commanderproton
Senior Member
This is an urban fantasy rp, (so I hope the Realistic tag is correct!) focusing on an agency trying to protect humanity from fairy tales. Gameplay will involve a crime-solving element, plus punching bad guys.
LIBRIS:
Once upon a time, we had to kick some butt.
Stories are meant to help us understand our world. Unfortunately, the stories understand us too well. Stories are alive. They're causal parasites, pseudo-intelligent patterns of events, looking for a place to happen. Most are harmless, like the shopping cart with the squeaky wheel you always seem to get, or the glasses you can't find because they're sitting on your head. Strange little events that happen, give color to the mundane, and are over, before repeating with someone else. Other stories, though, shouldn't happen to anyone.
Enter LIBRIS: the Literary Incursion Bureau of Research, Investigation, and Security. We protect humanity from becoming a series of stories. Sure, most have happy endings, but how many grandmothers have to be eaten, orphan girls abused, kingdoms cursed to sleep for a century, before Happily Ever After? And that's assuming reality doesn't get in the way. People can't sleep for a century. They die, long before that.
Fairy tales are serious business.
LIBRIS monitors the world, watching for signs of Literary Incursions. Some are normal people, nowhere on the Memetic Spectrum, but aware of its existence, typically because their lives have been touched by the Narrative without consuming them. Others are Memetic Events--story characters, using what the Narrative gave them save mankind. Contrary to common assumption, not all of our ME members are "hero" characters. Clever Foxes, Shoemaker's Elves, Red Riding Hoods, even Sea Witches have joined the fight against the Narrative.
LIBRIS needs good agents to ensure a Happily Ever After for everyone. Do you have what it takes?
This game is set in a fictionalize version of contemporary Saint Louis, Missouri. It will center around LIBRIS field agents trying to save people from the ravages of the Narrative, either by averting Literary Incursions or guiding them to a happy ending.
Literary Incursions and Memetic Events are classified by LIBRIS using the Aarne-Thompson Index. Stories follow patterns, most of which have been catalogued in the Index, though more and more variations have been appearing lately, even with new Tale Types occurring. For instance, ATI Tale Type 410 is Sleeping Beauty, a particularly dangerous story, while ATI Tale Type 130 (Bremen-Town Musicians) is relatively innocuous.
Unfortunately, the Index is incomplete. Works considered to be fairy tales, such as The Little Mermaid or the Wizard of Oz, were not included on the original Index, since they were original works, not born of oral tradition. The upside is that they are new enough that, as their presence in the collective unconsciousness of humanity causes them to become part of the Narrative, their source material can be readily called upon to handle Literary Incursions.
Memetic Events, the people made into characters of these stories, are classified not only by their ATI Tale Type, but by the depth of their immersion into the Narrative. This immersion ranges from Level 0, not on the spectrum at all (sometimes called NPCs or Townsfolk), to Level 5, someone who has fully embraced their role in the story, and has a greater effect on reality. Of course, diving into that role not only gives them greater magical power, but strips them of their ability to act outside their role. Some manage to straddle the line between real human being and fictional archetype, but it's tough, and there's always a choice to be made.
Whether you decide to play as a field agent or support staff, rooky or veteran, ME or normal Joe, PM me your character sheet for approval, and we can get things started. If you do happen to play an ME character, remember to indicate the Immersion Level, your story, and your role in the story. MEs will have special traits and abilities in line with their role in their story, the strength of their abilities proportionate to their Immersion Level. For instance, a Level 1 Snow White will be pale, beautiful, and well-liked, while a Level 4 can command woodland creatures with her singing.
I know there will be a lot of temptation to play characters with a lot of magical power, like the Wicked Witch, the Genie of the Lamp or Saint George's Dragon. But to access that magical power would mean your character is sacrificing their personal identity, becoming their story role. And the power also comes with the weaknesses and limitations of the role: the oven door, imprisonment and servitude, death at the hands of someone named George.
Likewise, playing a Level 0--someone not on the spectrum at all--may not seem all that appealing. However, Level 0s don't have to worry about the Narrative trying to turn them into someone or something else. They won't be compelled to touch the spindle of a spinning wheel, to build a house out of straw, or to ambush people just trying to cross a bridge.
Some of the more common ME types:
*Snow White - pale, beautiful, affinity with woodland creatures, often hated by other women, unable to resist apples, very vulnerable to poison
*Cinderella - hardworking, driven, affinity with mice and birds, likely to receive mysterious help, subject to emotional or physical abuse from family
*Pied Piper - can manipulate living things--particularly pests--with music, will become vengeful if denied what is promised.
*Shoemaker's Elf - meticulous, uncannily organized, can quickly accomplish almost any task if unobserved, obsessed with shoes
*Sleeping Beauty - beautiful, beloved, immensely skilled at whatever field they are passionate about, a time-bomb waiting to go off and take down everyone else with them
*Goldilocks - will always find shelter if lost, can bypass locked doors, can always find what is just right, plagued by bears
*Prince Charming - handsome and charismatic, a knack for breaking curses and pushing others into stories, can dazzle with their smile
*Bad Wolf - animalistic, with heightened senses and physical faculties, and hungers which are hard to ignore.
Keep in mind that though the Narrative is far more likely to adhere to traditional gender roles, there are rare divergences.
NAME: Jacob Craft
AGE: 35
SEX: male
CHARACTER TYPE: Pied Piper
LEVEL: 4
ABILITIES: Can manipulate living things with his music; pests, vermin and children are especially vulnerable.
PHYSICAL: good-looking, a bit taller than average, athletic build, neat dark hair, green eyes, charming smile, nimble fingers
SKILLS: a gifted musician able to play a number of instruments, and a lovely singing voice. Trained by LIBRIS in hand-to-hand combat, marksmanship, and investigation.
FLAWS: if prevented from singing or playing, he cannot access his power. If denied what he feels he is owed, he could become dangerously vengeful.
OTHER: a lucky find for the Narrative, and for LIBRIS. He'd never shown any interest in music until his twelfth birthday, when he picked up a violin and managed to play a tune so lovely passersby stopped to listen. With this new discovery, he began studying and pursuing music in earnest. People always stopped to listen to him, and even animals gathered nearby. Aware of his abilities, LIBRIS convinced him to use his music to save a community from a plague. Knowing that in activating him as a Level 4, LIBRIS had changed his life, and they repaid him by paying for his education. Eventually, though, he made his own decision to continue working with LIBRIS to protect people from predatory stories.
LIBRIS:
Once upon a time, we had to kick some butt.
Stories are meant to help us understand our world. Unfortunately, the stories understand us too well. Stories are alive. They're causal parasites, pseudo-intelligent patterns of events, looking for a place to happen. Most are harmless, like the shopping cart with the squeaky wheel you always seem to get, or the glasses you can't find because they're sitting on your head. Strange little events that happen, give color to the mundane, and are over, before repeating with someone else. Other stories, though, shouldn't happen to anyone.
Enter LIBRIS: the Literary Incursion Bureau of Research, Investigation, and Security. We protect humanity from becoming a series of stories. Sure, most have happy endings, but how many grandmothers have to be eaten, orphan girls abused, kingdoms cursed to sleep for a century, before Happily Ever After? And that's assuming reality doesn't get in the way. People can't sleep for a century. They die, long before that.
Fairy tales are serious business.
Who We Are and What We Do
LIBRIS monitors the world, watching for signs of Literary Incursions. Some are normal people, nowhere on the Memetic Spectrum, but aware of its existence, typically because their lives have been touched by the Narrative without consuming them. Others are Memetic Events--story characters, using what the Narrative gave them save mankind. Contrary to common assumption, not all of our ME members are "hero" characters. Clever Foxes, Shoemaker's Elves, Red Riding Hoods, even Sea Witches have joined the fight against the Narrative.
LIBRIS needs good agents to ensure a Happily Ever After for everyone. Do you have what it takes?
The Enchanted Kingdom?
This game is set in a fictionalize version of contemporary Saint Louis, Missouri. It will center around LIBRIS field agents trying to save people from the ravages of the Narrative, either by averting Literary Incursions or guiding them to a happy ending.
The Index and Classifications
Literary Incursions and Memetic Events are classified by LIBRIS using the Aarne-Thompson Index. Stories follow patterns, most of which have been catalogued in the Index, though more and more variations have been appearing lately, even with new Tale Types occurring. For instance, ATI Tale Type 410 is Sleeping Beauty, a particularly dangerous story, while ATI Tale Type 130 (Bremen-Town Musicians) is relatively innocuous.
Unfortunately, the Index is incomplete. Works considered to be fairy tales, such as The Little Mermaid or the Wizard of Oz, were not included on the original Index, since they were original works, not born of oral tradition. The upside is that they are new enough that, as their presence in the collective unconsciousness of humanity causes them to become part of the Narrative, their source material can be readily called upon to handle Literary Incursions.
Memetic Events, the people made into characters of these stories, are classified not only by their ATI Tale Type, but by the depth of their immersion into the Narrative. This immersion ranges from Level 0, not on the spectrum at all (sometimes called NPCs or Townsfolk), to Level 5, someone who has fully embraced their role in the story, and has a greater effect on reality. Of course, diving into that role not only gives them greater magical power, but strips them of their ability to act outside their role. Some manage to straddle the line between real human being and fictional archetype, but it's tough, and there's always a choice to be made.
Character Creation
Whether you decide to play as a field agent or support staff, rooky or veteran, ME or normal Joe, PM me your character sheet for approval, and we can get things started. If you do happen to play an ME character, remember to indicate the Immersion Level, your story, and your role in the story. MEs will have special traits and abilities in line with their role in their story, the strength of their abilities proportionate to their Immersion Level. For instance, a Level 1 Snow White will be pale, beautiful, and well-liked, while a Level 4 can command woodland creatures with her singing.
I know there will be a lot of temptation to play characters with a lot of magical power, like the Wicked Witch, the Genie of the Lamp or Saint George's Dragon. But to access that magical power would mean your character is sacrificing their personal identity, becoming their story role. And the power also comes with the weaknesses and limitations of the role: the oven door, imprisonment and servitude, death at the hands of someone named George.
Likewise, playing a Level 0--someone not on the spectrum at all--may not seem all that appealing. However, Level 0s don't have to worry about the Narrative trying to turn them into someone or something else. They won't be compelled to touch the spindle of a spinning wheel, to build a house out of straw, or to ambush people just trying to cross a bridge.
Some of the more common ME types:
*Snow White - pale, beautiful, affinity with woodland creatures, often hated by other women, unable to resist apples, very vulnerable to poison
*Cinderella - hardworking, driven, affinity with mice and birds, likely to receive mysterious help, subject to emotional or physical abuse from family
*Pied Piper - can manipulate living things--particularly pests--with music, will become vengeful if denied what is promised.
*Shoemaker's Elf - meticulous, uncannily organized, can quickly accomplish almost any task if unobserved, obsessed with shoes
*Sleeping Beauty - beautiful, beloved, immensely skilled at whatever field they are passionate about, a time-bomb waiting to go off and take down everyone else with them
*Goldilocks - will always find shelter if lost, can bypass locked doors, can always find what is just right, plagued by bears
*Prince Charming - handsome and charismatic, a knack for breaking curses and pushing others into stories, can dazzle with their smile
*Bad Wolf - animalistic, with heightened senses and physical faculties, and hungers which are hard to ignore.
Keep in mind that though the Narrative is far more likely to adhere to traditional gender roles, there are rare divergences.
Example Character
NAME: Jacob Craft
AGE: 35
SEX: male
CHARACTER TYPE: Pied Piper
LEVEL: 4
ABILITIES: Can manipulate living things with his music; pests, vermin and children are especially vulnerable.
PHYSICAL: good-looking, a bit taller than average, athletic build, neat dark hair, green eyes, charming smile, nimble fingers
SKILLS: a gifted musician able to play a number of instruments, and a lovely singing voice. Trained by LIBRIS in hand-to-hand combat, marksmanship, and investigation.
FLAWS: if prevented from singing or playing, he cannot access his power. If denied what he feels he is owed, he could become dangerously vengeful.
OTHER: a lucky find for the Narrative, and for LIBRIS. He'd never shown any interest in music until his twelfth birthday, when he picked up a violin and managed to play a tune so lovely passersby stopped to listen. With this new discovery, he began studying and pursuing music in earnest. People always stopped to listen to him, and even animals gathered nearby. Aware of his abilities, LIBRIS convinced him to use his music to save a community from a plague. Knowing that in activating him as a Level 4, LIBRIS had changed his life, and they repaid him by paying for his education. Eventually, though, he made his own decision to continue working with LIBRIS to protect people from predatory stories.
