Low-Budget Man
Junior Member
STILL RECRUITING!
Vicious monsters prowl the wilds. Magical currents flow through the leylines and spring wells are bubbling with mana. Ancient artifacts sit inside ruins from long dead civilizations. There are resources to be exploited, bizarre beasts to be hunted, territories to be explored, technologies to discover, rivals to defeat, and land to be conquered. These tribes will have to squabble and fight for their right to survive in this cruel world. For not every tribe that began in Alterra will live to travel the stars. Only the cleverest, wisest, strongest, most united tribes will remain standing. The rest will wither against the sands of time and lie forgotten, never hearing their names whispered again.
Become a ruler and lead your civilization to glory in the strange continent of Alterra. Will your civilization be a greedy mercantile civilization obsessed with exploration of new lands and trade routes? A warlike savage barbaric tribe with goals of domination? A zealous society of religious fanatics set out to build a pious wonder to amaze the world? Conduct diplomacy, commit espionage, wage brutal warfare, develop powerful technologies, construct monuments to your gods. Build a civilization and guide its path along history. Create its culture, its religion, its people, and its beliefs.
Basic Idea
What is this?The basic concept of this RP is that the player will play through the game as a civilization of their own design. Players will be able wage wars against their other players, trade valuable resources, steal information, etc. Players will be primarily dealing with events that’ll shape their people. Some events will be based on fantasy ideas while others are more mundane ones based on history. Some example events might be a band of roaming bandits laying claim to your land or a religious prophet has come to spread word of a new religion. The way the player deals with these events will affect how their civilization grows. The world will also be primarily low-magic in the beginning, but as we progress more magic will be available to the player.
If you’ve ever played Civilization 5 or Risk, that plays close to the general idea of this RP. However, instead of rolling dice or whatever, we’ll be RPing our way through the story.
The story
The story is about your Civilization and how it progresses through the Stone Age to the Modern Era. There isn’t really an overarching plot or a big bad villain to defeat in this. It’ll be like writing the history of a civilization from the very beginning.
Civilization
You’ll be designing an entire civilization from one of the races listed on the chart. If you want to make a civilization based on another race not mentioned, then just ask and we can work something out. Now when I say design a civilization, I mean design their entire culture, ideas, religion, etc from the ground up. Most of the blurbs I wrote about each race are just general stereotypes and can easily be changed. If you want to play a bunch of seafaring dwarves obsessed with piracy, go ahead!
Start
Each player will start off in the Stone Age with very little technology. Each player’s tribe will consist of 3,000 members to start off with as well as only the basic resources of what’s nearby. We’ll all start off on the same foot so to speak. However, through events and other things you’ll encounter, your tribe will grow larger and more powerful.
Location
Location is an important factor for your civilization. Most of the world will be similar to earth, but there will be fantasy creatures and environments that’ll affect your people. A civilization’s culture and lifestyle will be very based on their location. If your people are landlocked desert people, they might not know a lot about boats and might have a disdain for the sea. But they might worship rivers and oases for providing valuable fresh water. If your people live in the tundra and hunt walruses and wolves, they’ll probably be wearing lots of hides to stay warm. So when you design your civilization, take note of your location.
Eras
After a substantial period, players will progress to the next technological time period. This will not happen until the players agree that it is time to progress. So it won’t happen in the first couple of posts or anything. Then we’ll describe what happened to your civilization during this transition and we’ll get new characters.
Calendar
We’ll be using a basic earth calendar to number our days. This way it won’t get too complicated.
Character(s)
Your main character will be the leader of your civilization. However, you will also be able to control other members of your civilization that you deem interesting to control. I will talk more about this in a bit. I will also have some partial control over the other members of your civilization in order to create events and provide information. So if I do something with a character in your civilization that you do not agree with, feel free to tell me and I’ll do my best to remedy it.
Events
I am going to give the players lots of creative freedom on how their civilization reacts to things. Against NPCs, the player will be able to tackle the events however they see fit. There’s not going to be any dice rolling or anything of that nature to determine how the events play out. If there’s an event of a monster nearby. I’m going to give you the freedom to say “We sent out a raiding party and killed it”.
This does come at the risk of godmodding, so try to be reasonable with the consequences. Most of the time, things going wrong creates stronger opportunities for a better story. Who wants to hear the story of how Frodo easily walked to Mount Doom and tossed it in? Through conflict, a greater story emerges because the protagonist has to overcome it. So sometimes, a pivotal battle is lost and the rebels divide the country in a full out civil war. Sometimes, the assassination plot isn’t foiled and your leader gets murdered which creates a power vacuum.
Gamesmaster Role
I’ll be playing as the Gamesmaster essentially for this. I’ll write out events and things to happen to your civilization and facilitate interactions between NPCs. A vast majority of your RPing will initially be done with me, but you’ll eventually meet other players and interact with them.
Posting
Posting will be a little different than other RPs. Firstly, there’ll be multiple events happening at a time over several dates. History stretches a long time and it’ll be hard to RP the story going one day at a time.A second thing is that the player will be controlling the ruler(or some sort of highly influential figure depending on the society structure). The player will also have control over the other characters in their civilization. So for an event, the player might want to control a person of interest(POI) during that event instead of their ruler. So if the ruler tells person X to go explore a strange island. The player might want to RP person X sailing to the island for a date.
Here’s an example of some posts between the GM and Player.
GM Post 1:
January 3rd, 4000 BC
Platus, the head hunter, approaches the leader Chief Davill. He gives the traditional horn smacking salute with the chief before speaking. “Chief, our hunters have found a strange beast in the forest! Six legs and taller than two Khates stacked on top of each other! What should we do?”
January 23, 4000 BC
The traders from Frohan have arrived near the outskirts of the settlement. It was a group of twenty and they each held sharpened spears. One of them held an odd stick-like contraption in his hand. At both ends of the contraption was a piece of reflective crystal in the shape of a circle. The contraption was repeatedly held up to the creature’s eyes and then he would proceed to look around the camp. A wagon of supplies was carted by a few of them.
Player Post 1:
January 3rd, 4000 BC
“Then we will hunt it! We will feast for weeks on a beast this big! Call a hunt! Any Khate that wants to find glory in this fight will have it! The storytellers will speak of this for many moons,” Chief Davill said
“You, Platus, will lead this as my head header.”
January 23rd, 4000 BC
“We welcome the Frohan people into our homes! Come let us feast!” Chief Davill exclaimed, welcoming the Frohan traders in. The wide-eyed Frohans eagerly entered the main hall to the smell of enticing roasted meats.
As the Frohan went inside the main hall, Chief Davill turned to Platus and quietly whispered. “When they are full of food and drink and sound asleep, we will kill them. We will not be bribed by trinkets.”
Platus grinned savagely.
GM Post 2:
January 3rd, 4000 BC
Three dozen Khate hunters had decided to answer Platus’ call, with half of them being youths. The rest were veteran hunters with years of experience. Armed with sharpened spears and bows, the group combed the forest for the beast.
Due to the animal’s immense size, tracking it was a simple task. They were able to find its trail easily. They managed to approach the beast stealthily, and it was completely unaware of their presence. The creature was surrounded by trees and vegetation. A creek ran several feet away. Crushed vegetation covered the creature’s feet.
It was a fat grey creature with six legs the size of tree trunks. The head was plated with heavy bone and looked like it could easily break bones if it decides to strike with it. The skin looked to be a thick hide with a light brown hair sprinkled across its body. Strange boney spikes also grew from its back. Its black eyes seem to display intelligence as it gently grazed on a bush. Its size was truly immense as Platus had described earlier. It stood taller than any Khate and the spears of any Khate wouldn’t be able to easily penetrate its hide.
Once spotted, the hunters regrouped to a nearby hill to discuss the plan of attack. A few scouts were left in place to watch the beast in case it decided to move. “Killing this would be no easy task,” Platus thought.
January 23rd, 4000 BC
Trout, fresh from the river, was smoked in the center of the room. Sweet smelling spice was layered on the trout, which brought a delicious aroma to the entire hall. A soup in a clay cauldron simmered on a nearby fireplace. Dozens of vegetables bubbled in the white broth. Pieces of fatty venison floated in the soup, soaking it with its flavor. A fat Khate cook stood nearby and flicked her spoon at any guest who dared try to taste her soup before it was finished.
The Frohan were eager guests and they feasted energetically. Chief Davill entertained them with stories of the tribe’s great hunts and tales of their god. Platus interjected crude jokes which brought much merriment. Much joy was to be had during the feast as laughter echoed across the hall.
After several hours of joviality, the Frohans began to tire. Fat on drink and food, they were brought to a home in which to sleep off their large meal.
Player Post 2:
January 3rd, 4000 BC
The youths looked worried at killing such a large creature while the veterans were mulled over the complicated task at hand. Platus tapped his fingers on his well-worn ashwood spear as he pondered a solution.
His eyes skimmed over the artwork carved on the spear’s shaft as he thought. The imagery depicted tales of warriors overcoming dangerous foes. However, they were not stories of legendary warriors relying purely on strength, instead they relied on trickery and cleverness to overcome foes much more dangerous than them.
After a moment's silence, Platus grinned a sinister smile and he began to outline a plan to the other hunters. Vicious smiles slowly began to slash across hungry faces.
----
After a few hours of preparation, the hunters were streaked with mud and dirt. Their bodies were tired, but their spirits were high. They grouped up a relatively short distance away from the beast. They all stood roughly three paces apart from one another in a rectangular formation with the wider side facing the beast. The beast was still chewing on the leaves, oblivious to the incoming danger. Bowstrings were strung by the twitchy youth hunters. Arrows taken out of deer hide quivers and driven into the dirt point first for easy access.
A stillness covered the forest as the hunters readied their weapons. A sharp whistle cut through the silence. Sudden as lightning, a storm of arrows rained upon the beast. Flint tipped arrows embedded themselves into the beast's face and flank. Wherever it struck the thick bone, the arrows bounced off harmless.
The beast swung around in rage as it searched for its attackers. A second volley of arrows soon followed the first and most found their target in the beast’s hide. Blood began to leak from the beast, but it still retained its vigor. The beast looked to be more annoyed from the arrows than hurt from them. A thunderous roar erupted from the beasts gaping maw as it rushed head first toward the hunters. To their credit, the hunters stood their ground and let loose a ragged volley at the beast. The headplate of the beast absorbed the brute of the volley, and most of the arrows scattered like cracked walnuts.
The beast was now thirty paces away from them. The hunters fumbled with their arrows. Twenty five paces. A hunter accidentally dropped his bow from shaky hands. Twenty paces. A hunter fired his arrow prematurely without aiming and it sailed harmlessly into a tree. Fifteen paces. Platus dropped his bow and picked up his spear leaning against a nearby tree.
Ten paces. The beast gave another thundering roar that shook the forest and sent a flock of birds into flight. And the beast promptly crashed into the ground. The beast gave another roar this time, but this time it wasn’t filled with rage, but instead it was pain. Platus had spent the last few hours with his hunters digging holes in front of the hunter’s firing post. Each hole was of the size of the beast’s feet. Each hole was also planted with wooden spikes pointing upward. The beast had fallen into the hunter’s trap.
Two of the beast’s six legs have fallen into a spike pit trap. The spikes drove deep into the beast's legs. However, the hole also had spikes on the perimeter that pointed downward to prevent the beast from easily escaping. The beast struggled to get out of the trap, but by pulling upward with the leg, the outside spikes cut into the beast’s leg even more.
Another whistle escaped from Platus. The hunters picked up their spears and surged forward, careful to avoid their own pit traps. They quickly surrounded the struggling beast. A pair of hunters tossed a blanket of hides over the creature’s head in an attempt to blind it.
Swiftly, the hunters drove their spears into the beast, careful to avoid its thrashing body and head. Blood spewed from the beast’s hide as each hunter stabbed deeply into the beast. Brutal repetition came from the hunters. Stab, twist, pull out, stab, twist, pull out, stab, twist, pull out. While they were unable to penetrate too deeply through the thick layers of fat and muscle, they were causing hundreds of minor wounds within a several seconds of stabbing. Whoops of joy poured from the hunter as blood began to soak the grass and their spears.
Their joy would not last long. The beast suddenly lurched sideways, heedless of its wounded legs. The beast tore open its leg muscles as it ripped its legs out of the hole. A roar, fueled by rage and adrenaline, escaped it as it swung its head like a battering ram toward the nearest hunter. There was a sickening crunch on the impact as several of the hunter’s ribs were cracked and his lungs were crushed. He flew a few feet from the force and laid sprawled, breathing shallowly.
The beast swung its heavy head again and the target hunter luckily managed to dodge mostly out the way. The hunter took a glancing blow that dislocated his shoulder entirely. He retreated away from the beast. The beast spent a few moments shaking off the hide blanket that had once covered its eyes, giving the hunters a few precious seconds to back off.
“Lure it into another trap! Don’t fight it head on!” Platus shouted.
The beast charged forward into two hunters on its wounded legs. However, even with two legs out of commission, it still moved fast. One hunter leapt out of the way safely. However, the other hunter faced the beast head on. When the beast was a few paces away, the hunter side stepped it and the beast fell right into another pit trap. The beast collapsed once more and shook its head in rage at becoming caught again.
Then with immense agility, the hunter that had tricked the beast leaped atop the beast's floundering head. The beast shook its head violently in an attempt to get her off, but she drove her claws deep into the beast’s head and entrenched herself. Her spear tumbled from her as she diverted all her energy into not falling off.
“Get in there and help Letia!” Platus dashed forward with his spear held out. The rest of the hunters soon followed him to join the assault on the creature.
Letia, the bold hunter, had managed to get a strong grip atop the beast with one hand and her two feet claws. The other hunters stabbing at the creature also distracted it from trying to buck her off. Using her free hand, Letia pulled her flint dagger from her belt and jammed it right into the beast's left eye. Another roar. Letia retracted the dagger and plunged it deep into the other eye. The force of bucking slowed drastically.
She slammed her blade several times into the same eye, thrusting as far as she could. Each consecutive strike going deeper and deeper into the meat of the monster. Her knife broke inside the beast’s eye. So, she resorted to savagely shoving her hand into the eye socket and ripping out gore with her clawed fingers. Her arm was bloody and matted up to its shoulder by the time the creature laid dead.
“The gods bless you today Letia, for you have earned glory as the huntmaster this day!” Platus proclaimed.
January 23rd, 4000 BC
Platus and his hunters entered the huts of the sleeping Frohans. The plan was simple. Two hunters to hold down a Frohan. One hunter to muffle the scream with cloth. And another hunter to wield the knife. They all wore black hides so that the gods would not see their misdeeds.
Kill one, then move onto the next. Quick and quiet. It was a good plan. The first Frohan didn’t even wake up until his throat was gushing blood. He died whimpering and full confusion.
Platus and his hunters did their cruel work with care and stealth. Making sure each Frohan was quiet as they died so as to not wake up the others.
Platus’s hands were dripping with blood by the time they reached the tenth Frohan. Somehow, through pure luck or some sort of survival sense, the Frohan woke up with a start to see four pairs of eyes upon him. A loud scream erupted from him before Platus managed to ram his knife into the Frohan's jugular. By then it was too late. The rest of the Frohan had woken and they scrambled for their weapons.
But Platus wasn’t an idiot and planned for such contingencies. Several of Platus’ hunters stood crouched outside the house awaiting for such a situation. And they immediately dashed toward the house in a mad rush to support their isolated allies at hearing the clamor.
Platus saw one of his hunters tackled by a Frohan dressed in only underclothes. Two hunters moved to skewer three fleeing Frohans. Platus saw out of the corner of his eye a flash of movement and Platus ducked. A spear slammed into a fellow hunter’s chest and poleaxed him off his feet.
A roar escaped from Platus and he charged into the melee. The spear thrower’s eyes widened at the sight of Platus as he realized he discarded his only weapon. Platus smashed into the Frohan with a sickening crunch, sending the Frohan crashing into the wall. Platus punched his knife three times into the Frohan’s torso before turning to face the rest of the awakening Frohan.
Platus' knife ran bloody as he cut down the rest of the bleary-eyed Frohans. By the time his allies arrived, the massacre was already finished.
These are example posts, but they give a general idea of what to expect with posting. In this specific situation, it just happens to have a lot of violence because the POV civilization is a warlike one. Most events will revolve around discovery of new technology/resources, development of internal affairs, diplomacy with other nations, dealing with magic, etc. So if you’re playing a civilization that involves a lot of magic, you’ll get more magic orientated events.
Races of Alterra
KhateThe Khates are a feline species with an affinity for warfare. Their size and their strength give them a distinct advantage in combat. Razor sharp claws and hardy horns give them natural weapons to fight their enemies. Combined with their predator instinct, they will be a hard foe to defeat for any race.
Focus: War
Starting Bonuses:
Technology: Archery
While other tribes are using throwing spears, the Khates have mastered the bow technology. This has given them a massive range advantage when fighting their enemies.
Technology: Domestication of Wolfdogs
The Khates have domesticated a pack of Wolf Dogs which are used as hunting companions for many of their hunters.
Height: 6’ 6” - 7’ 6”’
Weigh: 175 lbs - 300 lbs
Lifespan: 80 years
Maturation: 15 years
Birth: Live
Magic
There will be a hard magic system present in the RP that will be developed overtime and become more complex as your civilizations evolve. As for now, here’s a brief overview.
Mana
Mana is the measure of available magical energy that a user has. The amount of mana storage a user would have is seemingly completely random. Some born with the ability to manipulate magic have immense stores of mana while others have very little. Having magic potential is roughly related to genetics, but there is no hard rule or guarantee. Sometimes a child is born with no magical potential despite coming from a lineage of powerful magic-users. Sometimes a child is born with massive magical potential despite coming from a family of no magic. For the races that don’t have a specific fraction for magical potential, magic is an extreme rarity for that race.
All magic-users will waste a majority of their mana and only a small fraction of their used mana will be poured into every spell. The rest of the mana escapes them in the form of light, heat, and sound energy. However, well trained magic-users will dedicate their focus into being efficient with their magic and prevent such massive losses. So even with a small mana pool, a magic-user can still be powerful if they are careful not to burn their reserves. Mana is naturally regenerated overtime by eating food and resting well if an individual’s mana reserves are depleted.
Casting a spell requires components and mana. Each spell requires different components and eventually some spells can be combined to form more powerful spells. The casting of spells will vary. Some spells will require strict concentration and focus. Other spells will require a ritual in order to be successful. Multiple people can attempt the same spell to increase its strength. Oftentime, ceremony is used to aid the focus of casting a particularly dramatic and difficult spell.
CS (Civilization Sheet)
The Civilization Sheet is huge since we’re building an entire civilization from the ground up. So it's a bit daunting. Civilizations are complicated things, and we’ll need a good idea of your civilization. Your civilization may contain parallels to ones we have on earth or it may be completely alien.
This CS just reflects the baseline beginning of your civilization. This CS does not define everything and does not cover every aspect of your civilization. That is something that is impossible to do. This is merely a general overview of your people. If something that your civilization values is being a strong warrior, not every member has to be a strong warrior. There will be outlier people who do not fit the ideal and will have a different perspective.
Your civilization will also change over time due to events and interactions with players. Maybe you originally wrote your civilization to be warlike, but they changed their focus to trade after they discovered sailing first. Your civilization will evolve through events, war, magic, trade, etc so what you start off with isn’t what you’ll end with.
You do not have to fill out every section of the CS if your civilization doesn't have anything that fits under that category. Ex: If the religion has no gods but is more of a philosophy, then you don’t have to fill out the Deities section. This is just a good boilerplate approach and gives a springboard for you to think of how your civilization works.
Civilization Sheet
Civilization Basics
Civilization Name:
Ruler Name:
Race:
Appearance: (Color, other defining characteristics that might separate from other tribes of the same race.)
Location: (Look at map on next post)
People of Interest(POI): (What are some people in your civilization that will probably be interesting to look at from their perspective. Give a brief description of them. These will also not be the only POI that we will use. As the story develops, more characters will make themselves shine and we’ll add more to the list. This is just a starting point. Cabinet members would be a good place to look for some POI but it can be anyone. Perhaps a renown warrior without a position or an adventurous explorer.)
Settlement: (What is the name of the settlement and give a brief description of it. Everyone will start off with only one settlement.)
Reserved Locations:
Thanny - A1
ABetterNickname - D3
Heyitsjiwon - H5
Arion - C9
Occupied Locations:
Accepted Civilizations:
Player Limit
This RP will have a limit of 4-5 players max. Any more and my brain is going to fall out keeping track of everyone. If this RP attracts a lot more attention and a lot more people want to join in, then I can ask someone else to also be a second gamesmaster and we can open up the RP a lot more.Thanny - A1
ABetterNickname - D3
Heyitsjiwon - H5
Arion - C9
Occupied Locations:
Accepted Civilizations:
Player Limit
Final Notes:
I would also ask that if you’re thinking of applying, I would also ask that your writing be at an acceptable level. I’m far from perfect and make a million mistakes. I rely heavily on grammar checking software to make sure I’m not an idiot. I expect everyone to maintain a decent standard of writing with multiple paragraphs, grammar, spelling, etc. I’m not asking everyone to be perfect, but if your two paragraph post has 30 errors, then I’m going to have issues.Another thing to keep in mind is I want you to make you a cool civilization that YOU want to build. If you want to do something that I didn’t talk about, feel free to ask me about it and we can discuss.
This RP is definitely unorthodox, but I think that we can all have a lot of fun with this. Its unique nature will allow us to create interesting stories that we’ll enjoy. And I hope that everyone will have a good time with this RP!
Rules
- Players must be 18+
- This will be a mature RP with themes of violence, drug use, and sexual content. (Although, if things get steamy, we’ll fade to black)
- Maintain decent grammar and spelling.
- Try to post once every week. I get that life gets in the way, so just tell me the situation and what's happening and we can figure it out.
- A couple of paragraphs at least for your posts. Nothing is more frustrating than having one person write an essay and the other person respond with a two-liner.
- No godmodding. Players will have great creative freedom, but be reasonable in your consequences and actions. You’re not going to have ten warriors fight three hundred warriors and win the fight without any casualties. This type of behavior will quickly ruin the RP.
- Maintain a realistic grounded tone. While there is a magic system in the world, the general themes of this RP are rooted in history.
- No anime/manga art style to describe your characters preferably.
- Be respectful to your fellow players. Your civilization can still be aggressive and unkind, but you must always be respectful.
Attachments
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