The quest will be focused on worldbuilding and adventure, with you controlling the characters you create, as well as some other things. You can interact with the story by doing one of:

>Act
Perform an action with your character. Describe how they respond to the environment.
>Affect
Suggest an outcome to a local situation: mainly victory or defeat in battle, but also safely passing through a dangerous area, finding an interesting object... Final say is mine as QM.
>Propose
Suggest a piece of the world to be created: city, tradition, creature... I reserve the right to accept or reject it.

Please USE GREENTEXT when performing one of the above.

I will post suggestions as well, and of course direct the general narrative.

If a player doesn't act or otherwise post for 3 turns in a row, I'll use the next opportunity to have their character depart the group for their own journey. I think 10-15 days is plenty of time to make a single post. Their character may, under special circumstances, return to the party.

On that note, the most significant limitation will be that you will always travel as a single group. This is to make it easier to manage the story. Your characters may do different things, but must generally keep together (e.g. in one city or on a single expedition).

I may or may not respond to particular actions separately.

I think that's about all for the rules.

To create a character, please post the following:

>Name
>Sex (if applicable)
>Race or creature type
There are various races: the classic human, elf and dwarf, but also more exotic ones such as kobold, restless skeleton, dragonborn, birdman... If you wish to suggest another one, feel free. There are no halflings.
>Archetype/Class
An archetype or class is one of 3: Fighter, Rogue or Mage. They specify the starting abilities and potential of a character in the story.
>Wish
The wish with which your character embarks on a journey. If you want, you can keep it secret from other players by marking it as such and concealing it under a spoiler. We're all adults here and won't peek, yes? Or at least not show that you did if curiosity wins.
>Background
Your character's past. Same as with the wish, you may conceal it. Keep it short/moderate in length.

I'll post the opening environment in 2 days or so. You will start in a relatively safe area, a small kingdom where the Demon King's influence has crept less. However, you will immediately depart west, to more dangerous lands.

Feel free to ask if you have any questions.

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Name: Saki
Sex: Female
Race: Half human, half fairy.

Class: Fighter

Wish: To remove the curse that doesn't let her use more than one piece of clothing.

Background: An unfortunate half fairy girl that was cursed by a witch.
She wanted invisibility powers like other fairies so she got tricked by the witch. She can only turn invisible if she's completely still and holds her breath, it doesn't work on weapons or clothes, and in exchange, she is unable to use more than one piece of clothing.

>>6312252
Cool concept, OP. A question or two:
>1) How many abilities do we start with when deciding on a class?
>2) What exactly are abilities? I assume spells or something for Mages, but what about Fighters and Rogues? Are there any examples?
>3) What do we know about the kingdom/place we're starting in? I assume we can be people drifting through or people that have lived there, but what should we know starting out?
>4) There's the propose action... are we supposed to add important details now while developing our character? Can we just create whatever we want (within reason)?
>5) Do we get freedom to talk with other players as we see fit?

Thanks in advance. I'm thinking up a few ideas but wanted to get some details out before I committed.

>>6312305
OH FUCK it's you. I remember you from skimming other multiplayer quests. Sorry for the rudeness, but I reject your entry. Please find another quest to insert your OC into.
>>6312307
>1) How many abilities do we start with when deciding on a class?
>2) What exactly are abilities? I assume spells or something for Mages, but what about Fighters and Rogues? Are there any examples?

I use "abilities" to refer to the general specialisation of a character. There is no "Double Slash" or "Armour-Piercing Strike" or other specific "active" skills that are usually considered abilities in an RPG. What that point in the character sheet refers to is basically what your character is skilled at doing. For Fighters, it is physical fitness, and thus greater toughness for taking hits, and the capacity to use a melee weapon both for precise and heavy strikes. For Rogues, it is stealth as well as disarming traps, also some ranged combat. For Mages, it is some basic spells like magic missile or creating a mote of light instead of a lantern.

It also specifies a direction in which your character may go. As an example, as a Fighter, you may specialise in killing single enemies or making less powerful area strikes, or tanking the hits as a shield of your team. As a Rogue, you may further your knowledge of traps to disarmament of magical ones or learn greater skill with a bow or throwing knives. As a Mage, you may become an elementalist battlemage, utility for buffs or witch for hexes...

It is all not really set in stone. These are not RPG classes that you're locked into with a skill tree to unlock specific abilities - your skillset will change depending on what you find and use. Going a different direction midway is an option.

I should also say battles will not go turn-by-turn, they will be resolved as a single prompt most of the time.
(cont.)

>3) What do we know about the kingdom/place we're starting in?

Ardent is a small kingdom midway between the safer (for now) lands of the East and the lands of the West where the grasp of darkness is stronger. It lives off trade, its people being generous with coin and help to strangers, so your group met no difficulty acquiring basic supplies (camp gear, some rations, weapon maintenance) here. The Ardent believe possessions exist to be shared, and are a bit naive in that way. This ideal is also ingrained in their religion.

In terms of climate, it is a temperate place with its share of forests and plains. They have access to ore from the northern mountains, wood from the forests, and materials for textiles and food from the farms.

They maintained good relations with their neighbours, but had a small mercenary force that was all too happy to take their coin in exchange for protection.

In the past, they wanted for nothing important, but with trade drying up due to the Demon King's influence on the West, and the roads growing more dangerous with demonic spawn, this place is slowly becoming poorer, and its people more careful with their goods and coin.

To give a general idea of the area where you are, besides the kingdom, there is a LONG strip of land going east to west, bordered in the south by the sea, and in the north by a fuckhuge mountain range. Beyond the sea lie other lands, beyond the mountains there are wastes and untamed forests where only the savage barbarians live among beasts.

Oh, and also by "strip of land" I mean like 1000 km in width north to south.

> I assume we can be people drifting through or people that have lived there...
Yes, you can be a local or someone passing through.

>4) There's the propose action... are we supposed to add important details now while developing our character? Can we just create whatever we want (within reason)?
Essentially, yes. If it doesn't fit my vision, I will say so, and if possible suggest an alternative or modification.

>5) Do we get freedom to talk with other players as we see fit?
Yes. Player interaction is encouraged.

>>6312473
>>6312474
You sonnovabitch. I'm in. Thanks for answering the questions! Will take a crack at putting a character together later today.

>>6312526
>Name: Utzii Sizzler
>Sex: Female
>Race: Kobold
>Archetype/Class: Rogue (Wandering Chef)
>Class Skills: (Sneaking, Sleight of Hand, Cutting Critical Points (Good against one opponent))
>Wish: To make sure no one ever goes hungry again!
>Background: Born into a family of circus performers, Utzii’s early life was never dull. She learned a few life lessons early on: if you don’t perform well, you don’t eat, knives fly differently depending on how they’re thrown and what they’re made of, and her theater troupe The Crooked Court is not run by nice people. Engineering an escape using a leaky old lamp and a particularly flammable tent, Utzii stole into the night with nothing but the clothes on her back and a mothbitten old hat given to her by one of the kinder performers.

Wandering for weeks and subsisting off of anything she could forage or filch, Utzii eventually collapsed outside of a hamlet and was nursed back to health by a kindly old couple, both of whom shared with her the knowledge of preparing food with fresh ingredients. It was love at first bite–as the days went on, Utzii’s culinary skills improved, as did her appetite for more recipes. Her meal options had been woefully limited in the circus, and now that she knew there was more to meals than just gruel and grits, she just HAD to find more!

Armed with a trusty carving knife from her ‘adoptive’ grandfather and a warm cloak knitted by her grandmother, Utzii began her grand journey across the lands with the goal of becoming one of, if not THE greatest chef in the world!

Her wanderings lead her to Ardent… and her lack of coin keeps her there. With ingredients growing slim and prospects dimming, Utzii decides to unearth the skills she learned in her youth in hopes of helping her achieve her dream!

Obviously let me know if I should change anything, OP. Hope that’s a good jumping-off point.

>>6312573
Excellent character. I approve. Got an idea for Utzii's plot right off the bat, but it may take a while to get there.

Hopefully there will be enough players for at least a core party (Fighter + Rogue + Mage). If not... well, I'll think of something then. Character submissions are still open.

>>6312600
I could see myself making a Knight/bringing a former character of mine in for this, just not sure on the wish thing. Is it okay if we have a placeholder/figure it out as we go? I figure this may end up being a rather transformative journey for the party members.

>>6312604
I'm not too hot on fitting external characters into the game, as you can see by my reaction to the Saki anon (though that's more due to him inserting his OC wherever possible), but ok, post your character and we'll work from there.

The wish is an important part due to it being why your character embarks on this journey. Without it, there are few reasons why someone might brave such a long journey and try to defeat the super powerful Demon King. It's best to come up with something.

>>6312825
That's fair enough, hadn't noticed Saki anon getting rejected.
You're right it probably wouldn't work out too well. I'll let somone else step up, then.

If you're still missing people in a couple days I'll think about it.

>>6312883
Well, if you're interested in the quest / concept itself, you can make another Fighter or Mage (or Rogue) character, not necessarily the Knight you already had prepared. It doesn't seem like I caught a lot of people's attention either way lol. Besides, slots for the party are not limited - the more the merrier, as they say. If there's too many for me to manage, I'll just make less individual and more general replies or slow down the updates. Although with the 1 per 5 days target I don't think I'll need to worry about that unless we get like 8-10 players, which probably won't happen.

I'm tentatively interested, though I held off on submitting a character because I'm not sure if I'll have the time yet. That, and I usually wait for more posts, to see how the writing is.

I dunno, guys... You've got a chef on the team. Better join while the griddle's hot if you ask me!

>>6312970
Another tentatively interested, have held off until now as I'll have more time in the latter half of the week to think and get a character together.

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>>6313012
>>6313016
>That, and I usually wait for more posts, to see how the writing is.
Oh damn, I'm not confident in my writing and quest running skills to be honest. I guess I'll just have to do my best and hope that's enough (though that's pretty much default mode).

I'll wait until another character is submitted, be it from either of you or another observer, then we'll start.

Well, I guess I'll try, if only to inspire someone else to try and move things along if this gets rejected.

>Name
Theudric
>Sex (if applicable)
Male
>Race or creature type
Baseline human
>Archetype/Class
(Armored) (Frontline) Fighter
Knowledge and Skills: Medium/Heavy Armor, Small/Medium Shields, one and two-handed Swords early pistols if the setting has them , and how to maintain them in the field. Various boons and feats focused around the armor’s reserves.
>Wish
I once asked this of Death, and they could not grant my wish. Now I am here, and I ask you. Fix my mistake. Bring him back, as he was before.
>Background
Theudric is a perfectly normal human from…a fair ways away. He has plied his trade as a monster hunter and mercenary for a bit longer than his appearance (mid-twenties, prime fighting age) would suggest, and has the armor, skill, and poise to prove it.
He is a man of few words, few oaths, and few regrets. But not none.
He has heard of a good fight, a purposeful fight, and of the boon that might be heard, and it proved enough for him. He knows little of the local threats, but he'll adapt or fall trying.

Theudric is a perfectly normal human. It's just the armor that's weird.
He is surprisingly open about it not being a normal piece of kit, but won't say where he found it, just that it has a few “quirks”. Mainly, it can be considered alive, and needs blood to function. Human blood works best, but any might do. Most of the time it's Theudric's, ensuring slow repairs, maintenance, and a few tricks, in exchange for making the man look rather pale and anemic. But if any friends or foes feel like making a contribution…
He says he has a handle on it, mostly. At least it means he makes a tough shield for the party to hide behind.

>>6312252
Welp, here's an idea. Tell me if this doesn't fit.

>Name: Kespe
>Sex: Female
>Race or creature type
Human? /Gorgon-Blooded
>Archetype/Class
Mage.
>Wish
Stone into Flesh. To undo the curse of one's own gaze, placed in a moment of frustration and heartbreak.
>Background
A life out on the village outskirts, tending to the remaining sheep and goats from the old shack that had once been her father's. Civil, but never quite fitting in. Deep down, she suspected they knew, or knew they suspected. Few invitations. Fewer friends. And then one, once a boy she had watched grow to a man from afar. Small things, turned into sweet things, then warm ones. Small moments of contact, after a life of neglect. How could she not have fallen in love?

How could she not have felt such pain, when she learned of his betrothal to another?

She'd had to flee, of course. Leave behind the little she had of her life. Find new places, take on odd jobs; and study all the while. Learn what she can of the secrets of the earth, the secrets of her heritage; the secrets in her blood. Practice, and move on. And don't stare too long.

A Shepherd's Stave. She carries it with her, and does not correct those who assume that is all there is too it. Amber eyes. Don't stare, don't be angry when you stare. A Leather-bound book; part diary and part note of her studies and abilities learned. Brown hair, strangely mottled; tied back in a single long braid. Keeping calm keeps it calm. If it moves it moves, hair moves; but you don't want them to hear it hiss.

>>6313311
Sounds good to me. Not beginner tier, as I expected, but I think it's for the best that some of our heroes have experience under their belt. Makes them feel more alive. Also more ways in which they can solve problems along the way.

Regarding pistols: mmm... Would you be fine with repeater crossbows? I'm not sure on this decision, but I don't really want to bring gunpowder weaponry into the setting, barring exceptional cases like particularly advanced societies. That is to say, making it rare enough that frequent and reliable usage would be difficult. I could go with early pistols if you're ready for that part to be a "last resort" or a special weapon with limited charges and no easy way to replenish bullets and gunpowder.

Also, asking for clarification about the wish and background: I admire the lyricism, but the picture is not complete: whom did Theudric lose by turning them into (ensouling?) his armour, and what were the circumstances around that? The spoilered part doesn't explain much about that.

>>6313378
Was typing up an answer to Theudric anon as your entry rolled in.
Okay, Gorgon blood is an exceptional idea (in a good way), but petrification gaze is a strong power and I'm not sure I'd be fine just letting you use it without limits upon anger. Would you be fine with it only completely petrifying in moments of exceptional emotion (anger/pain) and with a cooldown afterwards? Most of the time it would function as a "slowing" kind of curse. Also some of the more powerful enemies would be immune to it. On that note, I guess it would be interesting to let Kespe level up her power to affect progressively stronger enemies later on, but that kinda goes against the idea that something as strong as killing the Demon King would be the only sure way to remove it.
What do you think? Yes/no to limits I outlined, or modifications to them? Yes/no to level up? General thoughts if you have any as well.

I'll only be able to reliably post about 16-18 hours from now, but I'll read your replies and write up an opening post then if you all respond and we settle the questions above. Glad to have 2 people submit characters, and Fighter + Mage at that! We have a proper party ready if all goes well.

>>6313388
With the setting you described he shouldn't be overtuned, since the Demon King is a local issue. He hasn't faced down demons before.

I would be fine with either early pistols or no pistols, I don't really care for the crossbows. The pistols thing is a holdover, he doesn't have to be a hybrid melee/ranged fighter.
Keeping pistols limited could work, both because of scarcity and because he would be very, very reluctant to use them in some cases, but more on that.

For the wish, sorry, wasn't sure how detailed you wanted. The person to be brought back wasn't made into the armor at all actually. He was a fellow hunter, really a kind who'd signed up to earn a living. One of Theudric's big fuckups. He had seen and done worse before, and since, but this is one that hasn't left him.
Ruin exploration and clearing. Stronger monsters than expected. Kid takes point in a corridor in front of Theudric as giant, hostile vines appear. Theudric takes the shot, which goes horribly wrong. The kid gets his shoulder blown off, pirouetting to face Theudric, locking eyes right before one of the plants explodes out of his chest and drags him back and up through the ceiling.
Kid was very dead when they found the body. Theudric has never forgiven himself for getting him killed. Out of all the wrongs he's done and couldn't right, if he had to pick one to fix it would be this.

So he'll be really hesitant to use guns if anyone is in the way at all.
Also, given I'm not sure how the setting will go, the kid was one of those shapeshifting foxes who turn into people with fox ears and tails.

And yes, this did happen in a big Discord rp a fair few years ago. Pretty punishing rules on ranged friendly fire. Critfail so the kid too 2 damage, then a hit by the new, stronger monster taking off the other 2HP during their turn.

>>6313388

I'm fine with whatever limits you choose to place upon the power; this is your show to keep rolling along! So 'yes' to whatever limits you need. And 'yes' to level up, I don't see her ability to use the power strengthening going forward as an issue, since it's trying to undo the effects of a previous use of the ability that she's questing for, not increasing the power itself. Though hopefully she'll also learn some greater control as well!

And if you want other cures to petrification to be commonly available, perhaps she could change her wish to 'That he won't hate me' or a more general wish of acceptance; though personally I feel questing to undo a past petrification is a stronger hook.

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>>6312250
I haven't had the time to make a character until now and have almost no experience with multiplayer quests but let's do this. Bear with me.
>Name
Sajah
>Sex
Female
>Race
Human
>Archetype
Fighter
>Class Skills
If we're allowed to specify like this - one-handed swords, small shields, light/medium armour, bows. +various logical background skills.
>Wish
She hasn't decided yet! See below.....
>Background
Sajah was born to a martial family among nomads on a different continent to the south. From a teenager, she was trained in melee and ranged horseback combat and taking care of her weapons and horse as well as a multitude of secondary skills including hunting and butchering, first aid, hostile environment survival and scouting. For much of her latter teens, she defended her tribe and participated in raids atop her horse while teaching herself how to read in her spare time and picking up bits of foreign languages from traders. From these, she also learned tales of the world, growing increasingly fascinated with the prospect of high adventure in a far-off land and unsatisfied with her life.
She did not even make it to twenty years before departing, doing a stint as a security mercenary to work her way north and overseas with traders, eventually winding up in Ardent. She did not hesitate to seize the opportunity for what she saw as an adventure of the lifetime despite her critical lack of understanding of the full reality of what she was getting herself into.
Despite not being on horseback, she still is still adept with her intricately decorated scimitar, bow and small shield.

Now, I think the decision to not give her a Wish at this stage is unusual but way I see it, she's a young and naïve foreigner who, from a combination of having her head in the clouds, lack of information that would be "common knowledge" to natives and relying more on fragmentary hearsay, youthful bravado and subpar local language proficiency (she can talk to people, but has a thick accent and lacks full fluency), is in so far over her head she can't see the surface any more and doesn't even know it. Yet, anyway. She's a carefree spirit it for the (misguided) adventure rather than the reward and has kicked that particular can down the road but reality is going to close in like the T.rex in the rear view mirror soon enough as she learns more about what she's gotten herself into, by which point it'll be too late to back out and she's going to have to step up, mature and take this whole thing much more seriously if she's going to make it back alive, let alone with anything to show for it - part of that will be having a long, hard think about what she wants out of this, which will be determined by how she develops in due course.
I hope this is palatable to QM, I can rework as necessary if you'd rather they had a Wish to hook into from the start instead or take it from the top if the whole thing needs a redo.

Finally got around to reply.
>>6313409
Ok, I kinda expected from my post >>6312970 that this was a new character since I suggested you to make one, but fuck it, I reuse concepts, might as well accept the same for characters. It's a good one to boot. On the background: alright, got it. Shapeshifter kid would be fine. On the pistol question: let's settle on no pistols.
>With the setting you described he shouldn't be overtuned, since the Demon King is a local issue. He hasn't faced down demons before.
The Demon King is a global issue. Unless you mean "from this world". Also Theudric probably encountered demon(s) if he's a monster hunter. They spawn all around the world, though fairly rarely in the East and more frequently in the West.

LORE FOR EVERYONE: I should probably say that "demons" is not a single type of creature, but also "corrupted" versions of regular creatures, with modifications to them making them more dangerous and aggressive. This is the taint of the Demon King made manifest.
>>6313417
Alright, then, to sum up:
100% petrification only in moments of serious emotion with a cooldown of about 1 hour.
Slowing/partly paralysing curse in case of regular emotions or dangerous situations.
Stronger enemies are immune.
Opportunity to level up and affect stronger enemies.

>And if you want other cures to petrification to be commonly available, perhaps she could change her wish to 'That he won't hate me' or a more general wish of acceptance; though personally I feel questing to undo a past petrification is a stronger hook.
I agree. So let's keep it permanent once invoked fully.

Also I'm not sure if you did that deliberately, but your background is open for everyone to know (in the party, at least) if it's not spoilered. Please tell if that's fine with you or it should have been secret. I got that impression from Kespe tying her hair and not staring for too long. If others have already read it, I guess they can't purge their memory lol, but maybe they could play it like they don't know.
>>6313509
Accepted, though I must say that a harsh life like a desert nomad would probably make her more mature in general - it's not an easy life, especially with some of her clan probably being lost in raids, both against and from other peoples. I can work with the idea though.

INFO FOR EVERYONE: I mentioned a 1000km wide land strip, but on second thought let's tune it down to 600km or so. To make the journey a bit more straightforward. Well, it won't appear to affect too much on the personal level of the party, I think.

With that, things should be settled on the characters. Let's get started. I'll write up the first encounter after your party's assembling and departure now. Should be up in an hour or a few.

>>6313679
Haha oh shit here it comes. Watch out, world, this ragtag bunch of misfits is gonna save ya

>>6313679
...Yeah. I should have probably learned to use spoiler tags, huh?
Ah well. Not like it'd have been secret from the party for very long anyway, since she'll probably be using it in combat to some degree. Whilst it was initially going to be a semi-secret... probably better to tell them early, get the threat of rejection out of the way so it's not hanging over her head with the group, and allow them to take precautions to prevent it happening again.

The past month or so has been busy for all of you. Ever since you decided to go West on this "suicide" mission, as many would consider it, you've been looking for other people that shared the plan, working odd jobs or slaying monsters, gathering supplies. In the end, you found each other in the city of Erceli, on the western border of Ardent and decided to form a party.

Not everyone decided to share their story and their reasons for why they were embarking on this journey. Maybe they will in the future. Maybe not.

Either way, having gathered the tools necessary for survival in the wild, supplies and weapons to fend off whatever the road throws at you, you depart.

A couple days pass as you follow the road. Sometimes, you hear sounds in the forests and fields surrounding you. Sometimes, you think there are glowing eyes looking your way out of the dark of the forest as you set up camp. None dare attack.

On the third day, the autumn clouds creep over the sky, and by evening, rain breaks out. Your hooded cloaks, staple of any traveller, keep the cold and wet at bay, but it'd sure be nice to find a proper place to rest and hide from the rain. It is, perhaps, most sharply felt by Sajah, still out of her element after spending most of her life in the hot and arid desert.

There is a place of respite that you should reach right about now, however: if what the Ercelians said was true, there is an abandoned fortress midway to the next city. Riverguard, it is called, standing near a stream and guarding the border from Ardent to the next kingdom, Orndal.

Well, not guarding - guarded. The kingdom doesn't exist any more, save for vestiges like your next stop, and the garrison long gone.

The fortress is visible from afar, even from beyond the veil of rain. It stands, silent and dark, in a clearing through which, indeed, a stream goes. However... it may not be as dark as it seems from afar.

As you approach it, peeking through the gates, you see lights in one of the inner buildings, still standing despite lack of repairs and care. Quietly, the sneakiest of your bunch - Utzii, peeks into one of the windows to see whether these lights are another weary traveller or a foe. What she sees doesn't raise hope.

Goblins. 8 of them, gathered around the campfire. Most dressed in rags or tough leather at best, but one, likely the leader, has a good number of iron plates strapped to him - crude work, not without weak points, especially for as skilled a knife-thrower as the kobold, but armour nevertheless.

Your group had heard the western kingdom, Orndal, was overrun by them, but didn't expect to meet them so soon.
(1/2)

Around the goblins, crooked spears and a couple swords lie strewn about. In the centre of their encampment, a fire burns, sizzling with the occasional drip of fat from the cooking leg of some creature... it must be a horse. Not far, deeper in the dark, its cadaver lies. Utzii can't help but note that the corpse is fresh - should the goblins be dealt with, she could prepare it. Horse meat is frowned upon by some, but the prospect of a hot dinner after some days of rations and dried meat is tantalising.

The leader bears not a spear, but a staff of some sort, decorated with two skulls - human, from the looks of it. He could be a spellcaster.

Dealing with the goblins would be possible, but they outnumber you. Perhaps a price is to be paid. Or not. What happens now?
>Act
Perform an action with your character. Specify an approach to the situation that will let you deal with the goblins safely, through teamwork or deceit.
>Affect
Suggest a resolution to the conflict. Does someone pay a price - a wound or expended item? Are goblins defeated entirely, or does one of them escape into the night? This early in the journey, beginner's luck should still be with you. It should be enough to protect everyone. As you'll search the items of these creatures and the rest of the fortress, maybe there is an useful trinket to be found? You can also, of course, leave it all to me.
>Propose
A piece of worldbuilding? Not much has been introduced, but if you'd like...
(Talk and interactions between characters are unlimited)