd feel the following morning, she pushed herself to flutter to the top floor nonetheless. The first guard was ensnared by her lashes once it turned its back on a window frame. The second saw its neck tangled by her line and pulled off of the middle floor before she used its body to break her fall at the foot of the building. The third she jump kicked to the floor when it approached to investigate her second victim.

By the end of it all, she was left with six arrested criminals and four freed civvies staring blankly at her as she sat against a pillar at the first floor, utterly spent and just partly hoping these bots had the wherewithal to carry her out of here. She lamented her luck and frailty all the same, her arms shakily tugging at her collar and costume, her breathing haggard as the adrenaline wore away. She'd never let herself live it down if she didn't leave the training ground under her own power. She just needed a minute.