Thinslayer

S E C O N D C H A N C E S (An Isekai Adventure)

It's very short so far, but I've got some ideas on how to continue it.

MacKenzie faces an Ancient Bio-Mecha

Rubble sprayed all around her as MacKenzie leaped from the crumbling pillar. Her grapple hook bit into another piller, and she used the momentum to swing for the other side of the room. The air roared in her ears as she arced past the monstrosity. She collapsed against the marble when her hook found its mark.

A deep rumble behind her told her the giant had found her again. The damn thing was fast - way faster than anything its size had any right to be. Its head alone was nearly as big as she was tall. Yet it moved with the speed and grace of a human. She gritted her teeth and backflipped off the pillar. Its ethereal red sword seared her hair and struck the place she'd just stood.

She balanced on its wrist and darted up its arm. Three arrows snapped from her bow. The mouthless giant groaned when the three shots buried in its left eye. Before she had time to dodge, its other arm came swinging toward her. The impact knocked the breath from her lungs and cratered her into the dungeon wall. The red blade followed close behind.

With the last of her waning consciousness, MacKenzie took aim for the vent in the ceiling. The hook bit, the device whirred, and her body flew into the darkness beyond just as the giant's blade melted off the sole of her boot.

S E C O N D C H A N C E S (An Isekai Adventure)

@Zool Got some MacKenzie fanfiction on the Discord... :D

S E C O N D C H A N C E S (An Isekai Adventure)

Oh yeah, you use a Switch for your browser. I almost forgot about that. ;_;

S E C O N D C H A N C E S (An Isekai Adventure)

@Dark Cloud Wanna join our Discord? I put a link in the 0th post.

S E C O N D C H A N C E S (An Isekai Adventure)

@Dark Cloud That's a tempting offer, but as the actions of villains direct the course of the story, I feel it would be better to leave that in GM hands.

S E C O N D C H A N C E S (An Isekai Adventure)

@Dark Cloud The situation is even worse than that. Previously, the only Voidspawn on the surface were those left over from the ancient war, the ones that managed to avoid getting sealed away in the core. But the Sealed Tower's spell required exactly the number of people placed inside it; the awakening of the reincarnations weakened the spell, allowing the imprisoned Voidspawn to trickle through. The more reincarnations awaken, the faster they can come out. As Ascended spirits, they can already exist without a body. But since they possess no miraculous powers like what angels or demons have, they cannot influence the physical realm without a body. They can get bodies by possessing intact corpses, which the wars have been producing lots of lately. Burning the dead can prevent them from taking these bodies.

I certainly wouldn't be surprised if the Voidspawn were amassing a secret army somewhere. Maybe I can make an endgame dungeon around the concept...

S E C O N D C H A N C E S (An Isekai Adventure)

"Who is left to oppose the Witch and her army?"
"What do their chances look like?"

"Grim."

Emperor Dragan slumped into his throne at the statement from his advisor. The Empire was supposed to be superior, a world superpower; what was everyone doing? How had the world's most exceptional country managed to be defeated by this upstart woman and her ragged band of misfits? They had the world's greatest production capacity, economy, technology, military might...they had it all. Even a- a setback like this could be easily reversed, right? His generals had to be slacking. That must be it. He should fire them and hire someone new.

"Who do I need to fire to make this happen?"

The advisor dabbed a bead of sweat from his brow. "General Kilton was in charge of the deployments in that region."

---

"General Kilton sir, your reports."

"Mm." He grunted and took them from the messenger into his office to read them over with his staff. "Of the ten thousand soldiers stationed there, two thousand retreated alive to Hildegard. Five civilian casualties. Thirty thousand civilians safely evacuated to Hildegard post-battle. Three hundred Imperial soldiers were taken captive; no ransom requested. Five reincarnations awakened and were observed defending the tower for a brief period. Enemy forces allowed them to leave."

He handed the documents to the staff officers. "We were crushed. No two ways about it. We'll have to abandon Ormouth for the time being."

"The tower is an important source of reincarnations. I could have a team of rogues go retake the tower."

"If they could hold it, and if we could count on the appearance of...let's say ten more reincarnations while they do so, I might agree to that. Even one reincarnation is a force to be reckoned with, but if five were forced to surrender, that Witch must have an ace up her sleeve. No, I do not think retaking it is a good idea."

"What about aerial bombardment?"

"Read the section about the Witch's forces."

"...50 airships, each carrying approx. 20 wyvern riders, appeared from the fog and opened fire with a new kind of magic weapon. Flaming missiles were observed changing course to precisely destroy defensive catapults."

"Mhm. The Witch must have gotten a hold of Dr. Avant's inventions. Remember the report three days ago describing a new airship fleet constructed at Nazir?"

"I do."

"Three days ago?"

The lieutenants in the room gasped.

The general nodded grimly. "We have nothing in our arsenal to match that kind of speed, nor weapons capable of matching them. The Emperor foolishly spurned Dr. Avant, and we've been paying the price ever since. I told that old fool-"

There was an awkward cough, reminding the general to watch his tongue. "Ahem. Anyway, we'll have to combine our remaining forces and put together a defensive solution at Pelinor before she cripples our iron production. Aelred, Othwund, you're on the job."

"Yes sir."

Another messenger poked his head into the office. "General, a message from the Crown for you, sir."

"Hm." The general opened it up. His expression darkened.

"What is it?"

"His Majesty is being foolish again. I'd better go speak with him."

S E C O N D C H A N C E S (An Isekai Adventure)

Map iteration #2: the Sealed Tower is at the edge of the Empire now.

The roads, btw, generally express the personalities of the various nations. The Tribes in the Badlands tend to connect everything to everything from the mountain; the Empire tries to connect everything with some degree of pragmatism; the Kingdom only gives a hoot about its major cities; Conterre treats each city like a "hub" for the smaller towns around them; the Helsin Khanate prioritizes pragmatism; and Nazir tries to keep everything connected to facilitate military movement.

S E C O N D C H A N C E S (An Isekai Adventure)

Here we go. Created a link to a Discord server for Roleplaying Discussion.

I'm coming to realize that half the problem with creating a world map is deciding on strategy: do we want a realistic map, fun map, or both? Do we need the entire thing all at once, or can we draw it as we go? Should I spend any money on this endeavor? So there's some decisions to make before I can truly begin.

I located a few maps for inspiration.

This dude made a spectacular map on Inkarnate.
This tutorial has some good pointers.
Also saved several Azgaar maps that looked interesting, though I'd have to upload those to Google Drive to show them off. A Discord screen share would be easier.

Another challenge is deciding what to do with the lore currently established. Since we're early into the game, I could probably get away with reworking chunks of it, but I'd rather not if I can avoid it.

Completed a prototype map on Inkarnate. Critique would be appreciated.

S E C O N D C H A N C E S (An Isekai Adventure)

Anybody down for a Discord chat? I still cannot map for the life of me. I'm learning, but the going is slow.
Thinslayer#6669