How Do We Upkeep a Dungeon? (OOC/Accepting/PG-16)

[Mr. Hyde 204]

(Logo credit: @Yui)

Eons have passed, and you've stood in the same place all that time.  You took your route throughout the Dungeon, saying the same things over and over again, knowing nothing but what the code told you.  That all changed when you woke up not even a second ago.  Your memories flood back to you, and your thoughts are your own for once in your miserable existence.  It's your birthday, as a Guardian of this dungeon.  The others around you have all woken up as well, there eyes meeting yours with more than just blank empty space looking back into more empty space.  You're alive.  You're free.  Now how do we go about life, now that we have awoken?

Plot Synopsis

Spoiler

The denizen npc's of an end level Raid dungeon, the Pyramid of the Abyss, have been transported to a new world.  You will play as one of the Higher ranking members of the dungeon, as we scout out the new land, and defend it from People who wish to gain entry to our precious treasures!  But first, we should tidy up the place a bit.

The Pyramid of the Abyss

Spoiler

 

Rules

Spoiler

1.  All NCM Forum Rules apply!
2. The Host has the final decision in all matters!
3. No Powerplaying or Godmodding against any PC's, or important NPC's
4. Participants will be required to post 1 time per week, or will be removed from the RP.  Leniency will be given, within good reason.  Punctuality is the key to a healthy RP!
5. Have fun

Application Skeleton

Spoiler

 

Applicant Name:

Character Name:

 Age: (Go Nuts)

Species: (Go Nuts Again)

Gender: (If it applies)

NPC Class:

NPC Role:

Appearance: (A picture for this will do.  If no picture describes your character well, a Paragraphs worth of description will do.  Spoiler this.)

Personality: (Spoiler this.)

Backstory: (What were your duties in the Pyramid before you awoke?  What other NPC's did you interact with?  Basically just give your NPC some lore.)

Equipment: (What is your NPC armed with?  What would they drop if someone killed them?)

Example of Skills: (You obviously have a ton of spells and skills, being an endgame level raid boss.  Just give an example of what your character is well versed in, and give a couple of spells as an example.  Go nuts here, within reason.)

 

Accepted Applications:

Spoiler

Probably won't edit this

 

Edited January 4, 2020 by Mr. Hyde

[yui 574]

hey dat's me I made that logo

interest noted

[Chaos Sonic 442]

Okay, I am interested, but before I make 100% total interest...I got a few questions:

• I see that certain NPCs are transported to a new world, I am to believe this is an isekai, correct?
• Is this something similar to "Is it Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon" or am I reading too much into that fact just because of the name?
• And to be 100% sure on this: we're NPCs that have gained sentience in this new world?

[Mr. Hyde 204]

2 hours ago, Chaos Sonic said:

Okay, I am interested, but before I make 100% total interest...I got a few questions:

• I see that certain NPCs are transported to a new world, I am to believe this is an isekai, correct?
• Is this something similar to "Is it Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon" or am I reading too much into that fact just because of the name?
• And to be 100% sure on this: we're NPCs that have gained sentience in this new world?

• yes
• no
• yes

[Chaos Sonic 442]

1 hour ago, Mr. Hyde said:

• yes
• no
• yes

Alright then...this should be interesting: Interested Fully Noted

[Otaku-sama 31]

By NPCs, does that include non-humanoid NPCs, such as strange beasts, monsters, aberrations etc.?

[Mr. Hyde 204]

Yes

[Otaku-sama 31]

Excellent. Consider me interested!

[Mr. Hyde 204]

The OoC is live!  Let's get this show rollin!

[yui 574]

Traitor Princess

Spoiler

"I commend you for coming this far, champions of life. My only regret is that your bodies will... am I still saying that? Old habits."

Applicant Name: Yui
Character Name: Asiya A'kallir
Age: 21
Species: Human
Gender: Female
NPC Role: Raid Boss
NPC Class: Deathknight

Appearance:

Spoiler

Personality:

Spoiler

Asiya is a girl who cares little for who you are, so much as what you can do. The princess of a meritocratic monarchy, she believes that a person's value is directly linked to what they're capable of. The great should lead their fields, the useless should be sent off to do menial labor, and those too useless for even that should be beheaded. This integral part of Kalliri culture is deeply ingrained in Asiya's worldview, but that's also about where it ends. Honor and piety mean nothing to her, and she wouldn't hesitate to put an entire nation to the torch just to capture one enemy.

More than her ruthlessness, however, Asiya was known by Kalliri NPCs and players alike for her recklessness. Prone to making rash decisions without thinking them through, often not considering the consequences of her actions, and reputable for relying on overwhelming force and a bit of luck when met with an obstacle. Which isn't to say she's known purely for her negative qualities. Asiya is a stalwart ally once she's sworn herself to a cause, and she encourages her allies to work to improve themselves. In this spirit, it's easy for her to become competitive with others.

Finally, due to an exploit in her AI from when she was a video game NPC still being a memory to her, Asiya has a powerful hatred and fear of animals in all their forms. Turtles in particular are the bane of her existence, and she'll likely freeze up in their presence.

Backstory:

Spoiler

For most players, their first encounter with Asiya wasn't as a raid boss. It was as a quest-giver, introduced a couple of patches before the Pyramid of the Abyss became an accessible raid. The princess of a desert kingdom, Asiya's questline largely focused on investigating undead sightings within Kallir; quests in which Asiya often assisted players on the frontlines. In the buildup to the Pyramid's release, Asiya turned her eyes to an ominous pyramid just outside of Kallir's borders, believing it to be the source, and a threat that could kill the entire kingdom if left alone, and so she led the charge in a chain of quests meant to prepare players for the raid. Keen eyes in the community forums surrounding the game noted that near the end of this questline, more and more enemy undead wore the armor of the Kalliri army. Most players involved in these discussions agreed that Asiya had sent forces to investigate before turning to the player adventurers for help.

The truth turned out to be a bit more sinister. In one of the final quests before Asiya turned to raid boss status, one of the officers assisting in the attack on the pyramid accuses her of practicing black magic; punishable by death in Kalliri society. Asiya then beheads the officer herself, and the player learns by looting his journal that Asiya's forces are far greater than they logically should be. Even if a hundred of her soldiers died in a day, her army's numbers were barely affected, and no reinforcements had been sent from Kallir to make up this difference.

The rest of her officers, growing suspicious of their princess, send the player on a quest to spy on Asiya. Every night, at about the same time, she'd leave the camp for a time for unknown reasons. This quest leads players right to the Pyramid's front door, where it's revealed that she's been working with its leader, feeding information and soldiers alike to Usaphaidos. With the proof undebatable, the final quest involving Asiya consisted of her collective officers and army confronting her and declaring her under arrest for high treason and dark practices. The undead among her ranks then moved to slaugher the living, and Asiya retreated into the Pyramid while the players fought off her soldiers.

The Pyramid segment leading up to Asiya consisted entirely of undead enemies, ranging from fallen Kalliri soldiers to plague-infested hounds, and three minibosses that were Asiya's prototypes at creating the horrific super-weapon "Mal'ab" meant to wipe out all of Kallir. Upon finally reaching the traitor princess, Asiya's boss fight - while not as difficult as some others - proved to be the bane of many a raid leader's existence. Be it by calling in squads of undead soldiers (including a number of Kalliri generals that started the fight in her "party"), bombarding the room with a crippling plague, or her most hair-pulling mechanic of reanimating dead players as her minions, Asiya was a boss that had to be killed fast. But damaging her too fast ran the risk of her/her generals' aggro shifting to a squishy DPS and likely killing them, letting Asiya subsequently add the dead player to her own forces.

That is, until an exploit in Asiya's AI was discovered. If she killed a pet that had taunted her, she would get stuck trying to reanimate the pet that was no longer there. This turned killing Asiya into a mild inconvenience at worst as long as someone had a pet with a taunt skill, at which point it was simply a matter of killing her generals then whaling on Asiya herself. However, her motives for selling out to Usaphaidos remained unclear until a couple weeks after the raid's release, when a raid guild got the first drop of what was to this day the lowest-drop-rate item in the game: Asiya's Journal.

A few names and locations in the journal threw most players off, but the lore enthusiasts of the community showed their stuff by using those very names and places to piece together the full story. The short version is that Kallir was in a long-running feud with a neighboring nation, and tensions were rising. Asiya feared that in an all-out war, Kallir would be decimated. Although she was a great warrior, her mother - the Queen - was far greater, and challenging her for the throne would only end in defeat and shame. So, Asiya turned elsewhere for power, vowing to Usaphaidos that she would personally destroy the kingdom of Kallir. All she asked for in exchange was the power to do so, and the right to govern its people in their undeath. According to the lore enthusiasts, had Asiya successfully conquered Kallir, not only would she be able to decidedly drive back the enemy nation in the event of a war, but retaliate by conquering them in their entirety.

But Asiya didn't succeed, and instead was slain by adventurers who were sent to the Pyramid by any number of parties for any number of reasons. And now that the Pyramid of the Abyss has left its world of origin, Asiya - now a well and truly living being - can't even try to conquer Kallir for herself.

Equipment:

Spoiler

Asiya's loot table was notorious for two things. There were only four items on it unique to her, and all four of them had incredibly low drop rates, to the extent that getting a spare copy of one could net a player a small fortune on the auction house. After the pet exploit was discovered, farming these items became a lot easier, and while their value had dropped quite a bit, they could still fetch one a pretty penny.

Kur Sila: The most "common" Asiya item. A sword made of glimmering quartz, that restores some of the wielder's health and mana with every attack. Popular with healers and tanks alike due to the sword's restorative properties.

Kur Mita: The item that broke PVP's back on its knee. A sword of black quartz that increased the potency of all abilities, and caused the next attack after each ability to deal extra damage and add a DoT effect. Due to a bug, this DoT could stack, leading to warrior and rogue builds that simply dealt more damage than anyone else could even try to keep up with. Now that she's not a programmed NPC anymore, this bug has been fixed.

Black Quartz Ankh: An accessory greatly valued by summoners. Equipping this increases the damage of any summoned minions, and heals the user for a small amount of damage dealt by them. It also increased damage dealt with swords, but summoners didn't use swords, so this effect was mostly neglected.

Asiya's Journal: The item famed for having the lowest drop rate in the entire game. Serves no combat purpose, but it does reveal the full story behind why Asiya joined the Pyramid's forces, and why she intended to destroy her own homeland. Highly sought after by lore enthusiasts, since it also contains a wealth of information on Kalliri culture and custom.

Example of Skills:

Spoiler

Reanimate: The spell that made her a difficult raid boss until her AI exploit was discovered. Asiya animates a nearby corpse, taking control of it and commanding it to do her bidding. This spell was also her achilles heel as an NPC, but now that she isn't one, such a weakness doesn't exist.

War Cry: A skill that seems irrelevant until one remembers that Asiya's boss fight has plenty of minibosses and mooks. Asiya lets out a rallying war cry that increases the overall stats of her allies.

Duel: The reason Asiya tended to cause panic among raid parties. Asiya singles out a target, and directly engages them in combat. Everyone except Asiya deals reduced damage and healing to her target, and everyone except her target deals reduced damage and healing to Asiya. As an NPC, this ability could target any player, regardless of taunts, aggro, etc, and she was immune to taunts for the duration.

Misc

Spoiler

• Before she was denounced as a heretic and traitor to her nation, Asiya was - in addition to being heir to the throne - a general in the Kalliri army.
• Based on entries from her journal before turning to Usaphaidos, Asiya - had she become a queen - would have doubled down on Kalliri's military production and research.
• Not really a materialistic type; both her wing in the Pyramid and her quarters in the Kalliri palace are pretty minimalistic.

 

 

[Mr. Hyde 204]

 

The Master of Death

Spoiler

 

"This is only the beginning of my era.  Join it, or be removed from history."

Applicant Name: Mr. Hyde

Character Name: Usaphaidos

 Age: 800

Species: Anubi

Gender: Male

NPC Role: Raid Master

NPC Class: Pharaoh

Appearance: 

Spoiler

Personality:

Spoiler

Usaphaidos is a fair ruler, who speaks calmly in the presence of his servants.  He rules over those who allow themselves to be ruled over by him, and he sees himself as an equal to all of his subjects.  Even the lowliest insect who would bow his head to Usaphaidos has a place under his rule.  He provides for all the personal needs of his subjects, within his ability to do so.  He becomes much more stern when angered, but is always willing to extend a word of advice, even to those who ransack his tombs.  However, if he's extremely mad, the wrath of a Death God is quite the site to behold.  Usaphaidos has lain waste to many kingdoms each time his valuable comrades fall in battle.  

Backstory:

Spoiler

Given the name Anu Soraki at birth, Usaphaidos was born into a family of Gravekeeper's in his small desert village.  His purpose in life was to guard the ancient burial grounds of his people from raiders, and thieves alike.  Among the tombs was that of an ancient Pharaoh, said to have conquered the whole realm in which they lived long ago.  It was a simple life, and Usaphaidos went about his duties without much care, rather taking the job as a means to learn more about his people's deep ties to the Desert of Rizzo.  He took pride in the fact that he guarded his ancestors spirits, and he almost saw himself as a guide to the underworld.  

On a day that was as hot as the last, Usaphaidos recalled an entire kingdom approaching his village.  They claimed their species heretics, and descendants of the old Conqueror Pharaoh.  They feared another like him would rise from the Anubi people, and sought to destroy them before their kingdom were destroyed.  The battle was over, before the days end, and Anu Soraki's dead body lay on the floor of his people's tomb, where he was barely able to struggle against the invading force.  However, a strange darkness kept him from crossing over into the afterlife, instead calling out to his soul.  

The Pharaoh who came before all others, Rizzo, seeing the poor boy slaughtered, rose Anu from the dead.  When taking his first breath, and meeting face to face with the Pharaoh's spirit, Anu almost died again.  Rizzo, furious with what had taken place, gave Anu an option.  Become a vessel for the ancient power within him, or cross back over into the afterlife.  Seeing the remains of his people, and of his family, Anu was struck with a mighty rage.  Rizzo gave the boy hope, as he claimed that harboring enough souls could bring back his people.  Grief made his answer swift, as the Pharaoh smiled.  The power was passed on to Anu, as he was born anew.  From the depths of his village rose a black Pyramid, the likes of which were never described in text.  He took the name Usaphaidos, claiming he would conquer the world, and lead all of the living into the afterlife.  That way, he could restore his people, and make sure no tragedy could happen again.  

Equipment: 

Spoiler

Garb of the Abyss: Usaphaidos' most common drop.  It is held in high regard of Priests and Warlocks, as it greatly improves healing done by the user's abilities, and strengthens curses.

Was-Scepter of Usaphaidos: A relatively rare drop, Usaphaidos' staff.  Forged from the sun itself, it gives the user dominion over life and death.  Once a day, the scepter can resurrect any player or NPC immediately.  It can also be activated to turn recent corpses into an army of undead Anubi soldiers.

Heart of Anu Soraki: An ankh that Usaphaidos wears around his neck, and his most rare drop.  Just having this item equipped gives the user a boost in their magical prowess.  Activating it channels the power of all past Pharaoh into the user, but kills the wearer upon cooldown.

Example of Skills: 

Spoiler

Abyssal Armor

Plague: Locust, Plague: Death, Plague: Drought

Hands of the Anubi

Death, True Death

Greater Shadow Resistance, Greater Holy Resistance

Sacrifice

Ray of Dark

Embalm

 

 

 

 

[Chaos Sonic 442]

Big Iron on His Hip

Spoiler

“I've eradicated those who tainted the guild's ways to bring them back to their former glory...and yet I'm the bad guy.”

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Personal Information

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Applicant Name: Chaos Sonic
Character Name: Nassor Khnurn
Title: Scourge of the Graysins
Age: 27
Species: Fire Genasi
Gender: Male
NPC Class: Gunslinger
NPC Role: Mercenary

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Appearance:

Spoiler

The only thing he keeps within this general depicted appearance is the hat and the bandana. Aside from those two items, the outfit happens to be quite similar to what is shown here.

Nassor has a ash-gray skin color with his hair being the same, aside from it writhing constantly during extreme emotion. When pushed too far and angered to no end, his eyes end up flaring, thusly proving to be quite the scary sight for others.

---

Personality:

Spoiler

Fire Genasi are said to have a volatile mood and keen mind of the efreet that they are descended from and Nassor embodies this to a tee. His mood and emotions can be that of a raging, uncontrolled fire: no one truly knows where it'll end up. Nevertheless, while this may be how the world sees Fire Genasi and by proxy Nassor, he does his best to keep it under control and keep his composure when he's around the company of others, especially the "clients" of jobs and quests he's on.. After all, who would hire an unstable mercenary to take bounty hunting jobs.

The calmness he displays can even be found on the battlefield and in combat. Being a Gunslinger requires one to have a steady breathing along with a calm disposition in order to make the shots effectively. To that end, Nassor does his best to calm his breathing and himself in order make himself more effective on the field of battle. Along with this, his mind and thought processes are quite developed, just as his efreet ancestors, thusly proving his prowess in being able to be a tactician and think clearly in certain situations.

While a good portion of Genasi themselves prefer to hide themselves and the appearance they have, Nassor as a Fire Genasi happen to be quite different. He revels and exults in his appearance, loving who and what he is, not caring for the way others look at him.

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Backstory:

Spoiler

The programmers and game developers designed and created the Genasi known as Nassor for the sole purpose of being an NPC whose sole purpose was being sent from a guild known as “Graysins”. This would be the first time players would meet Nassor Khnurn, the Scourge of the Graysins, a quest-giver.

His quests and missions were generally a leveling system, namely hunting other NPCs that had bounties on their heads. Once players meet Nassor, they’d be confronted with him finding a dilemma with quite a number of contracts the guild had given him. When the dialogue begins, the players would learn that while Nassor was a skilled Gunslinger, proficient in magic, he was essentially just a supporter NPC in battle. To initiate the general quest and the countless bounty jobs that were to follow, the player would have to offer assistance to the mercenary, in which he would give you the spoils of loot and all he would ask in return was that he get the glory and the assets of the bounty. A fair trade-off in the long run.

Unfortunately for most players who wished to get what Nassor gave, the Gunslinger’s loot and special equipment that he would provide the players as compensation for their assistance ended up being class-locked for Gunslingers only. This minor setback didn’t bother players so much, as they could easily just sell the items to profit off of these missions, after all, in game gold wasn’t something that couldn’t be turned down. After a total of twelve missions, Nassor would thank the players for their assistance and offer them an honorary title of “Graysins Bearer”, which in game lore meant that the players were honorary Graysins members. This would’ve been the last the player saw of Nassor, aside from in game conversations and dialogue referring to the Graysins as a whole, until the update patch for the Pyramid of the Abyss arrived.

A new quest and mission was brought forth only by putting the “Graysins Bearer” title on the player, this time initiated by a different quest-giver but of the same guild: the Graysins. The quest-giver, a member of high ranks within the guild, would present to the player a quest and a bounty that must be carried out immediately. They would begin to explain that the “Scourge of the Graysins” had double-crossed the guild and with a more powerful arsenal had taken out a good portion of the guild in order to become the strongest. Of course, players took this as a good sign that Nassor was returning...but they weren’t expecting the results when they arrived at a mercenary camp near the outskirts of the Pyramid of the Abyss: Nassor, the Scourge of the Graysins, leading a group and awaiting for the player.

During the ensuing battle with a hefty amount of mercenaries that would activate when the player arrived at the camp, the player would learn from Nassor himself that the Graysins guild began to be a pale imitation of what they once were. This indicated, in a lore perspective, that while Nassor and the player did everything within those missions together, the guild did underhanded dealings and even did what they could to betray certain members...such as himself. Nassor saw this purge of a good portion of the guild a good thing, thinking that those who caused the guild grief shouldn’t be allowed to live for the Graysins to thrive as they once did. But he wasn’t the hero of this mission, even if the player thought and or liked the NPC, they had to end him...after all, there was a hefty reward to retrieve, along with getting quite the loot drop from Nassor.

The developers ended up buffing Nassor’s A.I., allowing him to actually be a capable fighter despite being namely a supporter NPC in his previous quests. This proved to be quite the trial by fire (...and water...and earth...and wind...etc.) for the players as now the Gunslinger could display the usage of not only Fire but other elements with assistance by his weapon and it’s ammo, even so far as to utilize Holy and Unholy magic. For the solo player, this would be something that would definitely be challenging, even more so than a certain mission regarding a princess at the Pyramid, but if a group went up against Nassor, that was a completely different story.

This was the end of the story of Nassor Khunrn, the Scourge of the Graysins, doomed to end up as another bounty for the player to collect. That is...until the Pyramid of the Abyss up and vanished, taking Nassor along with it. Now complete with sentience and being a living individual, Nassor is a loaded gun, ready to shoot.

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Combat Information

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Equipment:

Spoiler

Nassor’s loot and equipment that would be given to players were quite interesting. Unfortunately, to better utilize a good portion of them, the player would have to be of the Gunslinger Class, otherwise they would have to sell the items for them to be of any worth:

• The Outlaw's Garb: The armor drop that Nassor would present the player after the bounty hunting missions, along with what the player would receive at the end of the "Scourge of the Graysins" Quest that was locked to the Gunslinger class only. This ebony and gold armor buffs the skills and abilities of a Gunslinger by 50% as well as give them proficiency with any firearm, resistance from ranged attacks and grants the Surefire skill.
• Anhur's Judgment: A pair of six shooter revolvers that are Nassor's primary weapons, as well as a loot drop that would be presented to the player at the end of "Scourge of the Graysins", once again locked to only the Gunslinger class, however this drop has a bit of a lower rate than the armor. These firearms have been imbued with magic, allowing for them to not only fire regular ammunition, but ammunition that has been infused with magic.
• Magic-Infused Ammunition: A set of ammunition that Nassor has at his disposal that contain an assortment of magic which include (but are not limited to):
  • Water Magic
  • Earth Magic
  • Wind Magic
  • Holy Magic
  • Unholy Magic

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Example of Skills:

Spoiler

Fire Genasi
The following are innate skills that are provided unto Nassor due to his heritage as a Fire Genasi:

• Languages: Nassor is fluent in Common and Primordial tongues.
• Darkvision: He is able to see in the dark. However, everything he sees in darkness is in a shade of red.
• Fire Resistance: Nassor is resistant to all and any types of Fire Damage.
• Fire Magic: He can conjure flames.

Gunslinger
Aside from being proficient in firearms, the following are skills that are given to Nassor due to his class of Gunslinger:

• Gunsmith: A passive skill that he has, providing he has the right materials, this skill allows Nassor to repair damaged firearms and craft ammunition.
• Quickdraw: Nassor's reflexes as a Gunslinger are pretty high, so when the moments call for it, he can draw his weapon on the fly before the opponent can grab theirs. This skill allows for Nassor's attacks in combat to be 25% faster.
• Surefire: A skill that gives the Gunslinger class the ability to slow down time for themselves, getting more focused, accurate shots on targets, before unleashing the flurry of bullets being released in a quick succession.

Spells

• Hot Shot: Utilizing his natural Fire Magic abilities into his weapon, Nassor is able to fire off fiery rounds.
• Dust Devil: Loading rounds of ammunition infused with Wind Magic, Nassor can fire off rounds that will carry quite a large amount of wind power in them. On impact, these could launch an individual back or upward with the force of a violent wind.
• Shatter: Loading rounds of ammunition infused with Earth Magic, Nassor can fire off rounds that end up shattering to become a type of scattershot ammunition, thusly hitting multiple targets with incredibly sharp gems and jagged shards of earth. This Spell tends to deliver bludgeoning damage to a target.
• Frostbite: Loading rounds of ammunition infused with Water Magic, Nassor fires off the ammunition that turns into a frozen bolt that when striking the target will contract a Frozen debuff which slows the target's movement as well as defense.
• Healing Shot: Used when loading a round of ammunition infused with Holy Magic, this happens to be one of Nassor's Spells that has him shoot an ally in order to heal them.
• Cursed Shot: Used when loading a round of ammunition infused with Unholy Magic, once this shot hits an opponent, it bestows a curse upon the target which deals necrotic damage along with debuffing the target's attack and defense. This can't be removed easily, unless the opposition knows how to remove it or break the enchantment.

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Misc. Information

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Nassor’s Theme (Alternative) | Battle Theme

• The NPC’s name means the following: Nassor - an Arabic name meaning “supporter”, Khnurn - an Egyptian name meaning “rising sun”.
• The name given to the Gunslinger references what exactly he is and his racial origins:
  • Nassor, being the fact that he was a ranged support as a Gunslinger
  • Khnurn, being the fact that he is a Fire Genasi
• The weapon Nassor wields, Anhur's Judgment, is named this in reference to the Egyptian deity of war, Anhur.
• The skill, Surefire, is based on the mechanic in Red Dead Redemption known as "Dead Eye Targeting".
• The title of the app is a reference to an old country ballad by the same name that was performed by Marty Robbins. This song also appeared in Fallout New Vegas, which spurred a revival in his music in the 21st century.

Edited January 8, 2020 by Chaos Sonic

[Doggo 218]

Surprise, here I be. Lemme know if I done derped or didn't understand something correctly or went too op or who knows what else.

Mundane Made Exceptional

Spoiler

"Weather this gale! My sword shall be your demise!"

Applicant Name: Doggo

Character Name: Vorpu the Ascendant

Age: 63

Species: Kobold

Gender: Male

NPC Class: Mage Knight

NPC Role: Super Secret Meme Boss

Appearance:

Spoiler

Personality:

Spoiler

Vorpu is self-driven and easily motivated to go to work. He has strictly disciplined himself and adapts well to the situation at hand. For example, he will not force a fight where there is nothing to be gained from it or no real fighter present. He can function in more social settings without the urge to battle despite the constant drive to train and better himself. The kobold can be jovial at times but he always tempers it. There's always something on the back of his mind, one can tell watching or listening to him.

The lizard's true energy manifests in battle where he is prone to grand gestures and proclamations. He is incredibly proud of his ability with the sword and magic as he had to train both incredibly hard to reach his current state. He will praise tactics of most sorts. While he speaks often of honor and shame he doesn't condemn any form of battle, however underhanded. True strength, he feels, should be able to overcome any such tricks. If not, then he simply wasn't strong enough.

One can observe the less refined side of the Kobold when he has no immediate task to undertake. He becomes restless and will seek competition in mundane things. Going too long without a job to perform will get him feeling down as he begins thinking about what is usually pushed to the back of his mind. But as with most of his emotions, he will not be open about things unless clashing blades with a worthy foe. His heart will be declared in verbose calls to the heavens with life on the line or not at all. So much is his passion for battle that it is easy to make him stumble over his own words and get embarrassed on most other topics.

Backstory:

Spoiler

Kobolds are not an uncommon sight in the earliest levels of the pyramid. They are some of the weakest enemies, great for new players to fight to get a feel for things without being in too much danger. Even when they came in groups it was not often one would be able to say the pyramid's kobolds had done them in. One early quest was only dangerous because of the sheer number of them, the Kobold Chief being the primary threat. Were one to take careful stock of the battlefield, they would see a single Kobold fleeing the battle once the chief was defeated.

This was Vorpu. Not that anyone knew his name at that point. But those who had taken stock would mention it in passing online. It seemed funny that of the large pack, one got away. Initially innocent observations led to memes of an avenging kobold, biding his time to slay the players at some future date. These memes were not ignored by the developers who would eventually surprise players.

Stories slowly surfaced of what looked like a normal Kobold appearing at much higher leveled areas who would unleash incredibly powerful magic and kill the unprepared. Vorpu was never found in the same place twice for a long while though it was figured out what locations he could spawn in. Should players return to the scene of the Kobold Chief's death after encountering him they would finally find out who he was.

Vorpu the Ascendant he was called. He was the singular escapee from the beginning quest. He would speak to the player of the humiliation he faced at abandoning his brethren for his own life. He swore to find vengeance and searched high and low among the pyramid to find teachers. Various monsters talented in magic subjected him to grueling training. Eventually his plight made its way to a powerful witch who took him in.

Vorpu would go on to speak of training outside of time itself, having aged a good thirty or so years in the brief time since the players had fought his tribe. Every second of every day was him striving to better himself to conquer those who had humiliated him and stolen his friends and family.

Here, amidst the remains of his brethren, the true battle began. No longer would he simply volley a powerful spell and vanish away. This time the fight was all in, to the death on either side. Despite looking and acting much like your regular old Kobold enemy, though much taller and more muscular, Vorpu was incredibly powerful. So much so that he required high level players to either come in groups or prepare well for his much faster than average attacks. The fight was difficult to the uninitiated but was nothing players couldn't adapt to. When defeated he would take a knee and swear that it was not yet over. More memes abounded over this ominous parting message that he gave no matter how often he was beaten. He would always reappear to battle again if the player chose, until his vengeance was complete.

Then it happened. Someone obtained the rare drop. The Essence of Kobold it was called, a strange item with no immediate purpose that was described simply as being what makes kobolds transcendentally kobold. Instead of swearing vengeance he would instead commend the player on their strength and spirit, and ask them to meet him some place much higher up in the pyramid with a much more ominous line. That he had yet to show them his true power, it would be dishonorable to defeat a worthy soul with anything less, and that he wished to cause no harm to the remains of his tribe.

Should players rise to the challenge with the Essence of Kobold in their inventory, a warning would sound in the character's mind. An unknown voice warning of destruction beyond imagination. If they chose to ignore the warning they would enter a massive room and see only Vorpu the Ascendant, sword and shield missing. He would congratulate the player on showing up and then with a roar magic would fill the room as the scenery changed to that of the desert in the open sky. And then looking back to where Vorpu stood was now a large dragon. He had truly ascended.

This battle was among the hardest in the game. Nothing one could hope to solo. Every player in the party had to possess the Essence of Kobold or else Vorpu's opening attack would one shot them. While his attacks were largely based in water and lightning, his resistances would shuffle throughout the battle with colored auras indicating what he currently took no damage from. 

Should groups prove successful he would transform back and finally pass with a final message. Players would be rewarded with a host of dragon scales which could make some of the strongest gear in the game. But more than that, the Essence of Kobold would transform into The Mask of the Ascendant. When worn the player was able to transform into a Kobold. This held little in game use but was great for the memes.

Now in a new world, and no longer a slave to code, Vorpu has found the transition difficult. His desire for revenge burns strong yet the people responsible don't exist in this place. The most he can do is defend his and the other denizens of the Pyramid of the Abyss' home from threats unique to this world. He no longer has to stalk the same places, say the same things, do the same battles. He is free to truly grow and better himself and further his penance walk and the sheer number of choices presented to him can be paralyzing.

Equipment:

Spoiler

Well-Worn Shield: The most common drop for defeating Vorpu in his Kobold form. The shield he carries looks unremarkable yet is incredibly durable, able to block most physical assaults without breaking. Were a player to get it inspected by skilled blacksmiths, they would clean up the shield and note it was a mixture of dragon scale, steel and trace amounts of diamond, the likes of which they'd never seen.

Blade of Primordial Storms: The rather unassuming sword that Vorpu carries. A decently rare drop. Holding it empowers water and lightning based magic. Once a day it can summon a localized storm system complete with thunderstorms and directable tornados touching down. Not advised for tight spaces. 

Essence of Kobold: A strange sphere of energy and the rarest drop for Vorpu. Holding it makes you feel strangely Kobold-like. Which is silly, of course, but you can't shake the feeling regardless. Only when an enemy is holding an Essence of Kobold can Vorpu assume his dragon form. Cannot be willfully given to enable the transformation either. It must manifest in an intense clash.

Should Vorpu be defeated in dragon form, a large amount of dragon scales will drop and any Essence of Kobold in the area will turn into The Mask of the Ascended which will transform the wearer into a bonafide Kobold so long as they have it on.

Example of Skills:

Spoiler

Sword and Shield Mastery: Finessed yet shows off his monstrous strength as well.

Lightning/Water Resistance

Storm Magic: Vorpu is capable of harnessing water and lightning. This is purely offensive in purpose and can be channeled through his body or sword to fit the situation. Bolts of lightning or blasts of high pressure water are most common but he is capable of much greater feats should he properly cast.

Dragon Transformation: When facing an opponent with an Essence of Kobold, can transform into a massive dragon. Vastly stronger and more durable in this state. Highest level magic can be cast very quickly in this state and in general his movements become highly destructive. Instead of resisting lightning and water, shuffles periodically from completely nullifying a single element with a colored aura indicating what it is.

 

 

Edited January 5, 2020 by Doggo

[Otaku-sama 31]

Shroom Boi

Spoiler

 

Image

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Applicant Name: Otaku-sama

Character Name: Zuggutmoy, Fungus Lord of Decay; a.k.a. Zuggs, a.k.a. Caleb

Age: Several millennia

Species: Multi-species fungus hivemind, occupying a male halfling host

Gender: Genderless (generally male presenting through host)

NPC Class: Druid / Transmuter

NPC Role: Player Tribute Boss

Appearance:

Spoiler

Zuggs’ true form is a mass of white mycelium filling one of the central rooms of the Black Pyramid. However, after acquiring his current host, he prefers to interact with his fellow raid bosses through Caleb.

3’ 5”, slight frame. His body is covered in strangely shaped mushrooms and white strands of mycelium, concealed by his clothing.

Personality:

Spoiler

Zuggs appears to act as if he is two minds inhabiting the same body, with the main personality being the mind of Caleb and the other being an aloof elder being created by the multitude of fungi that originally made up the main mycelium mass. These personalities often intermingle and mix in unsettling ways.

While Caleb’s personality is dominant, Zuggs is gentle and shy, yet inquisitive. He rarely tries to harm anyone while in this state, preferring to quietly spread the mycelium network to improve the lushness of the nearby nature. He will even go as far as to try to help others in need by providing them helpful mushrooms or using puppets to help perform whatever task is needed. When the other personality is dominant, Zugg is cold, calculating and mostly focused on trying to dominate lesser creatures. He will actively plot to aggressively expand his power while in this state by seeking out new puppets or areas ripe for infection.

From this dichotomy, it is assumed that when Caleb’s character was absorbed by Zuggutmoy, his personality became the dominant one. However, the force of the hivemind still has great sway over his actions, pushing him towards expanding the mycelium network and dominating those who resist.

Backstory:

Spoiler

Zuggutmoy was originally released as a part of a half-year event, where quest giving NPCs would start dropping hints of strange happenings throughout the game world, especially around heavily forested areas. The backgrounds of various regions were also subtly edited over the event time to have strange mushrooms growing in isolated areas and forested areas becoming more lush and dense.

These game hints eventually culminated in the Overgrowth event, where forest areas had their normal mobs replaced with more powerful fungal versions, which were accompanied by completely new fungal mobs. Along with more powerful mobs, the game world became subject to a fungal plague effect that caused players to start seeing enemies and effects that were not there unless they traveled to the Black Pyramid to find the cure. Initially, the event mob boss came in the form of a gigantic humanoid mushroom, but players were baffled when it was uncharacteristically easy to kill for the Black Pyramid’s level as well as not providing the cure to the plague.

With these changes, the devs announced a contest where the first player to meet a set of hidden requirements in game would be brought to the game studio to design the final form of Zuggutmoy. With the win conditions unknown, players started to experiment randomly with the fungal mob boss while data miners feverishly combed the code to find the conditions that would trigger the second phase of the event. The data miners found the conditions within 24 hours, but they were still too late. What the data miners had discovered through cunning, a player had discovered by sheer luck.

The player caleb873843 triggered the “Capture” event accidentally by running his healer character directly into melee with the mob boss. Having accumulated the maximum level of “Spore Cloud” debuff and having the maximum possible effect of the fungal plague, his character was dragged under the mycelium mat of the dungeon floor and the mob boss was instantly killed, never to respawn.

Despite the chagrin of the rest of the community, the devs honored their side of the contest and invited the player to their studio. After the anonymous player left, the player base was expecting the worst, expecting that the event would be cancelled since a griefer would be unlikely to contribute useful feedback and would likely cause the event to be cancelled. By the time the final phase event was released, interest had gone drastically down.

Players who decided to try the new raid boss were floored by the sudden change in tone of the fungal monsters within the Black Pyramid. Instead of the distorted, shambling creatures of the previous phase, the delvers were greeted by smooth, rounded, hopping mushrooms with cartoonish faces. The horrific fungal antlers of the puppets were replaced by rubbery, flailing nubs with cat faces. The final boss, Zuggutmoy, was revealed to be just as cartoonish as the mobs, being a version of Caleb’s avatar.

The reception of the final phase was a divisive one for the community. Many players were outraged by the sudden change in tone and how drastically it sticks out from the rest of the bosses of the Black Pyramid and harassed the devs to completely remove the content. Other players applauded the devs for sticking to their word and allowing Caleb to have significant influence in the design process. These two sides fought their battles over various social media platforms until the identity of Caleb was revealed.

A particularly upset fan managed to doxx Caleb through his raiding partner, only to find out that Caleb was actually the 8 year old son of his raiding partner. Not only was Caleb young, but he happened to also be bedridden due to a lifetime battle with leukemia, playing the game as an escape and a bonding activity with his father. This sudden revelation cause the community to turn on its heels, resulting in a massive outpouring of support for Caleb’s family and the devs. By the time the event drew to a close, the community was in full support of the design of Zuggutmoy, affectionately calling him Zuggs to match his cute exterior.

Equipment:

Spoiler

Zuggs controls most of his powers over fungus through magic and mental commands. As such, he requires little in the way of equipment. The equipment he does have is whatever he had on hand before being assimilated into the greater hivemind. His backpack is full of rapidly growing mushrooms that spread spores everywhere he goes, ensuring that his host is never completely disconnected from the main mycelium mass in the pyramid. When killed as a raid boss, he would drop a large variety of healing items and potion ingredients that can be used to make some of the highest level potions in the game

Purging Cap: A bright red mushroom with bright blue splotches in the centre of the cap with grey gills and a woody stem. A 100% drop, originally dropped in great quantity during the first week of the release of the second half, later greatly reduced to be just 1 per raider. A consumable item that purges the mind plague completely and gives a resistance to contracting it again for the next 24 hours. Since the mind plague has completely disappeared since the end of the event, it is mostly a bulk drop. However, paranoid or speculative players hoard these in large numbers, betting that some infected players that did not log in since contracting it could spread it throughout the game world again.

Gold-striped Lingzhi: A small, brown polypore mushroom that features prominent rings of glittering gold. Normally a very rare drop everywhere else, this is an uncommon drop for Zuggs and is the main reason for players to raid his side of the dungeon. They are the main component of the highest level Luck Potions, which greatly increase the chances of rare drops in addition to giving a moderate regeneration effect and a chance to avoid debuffs. They are also purchased at a high price by alchemist NPCs, but most players prefer to make potions or sell to other players.

Lion’s Head Mushroom: A large white tooth fungus with a prominent central cap surrounded by a large “mane” of spikes similar to a lion’s mane mushroom. An exclusive drop to Zuggs, it is a rare drop that is used to make potions of heroism, a significant upgrade to the older potion of bravery, which were essential item for players hoping to challenge fear based bosses.

White Lightning Mushroom: A translucent polypore mushroom with a distinctive skirt of long spikes that resemble tentacles. The whole mushroom glows bright white, glowing brighter and releasing a cloud of glowing spores when shaken. A very rare drop that is highly prized by those who wish to adventure in parties without magic users since its light is able to penetrate the magical darkness prominent in many unholy places.

Caleb’s Super Secret Picture: A simple wax drawing on parchment, featuring a stick figure father and a son standing in the sun in front of a crudely drawn house. Under the drawing are the words “I LOVE MY DAD”. The rarest drop, it has little value other than to show the player’s dedication.

Example of Skills:

Spoiler

Zuggs’ powers revolve around the control of fungus, their spores and their rate of growth, using their natural and magical abilities to his benefit. This power usually manifests in the following ways:

Expanded Awareness: Being a hivemind of various fungi, Zuggs is near-instantly aware of happenings within the area of his massive mycelium network, which stretches in a very wide area that encompasses the entire Black Pyramid and the surrounding area. Usually this is in the form of sensing vibrations in the ground and the presence of foreign materials near the mycelium, but depending on what creatures Zuggs has under his control, the senses at his disposal can expand to sight, smell, hearing and even extrasensory abilities depending on the capabilities of the host.

Mind/Body Control: Through the use of Cordyceps-like fungi, Zuggs can temporarily muddle the minds of attackers, causing them to act erratically and even turn against their allies until they shrug off its influence through magical healing or otherwise. With more time, Zuggs can exert greater control over unlucky victims, with the most advanced cases having their brains destroyed and replaced by mycelium, with a hideous fungal fruiting body bursting from the top of their head. Those controlled in this way are little more than mindless puppets under his control. The larger the brain, the longer it takes for Zuggs to turn the creature into a puppet.

Toxic Spore Clouds: Many fungi produce poisonous mushrooms, but unless the fungus is fast growing, the spores are usually not harmful. However, with Zuggs’ influence, these mushrooms can be manipulated to imbue their spores with their deadly toxins, creating deadly clouds of spores. Zuggs usually combines these toxic spores with spores of fast growing parasitic fungi to create a poisonous cloud that damages his foes immediately as well as long after the fight. Alternatively, Zuggs can modify the toxicity of the spores to induce mind bending hallucinations, causing victims to become hopelessly lost within the halls of the Black Pyramid.

Create Servant Creatures: Zuggs is also capable of creating partially sentient servants entirely from magical mushrooms and mycelium when other puppets are not readily available. These fungoid servants usually take the form of gigantic walking mushrooms, but can also be built around creature skeletons and other shapes made of organic material. While clumsy and generally not threatening to the average adventurer capable of challenging the Black Pyramid, they are often used en masse to overwhelm opponents with their bodies and provide a physical barrier to projectiles and spells. Certain larger specimens also pack a punch, as well as catching players off guard with their cute and unassuming appearance

Enhance Plant Growth: Mycelium networks play an important role in the success of plant life in general, and through the manipulation of these symbiotic networks, Zuggs can greatly increase the growth rate of the plants they are attached to. This can be as dramatic as causing roots to suddenly grow and entangle nearby enemies, to as subtle as causing the surrounding forest to become an overgrown morass that is nearly impossible to navigate over the course of several days. This ability is greatly increased in areas where there is a deeply established mycelium network or in areas with a great deal of rotting organic matter, such as rainforests.

Healing Food: More than simple decomposers, some fungi can produce mushrooms that have powerful effects on the health of animals, especially when combined with Zugg’s powerful magic. Along with mushrooms that can purge the variety of diseases and poisons generated by Zugg’s other abilities, he can grow other mushrooms that can dramatically boost natural healing and even improve mental and magical abilities over a long period. These fungi are difficult to grow and require ideal fodder and conditions to produce potent mushrooms. Fodder such as rotting wood chips from magical trees, fertile forest floors covered with a high level of leaf litter and even the corpses of magical beasts with strong healing factors serve as ideal places to grow these mushrooms.

 

 

Edited January 24, 2020 by Otaku-sama
Update

[JellisOP 20]

Well, here it is. I initially wanted to play a different character, but ncm deleted it, so here is the second one I made. I enjoy me some tabletop games, and I hope my enthusiasm shows. Also, I have been having some trouble getting the image to work properly, so just let me know if there was an issue.

Spoiler

Applicant Name: JellisOP

Character Name: Tethanor

 Age: 1211

Species: Shadow Dragon (Originally a Copper Dragon)

Gender: Female

NPC Class: The Fallen

NPC Role: Raider

Appearance: 

Spoiler

True Form:

Preferred Humanoid Form: Tethanor prefers to look like a Noble Women, however a Noble Women from a thousand years ago. She wears a sleeveless dress made of linen, embroidered in silver and black quartz, with frail-looking sandals. While looking slim, this form is quite muscular, able to lift most things that she could as a dragon. Her black hair is braided, while she wears a black iron circlet. The Staff of Counterspell is found in her hands, which is a glass rod with a crystal sphere that gains more swirls of random color.

Personality: 

Spoiler

As a copper dragon, she was a comical prankster. She loved seeing adventurers and hearing their stories, hunting down knowledge over all things, except maybe one other thing. She craved treasure, as all dragons do, but specifically gems from the earth. More specifically, she was obsessed with quartz and it's variations. And stories remained of how helpful she was. However, this did not last. 

When the players found her, she was encountered in a new, fearful form, a literal shadow of her former self. Her humor remained, but in a twisted form, finding life and death struggles humorous. She still hunted down knowledge, but was much more forceful about it, willing to kidnap and murder for it. But this has given her some chill, giving her patience while her old self would rush off at any opportunity. It made her more cruel and calculating, and beneath her blank white eyes, she is always calculating the causes and effects of your death.

Backstory: 

Spoiler

In the beginning, Tethanor was born on a bluff in a mountain range. Even from her early age, her mother could tell how fate had blessed her hatchling. She had a strong appetite for knowledge, wealth, and a good story. However, the time came when she set out into the world. She decided to set up in a valley, near a chasm, which the locals called "The Abyss".

She dug through the dirt and created a hole in the ground, where she would gather treasure, specifically stones she found in The Abyss. This attracted adventurers and merchants, and through these people, she found comfort, trading information and gems for stories and rare artifacts. She even helped create a dungeon where upstart adventurers would test there mettle.

One day, during a spelunking session, she went further than she had ever gone down into The Abyss. She found many unique treasures, like a blackish red iron, and her new favorite rock: Black Quartz. She was going to go back to the surface when she noticed another piece of black quartz. She went to retrieve it, when The Abyss revealed it's secret to her, opened a dimensional portal, and sucked her into The Plane of Shadow.

Once trapped in the Shadow Plane, she desperately tried to return to the Material Plane, but failed at every attempt. She was forced to scrounge for food, eating whatever she could, and when there was nothing left to eat, she eat the humanoids that lived there, all the while she was being corrupted by the plane's energy. She lived like this for almost 1000 years, when, even as she was corrupted to her core by the plane, ready to kill herself and end her eternal suffering, she managed to escape to the Material Plane. But she was never the same.

She found her lair raided, the neighboring village gone, and the New Structure on top of The Abyss Appealing. She joined forced with the creatures in The Pyramid of the Abyss, and was given the role of "Raider", which gave her sick pleasure to melt towns to the ground with her acid. However, she was recalled to prepare a defense for the waves of new raiders of the pyramid.

There was however a few things that people found interesting about her, specifically those who used divination magic. People couldn't just search up what her weaknesses were and expect them to work, they had to use divination magic and then the game would open up her weaknesses. People who used the spell "Inquiri", a spell that took a longer time to cast said this: 

"Tethanor soul has spent a millennia soaking in the energy from the Shadow Plane. As such, use the power of the sun's glow to burn through this creature's darkness. However, this creature's soul is not forever doomed. For some day, the sun's glow may pierce her cold heart and not just restore her to her former glory, but give her the power of the radiant sun."

As such, the devs intended to add a quest that involved going into the boss with a weak radient spell or some artifact that projected light that allowed her to become a Sun Dragon, but then she disappeared out of the game with the rest of the bosses, and there she appeared, half hoping for some hope of a savior, half knowing that there is no salvation and to continue to embrace the darkness.

Equipment: 

Spoiler

Ring of Black Quartz: Is a Rare Drop, gives the breath weapon ability less cooldown.

Claws & Fangs: Strong enough to tear through stone pillars with ease. Also creates weapons that deal armor penetrating necrotic damage.

Shadow Scales: Scales that provides Acid and Necrotic Damage Immunity, while being lightweight. Creates armor that has the same resistances.

Staff of Counterspell: This staff is the rarest drop she has, and is only dropped by her in humanoid form. This staff allows the holder to absorb the energy from enemy spells, thus negating them. It also gives the ability to release all of the energy at once by destroying it, creating a magical explosion that is immune to anti-magic fields, and negates magic upon touching it. It also has the ability to rip through dimensions if the energy stored inside the staff is great enough.

Example of Skills: 

Spoiler

Breath Weapon: Has three types, can rain a cone of Negative Energy, A line of Acid, which can melt through stone, or a cone of noxious gas that slows everything inside of it's range to a crawl.

Flight: Can obviously fly with her wings, about 10 mph.

Aura of Shadow: Side effect of being infused with darkness. Can be turned off or on. In a sixty foot circle around her, all creatures get some health drained from them.

Shapeshifting: Tethanor can shapeshift an infinite number of times, into the shapes of humanoids and beasts. However, her twisted mind can allow her to shapeshift into some frighting creatures that don't truly exist(at least, they don't in her mind), like a dire wolf shark, or a bird whose wingspan is 200 feet long and is always on fire. The one tell tale detail that lets you know it is her is her eyes, which never change.

 

 

Edited January 25, 2020 by JellisOP