The Black Knight
One Thousand Club
Game inspired by Wolf's Rain, METRO, and Snowpiercer.
The Lunar Chronicles
One hundred years ago before The Great Winter, the Earth was green and animals were plentiful. Even further back, Humans didn’t exist. Animals ruled the Earth, and it wasn’t until the first lone wolf, Cain that humans came into creation. Cain was a rebellious wolf who had an unhealthy desire to always be in control. This desire made him prone to violence against anyone who would dare take power away from him. His pack known as the First Wolves were forced to send him into exile. They encouraged Cain to return once he has found his way, but Cain was blind. Corrupted by his desire to rule, Cain wandered the planet alone and eventually forgot his way home. He could never find Paradise, and because he had lost his way to paradise his body transformed. Cain became The First Human, and he continued to wander the Earth naked and afraid until he met a mysterious woman named Lilith. The text doesn’t explain where Lilith came from, but she was described to be seductive and wicked—however, not to her lover Cain. It was through Cain and Lilith that the world became populated by Humans. The Humans proved to be very powerful and they eventually learned to build monsters from steel. They devoured the animals in mass, breeding them on farms in great quantity to try and satiate their insatiable appetites. The animals feared the Humans. They always fled from their presence and some even tried to kill them to save the Earth. The Humans proved to be so destructive that they even started to destroy each other. They created deadly machines, tools, and toxins to wipe out entire civilizations. It wasn’t until the creation of the first nuclear weapon that not only humanity but the entire planet began to die. Nukes were lobbed, and the effect the nuclear radiation had on the atmosphere forced the Earth into a nuclear winter.
If you are still alive and reading this, if you are human, then there is still hope for you. You must remember who you are. You are a wolf. When you have found yourself, look to the moon. The lunar eclipse opens the door to Paradise. The blood moon is cursed. Do not look at it for it is a deceiver. Deep in your heart, you know you do not belong here. If you listen to your heart, then you will find your way home. All wolves are led to Paradise.
Stepangrad
Stepangrad is a vast communist mega city named after Victor Stepanov the founder of the city 100 years ago. It is a super colony comprised of the last Humans on Earth. This is the setting of the first chapter of this game. All citizens of Stepangrad receive an identification chip, and are closely monitored by the government. In school, children take numerous exams that produce data on their aptitudes and weaknesses and through that data they are raised to fill not only an occupation the government needs, but an occupation that contributes to the survival of the colony. Children are taught in school that Stepangrad is the greatest country on Earth and the last surviving country due to its greatness. They are also taught that one day the winter will end and that a great warmth will bathe the country and turn it green with blue skies. Stepangrad citizens believe these stories religiously and praise old images of the sun even though none have ever seen the sun before. The flag of Stepangrad has a blood-red background with a golden sun at the center.
Interestingly, there isn’t a single poor person in Stepangrad for every single citizen performs some sort of duty that not only contributes to their health but the health of the colony. There is only a middle class, which is dominantly comprised of workers, the middle-upper class which is comprised of the government workers, and the upper class who are the rich known as Nobles. It is difficult to determine who really controls Stepangrad between the Nobles and the government. Because of the Nobles’ contributions to the colony’s growth and development, it is believed (conspiratorially) that the Nobles control Stepangrad and that the President and Prime Minister (Svetlana Bordarenko and Vladamir Blum) are mere puppets. The Nobles reside high above the rest of the city in their steel towers and will wear the most elaborate of clothes and fashions.
The government keeps all of its citizens under lock and key. Outside the main city is a vast winter wasteland that extends to the steel walls that encase the megadome. A glass dome contains the city, protecting it from the fluctuating arctic temperatures and radiation outside. The wasteland is known colloquially as the Kill Zone. The only people ever known to enter the kill zone are citizens who remove their chips (which alerts the government immediately) and attempt to escape the megadome. Why anyone would ever want to leave their organized paradise is beyond the Stepangrad citizens. The main culprit has been a book known as the Lunar Chronicle. The government deems it to be a fairy tale and discourages its citizens from taking it seriously. Unfortunately, due to the increase of escape attempts, the government was forced to place a ban on the book and had all of them burned. Anyone caught possessing a copy of the book were to be arrested, the book burned, and the person subjected to psychological analysis and rehabilitation. The government reinforces that nothing pleasant exists outside the megadome, but unbearable cold and monsters. Thus is why Stepangrad exists to protect everyone!
Animals exist in Stepangrad but not outside captivity. Domesticated animals have been cloned and genetically engineered to be cuter, smaller, and however their owners prefer them. Wild animals can only be found in a zoo, and they aren’t the original beasts but creatures cloned over and over so that zoos never go out of business. No other animals exist in Stepangrad not even in the Kill Zone.
So when one day a wolf is reported to have been seen in the city…
A mysterious gray wolf is rumored to have infiltrated the city. No one knows how it got in but the public is interested. No one has ever seen an actual wolf before. The government warns the public that the creature is wild and dangerous, and if they ever see it to report it immediately. The beast so far has been able to evade CCTV, which has the government bothered, but even the Nobles are interested offering a reward of 200,000 credits to whoever can catch the creature alive.
As if by Fate, each character will encounter either a wolf or an old man with an eyepatch. They are both the same being. The old man is named Sasha, a nickname for Alexander his real name. He can appear in his true form as a wolf or as a human as he pleases. To evade detection, he moves about in his human form but that can only get him around for so long until ID sensors flag him as not possessing a chip. As a wolf, the old man cannot speak, but he calls to your character’s wolf heart and attempts to awaken their wolf side. He is the one who is responsible for awakening the characters and acting as their guide to Paradise. He is trying to save as many wolves as he can, and therefore when they begin the task to flee the city, there will be more wolves than our starting cast. These wolves will obviously be NPCs. This first chapter is all about meeting Sasha (don’t worry, he’ll find you) and escaping Stepangrad into the winter unknown.
Wolves in this game are not normal wolves like the ones we know in real life. Like in the show this game is inspired by (Wolf’s Rain), the wolves are superhuman. The blood of the First Wolves is awakened by Sasha (a pure blood of the First Wolf pack) and allows the characters to shift appearances. There is no actual physical shifting. In a blink, they appear as a human, and in a blink, they appear as a wolf.
Reference: Wolf Strength and Shifting Example
While the awakened wolves are capable of shifting forms, there is a third form they could shift into if they ever look at the blood moon. This form is a lycanthrope form and is by no means good. It is absolutely evil like shifting into a demon. Only those wolves who were born outside of paradise and who possess the blood of Lilith (basically, all of our characters) are capable of transforming into an abomination. Once a wolf has transformed into the lycanthrope, then he or she will be unable to change back and will have to be put down.
To be straightforward about wolf superhuman feats (at least for Chapter One): superhuman strength, speed, and toughness. As wolves they will be able to communicate with animals, hearing their voices for the first time.
Rules
OOC
- Communication. I do not need to know your business, but if you plan to leave for longer than a week, then please be courteous and let me know. I can accommodate for your absence and help you reintegrate back into the game when you return.
- Frequency. At minimum, I only require writers to post once a week. I understand that work and college can get in the way. As long as you post once a week, then you are fine.
- Activity. If a writer disappears without communicating their absence, then the writer has 14 days to communicate their activity with the GM. After 14 days, the character will be considered inactive, and they will be marked as such. The writer is welcome to return and resume where they left off. However, a GM decision may have been made for the sake of moving the story along, so be mindful of your activity. Communication is very important.
- Disputes. You are required to respectfully workout any disputes with another writer—preferably in a PM conversation. If you cannot do this and need a GM decision, then bring the issue to my attention. Understand that if you violate RPN rules, then the situation is no longer in my hands. Be mature, be an adult, and be respectful.
- RPN Rules. Be sure to follow them. Read up on them in case you forgot. You can find them here.
- Have Fun. As the GM, my goal is to regulate the game and make sure it progresses smoothly. At times, I will drop some GM plots into the game, but this game is mostly run by the writers. I cannot force you all to interact and create stories and character relationships. All I can do is create the universe and regulate it. Please interact and try to have a good time. If you have any issues whether it be with the game or other players, then please privately bring it to my attention.
- Headers and Tags. I will provide everyone with a header that they should follow in order for everyone to keep track of their character’s location and who they are mentioning or talking to in the game. Please use the header so that there is little to no confusion.
- Keep OOC in the OOC. Please avoid posting OOC bubbles in the IC. The OOC interrupts the IC atmosphere like a fourth wall being broken. Please keep all OOC in the OOC, Discord, or PMs.
- Font Colors. If you are the kind of person who likes to color their character’s dialog, then please avoid using neon colors or colors that blend into the site’s background. No one wants to have to highlight your post in order to read it.
- Image Size. Be mindful of the size of the images you post. You can use an image hosting site to reduce their size or a free photoshop clone like pixlr.
- GM NPCs. These NPCs will be made clear to you when the time comes. The GM will introduce them in order to ensure the writers know that this is indeed a GM boss or mini-boss. Non-GM bosses or mini-bosses will be clearly explained to the writer, granting them liberties to take them down however they please. An example of a GM NPC is Sasha.
Character Creation
Unlike some other Game Masters, I present the Character Sheet right from the start. The interest check will be where you will post your CS. If you are shy, then you can post it to my PM box just please do not spam it. When a character sheet is approved by me, THEN you can post it to the character thread once it is created. I do things this way for organization purposes. I do not want players who don't get accepted posting their CSes in the Character Thread. So by posting them here, only the approved player characters will be allowed to post in the CS thread. So far the minimum characters I will allow in this game are six not including the GM's character. If I get more interest than six, then I may make some exceptions depending on how good the other concepts are. I do not accept based on quantity but rather quality and if those writers wanting to still get in demonstrate that they have an interesting concept to present, then there is a chance that I will accept them regardless of the minimum I have set. However, if you try to submit a skeleton to me or a CS that looks like you barely worked on it, it will not be accepted. I am letting you know now. But mainly, the only reason players have not been accepted in my games in the past have been due to the player's attitude. I will not accept drama.
You are free to design this CS however you like. I am just giving you the meat and potatoes. Feel free to go creative crazy! I really love it when a writer takes the story that is presented to them and runs with it. I just love it and can't wait to see the ideas you bring!
Code:
[b]Character Name:[/b] What is your character's name?
[b]Nickname:[/b] What is your character's nickname?
[b]Age:[/b] Self-explanatory.
[b]Gender:[/b] Self-explanatory.
[b]Height:
Weight:
Hair Color:[/b] This is a futuristic game so it can be whatever color.
[b]Eye Color:[/b] This is a futuristic game so it can be whatever color.
[b]Complexion:[/b] Skin color.
[b]Build:[/b] Fat, lanky, athletic, solid, etc.
[b]Occupation:[/b] Student, Cop, Government dog, Unemployed, Deliveryboy/girl, Gang member, etc.
[b]Visual Human Appearance:[/b] You can use anime, digital art, or real life photos however if you choose to use real life pictures, then you need to know who the face claim is so nobody else can claim the person. If you aren't sure who it is, let your peers know. Some people are good at finding out.
[b]Visual Wolf Appearance:[/b] Real life, anime, or digital art. This should be the easiest to find.
[b]Written Human Appearance:[/b] In this you describe your character's overall appearance to include extra details not seen in the picture you are using. Scars, tattoos, piercings, headbands and other accessories, etc.
[b]Written Wolf Appearance:[/b] Any fancy coloration. I mean, no wolf should be like pink, purple, etc. This isn't My Little Pony. But if your wolf has cool markings, or more of a natural color discoloration then that is fine. For example, if you want to make a black wolf with bronze colored paws, or a gray wolf with a red muzzle that is fine. Their markings can be tribal in nature or whatever. Just no MLP wolves please. And yes, they have to look like a wolf. No wings, reptile features, or anything extreme.
[b]Personality:[/b] Summarize how they are like.
[b]Current Story:[/b] (Optional) Since they're in a communist government, I expect their life to be very routine. But you are free to add a back story to your character if you want to.
[b]Weapon(s):[/b] (Optional) This is only applicable to those in law enforcement. If your non-law enforcement characters winds up wielding a bat or some reason, you do not need to list it here. This section is for those employed by the government who carry a sidearm at all times.
Equusheart
kesshowolf
