Welcome to Gaia! ::

Culture

Rugged - A generally tough group that accepts violence as a part of life, so long as its intent is not to degrade a creature of equal status. They do not seek comforts for themselves, and rather pride themselves on their ability to survive.

Strong - Strength is one of the key pillars of the Warband, and appropriately so, as every warrior fights for Vykeli and is devoted to helping restore the land in the most effective way possible. Most (but not all) warriors pursue the betterment of their fighting ability, and many root their self-worth in their fighting prowess.

Fair - They are often guided by a sense of honor (chaotic though it may be), and everyone in the band enjoys equal rights. They employ a loose justice system based on group consensus whenever it is needed, but are usually good at policing themselves, often resolving minor disputes through self-regulated tussles and fights.

Please note: These warriors do not like dire rats and will not hesitate to attack or kill them! Although your character is free to have a differing opinion, understand that pro-rat sentiment is looked down upon by the group as a whole. This is a fairly insular group that does not trust other species.

Deities

Vykeli

Vykeli is their Mother, and as such, they must treat her with the utmost respect. Everything these warriors do will, in some way or other, serve to benefit the Mother (although how each warrior chooses to justify their actions is up to the individual).

Grandfather Tree

They refer to the tree as the Grandfather. They believe that the Grandfather protects them and favors them above all other noulicorns. Their successes and failures hinge upon the Grandfather's approval, and warriors are known to present offerings and occasionally even sacrifices to win the Grandfather's favor before embarking on major journeys in their lives.

Noulicorns who grew up in the Warband are considered "youngsters" until they visit the Grandfather and receive a Gift, whereupon they become true adults. They are then gifted with a tail ring - a symbol of devotion to their cause and often considered a warrior's most prized possession. Noulicorns who join the Warband as adults must first earn the group's trust by performing well in one or two healing raids before they will receive their ring. Earning a tail ring is a sign of honor, and many warriors will swear upon their tail ring in instances that require outward displays of trust.

Omens and Signs

The warriors are a generally superstitious bunch and read heavily into signs and omens of all kinds. Weather patterns, successes and failures, strangers they may encounter - few things are considered coincidences, and these noulicorns tend to use these signs to determine whether the Grandfather is happy with them.

They wholeheartedly trust their Seer (a dream reader in the Warband), and often consult them for advice and wisdom relating to the future and to pleasing the Grandfather.

Death

The warriors see death as a welcome return to the Mother's embrace. There, they will reap what they sow. They generally believe there is a life after their mortal one, in which they reside in paradise with the Mother, and that experience will be improved in accordance to the things they have accomplished while they were alive. They must face death with no fear if they wish to return to the Mother's embrace.

Vision

Above all, the Warband wishes to see Vykeli returned to its former glory. Their vision for the land is a restored world that flourishes independently and enjoys freedom from invasive species left behind by the Others.

Stats + Modifiers

For this system, we will use a simplified D&D-style stat system. Each noulicorn will have three, and once you have rolled and assigned stats, you may not change them.

Strength = Attack
Dexterity = Initiative
Constitution = Defense

We will also use D&D-style modifiers in our system. Each stat will have a raw value that cannot exceed 20, along with a corresponding modifier.

The "default" value is 10, which carries a modifier of 0. Every two numbers above or below 10 is +/- 1 to the modifier. Raw values of any stat cannot exceed 20.

Modifier Chart


Rolling and Assigning Stats

You will roll for your character's stats in this thread. Follow these steps:

1. Roll 12d6
2. Split the resulting dice into three groups ((#1-4, #5-8, #9-12)
3. Within each group, drop the lowest number and add the remaining three. The resulting numbers are your stats.
4. You may reroll twice (for a total of three sets of stats) and keep your favorite set
5. Assign each number to STR, DEX, CON at will

Starting Stats
HP: 8
Initiative: Highest raw DEX goes first
Armor Class (AC): 10 + CON modifier

Bonuses

This is a list of special bonuses from being a particular species or equipping items to your noulicorns.

Species Bonuses

Noulicorn - +1 to a stat of your choice

Items

Fighter's Claw - Advantage on all attack rolls

Armor - Must be bought from RP point shop and equipped on your noul, gives you the following:

Small piece = AC +1
Medium piece = AC +2
Large piece = AC +3, Initiative -1

Leveling Up

As your character levels up, your damage increases and you gain stat or attack perks. Your prestige within the Warband, ICly, also goes up! Warriors inherently respect those who have proven themselves in battle, and higher levels are an easy way to show that your noul is an accomplished, respectable creature.

Experience Tree

XP continues to stack as you level, and does not reset to zero.

Level 1: 0 XP
Level 2: 3 XP (3 Level 1s)
Level 3: 11 XP (4 Level 2s)
Level 4: 26 XP (5 Level 3s)
Level 5: 50 XP (6 Level 4s)

Each defeated enemy is worth XP equal to its level. This includes PVP battles.

Level Perks

Randomize 1-3 for HP gain every time you level up.

Level 1: None
Level 2: Increase HP by an additional 1 point
Level 3: Choose one stat to boost twice, or two stats to boost once
Level 4: You may attack twice in one turn
Level 5: Your crit range becomes 18-20

Initiative

Initiative is what determines who goes first, and determining it is simple: Whoever has the higher raw DEX goes first. In the case of a tie, the player-controlled character attacks first.

If two PCs have the same DEX in a group raid, players may choose who goes first.

If both fighters in a PVP battle share the same DEX, each player can roll 1d20 and the higher roll goes first.

Attacking

On each character's turn, post the proper form (see below) and follow these steps:

1. Roll 2d20
2. Determine accuracy. Take Die #1 + STR mod. If it meets or exceeds opponent's AC, you hit
3. Detemine damage. Consult Die #2. "Regular damage" is your character's level +1

1 = 1/2 damage
6-15 = Regular damage
20 = 2x damage

Round down in case of decimals.

Using Magic

Gifted nouls may choose to use their action to active their magical abilities instead of performing a melee attack.

Using magic in an attack has two effects:

1) An automatic minimum 10 on your accuracy die (#1). This means that if you roll anything below a 10 on your first die, you may still consider it a 10 and add your STR mod.
2) The damage is the ability's healing amount + your level (ie, if a Level 1 character uses an ability with +2 healing, the damage is 2 + 1).

Any abilities that specifically protect your noul from physical damage may be activated to nullify damage for 1 round (apprentice-level skill), 2 rounds (adept-level skill), or 3 rounds (ascended-level skill).

Any abilities that heal your noul may be activated to restore 1-3 HP (apprentice-level skill), 2-4 HP (adept-level skill), or 3-5 HP (ascended-level skill).

Please note, these are determined by the rank that the ability is available under, and not the user's current rank. An adept who uses an apprentice-level healing ability can still only heal 1-3.

Fleeing

In the event that you wish to flee a battle, follow these steps:

1. Roll 1d20
2. Take your result + DEX mod
3. If the result is greater than your opponent's raw DEX, you have successfully fled

Roleplaying

As the player, you are encouraged to engage your character in the fight as much as possible! As such, one fun tip I've recently learned is this:

Characters don't "miss."

The idea behind this is that, even if you happen to roll poorly, you and your character still have agency in any given situation. If your attack roll doesn't meet your opponent's AC, consider it as a chance for them to have done something that was unfortunately foiled by the opponent (ie, NOULBOY whips his horn through the air and stabs at his foe, but the dire rat notices. It leaps to the side, swiping out desperately with its paw, and knocks NOULBOY's horn aside with a well-placed shove).

Similarly, if your opponent's attack fails to match your AC, it's not just a lucky close call, but a chance for your character to display its martial prowess (ie, the Bone Crusher charges with jaws agape, and NOULBOY stares him down with nerves of steel. As if to taunt his opponent, NOULBOY flings himself to the side just as the Bone Crusher snaps its jaws shut). This will help your character remain a badass even when the dice aren't quite on their side!

As far as injuries and death resulting from raids, these are entirely up to the player. You are welcome to maim and kill your characters if you wish, but similarly, you are not required to do either of these things if you don't want to! Do try to RP injuries that are in line with the dice and the way things roll, but being taken out with a crit doesn't necessarily have to have permanent, lasting effects if you don't want them to.

Stats
HP - 8
STR - 16 (+3)
DEX - 14 (+2)
CON - 15 (+2)

XP: 1
Defeated: Torsten

Stats
HP - 8
STR - 12 (+1)
DEX - 10 (+0)
CON - 16 (+3)

Stats
HP - 8
STR - 14 (+2)
DEX - 10 (+0)
CON - 14 (+2)

Stats
HP - 8
STR - 15 (+2)
DEX - 13 (+1)
CON - 12 (+1)