Thinslayer

The Faraway Land: an Anima Prime RPG (basic gameplay described here)

Maybe another way to handle that is to simply take the System out of it. As GM, I can assign different rewards to every fight. I could reward tougher fights with powers, and easier fights with Favor or Gold. Favor could be used to gain story benefits, such as gaining allies for a battle, earning conquered territory, or even getting a moment alone with Her Majesty. Gold, on the other hand, would be used for more tangible yet transient benefits. You could buy body armor that raises Defense but breaks when you take a wound, an ultra-powerful weapon that's permanently lost when disarmed, and stuff like that.

P.S. If you're not keen on the story details, I have a few other variants in mind.

The Faraway Land: an Anima Prime RPG (basic gameplay described here)

The idea was to offer players a meaningful choice before and during every battle: to walk along the edge of defeat to get stronger, or choose easier fights to obtain more rewards? The ongoing war would fuel a variety of different missions, and the players would have a choice in what missions they wanted to participate in. Some would be mandatory, of course, but most would be up to the players' discretion.

As the war progresses and (if) peace returns to the land, political intrigue would take a larger role in the story, and Anima Prime's game system works rather well for that too.

The Faraway Land: an Anima Prime RPG (basic gameplay described here)

Yeah, you've got a point. Maybe these level-ups happen after the party completes Power Unlocking quests or something. I'll mull it over.

Also, it occurred to me that leveling through failure could introduce power gaps between characters. I'd been so immersed in the details that I didn't think about it from a game-balance perspective. We'll have powers come the traditional way - through winning conflicts. Perhaps they could also be acquired by calling in Favors from the Empress? :P

For the identity of our empress, I think I'll add a dash of Fire Emblem: Three Houses to the mix: Casca del Raege (KAS-ka del rage), Empress of the Dragan Empire.

EDIT: PLOT UPDATED

The Faraway Land: an Anima Prime RPG (basic gameplay described here)

Yeah, Soulbound Weapons definitely fit. One idea that occurred to me was leveling up by enemy reclassification. In other words, enemies that were once treated as Individuals may be reclassified as Squad units following certain upgrades or level-ups. Squads, in turn, may be reclassified as Swarms when you get even stronger. So for example, in the beginning of the game, Knight of Vermach would be treated as Individuals units, so being surrounded by a dozen of them could get you killed. However, if you acquired your Soulbound Weapon, those same soldiers would be treated as Squad units, so a dozen of them would be like having only 3 or 4 enemies, much more manageable.

For summons, I'm toying with the idea that some (though not all) of them would come from the same world as the PCs. So you could occasionally encounter species in the wild that you're capable of summoning. I'm not keen on playing Pokemon, so I don't want to emphasize this part, but I do think it could be fun to discover creatures you'd like to tame and recruit. In fact, some of these monsters could be sentient enough to have their own factions.

What do you think?

The Faraway Land: an Anima Prime RPG (basic gameplay described here)

Not at all! In fact, I've been studying the summoning mechanics to see if there's anything I can take advantage of. Do you think a definitive bestiary would be fun to play with?

P.S. What are soul weapons? Is that different from soulbound weapons?

The Faraway Land: an Anima Prime RPG (basic gameplay described here)

Anima Prime RPG Rulebook
Character/Adversity Sheets

I'll be doing a new kind of RP: tabletop! I've always wanted to try hosting an RP with a game system, but DnD wasn't cutting it for me. My biggest problem with DnD was its movement-based system. The game seems to be balanced around movement mechanics, and in a text-based forum RP, that's just not feasible. Worse, DnD seems to be fairly complex, and as I have little familiarity with DnD, I'm not at all prepared to get into it.

So I found an RP game system that's free and more suited to forum gaming: Anima Prime. In a nutshell, gameplay looks something like this:
* You take up to 3 of your 10 Action dice (it's kinda like Energy from those bad MMOs) and pick a Skill (worth 2-4 dice) you'd like to use.
* Roll the combined Action+Skill dice to "Maneuver" your character in a position to strike. Characters in anime and video games don't launch their serious attacks every second; they jump and run around, testing each other, prying for an opening. When they find one, then they make their serious move. That's kinda what Maneuver rolls are, in-character.
* Successful rolls (a 3, 4, 5, or 6) fill your Strike pool. Rolled 6s can go into your Charge pool. You can earn up to 5 dice through Maneuvering. In-character, it means you've gained an advantage or built up enough power to deal damage. You haven't actually struck yet, but you're getting ready to. Charge Powers are your special abilities, fueled by Friendship, Rage, Save Everyone Syndrome, etc.
* Roll up to 6 of your Strike dice, plus any Charge powers you wanna use. If the number of successful dice exceed the enemy's defense value, you inflict a "wound." IC, it doesn't necessarily have to mean an actual wound. Maybe you or the enemy got knocked around a little, like slammed into a cliff wall or something.
* If all wounds are inflicted (default is 3), the opponent is defeated. Defeated players get Knocked Out of the fight. IC, it can mean whatever you want; the main thing is that the character is no longer capable of putting up a fight.

The specifics can be found in the rulebook linked above. I like the system because it makes so much sense in a forum RP context, almost like it's designed to be written out instead of physically played.

As for the plot, there's a story I've been wanting to tell for some time. It takes place in my custom setting, The Faraway Land, which is basically a High Medieval Fantasy world explained by a hidden sci-fi backdrop. The player characters would be knights in service of a warmongering Empress, and their goal is to conquer challenges (if not the world) in her name.

Any thoughts or feedback for me?

Unheroic: The Backwards Castle

At Kaath's rebuke, Ruby shrugged and focused her attentions on Walker's injury. Since he was busy conversing with Kaath at the moment, she opted to work with minimal intrusions, and motioned for him to remove his top garments as she fetched a first aid kit from the bag. The first order of business was to clean the wound. Walker had unwisely removed the bolt himself, likely causing further damage to his already injured shoulder. Worse, he'd stuffed an unsanitary cloth in it and put himself at greater risk of infection. Ruby bit back a groan of frustration and set to work flushing out the wound with small amounts of clean water before applying antibiotic ointment. With a little analgesic and a bit of deft sewing, she closed the wound and bandaged it up.

Of course, no wound treatment would be complete without a mama's kiss to make it better. She pecked the bandaged wound and patted his shoulder. "You did great, Walker," she murmured in his ear.

Ruby found herself a clean spot a few steps away and sat down, where she pulled out her vial of Nightmare Oil to observe it. It began to evaporate almost immediately. Intrigued, she marked its current level with her thumbnail and held it in her bag for a few seconds. When she pulled it out again, it began evaporating again where it left off.

"Huh. It reacts to light." She put it back in the bag and jotted down some observations in her notebook.
Induces pleasure response in small quantities.
Induces hallucinations in large quantities.
Potent response with topical administration.
High photosensitivity.
After a few more measurements of its viscosity and weight, Ruby crossed her arms and huffed. "What is this stuff? I'm tempted to say it's some kind of antidepressant, like an SSRI. But photosensitivity? Topical administration? And how did they manage to get such a potent transdermal dose? It'd have to be, like, on the order of fentanyl to get the kind of strength."

She mulled it over with a deep frown on her face. Then something Walker said caught her ear. "He got us this far, at least this one did, and if he isn't showing any signs of recovery by the time its time to leave, well, we can't be lugging around a corpse for numerous practical reasons."

A corpse? The kite? Ruby glanced over at the kite. Sure enough, he remained still, right where they'd left him. But he'd mentioned kites earlier, as if there were more of them. What on earth were they talking about? She scooted over to Walker's side to listen in to the conversation.

Unheroic: The Backwards Castle

"Why, would you have been jealous?"

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "I suppose that would depend on how much cleaning you did," she replied, restraining a smirk.

Kaath's subsequent question about the kite caught her attention. "Any of you...hold the string?"

Kite. String. Now there's an interesting connection - if only because it evokes the imagery from before. Perhaps my first inclination was correct: that creature there is the kite in the visions. If that's the case, who is the bird?

Ruby glanced at Kaath.

Could she be...?

She ground her teeth as she mulled over the possibility. What if this Kaath is just trying to get on our good side so we'll drop her guard and let her eat the kite? She may want to know who "pulls the string," so to speak, to find out who to snatch it from so she can drag it down. Even if I knew who that was, telling her might not be a good idea unless we're doing a bait plan or something. In fact, it might be better if I didn't know who that was, because with all this mind-fudgery going around, God only knows whether some hell-forsaken creature might drag it out of me. All this assumes, of course, she is the "bird" from the visions, which she may not be.

Speaking of hell... She turned her attention back to Violet, who was now apologizing for her earlier outburst. Ruby pinked a little, realizing she'd zoned out while Kaath and Walker talked the girl down. "Oh...um, I forgive you, Violet." She sat back down next to Walker and began pulling medical supplies out of her bag to treat his wound.

It was then Kaath said something that sent a shiver down her spine.

"So, the rest o'ye got names, eh? Ye humans love that kinda thing, I take it."

Ruby froze. Wait, what?

Violet said what everyone else was thinking: "Keepa said the same thing. Come to mention it, you know a lot about this place and you two almost talk the same...you both would be working-" Violet cut herself off with a curse and grabbed her head as she struggled to control her breathing.

Keepa had known Ruby's name, and lying about it seemed to just make things worse. What if Kaath was also...in...on this place, and knew her name as well? Ruby decided to test this.

"Call me Sapphire."

Violet, meanwhile, seemed to have collected her thoughts. "Speaking of plague surgeon, where is Kite?"

So that's the name we're going with. Fair enough. Ruby pointed. Violet rushed over to Kite and examined him. "Is the Nightmare Oil still affecting him? Is he still locked in the nightmare?" She checked his breathing and looked to Kaath. "What's happening to him? Do you know anything about this?"

"I washed it off as best I could..." Ruby murmured. She turned to Kaath. May as well throw the language back at her. "So, you must have some secrets, huh? You creatures seem to love that kinda thing." She smirked and leaned forward, adding, "Wanna trade?"

Unheroic: The Backwards Castle

Ruby listened to Violet's complaints, evaluating them against her own memories of recent events. Given the strangeness of their foe, she wouldn't have been completely surprised if he'd sent everyone through different timelines. But Ruby had experienced being in alternate timelines before, (no) thanks to the games Sargon sometimes played. Violet was most likely delusional. There were a few things that could have explained her delusions.

• The black stuff that D.F. sprayed on her. She'd screamed in agony from it.
• Hidden injuries from the long fall. Her brain may have damaged.
• Demon-harpy did something to her while they were unconscious.

Ruby furrowed her brow. "So we left you while that Keepa-thing did unspeakable things to you..." She took a moment to imagine it. She would have felt very alone, very scared, and probably angry at being left behind. Given who the enemy was, pain from being eaten alive. Vengeful. "That's horrifying," she murmured. "You were alone in an unfamiliar place, trapped by an invincible monster, toyed with, eaten, and put back together only to experience it all over again. And the people you thought were allies have the nerve to think they saved your life. Son of a harpy... that's a wretched place to be. Violet, I- I mean- no, that's just wretched. I'm sorry."

She glanced back at the demon-harpy and scowled. "You didn't do anything to her, did you?"

Unheroic: The Backwards Castle

Hearing Violet speak brought Ruby mixed feelings. She was glad Violet was still alive and speaking, but her words were angry and confused. Something wasn't adding up, and they needed to get to the bottom of it. Ruby got to her feet and put a staying hand on Walker's shoulder.

She said to Violet, "You feel like a traitor's slave, huh? It does seem like an extreme over-payment for a life-debt. What makes you believe we left you?"