Diablo 3 Armory - Unofficial Diablo 3 Fansite

Telling stories is fun, but what is even better is when we can get together as a group and combine our storytelling prowess to tell a more epic, funny, villainousness, heroic, tragic, dramatic, etc. story. Even better, even the writers never know where it is going to go because someone else might have a completely other idea. This is what a forum RPG is.

The RPG would be a story-game hybrid set in the current Starcraft universe (a bit before WoL). While it would be a game, it would be primarily story/lore driven. A player would create a character(s) and initial force using the point system provided and would then start playing. Participants would post their actions in the form of narrative (creative writing) and would thus interact with the NPC factions and other players.

Characters will have command over one flagship (a really big something, think Hyperion, Super Carrier, Zerg Behemoth or Leviathan, the Purifier, something of that caliber) as well as an army and heroes of their own design(within lore restrictions please). In the style of the Wings of Liberty campaign, players will need to buy or procure all of their tech and will be able to customize even the standard units to fit their play style.

I am Orloth, and I am running this crazy train as the GM (which basically just means I lore slap anyone I don't like). Welcome to the show.

Rule Number 1: This is a game. Play it to have fun, or don't play at all. Have respect for your fellow players and those Game Mastering.

Rule Number 2: The GM (Game Master) is the final arbiter on all rules and systems. He creates and interprets the rules of play and settles disputes. In order for him to be effective, his word must be final. He may also assign deputy GMs or Game Wardens to assist him in this process.

Rule Number 3: As this game is set in the Starcraft Universe, please stick to the lore of the 'verse. As I have not read all of the novels, I lean heavily on The Starcraft Wiki site, and am therefore open to lore debates. However, once decided upon, such a point must remain consistent.

The possibilities are endless, and characters are not restricted to playing good guys. In fact, villainy is encouraged as long as the rules of the game and your fellow players are respected. Here are a few considerations for making your character:

Terran characters have it easy, as the myriad factions and political tensions are well explored in both the novels and in the recent Campaign. One could be a Dominion officer, a Kel-Morian contractor, a Umoja Protector, a Pirate ship, a Mercenary company, a UED refuge, a Confederate loyalist, or a business funded private army, or any combination there of.

The protoss civilation is fracturing under the weight of the recent political, social and martial revelations. The six tribes are very different and each have their own motivations and goals. To add to that, there are also various splinter groups and lost colonies. There are plenty of opportunities for a character to explore the politics and drama, or they could just leave it behind and go seeking revenge, or their lost loved ones.

The zerg are only slightly more tricky, but only slightly. Obviously, a character could play as one of Kerrigan's consorts or Brood Mothers. However, there might also be cerebrates that survived the recent Brood War and seek to reinstall the Overmind as master of the swarm. In addition, while Kerrigan does claim dominance over the swarm, her direct control does not extend as far as that of the late Overmind and Feral zerg on distant worlds may have gained sentience and started their own broods.

Lastly, the dark servants of unknown masters seek to dominate the sector, and many of them wander the void, seeking the means to fulfill their master's dark designs.

A character's (or characters' if you want multiple) starting stats are derived using these charts.

DPS is equal to damage divided by attack speed. As there are advantages and disadvantages to both a fast and slow attack speed, this may be decided by the player as long as it is stated when the character is presented. In addition, one may buy situational attack damage (+ vs armored, a stronger attack while in melee, or an attack that effects only one plane) for half price.

Abilities function as a miscellaneous column, and include all normal abilities, as well as things such as flight and detection. Abilities will be balanced on a case by case basis by the GM. However, a few guidelines to follow: 1)If it is already present in the game, it will likely be approved. 2)Simpler is better.

Lastly, a character's modifiers (armored, light, biological, mechanical, etc.) should be defined. In addition to the standard Modifiers, all hero characters should have the 'Heroic' Modifier, which gives you the option, at your own discretion and subject to GM approval, to have your character not die when reduced to 0 hit points. This plot armor extends only so far as it can reasonably be explained.

For instance, most protoss combat suits are equipped with a teleporter that activates when the wearer is critically injured. So a Protoss Infantry hero could have been teleported to safety at the last possibly second, and then after some R&R be ready to rejoin the fray. Other examples might include Escape Pods for piloted vehicles, Emergency Life Support Systems, Escape Tunnels or a zerg's ability to revive dead organisms.

However, this second life comes at a price. Every time it is used you must either spend 10% of your character's point total (the points spent on that character) or reduce your character's point total by that amount.

Flagships are humongous and mighty and displaying them using usual game stats may be a tad tricky. Beside that, many of them are big enough to be the site of a ground fight, rather then just be another unit on the field. However, this also makes them vulnerable targets in any large scale battle causing them to exist on the fringes of combat, acting as centers for command and control. As such, the flagship's stats are simply a number between 0 and 10 with 0 being nonexistent and 10 being the best of the best. This is relative to all other flagships. A higher number simply means that the ship is better equipped in that category.

The six stats are defined as follows:

Weapons: Is how well armed your ship is, and includes everything used to do damage to your enemy, even the Yamato Cannon, and a Carrier's Interceptors.

Armor: Is how tough your ship is. A higher armor means that your ship can take a beating. Be it through an impressive shield array, an impenetrable carapace, or a heavily reinforced hull, or a combanation of the three this stat represents how much of a beating your flagship can take before core systems fail.

Manueverability: represents how nimble you are in a fight, and also to a lesser extent, how good you are at hiding (as much as a mothership can hide). This stat allows your ship to get traverse within a system and always be where it is needed.

Speed: represents how much faster then light your ship can travel, an important consideration for any traveler of the void between the stars. Though there are many ways in which faster then light travel is achieved, they are all expressed with this one stat.

Deployment: represents how much your ship can carry in the form of production and military deployment and allows a commander to start a ground engagement with a solid lead on his adversaries. A '1' allows for the standard command center + 6 workers, while each point above that allows for 300 minerals (or half that in gas) to work with.

Security: Is how easy or difficult it is for an enemy to move around inside your ship. Many flagships have advanced sensors for sniffing out cloakers and turret emplacements to ward off intruders. A high Security protects your people from espionage, or waking up with a knife in the back.

In addition, your flagship may have special abilities which can be used to give it an edge in combat. Generally speaking these abilities require that you have a score of 5 or higher in the category that that ability would fall under and should be used as a reflection of that score, not to bolster it.

Abilities that involve dealing damage would fall under the weapons score, Abilities that involve taking or avoiding damage would fall under armor, those that involve movement or stealth would fall under Maneuverability, and those that involve Detection and Sight would fall under Security. Speed and Deployment do not have any abilities tied to them.

However, as powerful as your flagship is, it is expensive to maintain. Just ordinary maintnance can sap your force of funds very quickly, but combat damage can be especially expensive to repair. If a Flagship is used in combat too much without proper downtime and maintenance, the GM or GWs may subtract points from your flagship's score to reflect damage and neglect. These scores can only be recovered through buying them with Points.

Armies are the backbone of the Starcraft Universe. Without an army to command, it just wouldn't be Starcraft. The price to buy the ability to create a unit is M/25 + V/12.5 + S where M is Mineral cost, V is the gas cost and S is supply. Upgrades cost the same amount and are permanent.

Points spent in your army unlock the ability for you to build those units from your buildings or have them at your flagship. Points spent on upgrades permanently research that upgrade.

Everything in the melee version of the game is available, tech from the campaign or from BW will likely be available after stats are agreed upon. Custom units and upgrades are possible with proper lore and balancing.

First off, I must explain the game currency. All units, upgrades, tech and hero stats are bought with an arbitrary currency of points. These points may represent virtually anything in game, be it the honor and respect of your fellow protoss brethren, the DNA of your fallen enemies, or cold hard cash; and are the basis by which everything gets balanced.

A starting character may start with 300 points to spend among the three catagories: heroes, flagship, and army. It is highly suggested that you spend about 100 points in each category to start with. The cost of everything is here, and may yet be subject to even more balancing as time goes on and problems are revealed.

The points act as a way to balance starting characters and as a means for progressing and building your characters as you venture forth. Additional points will be handed out solely by the GM when you complete a mission or tell an awesome story. Points are spent in the same manner, by explaining your expenditure in your story and then bugging the GM to edit your character appropriately. In this manner they function primarily as Experience Points.

Points may be traded among players, as long as the method for doing so is rationalized appropriately.

While the main goal here is to tell a story, combat is an important part of the 'verse. Therefor, rules of engagement need to be in place.

Every flagship (barring hard times) has the ability to deploy a ground base which then turns the basic resources into combat units which are then used to defeat the enemy or complete the objectives up to a maximum supply cap of 200. This number is a representation of the personnel you may have on hand, or the psionic control you may wield over your minions, or any other lore explanation for the in-game cap of 200 supply.

In a flagship to flagship fight, the need for resources is removed and both sides may choose an army of up to 200 supply to have on hand, representing fighters, boarding parties, defensive troops, etc. However, additional troops cannot be procured. The fight must be played out with only what is on hand. If a ground operation is currently in effect, that may cut into the supply available at the flagship.

In any combat scenario, the entire situation should be mutually agreed upon by all participants before any in-character posts are made. This is to prevent the In-character thread being cluttered by strategic discussion. Once the course of the fight is decided upon, it is then posted by one player. In some cases, this process may be repeated as necessary. As always, the GM or anyone assigned Wardenship by the GM has final say over the outcome of the fight.

This is the Brainstorming Thread. The Story Thread is found here. This Thread is used for Character Creation, discussing plots and settling disputes. GLHFGG.