Timeline: RT-556
Universe: Earth-IV, The Poet's Worlds
In the cold darkness of the Veil, under a ruined building that was once a skyscraper, sits an oddly clean laboratory with sheet metal gray walls. A crowd of people sit in upholstered seats, in front of a quartet of people and a circle of ten pods. Three of them are standing, a unit, while the last is in a char, monitoring what seems like scenes of battle and various pieces of equipment. The studious among you know who the first three are, having seen their faces and remembered their names.
In the center of the trio is a tall man, dressed head-to-toe in black and dark purple medieval armor and in two sheathes carries a kilij and Yatagan. He is Jericho, birth name Evren Gürler, an undead knight from the golden age of the Ottoman Empire, hailing from what is now Istanbul. To his left, a bald masc individual with no hair and a white goatee, gray skin, and purple eyes carries themselves distinctly with a brown longcoat. They are The Operator, a mass of souls who lie in a single body and serve as the agent of an intelligent and sapient Rift between worlds. And to their right is a human man in a business suit, with a golden prosthetic right arm, a red mechanical left eye, and a slightly smug smirk. He is Jess Warner, a Japanese-American former CEO who was thought dead after a tragic bombing of his headquarters. They are the Triad of Vahiy, Veilric Lords, jointly holding a piece of territory in the world you find yourselves in. Stepping forward first, the Operator asks a simple question. "Do you know why you are here?"
Some of you shake your heads, others nod. "For the room...you are here because of us." They gesture to one of the many monitors, onto which flashes footage of The Operator. Or, rather, one slightly different. Their coat is stark white and their face is shaved. "This is us, from another Timeline," they explain. "A sociopath and conqueror, they invade other worlds and absorb the souls of trillions to keep their longevity. And they, and their Triad, are coming to our home. You have been called here, or have volunteered, to become our warriors."
Turning his chair around, the fourth member of the room shows his face, or rather, lack of one. A machine in a smart business suit with black gloves, his head is a film camera. "This is The Observer," The Operator introduces. "He monitors The Omniverse for threats and interesting events. A mix between a voyeur and a raid siren."
"Don't flatter him," Jess chides them. "You know he loves his job."
"I could do this forever...and I might!" The Observer agrees as he stands from his chair, miming leaning back and popping his back to the sound of whirring gears. His voice is deep and slightly raspy. "Here's how this will work. These pods behind us are Astral Projection Vectors. They send your mind to another Universe and Timeline, and auto-construct a sort of Avatar-wink wink-for your consciousness to pilot," You can hear the smile and the tone of pride in his voice. "You will then be asked to participate in a "Wiki-Warfare," a form of blood sport used in entertainment and troop-training alike in our pocket of The Multiverse. You will compete in these for a little while to hone your skills, and when the time is right, you will, in the form of an Avatar, be transported over to fight The Operator-erm, the other one, and take him down. Now, you might be wondering why we don't use these to revolutionize infantry combat. Well...there's only ten, they're only in this place, their existence is a secret, and I didn't build and can't build any more. I...think it was the Archliches. Don't quote me on that."
"May we all be so grateful," says Jericho, his voice rumbling and his Turkish accent thick. "To die for your empire is a soldier's greatest honor. To return from death of your own power, that is God's greatest gift. Still, I have high hopes for the results of this experiment. If this will stop the Dark Operative, I wish you all luck. Güç İçin!"
"OKAY!" the Observer blurts out, clapping his hands together. "Who's first?"
WELCOME!
After a long hiatus caused by poor mental health and a very busy few months, I now bring you a new Wiki-Warfare! I do apologize to anyone wanting to continue Virtual Mortality or Valhalla: for the sake of my creative flow and emotional connection, the hiatuses just couldn't be reconciled. I know this'll frustrate some people, but hopefully, this game will be worth it! As before, a mix of roleplaying and combat shall follow this gladitorial event! Let's check out the Rules.
The game's dice roll results rely on a d10. 10 being a crit success, 1 being a crit miss, and the other numbers being a spectrum. Bonuses will be carried out via character details in your sheet, coming from articles. In combat, damage is calculated as the difference between the Attacker's successful roll and the Defender's failed one. For instance, a 5 v 4 won't do much damage to you, but a 10 v 1 is crippling or even fatal if you're already badly maimed. Results can go over 10 and under 1. Damage is "Chunky-Salsa", meaning you have no Hit Points. Instead, your character takes a realistic amount of damage per the hit and must heal the specific injury.
The Avatar System, my favorite innovation, is also returning. Whatever your first article is determines your characters species, gender, and nationality. While gender and nationality don't change much, different species obviously have different properties. You also get the name of the character, and any bonuses that character would normally get as a basic article.
Sheets have stat bonuses, and up to four Special Buffs:
Assets are physical items. Weapons, vehicles, money, armor, that sorta thing.
Abilities are special, immaterial powers. Shooting fireballs, turning Super Saiyan, or being able to telepathically make rabbits explode count as these.
Allies are NPCs that you can optionally control along with your present character, are part of your team, and that you can switch control to instead of respawning or waitlisting after death. Be warned, though: a dead ally also gives the killer points and articles.
Additionals are mechanical changes that moreso affect the meta of the game. For example, spawning in enemy NPCs if you perform a certain action, having a specific objective, or turning the game into Dead by Daylight are all Additions.
Reloading a firearm takes three speeds depending on the weapon's power and complexity: a short reload (bows, semi-auto pistols) are a free action. Medium reloads (shotguns, assault rifles, revolvers, crossbows with a generous pull strength) take half of your action. Long reloads (LMGs, rocket launchers, crossbows with a heavy string pull) take your whole action.
And finally, the Wishes you get upon winning a match must pass GM Scrutiny. Your guardians in this story, the Triad and Observer, can only use do so much to alter your Avatars or where you get transported to, and too much manipulation will be rejected.
And now, the Game Modes.
1. Deathmatch: A standard, one life, no waitlisters kill 'em all.
2. Team Deathmatch: One life, 5v5. Use your actions in the Open, or Spoil them to concoct secret plans.
3. Assassination: A competitive gamemode where you are tasked with being the first person to kill either a Boss or a Target. Respawns and Waitlisters allowed.
4. Classic: First to 10 kills wins. Respawns and Waitlisters Allowed.
5. Objective: Similar to Assassination, except that the first player who completes a specific objective tied to the map, GM's wishes, and other factors wins. Respawns and Waitlisters allowed
6. Team Objective: A variant of objective, 5v5, where the first team to successfully complete the objective will win. Respawns and Waitlisters allowed.
7. Snatch n' Grab: There is a specific item on the map that holding will benefit the player. Every turn the item is held, a point is rewarded. The first player to get a randomly decided amount of points, between 10 and 15, with the item wins. Respawning is allowed.
8. Snatch n' Grab (Bloodbath Edition): The same rules as Snatch n' Grab, except respawns are turned off. Hold an item for 10-15 turns or just be the last Wiki-Warrior standing.
As always, the first match of a game is a Deathmatch.
Now, go out there and fight for your world's survival!
Players: 6/10
The Canadian kitten, BlackPaladin99, Failbird105, Megam0nkey, Strongpoint, King Zultan
Waitlisters: 0