The Earth is ancient, both in body and in mind. Mortal life has not always ruled it, and their age is now at an end. Its old masters, the Titans, are awakening, terrifying giants kilometres in size, carrying mountains - or even cities - on their backs. But they are not the only beings looking to master the world - from the abyssal depths that connect all worlds, the Deep Ones rise, singing dreams of prophecy and destruction, bending man's will to their own and bringing madness wherever they go. From the black void between worlds come the Star Gods, grown fat from devouring stars, alien and incomprehensible to man in their goals and thoughts. And beyond, even stranger and more ancient beings, turn to Earth with hunger on their minds.
This all was foreseen. Forces and invididuals from the dawn of history have long prepared for this day. Beneath the illusion of everyday normal life, ancient conspiracies and prophecies of doom form a network of defense, employing the Enemy's own weapons against it. Ancient-mortal hybrids fill their ranks, and slumbering beasts bound to the will of mortal bodies are their potent weapons. But will these halfbreeds and imprisoned gods retain loyalty to a dying race when their true brethren arrive?
The ever-advancing technology of mankind may prove surprisingly devastating against these beings, but will it be enough? Once the nuclear stockpiles are emptied, the ballistic missiles wasted, the armies of humanity broken and scattered and their defenses cracked open, who will step up to guard mankind? Secret, long-buried projects in deep underground complexes? The weapons of the enemy turned against them? It will not be the 'simple willpower and courage of normal men and women', in times where your mind and body can be taken from you by the mere thoughts of dark gods.
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Eldritch horrors from the stars, incomprehensible monstrosities from the ocean depths and ageless titans from the Earth's crust awaken-slash-arrive and decide mankind's time is over and the Earth is theirs now, bitch. The nations of the planet, aided by experimental tech and ancient conspiracies, fight back as well as they can. But their best hope really is you, the players; the Shackled. Hybrids of both Ancient and mortal DNA, whether 'naturally'-created or in a lab tube somewhere, and normal humans housing ancient horrors in their heads are the best bet for survival.
This RTD takes influences from Lovecraft and other weird horror authors, to Neon Genesis Evangelion, to the game Prototype. You play these hybrids or folks with imprisoned gods in their heads. There are also Enemy Slots I'll pull into play at the worst possible moments you can also create and play.
Name:
Gender:
Nationality:
Shackled Type: (Hybrid or Imprisoned Ancient)
Ancient Type: (Star God, Abyssal, Titan or Unique. Determines what's in your head/in your blood, your powers and abilities, your starting scenario, etc etc. If Unique, you'll have to tell me about the ancient as well.)
Description: (Physical/mental, self-explanatory. May give you some special traits.)
So what if you wanna be a cosmic horror beyond human understanding? That's okay, I've got you covered. Enemy Slots are a genius invention stolen from Deviation-22. You'll create an Enemy, I'll add it to the list, and when the stars are right, I'll throw you in to cause havoc, destruction and death.
Name/Codename/Title:
Enemy Type: (Star God, Abyssal, Titan, Shackled or Unique. Please specify a subtype as well. You can also make an unique subtype, too!)
Form/Description: (What you look like, are shaped like, how big you are, etc. May give special traits and determine weapons and attacks.)
The Earth is ageless beyond understanding. It is not merely physical age. The very core of it, the being of Earth, has existed since the dawn of time. All life on the world's surface is imbued with its presence. Today that is the races of man and the animal kingdom – but in aeons past, that spark belonged to another race entirely. Their deaths shaped the surface of the world, and now the spark is shifting again. With the land itself rising up to walk across the Earth's surface once again, what will become of mortal man?
Titans come in a variety of sizes, but on average fall somewhere between two hundred meters and three kilometres, while their width and diameter can differ dramatically. Their form is often humanoid or an animal of Earth, alive or long-dead, but some take to stranger shapes.
Being of the Earth and born of the Earth, Titans are almost universally hostile to powers from outside it meddling in its affairs. Their view on its present favored, the ever-present mortal race of man, varies. Their age is at an end, and some of them have no greater wish than to speed them along.
Common Subtypes
Mountain/Solid Form: With a splintering of the earth and wail of ancient stone, something breathes again deep beneath the high peaks of the land or in the lifeless badlands. Usually falling to the higher end of the height scale, these ancients benefit from an extremely high 'natural' toughness owing to the vast masses of stone upon them.
Wilderness Form: With a groan of earth and crack of wood, something comes into consciousness beneath a vast marshland, dense forest, or vibrant jungle delta. In an eyeblink, all pretense of sentience is wiped away as the awakening Titan bends the simple-minded fauna and flora of its new form to its will. Walking, slithering or even flying onwards, these ancients benefit from constant growth and life on them, regenerating wounds in moments.
Inhabitated Form: There are few corners of the world not taken over by mankind. Their cities have sprang up everywhere, as have their great fields of crops, canals, fortifications, roads and railways. Titans who once went to the long sleep in a world of little life now find themselves carrying the great wonders of man on their backs, bursting with the frantic mortals. What this entails for them remains to be seen...
Unique Form: Make up your own! I'll determine the final bonuses and penalties for balance, but go wild.
In the Abyss that connects all worlds, beings of vast, dark intellect dwell. They once fed on the Earth, and will again - the barriers between realities are weakening. Their influence has already touched and corrupted minds for thousands of years, birthing hundreds of prophecies and visions, inspiring macabre art and creation. Hunger consumes them all, their cold home devoid of bright, satiating life.
Flesh-smiths and mutators of terrifying capability, the Deep Ones corrupt all they touch. Their black touch sucks entire continents of life. Twisted hordes of Deepspawn follow in their wake, and their mere thoughts reduce thousands to mindless slaves. Terror is the herald of their arrival, madness their foremost weapon.
Physically, the Abyssals vary in shape. Often, they resemble bizarre combinations and mockeries of deep sea creatures such as squids and ameobas - likely having corrupted these animals into their likeness in the first place - but stranger and more alien forms are known. They vary in height and diameter, from a few dozen metres to over a kilometre. Their thick black shells provide ample protection from most mortal weaponry.
Common Subtypes
Dreamsinger – Bringers of madness and dark inspiration, these beings twist and bend the minds of mortals and ancients alike with glee. They are the corruptors, the manipulators, the shapers of minds.
Great Mother – From the coldest reaches of the Abyss come beings born for the purpose of growth, of the spread of Abyssal life. Gene-smiths and assimilators of natural life, they carry within them great swarms of Deepspawn and corrupt flesh.
Vanguard – Vast in size and strenght, ever-hungry, ever-growing, Vanguards hide behind layers of black armor that can withstand even direct nuclear detonations. They can reduce cities to rubble and mountains to dust with their devastating organic weaponry. Most purely deathly and destructive of all Deep Ones.
Perhaps the most disturbing of all Ancients, the 'Star Gods' come from dying stars and arrive on Earth for purposes only they can fathom. Some look unsettlingly humanoid, with long, overly-elongated limbs and golden wings, some bear less recognizable shapes. All share something known as a Nexus Field. An invisible storm of energy centered on the Star Gods' hearts, it has myriad uses, defense being just one of them. The Star Gods possess weapons most easily recognizable as technology, sleek machines capable of generating immense blasts of energy, and 'wings' that double as semi-organic solar sails.
The Star Gods fought over the Earth millions of years ago. Their return has long been prophesied, but their goals and thoughts remain unknown - perhaps they are incomprehensible to mortal minds.
In terms of height, Star Gods vary. The Angels often fall somewhere between sixty and two hundred meters, while the Collectors and Colossi are significantly larger, up to several kilometres.
Common Subtypes
Angel – A disturbing humanoid Star God, with long, elongated limbs, bladed tentacle-like appendages and 'wings' of light. Fast, mobile and skilled with the Nexus Field, capable of using it in states unseen with other types.
Colossus – A kilometres-wide, four-to-six-legged crawler with thick armor. Basic Nexus Field. Heavily-armed, its back bristling with organic cannons and energy weapons. Sometimes capable of flight or burrowing underground, like sort of a gigantic beetle.
Collector – Collectors are composed of cylinder-shaped shells hidden behind dozens of hardened claw-like appendages drooping down around it as it flies across the world. Unlike the other two most common Star God types, collectors bear little resemble to anything Earth-like, and have no eyes or recognizable facial features. Collectors feed by landing on populous areas, digging itself in with the claws, and sucking everything into its shell. Unarmed, but apparently capable of corrupting and mutating devoured lifeforms and technology into mindless monstrosities, Collectors have an extremely strong Nexus Field, though they lack the Angels' terrifying skill in using it.
During the past few million years, humanity has not stood idle. Ancient conspiracies and state divisions both have seeked to harness the powers of the Ancients against them. Gene-splicing and 'natural' remnants from the old times have led to hybrids, beings with both Ancient and mortal DNA. While they may look human on the outside, they possess greatly increased physical might and toughness and fragments of Ancient powers. Whether they will remain loyal to mankind as the influence of their Ancient side grows remains to be seen.
The darker alternative has been imprisoning and binding slumbering Ancients into mortal bodies and their wills. Incapable of containing such great powers, these mortal shells usually burn out quickly, or draw into the trapped gods' power and become immortal or near-immortal themselves, helping themselves to their might. They are in even greater danger than the hybrids of losing control to their Ancient side, which for them is no mere tempting whisper, but a vast, calculating intelligence raging against the walls of its prison.
But humans are not the only ones to use these weapons. The Ancients themselves are capable of focusing their will into Avatars inside mortal bodies. They can pass for human and subtly work against mankind unseen and unnoticed.
Hybrid – A creature of two worlds, born from the seeds of man and ancient both, unwelcome in both. The last of the ancients set forth the bloodlines of the hybrids and modern technology has been used to fabricate more. Bent into or willingly in the service of mortals, they are now at last regaining the power that should be theirs.
Imprisoned Ancient – Sleeping giants can offer little resistance – is it any wonder the mortals, even with their limited minds, could harm them? But to go even further, to enslave and bind, to limit their existences to pitiful shells of mortal flesh, held in place by mortal minds... they have had time to cultivate their wrath, and with the mortals' bonds on them weakening, it seems like they will soon get a chance to unleash their true power.
Avatar – The ancients can be subtle in their methods, too. Putting their form into a lesser host, they wield another sort of power entirely. They will take what is theirs unseen, from the inside.
With Earth a battleground, it is only a matter of time before other entities are drawn there as well. Ancients can come in many forms and purposes.
If none of the three above interest you, you can choose to be a Unique-spawn (hybrid/imprisoned ancient) or play an Unique Enemy. All the details are up to you, with balance tweaking by me.
1. adwarf - Alfonz Wulfric (Imprisoned Reaper)
2. Caellath - Alexei Zielkov (Prototype Superman)
3. Tiruin - Turiel (Star God Hybrid)
4. wolfchild - Calla (Abyssal Hybrid)
5. mcclay - Alex Vondgas (Imprisoned Titan)
6. Talarion - Aaron Gray (Abyssal Hybrid)
Waitlist!1. Spectr - Luther (Imprisoned Star God)
Enemy List (Unlimited spots!)
1. SpinalTaper - Atlas (Solid Form Titan)
2. Sinpwn - The Scratch(Unique Ancient)
3. Xantalos - Xanalok (Unique Ancient)
4. Toaster - Sar Cha the Broodlord (Great Mother Abyssal)
5. TheifofDreams - Ke'l Gthahn, The Solitary Light (Dreamsinger Abyssal)
If you can make a good argument for playing a squishy, powerless human, I'll allow them too.
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Topic: Their Coming Is At Hand - an Eldritch Horror RTD (Turn 10! Spots open!) (Read 33913 times)