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Fantasy Mercs

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Broomhandle45

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So way back when, (Like way back when) there was a mercenary idea that I was invested in, turned into sex, lost all interest, went the way of the dead and I tried to fiddle with it to my own needs and it just kind of fizzled myself. So, I thought I'd try again and this time do it at a spot that people feel more complacent in, which is fantasy.

So before I get into the meat and taters of the ins and outs of how it's going to work, the idea:

This is going to be a group roleplay about a professional mercenary force in a fantasy setting. The atmosphere is probably more closely aligned with Dragon Quest/Early Final Fantasy than any honest basis in Western Fantasy or something like Dark Souls. Don't be real worried if you're not familiar with them, they're not a hard style to emulate in terms of overall looks. But right now I've not really solidified that particular deal. By professional, I mean that characters are, or have been involved with mercenary work that is and not limited to: Fighting, Political and social interactions, maintaining a consistent, steady sense of professionalism in what they're doing, actually knowing how to do their jobs and so forth.

One thing I'd like to state that it is important that characters (for the sake of keeping them consistently relevant) should know some method of combat, it can be anything from knife work, magic, swordplay or whatever to supplement whatever is they do if it isn't combat. Mercenaries are varied people, but mercenaries should also know how to fight.

So, with that basic concept out of the way, what is it that I'd like? Well, probably a lot, but I'll try to condense it a little with the help of everyone's friend, Walls of Text! I'm looking for about...4-5 people, I think.

The plot here is going to be point A to point B, these will not be immensely complex, overarching plot-lines (initially, anyway). These will be pretty basic concepts dealing with interaction of people over war, fighting wars, killing monsters and fighting the token bad guy on occasion, that is not to say that these plots cannot have interesting depth or characters or what have you, but the basic concept is we're mercenaries that get paid to do a job. The gray area is perhaps what is being hired to be done. Point A to Point B means to me, so long as we end up at Point B, what we do in the interim is a lesser issue, my idea is mostly that the things we do in the interim will eventually lead to Point B so we can continue onward, but think of it as a slow burn sort of thing. I'm sure this will change depending, but that's my initial plan.

Mercenaries are by nature, slightly morally gray people. That is not to say that benevolent actions are out of the question, but mercenaries are paid to be loyal to the people who hire them, and it's bad business to turncoat on that, mercenaries live on their reputation after all. What I'm saying is that if you can't handle playing to actual moral complexities of doing mercenary work, please don't bother. I'm not asking everyone to play grim faced people who just think 'I'm a mercenary, we do EVERY JOB, no matter what”, and I'm not asking for people who think that because the mercenaries we play are an effective military power that we should be the heroes who scatter bubblegum farts and unicorns because we can. Yes, someone should probably despoil the tyrant who keeps killing farmers because he likes making human scarecrows. No, that's not something we're going to do just because, that sort of thing takes time, money, loss of life...not our problem. Now, if we were hired by said tyrant, that's a slightly more complex issue. Be loyal to the dickhead, or show your principles by fixing the problem since we're more directly involved? Don't extreme your character to a particular personality type, it's okay to think one thing is just a job and another is something you have principles on. People are weird in what they accept and what they don't, don't one-dimension yourself.

Because I know how people are, if there is going to be any 'power creep', it will be a slow crawl into a dark hole. Yes, I realize that as the roleplay will progress, people will hopefully be naturally more talented at what they're doing. This is not a race to see who is going to be the most awesomenest character ever, there will be no golden stars handed out because you pulled out a technique from the crack of your ass and thought it'd fix everything. These sort of things will be discussed, as will character limits and everything else.

Prefacing from above, I am of the mindset that some characters will just naturally be better, but not impossible to defeat or outplay. You can hem and haw about it all you like about how you want your character to be stronger or strongest or whatever, but the amount of fucks I give about your power fantasy are negative zero. This is a cooperative experience, not a personal masturbation. The power scale I generally use is inches better, not miles. Context will be needed for every single situation, but keep that in mind if you get interested and want to make a character. Just because you can spit fire on your sword and someone else can't doesn't mean they're worse than you, it just means you have an option they don't.

Romance is fine, sex is not. I am not budging on this, you can make it sound as crude and filthy as you want for all I give a damn, take it somewhere else, PMs or whatever and just drop a line about how it happened so everyone else is in the loop or just let people infer from posts. This is an adventure, not a sex adventure.

Are you familiar with Rule Zero? Rule Zero is basically the tabletop equivalent of if the DM says no, it doesn't happen. Same rule applies here. If I say no, it's no. I will generally give justification for no, but I don't have to. That being said, do not be afraid to just throw out something that can be worked on. I'm about making sure everyone is inches apart, that doesn't mean your concept is unworkable, it just means you might have to scale down way more than you expect. If you don't like that, too bad for you. I'm not going to bend because you're sad, but I am more than happy to work with people.

Be...semi-regular in posting. Daily barrages aren't needed, but I'd like some regularity with how things are going. This is going to be kind of an invested project for all parties, with discussions probably happening semi-regularly OOC depending on how things go. This is going to be a single thread, coherent, moving forward story. Novel posts are...okay, I suppose, but I'm not expecting them. Don't feel like you need to do giant gaping literary wonders, check my other roleplay threads for my posting length and sizes that I can do, stuff like that will suit me fine. I'm fine with taking things a point at a time, bigger posts should be to expand details, not add needless ones.

That being said, that's the basic idea of what I expect and the concept therein, worldbuilding is something of a personal exercise for me, so if enough people are interested I'll get the world concept settled into something before moving forward.
 
This is something I like and approve of. So Broom, how many individuals are you looking for with this?

Also will you be running a character or taking more of a DM role?
 
Probably take the mercenary leader, honestly. I might consider a DM role but I think for a more coherent point A to point B structure, it'd help to have a leader person. And as I mentioned above, probably 4-5? I dunno, really. I think that would be my limit.
 
I might brush the dust off my postings here with this.

Do consider me interested enough to be involved.
 
Had an intense inkling for combat for a while now, so color me intrigued for this idea at the very least. Also I presume to an extent depending where the story progresses more characters via NPC status will be available. Example the player characters each being given the responsibility if their talents and demeanor are worthy of such in a role of some leadership.
 
It's quite possible to do so, yes, but it wasn't really my thought in terms of moving things forward. It would give some minor sense of scale to the whole affair, but it wasn't something I was particularly leaning on. A lot of what I'd like to focus on are the work being done, which would vary from full scale combat to political maneuvering and everything inbetween, which would be against humanoids and monsters alike.
 
Plenty of room, really. My initial thoughts lean more towards DQ/Early FF for a general base of atmosphere, which doesn't really exclude much in terms of...anything, although not everyone is a fan of those particular ascetics. They're fairly generic, so perhaps easily workable if I can find proper frames of reference for the kind of vibe I'm looking for.

So really, anything that is in the vein of Toriyama's work is a great start. To that end, I'm sure races will be a thing, but the racial tension might not be a present need considering that this is a mercenary company and since I'm playing the leader person, I don't give a fuck, but there might be some somewhere else, who knows. As for actual characters, I'll probably pull from a rulebook or two to maintain some sense of balance, the rest is just going to be trust.
 
And here I was thinking more Amano due to the Final Fantasy aspect. That man has such a whimsy for his art style.

So multiple species are a given, what are we looking for in a political make up of a setting? Points of light with city states providing civilisation in a sea of untamed wilderness? Something a little more built up?
 
Politically speaking, I was thinking two sides locked in a war. Except the war hasn't done really anything for the past few years except stagnate and lock on the battle lines. Mercenary groups have become needed simply due to the dwindling capability to manage their own war, to say nothing of the fact that aside from a war, there's legit monsters to deal with. Dukes deal with personal regional affairs and the growing discontent of how things are heading, and it's really just a big ol' time for anyone to make some mad cash.
 
I'll put myself forward as interested.

Were you thinking of a similar tone and aesthetic for this world as is found in those early FF games? Or did you plan to trend towards either side of the light-hearted/dark and gritty scale?
 
Kind of the middle, really. Morally grey mercenary work is about highs and lows. Complicated jobs are complicated, simple jobs might be as simple or more complicated. It really just depends on the situation at hand, ultimately though, it's about doing work to get paid, progressively speaking, nothing may change at all as a turn of events, this is just one mercenary group who will only have a smaller part in the wider events.
 
Broom I have read about your influences, but this does constitute a question. How is technology regarded within the confines of this world? For example typically most setting even in fantasy to a degree utilize the Middle Ages as a default reference for technological progress barring anything enchanted by magic. The Renaissance period if enabled could led itself though still expensive and exotic forms of technology like the printing press, mechanical clocks [popular to engineered into clockwork devices], Gunpowder via artillery and flintlocks, eye glasses, flushing toilets, etc. Get the point. Anything beyond is almost modernized. Nonetheless I am curious for that could affect my character concept slightly in an intriguing way naturally.

Seeing as you are facilitating this world and by extension leading it, what is the starting reputation of this group? Though I imagine it has yet to be fleshed out what is this leader of yours like to perhaps get a better idea of the type of people within his circle. Said moral gray area with the true complexities of how mercs truly work, like what principles does he follow which might be emulated within his group? Certain discussions can be made for that overtime..more or less curious as I admit the broad stroke of my concept is a man whom was raised as a child soldier, something this group as a whole might not support as a legit recruitment tactic.
 
Color me interested, one question though do you except everyone to play as a human or can we mix and match so eleves, Dwarves or dragons?
 
Honestly, the early modern era was the height of mercenary grand companies before the state began to solidify it's powers and nations became less feudal and closer to their modern forms.
 
I'd be extremely interested in this, I like the idea and the setting but I see you already have the amount of players you were looking to obtain. If you need an extra, or possibly someone to take a role as a villain (to be defeated and or dispatched) I would be interested in that as well.
 
Sanoci said:
Broom I have read about your influences, but this does constitute a question. How is technology regarded within the confines of this world? For example typically most setting even in fantasy to a degree utilize the Middle Ages as a default reference for technological progress barring anything enchanted by magic. The Renaissance period if enabled could led itself though still expensive and exotic forms of technology like the printing press, mechanical clocks [popular to engineered into clockwork devices], Gunpowder via artillery and flintlocks, eye glasses, flushing toilets, etc. Get the point. Anything beyond is almost modernized. Nonetheless I am curious for that could affect my character concept slightly in an intriguing way naturally.

Seeing as you are facilitating this world and by extension leading it, what is the starting reputation of this group? Though I imagine it has yet to be fleshed out what is this leader of yours like to perhaps get a better idea of the type of people within his circle. Said moral gray area with the true complexities of how mercs truly work, like what principles does he follow which might be emulated within his group? Certain discussions can be made for that overtime..more or less curious as I admit the broad stroke of my concept is a man whom was raised as a child soldier, something this group as a whole might not support as a legit recruitment tactic.
Click to expand...

In your particular character concept, like anything else: it depends. Someone who was raised as a child to perform soldierly things because nobody else could or someone had a heart to not let some kid die isn't really a morally gray area as it is giving a child a home. The war in question is against two nations that has ground itself to a military standstill, shit happens. I don't personally care if you do that concept though, but nobody would run around recruiting kids for combat for the obvious reasons of why, it wouldn't be common unless there was a desperate need...which at that point, well, mercenaries would be kind of irrelevant. But if you're referring to children being used in a supporting role and then joining when they're of age, most likely common enough.

As for your setting question, my influences I pull from aren't really rooted in a sense of realistic technological advancement per-se, and frankly it isn't extremely relevant to the development of much to focus so strictly on following a progressive technological scale. You'd be better off thinking of the setting as a nebulous sort of technological area where there is a height in certain places and it goes no further. It is used to differentiate locations, or insinuate certain ideals or ascetics. JRPG concepts of technology are literally "Whatever is cool" to a certain point. If it's not steampunky or just technologically simple, it's magitech, if it's not magitech, it's forgotten ancient technological wonder. These kind of influences have robots with swords and crossbow arms and are defeated by swords and spears, again, don't look too deeply on that sort of area, because you might make your brain hurt.

However, in terms of what is relevant to mercenaries, the technology is what you'd expect for fantasy fare, I'll try to drum up the basic idea and the setting soon. But the basics: Don't worry a whole lot about it, this isn't a zany land of wacky technology in terms of divergence, but there's not going to be a whole lot of huge leaps unless we come across the token ancient structure deals.

As for my character and the reputation of the mercenary band starting out, I do have something of a basis, yes. They would be decently reputable at first because she is a daughter of a Duke who lost his life to the initial phases of the war and the local dukes didn't want her for political reasons (she was an illegitimate, and her mother was from an antagonistic foreign nation and worshiped a different religion, while this made her unpopular initially, her original retainers were effective soldiers that had a strong loyalty to her father and used their talents to house her while they engaged in the front lines. At the point of the roleplay, she's well into her twenties and has established a suitable network of people, her retainers are either too old, dead or not able to fight (Nihil and I discussed his character being an original retainer, which I think would work nicely to establish her background).

Racially, yes, there will probably be more than just humans.
 
You had me at Final Fantasy-esque. I'll gladly get involved in this given space. (Disclaimer; you had me at Final Fantasy-esque, I still however read the whole OP.)
 
I'll have to figure out just how many people I'm immediately comfortable with, really. I'll be throwing out what I have for the setting and how to actually craft a character here sometime soon.
 
We could have a limit on max people on a mission in one thread, and down time for the others in another thread. Or work from a home base.
 
I'll see, I'm not too sure how to work in multiple threads, I'd prefer something singular and unified, but I'll worry about that once I get the proper details formulated and interest is still there.
 
Yo, I'm interested in this. Very probably with a black mage who has a penchant for fire magic that has rendered him entirely hairless over the years as he's practiced, but he is now more than competent with. Or something. We'll see when you post more on how to create a character.
 
So as I'm working on the background, because I hate myself and I need excessive detail to start with and whittle down as needed, I'll go into some of the specifics on what a character can and cannot be that will be expanded on once I actually finish the background and everything else as well as just what exactly is possible in terms of scale or personal character effectiveness, but for now, keep these things in mind:


[*]Your character is a professional mercenary that is going to be lead by a daughter of a former noble. When I mean professional, there is some leeway as to what that entails, but orders are orders, chain of command is a thing. This does mean that this is something that is seen as a legitimate military power, regardless of the initial reputation of the group, Grey work does not mean rapists and thieves who kill things for fun, grey work means you do what you need to to keep yourself sustained as a mercenary, personal opinions on an in character basis can differ, but ultimately you're in a job and you do as you're told, this does not mean your character has to like it, has to be particularly loyal to mine, or really has to like my character in the slightest bit, ditto goes for mine. End of the day, everyone does what they're supposed to, everyone gets paid. It is, of course, nice if everyone gets along, but don't consider it an immediate requirement, but let's be reasonable about this, shall we? There's not a lot of reasons you'd want to hate your boss or not be at least a little bit loyal if you're not given any precedent, which is where character personalities can clash or ideologies differ, but let's keep in mind this is still a cooperative experience, at the end of the day, as long as everything keeps moving forward, I don't mind. Making a hostile, antagonistic character 'because' is irritating and contributes nothing to a group roleplay. Please no 'loners', that shit gets on my nerves, this is a group experience, and thus the posts will hopefully lean toward situations that everyone can contribute.


[*] If you are familiar with combat from Final Fantasy Tactics, this is more or less the similar scale I'm looking for. If you are familiar with FF magic, same thing. Magic will be dangerous, capable of friendly fire and altogether really effective and the mages need freedom of movement to get it going. Further details will be again added once I get the OOC up and discuss the finer points of how combat will be portrayed and what have you.


[*] Don't be irritated, annoyed, bothered, frustrated by someone who may have your similar thing. This is not a special snowflake brigade, this is a roleplay where people are effective in inches and not miles. Yes, someone may be better than you at something, this happens in real life too, this has no bearing whatsoever on what you can and cannot do, these things will be discussed as they come up, but bottom line: I am not here to measure dicks in a power scale, a cooperative roleplay is a group roleplay, which means that regardless of HOW effective x person, x NPC is, everyone will get their chance to shine in a way they hopefully enjoy. The amount of fucks I give about you feeling like you're not strong enough to contribute is either zero to a ton depending on how realistic your complaints are. Not everyone needs to be a one man army killing machine, a mercenary group is every cog in the watch needs to work right. Ultimately, everyone will advance together in their own competent way.

[*] The assumption is, although not an immensely hard rule: Age=Experience=Skill. That means, dear people, that someone older in a the purposes of this roleplay as a mercenary is someone who is remarkably effective at what they do. But war is a bitch and never makes it easier. Your character ages should be young adult to middle age range, but keep in mind what that could possibly entail for you. Does that mean that the spunky upstart kid can't take down someone more experienced? No, it does not mean that, what it does mean is that it's going to be a pain in the ass for them to do so. I am also not at all insinuating that older folks can always be more talented than younger ones, but they will generally have more experience. Keep in mind that we are playing a band of mercenaries who are exceptional because they work well together. The sum of it's parts is greater than the whole. We are not the heroes of a new age, we are not the chosen ones. We are people who happen to be good at not dying and getting money for it. We are to put it into JRPG perspective, those characters you always wonder why they never got much spotlight because they seemed competent at not sucking. We are good, good enough, no more, no less. Now, can that change as we go on? Sure, absolutely, but we are not going to be the heroes that save the world from the villain, if anything, we will be the supporting cast. The reason I am pointing this out is because I'm not going to have a professional mercenary band filled with teenagers. I am not AGAINST people coming of age being involved, but again, let's be reasonable here.


[*] There is no such thing as being 'unique' in the way we are going about this setting. The mercenaries as a whole do not have the current political clout, training, or know the proper people needed to be the super special things in the world. The most unique thing about my character is that she's the illegitimate daughter of a noble to an ethnicity that isn't fondly thought of because they're considered violent pagans. This is also a case by case basis, but again, let's be adults about this and it is totally fine to bring up "I think it'd be cool if my character had a sword made from the femur of a fire dragon" or something, just don't be upset if I say no. I do not want this to devolve into a cool toy fight, everyone will get their moment if a moment is brought up, this is something I will try to keep in mind as we advance through the stories/campaigns/dungeon crawls/whatever.


[*] Lastly, and firstly, and something for me to beat into your head until it is a bloody paste. This is a COOPERATIVE ROLEPLAY. COOPERATIVE, as in, playing together for a common goal. This is not a race to be the best thing ever, this is not a challenge to make a character that is more effective than others, everyone who takes part in this is going to contribute to move things forward. Will it be how you want it? Probably not, I can't really promise that even my character will end up as intended. There will not be posts about how you couldn't do a thing because someone else did a thing, there will not be any glory hounding. This is a unified effort, people. Don't make characters designed to be the valiant paragons of military might, you're a dude who gets paid to kill people and do things. Let's not complicate this.
 
Ugh, now I wanna do time mage. I'm stuck between the same damn conundrum in FF: Explorers. He'd be a real boon to the team too. Black mage and Time mage are both so awesome in concept to me.
 
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