Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four Elements lived together in relative harmony. The Burning Empire kept to their large island dominated by a central volcano (where the dragon who blessed The First Emperor is rumored to still rest), and although they had expansionist ambitions in the past, they were largely kept in check by their Elemental opposites, the various Water Tribes that ruled the Inner Sea. Beyond them laid the continental ring that the various Earth Kingdoms called their home, and past them was the endless Outer Sea where the Floating Cities freely traveled the skies.
Throughout all known history, a single individual has been repeatedly reincarnated to serve the world in times of great need. Known as The Protagonist, this person is the only one capable of harnessing all forms of elemental, martial, and spiritual arts. The world had never been without a Protagonist, as their spirit possesses a newborn arriving at the moment their previous life ends. Civilizations flourished and conflicts were brief and relatively diplomatic thanks to The Protagonist's intervention.
This all changed during The Year of Ash. The Burning Empire's sacred volcano spewed ash and smoke from it's incendiary depths, blocking out the light of the sun in an ever-increasing circle. The agitated volcano empowered the Fire-attuned, and increased the aggression, ambition, and drive of the Empire's people. With ever potential slight and grudge now seen as a valid provocation for expansion (and expansion now seen as a divine right according to Imperial Decree), it wasn't long before the Burning Standard was seen flying atop ships deployed by the Imperial Navy to lessen the grip of the Water Tribes on the Inner Sea. Clashes were fierce, but resulted in little more than a stalemate as the Imperials found it excessively difficult to scrub the Water Tribes from their island strongholds while the Water Tribes couldn't hope to rival the martial skill and material resources of The Burning Empire on their own. The Year of Ash may not have directly resulted in Imperial expansion, but it had effectively isolated The Burning Empire from the rest of the world and only led to an increase in internal fanaticism and began a cycle of brief outbursts from the Empire culminating in nothing followed by years of relative peace. During this time the world began to notice the absence of The Protagonist.
The status quo shifted once more after Qianlong ascended to the Imperial Throne. He foresaw the importance of industrial evolution and flexed Imperial muscle to accelerate the process before the rest of the world could grasp the changes slowly beginning to occur in the realm. During this time the Imperial Fleet was able to construct their new iron-hulled, coal-fed ships and set them to sea at an astonishing, or alarming, rate. They regularly conducted drills and patrolled the waters near the Imperial Isle, but didn't attempt any aggression elsewhere even as the Fleet grew beyond what the rest of the world's powers could individually muster.
This mustering of forces continued for
years while Qianlong fathered and raised an heir (whose mother died in childbirth - a common trend among the Dragonblooded nobility), and as he came of age and fathered a son of his own, the dam finally broke. Qianlong personally led Imperial forces as they invaded The Stepping Stone Archipelago, the island chain between the Imperial Isle and the continental ring, while a force led by his son Gaozong besieged the Great Earth Kingdom's Gateway Bridge to the north. The fight in the south was rapid and overwhelming, and soon the Imperial forces were stepping onto the beaches of the continental ring. The fight in the north took time as Imperial forces bombarded dug-in opponents in the mountains and cliffs lining the passage to the Outer Sea before finally launching their costly assault. Still, Imperial industrial might, resolve, and manpower whittled away and overtook the Great Earth Kingdom's defensive positions. With the Gateway Bridge under Imperial command, The Burning Empire finally had readily available access to the Outer Sea for the first time in history. They used this newfound freedom to send ships to blockade the Floating Cities inhabited by the Air-attuned, of course. While the Floating Cities were largely out of reach of Imperial arms, they required trade or surface-based gathering to support themselves and so were susceptible to earth-(sea-)bound forces. Floating City Penglai in the northeast suffered from the siege the hardest as starvation and disease quickly took hold. Gaozong agreed to speak with a city's leadership on their terms to negotiate a surrender once their position became untenable.
The sun seemed to dim as an intense blast rocked Penglai and a maelstrom of magical energy engulfed the now-shattered Floating City, and rumors say even the Emperor stopped to look toward the glow in the sky from his command tend in the southern lands. Upon receiving news of the annihilation of his son and the forces he commanded at Penglai, Qianlong withdrew to the Imperial City to take care of his orphaned grandson. Imperial aggression was once again put on hold while a new heir was raised, a new fleet constructed, and an army recreated.
The war left scars that remained unhealed even twenty-three years later as Hongli, The Dragonblood Prince, was given command of forces in the south and instructed by his grandfather to expand the Southern Empire as he saw fit. The occupied coast rapidly expanded to swallow the territory controlled by Taotie in the plains and Hulijing in the forests bordering the Fish Head Bog thanks to Hongli's terrifyingly brilliant strategic mind.
Which brings us to today. But what of The Protagonist?
It’s pretty stupid, really. Unknown to all but The Protagonist himself, he initiated The Year of Ash. While stretching atop the Empire’s sacred volcano as he waited for the Fire Master tutoring him, The Protagonist lost his footing and fell into the volcano, never to be seen again and seemingly ending the Protagonist Cycle. It’s been over a century since that accident, and the world needs someone now more than ever to pull it from the clutches of despair.
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Welcome to the world of The Last Protagonist. You will be participating as a player on one of two teams:
Imperial or
Protagonist. Your playstyle, goals, and rules will vary based on which one you choose, so be sure to read the rules before making your decision. Once you decide what team you’ll play for, be sure to head on over to the appropriate team thread and remain out of the other thread
forever (or until the game ends). The rest of the information in this post will be divided into spoilers for easier reading and referencing. Inspirations for this game include Avatar: The Last Airbender, Samurai Champloo, and various Asian (predominantly Chinese) myths, legends, and cultures.
Magic in this setting is common, especially in the case of straight Elemental magic (as opposed to, say, divine or arcane magics - which still do exist in some capacity). Each civilization is largely restricted to the use of their natural Element and related magics as dictated by their native region, but there may be special cases, especially when it comes to individual people. Magic is largely channeled through kinetic motion or meditation, making martial arts an extremely viable method of magic casting. Magical equipment exists, but they are often excessively rare and pricey if not outright unique and priceless artifacts.
The four base Elements and the Martial Arts they are rooted in are:
Water & Tai Chi
Earth & Hung Ga
Fire & Northern Shaolin
Air & Baguazhang
A keen eye may note that these are the same relationships as seen in Avatar. Other magical arts and their associated martial arts will be covered in further depth as necessary while the game progresses in order to prevent even more of an infodump (it's already so much (: ) - and maintain some mystery. Neither side will be able to create entirely new Magical/Martial Arts, but are able to create new techniques or variants of available Arts (like developing a big ol' explosive fireball technique or a more aggressive Earth-based style). Also note that in order to remain sane, I will be using the names of martial arts as they are, so that there will be no confusion as to what a style is. No reflavoring on my end there.
New styles and magic become available to The Burning Empire as they conquer more lands. The Protagonist can learn new styles and magic by finding and training with one of the many Masters sprinkled throughout the world.
Turns for the Imperials and Protagonist take place simultaneously. Each turn consists of two actions the team will vote on together followed by a turn summary. The summaries will be posted in their appropriate team thread.
Imperials: The Imperials need to worry about the overall strategic situation in the world. Every turn they can assign or adjust goals on a front-by-front basis, making changes to their available assets, objectives, and how they're being approached by the Commanders in charge as dictated by the needs and changes on the battlefield - and during the occupation afterward. Any number of fronts can have their aims and armory adjusted every turn. This is your
Strategic Action.
The Imperial forces also have the mightiest industrial capacity in the world backing them. Every turn the Imperials can introduce or modify new military equipment, forces, or leaders as part of their
Assets Action. This allows the Imperial forces the ability to properly adjust to changing battlefield scenarios, add, replace, or improve Commanders to facilitate further conquest, or perhaps even create someone(s)/something(s) that can help deal with unrest and maybe the arrival of an unexpected Protagonist-based problem. The results of an Assets Action are determined by a 2d6, with higher results providing better outcomes.
The Protagonist: The Protagonist has a much more focused view of the world and this is reflected in their
Tactical Action. The Protagonist can use their Tactical Action to move to a new area, lay low, or propose means to progress a Plot Hook in the area they are currently in. While The Protagonist can initially only interact with a single Plot Hook or otherwise perform a singular Tactical Action, adding party members to The Protagonist's group may allow additional actions to be performed in certain situations. Movement is also limited to areas adjacent to the occupied zone initially, but there are practically infinite ways to change that with an Asset Action - just be sure you keep an eye on how overt you are, someone may be watching!
The Protagonist has their own improvements and acquisitions to make (including "acquiring" friends), and receives an
Asset Action not unlike the Imperial's to do so. The difference here is that The Protagonist (probably) doesn't have much industrial capacity. As a result, their 2d6 roll does not determine the efficacy of the final product, but instead determines the complexity of the Plot Hook which provides the asset as a reward. Simpler assets or lucky rolls may grant the proposed asset without additional action, especially if The Protagonist's current area is a sensible location to acquire it from (a horse in the plains vs in the Outer Sea).
Proposing and Voting: When proposing a Strategic, Tactical, or Assets Action, make sure to include any details you want to ensure are included or considered in order to get results closest to expectations. Players can make as many proposals as they want, but each player can only make one vote on each action.
In order to keep voting organized and easy to read we will be making use of Quote boxes. The quote box itself doesn't need a title, but it should either include labeled separation for both team's actions or use a separate box for each. Proposals should be placed in the appropriate section/box, with a number in parentheses to denote the amount of votes a proposal has. When voting, make sure to add your name to the appropriate proposal and adjust the tally to reflect it. Vote boxes don't need to look exactly like the following, but should generally look like:
Strategic Action
Slap Mans (1): Name
Invade those dudes (2): Another Name, More Name
Invade the other dudes (0):
Assets Action
Mans Slapper (1): Another Name
Dude Invader ver. 1 (1): More Name
Other Dude Invader ver. 1.0 (1): Name
Both sides have endless personal goals they can set for themselves, but each team has their own Win State - and these are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
Imperials: There is no substitute for total conquest. Whether directly administered by The Burning Empire or turned into puppet states, the Empire will not rest until they achieve ultimate victory. The path to victory is yours to decide. While initially restricted to the battlefronts available to you, new Commanders can be created with the Assets Action to launch new invasions elsewhere in the world. Just be wary of the dangers of spreading your forces too thin, and the opportunities the expanded command structure will give to enterprising individuals.
The Protagonist: The world is threatened as long as the Empire exists in it's current form. Unlike the Imperials, The Protagonist has a few required steps to take on the road to victory. The Protagonist must find and train under at least one Master, and then confront and defeat in some way one of the Imperial Commanders before finally infiltrating the Imperial Isle and dethroning the Emperor. More Masters can be learned under and more Commanders dealt with, but one of each is the minimum requirement.
If The Imperials win their world conquest, the game does not end. There is still a chance that The Protagonist could deal with The Emperor (albeit with literally the entire world turning against him), potentially resulting in both sides able to claim victory. It will heavily impact the narrative in the conclusion of the game, but at least everyone "wins"!
Plot Hooks are events and storylines created through the actions of the teams, whether intentionally or inadvertently. Most Plot Hooks will be created by The Protagonist with their Assets Action. For the most part these are only available to The Protagonist, but they are not totally exclusive to him alone (such as a building rebellion in an occupied territory). Plot Hooks may take multiple turns to resolve depending on their complexity, and will result in either a material reward or a change in world state depending on how the Plot Hook is resolved and if there's interference from the opposing team.
The world starts with Imperial forces on standby after their most recent conquest. The Protagonist starts with the bare minimum of knowledge of the world outside of the info given here. The Imperial team will receive a more detailed summary than the below in their team thread.
The map uses color to represent both the environment and the civilization that controls the region, with each region divided into separate areas. While these smaller areas will have
some impact on Imperial strategy based on what exactly exists there, they largely represent the distance The Protagonist can move in a single turn (before acquiring the ability to move further).
All Inner and Outer Sea areas are considered contested by The Burning Empire, but will not be treated as controlled until the Water Tribes are...diminished.
Starting from the center of the map and moving clockwise outward, we have (don't feel the need to memorize everything here, the map will also be covered in the team threads and any pertinent information provided there as well):
The
Imperial Isle, seat of The Burning Empire, divided into multiple districts based around the Royal Temple built into the central volcano.
In the Inner Sea, starting in the south-west, are
The Stepping Stone Archipelago, a series of Water Tribe islands conquered by The Burning Empire, followed by
The Watcher. Then there's
Kun Island, considered the capital of the decentralized Water Tribes and home to the Water Temple and Sacred Pool.
Serpent's Isle sits northeast of that, and in the north-west of the Inner Sea is a series of islands called
The Shark's Teeth.
The Four Fingers in the south-east round out the Inner Sea's lands. All but The Watcher are considered Water Tribe territory, with The Watcher being a part of the lands belonging to The Lords of the Eight Passes.
The southern tip of the Continental Ring is the
Fish Head Bog, home of the Swamp Nomads save for the Water Tribe-controlled coast. The forest village of Hulijing and the city of Taotie oversee the plains to the west of the swamp and are now under Burning Empire control. The Lords of the Eight Passes control
The Eight Passes (surprise) through their otherwise impenetrable mountain range. North of those mountains is the
Shan Hai Tundra that The Forsaken People have been bound to. An uninhabited mountain range separates them from
The Thundering Plains controlled by the Lei Gong Undercities. The western portion of
The Great Earth Kingdom in the north is separated by the rest, including the massive multiwalled Jade City, by
The Gateway Bridge that now rests under Burning Empire control. Southeast of The Great Earth Kingdom sits the
Fenghuang Expanse and the four Oasis Tribes who manage to scrape by in the arid desert. The forest stretching from the desert back to the Water Tribe-controlled coasts is a practically lawless land known as
The Realm of The Bandit Kings.
Finally, the four Floating Cities, homes to the peoples affiliated with the Air Element, slowly drift along the wind currents over the Outer Sea.
Shattered City Penglai lays scattered on the surface in the north-east, then there's
Floating City Queqiao,
Floating City Fusang, and finally
Floating City Yaochi in the north-west. All four, even Shattered City Penglai, are being followed by recently restarted Burning Empire blockades. Penglai's detachment is smaller, but it still exists to deter any external forces from getting any ideas.
While there may be crossover in individual instances and more...unique magics, these are the types you can generally expect to come across as either Imperials or Protagonist based on region.
The Burning Empire: Pyromancy
The Water Tribes: Hydromancy
Great Earth Kingdom: Geomancy
Floating Cities: Aeromancy
Swamp Nomads: Botanomancy, Biomancy
The Occupied Region of Taotie and Hulijing: Geomancy
Lords of the Eight Passes: Geomancy, Heliomancy
Forsaken of The Shan Hai Tundra: Cryomancy, Necromancy
Thundering Plains Undercities: Geomancy, Electromancy
Fenghuang Expanse Oasis Tribes: Arenomancy
Realm of The Bandit Kings: Geomancy?
Have fun
Don't be a dick
Try not to subvert the GM's expectations at every available opportunity
Haha, like that's gonna happen
Author
Topic: The Last Protagonist - An Asymmetric Team-based RPG (Read 426 times)