So, I’ve been contemplating this over the last few days, and decided to put up an interest check. I have no premise yet, because I’m still mulling it all over, but I’ll outline the basic concepts for inspection and leave it open for questioning…and redefining, because I’m horribly spontaneous with my ideas sometimes.
+ This RP will be set in a fictional world that is, for lack of a better description, influenced by the subconscious minds of the humans who dwell there. Or rather, it reflects a shared desire for an ideal state of society, where there is freedom to do as you wish so long as you do not harm another – and the definition of “harm” is very tight indeed – and yet clearly definable and fair rules and boundaries. Humans are inherently selfish creatures, yet have a generally shared perception of what would make for an ideal world. This is that world.
+ For lack of better description – although you can be sure that the nature of the world is something that will get considerable explanation and expansion, because the world in this RP will define the characters – we’ll call it the World of Dreams.
+ This currently unnamed World of Dreams is a rather idyllic place, then. Think of it like Alice’s untainted version of Wonderland, perhaps. War is a concept that the current generation of people are unfamiliar with; the stuff of legends. When people think War, they would think of stories of heroes slaying monsters, not of people actually dying, etc.
+ The subconscious mind, naturally, defends itself from threats. This manifests itself in the World of Dreams as an omnipresent Guard, of sorts. Those who break the rules are punished by the Guard, who are UNAVOIDABLE: they can be anywhere, can’t be harmed, and their judgement is absolute. They are a reactive force, but they can react to intent, rather than action, so if you intended to harm another, you would be apprehended before you could. So there cannot be war in such a world, because not everyone agrees with it. If an individual takes up arms against another individual who has also taken up arms, that’s all well and good. If someone can gather an army, that’s all well and good too. It is, if you like, an ideal sort of war, where only those who actually want to fight can get caught up in the fighting, and there are no civilian casualties.
+ In this world exist beings known as Dreamers. Dreamers are both special and abnormal. They possess abilities beyond the norm: they can transport themselves instantaneously from one area to another in the blink of an eye; they can use telekinesis, speak into the minds of others, and manipulate their surroundings. A Dreamer’s abilities are as varied as the Dreamers themselves; you will be able to have two abilities at most. However, these abilities are PASSIVE. The reason for this is, of course, the Guard. Dreamers are highly restricted to what they can do: use your abilities on anyone other than yourself without the other’s express consent and you could face anything from temporary incarceration to being erased from existence. The severity of the punishment depends on the offence. If you, say, knocked someone out with your abilities, you would probably be forcibly transported to a cell and kept there for a time, or your abilities might be temporarily blocked. If you went around destroying buildings or seriously injuring others, you would be erased from existence faster than you could blink: no Dreamer is stronger than the Guard, because they are effectively one mind against uncountable BILLIONS. In a fight between you and the world, back the world.
+ Dreamers do not fit. Many believe Dreamers are those who have achieved a form of enlightenment, or tapped into a forbidden power…they’re partly right on both counts; nobody is supposed to be even partially aware that this is not the true reality, or be able to wield more power than anyone else. Let us just say, for the moment, that deep within the Dreamer’s subconscious mind is a grain of knowledge of the nature of the world that allows them to exert their will slightly more than the average person, which manifests itself in certain abilities. Who doesn’t have superpowers in their dreams?
+ Let me get this clear right now though: DREAMERS ARE NOT CONSCIOUSLY AWARE OF THE NATURE OF THE WORLD, AND WITHOUT DIRECT PROMPTING THEY NEVER WILL BE. Like everyone else, Dreamers are blind to the truth of the world, the sole difference is that they are, perhaps, of a slightly stronger will than the average person. There is a feeling that you sometimes get in your dreams that you are within a dream, but dismiss and do not remember until much later, when you stir to wakefulness. Dreamers have such a feeling, and react in the same fashion. It is a subconscious feeling that they cannot explain, and so rationalize into something else, or never even notice it; it is something that they simply take for granted. Think of it like the structure of society: many people do not stop to question certain aspects of it. There is no NEED to question it. But this is why they have abilities and others do not; some small part of them clicks, but it is so small and vague that they either will miss it completely or it translates into something else.
+ Nonetheless, Dreamers are regarded with some fear and suspicion: not outright intolerance, but not complete acceptance, which drastically restricts what they can do with their powers openly. People always fear what they don’t understand, and not even Dreamers understand themselves. The Guard react to the discomfort of the people, and if a Dreamer upsets enough people – which they can do with their presence alone – it is only a matter of time before the Guard descends upon them. To be recognised as a Dreamer is to become an outcast, because nobody knows exactly what triggers the abilities.
+ Dreamers CAN fight one another, but it must be a formal challenge in highly controlled conditions; mutual consent between two or more individuals is the key. This is why there is no war: getting EVERYONE to agree to war is next to impossible, and really any conflicts are between two groups who share ideals. The world has its own state of balance that none can interfere with. Politics are still commonplace, as there is always a general consensus for a leader, or for order – people don’t have to LIKE something in order to accept it – but mass scale conflict and war goes against the natural order, because it is, as we know, impossible to get everyone to agree to an idea.
+ So, that’s the world, and that’s the concept of Dreamers, in brief. Now we come to the role Nightmares play in this. These are spontaneous events, anomalies. Think of it like crossing an invisible threshold into another world; one technically outside of the World of Dreams, but also a part of it, as any individual can enter that world. Not every mind is connected to the World of Dreams, but minds can become connected to it; when you’re in a Nightmare you are often alone and desperate, and reach out to others, and thus you establish that connection…but you take your Nightmare with you. It is far too strong a feeling to be destroyed when crossing that threshold, and yet it cannot join with the world fully, because it is the product of a single mind. So it lingers between the two, joined and yet not joined. The source of the Nightmare cannot leave the Nightmare without destroying it; once they enter the World of Dreams, the Nightmare ends. Yet people from the World of Dreams can enter Nightmares, and for them, things are all too real, and often fatal: their mind is literally overwhelmed by the other person’s, and if they die in the Nightmare, they die in reality.
+ Nightmares seek Dreamers out. People who have Nightmares subconsciously want to wake up, and in a shared space of dreams, what do they do? Gravitate towards those who are the closest to waking up. That would be the Dreamers. Many believe that the Dreamers bring the Nightmares with their presence alone, and perhaps this is true. Who knows. But, worse, they strip Dreamers of their powers: you have no power in another person’s mind. This means that the Guard have no power either (a Nightmare is the product of one mind, not the masses, and the Guard are the creation of the masses) and so the Dreamers COULD use their abilities to defend themselves…if they still had them. Once a Dreamer is in a Nightmare, the ONLY way they can leave it is to guide the one having it out of it, which is easier said than done.
+ It is only a matter of time before Dreamers succumb to a Nightmare, really: people can imagine some truly terrible things, and it is all too easy to get caught in them. You might find yourself just being chased by a phantom of some kind…or immediately dumped into the cold vacuum of space, killing you instantly. This is the fate of all Dreamers; it is unavoidable.
+ So then, what are the goals of this RP? Well, I can tell you now that there will be an antagonist, and one that can defy the Guard. One who is above the rules of the world – to a point – and is out to kill every other Dreamer. Many believe this individual to be a deity; the leader of the Guard. There will, naturally, be more to it than that, but if I tell you what I have in mind…what fun would it be? You’d just have to wait and see what the reasons for their existence are. There is space for another such character, either in co-operation or conflict with this character, for anyone interested…naturally, you’d need to contact me for the details, because it will be extremely plot spoiler heavy. If people are interested in the primary antagonist, they will similarly need to contact me for details; I'm not fussed if I take the role or not, but it is one that is highly specific, as it ties into the entire plot.
+ There also exists - somewhere - an item of power that will have some great significance to Dreamers in particular; details surrounding it are sketchy (not only because I have yet to write the lore for it) but rumour has it that a Dreamer who finds it can attain unlock even greater power, and can avoid being caught within Nightmares. A way to avoid untimely demise is something that any sane person will want to find. A cure, perhaps, to being a Dreamer; remember, these are people are regarded as cursed, and burdened with the knowledge that they will die one day very soon.
+ So, the goals: find this object, avoid the one out to kill you, avoid Nightmares, and anything else you may feel like: there are politics to be involved in if you wish, and plenty of other things I’ll come up with as I go and get input from others. You don’t HAVE to be a Dreamer if you don’t want to be; whilst Dreamers have the strongest wills and the most power, it is possible to not be a Dreamer. You could even become one over the course of the RP; how people become Dreamers is something that will not be divulged until much, much later in the RP.
So, that’s the details. Now for some general notes:
Please bear in mind that, if this does go ahead, it probably won’t start until mid-November or early-December, even if I push myself. The world will need to be MUCH bigger than the one I designed for the Digimon RP, and more detail will need to go into it: politics, economy, major NPCs, concepts, etc. There will be a LOT of detail to this.
One thing there will not be, however, is a history of the world. Time is irrelevant in dreams, other than the time of day: there will be an impression of time, but it’s an in-the-moment sort of thing, as a frame of reference. After all, in dreams, who really pays attention to time and date in dreams? There is the concept of things moving forward, but only in the moment; it’s an eternal sort of world.
For a dream world, this will be highly structured, as there is a need for structure in human society, and this is the product of a collective subconscious. However, the world itself will be weird and wonderful, from a variety of different time periods and cultural backgrounds (although not all; some lesser known cultures will not be included, because they aren’t as well known outside of the region from which they originate, but others will be very prominent…or rather, what people see them as) and there will be PLENTY of depth and wackiness to it, and things WILL get a bit more of a mindfuck as the RP progresses. Naturally, not everything will be on the table at once.
Don’t think Inception; that movie was utter shit, and nowhere near weird enough for the human mind. Think along the lines of Eternal Sonata (only not as boring) mixed with the World of Dreams from the Wheel of Time novels in structure, and some other references that people wouldn’t recognise but inspired the idea.
You won’t have to write a history for this RP, at least, not the first one. But you can be damn sure I will want long, structured bios with a lot of detail, and a high standard of English will be required for participation: this does NOT mean just spelling; it means grammar, punctuation and presentation as well. If I haven’t RPed with you before, I will likely ask for a roleplay sample as well. This will be an open RP; anyone can apply, although when I say no, I mean no.
So…any takers? Ideally I’m looking for four other people, minimum, who would definitely participate.
Depending on the interest, I may condense the world to a large island and turn the RP into one that has multiple parts and open up new continents as old RPs end and new ones begin; that would mean it’d be up faster and would have room for expansion, but there would be less in terms of political conflict initially etc. Which would you prefer? A smaller scale world for a quicker start, or a huge, in-depth world that you can explore as you wish that will take me longer to construct and so push the timing of the RP back? I could easily turn this into a multi-part RP if necessary, or leave it as a standalone. Flexibility is good. But I'd go with majority consensus in this case.
If this becomes a multi-part RP, you can be sure that things will progress in a manner you don’t expect…
+ This RP will be set in a fictional world that is, for lack of a better description, influenced by the subconscious minds of the humans who dwell there. Or rather, it reflects a shared desire for an ideal state of society, where there is freedom to do as you wish so long as you do not harm another – and the definition of “harm” is very tight indeed – and yet clearly definable and fair rules and boundaries. Humans are inherently selfish creatures, yet have a generally shared perception of what would make for an ideal world. This is that world.
+ For lack of better description – although you can be sure that the nature of the world is something that will get considerable explanation and expansion, because the world in this RP will define the characters – we’ll call it the World of Dreams.
+ This currently unnamed World of Dreams is a rather idyllic place, then. Think of it like Alice’s untainted version of Wonderland, perhaps. War is a concept that the current generation of people are unfamiliar with; the stuff of legends. When people think War, they would think of stories of heroes slaying monsters, not of people actually dying, etc.
+ The subconscious mind, naturally, defends itself from threats. This manifests itself in the World of Dreams as an omnipresent Guard, of sorts. Those who break the rules are punished by the Guard, who are UNAVOIDABLE: they can be anywhere, can’t be harmed, and their judgement is absolute. They are a reactive force, but they can react to intent, rather than action, so if you intended to harm another, you would be apprehended before you could. So there cannot be war in such a world, because not everyone agrees with it. If an individual takes up arms against another individual who has also taken up arms, that’s all well and good. If someone can gather an army, that’s all well and good too. It is, if you like, an ideal sort of war, where only those who actually want to fight can get caught up in the fighting, and there are no civilian casualties.
+ In this world exist beings known as Dreamers. Dreamers are both special and abnormal. They possess abilities beyond the norm: they can transport themselves instantaneously from one area to another in the blink of an eye; they can use telekinesis, speak into the minds of others, and manipulate their surroundings. A Dreamer’s abilities are as varied as the Dreamers themselves; you will be able to have two abilities at most. However, these abilities are PASSIVE. The reason for this is, of course, the Guard. Dreamers are highly restricted to what they can do: use your abilities on anyone other than yourself without the other’s express consent and you could face anything from temporary incarceration to being erased from existence. The severity of the punishment depends on the offence. If you, say, knocked someone out with your abilities, you would probably be forcibly transported to a cell and kept there for a time, or your abilities might be temporarily blocked. If you went around destroying buildings or seriously injuring others, you would be erased from existence faster than you could blink: no Dreamer is stronger than the Guard, because they are effectively one mind against uncountable BILLIONS. In a fight between you and the world, back the world.
+ Dreamers do not fit. Many believe Dreamers are those who have achieved a form of enlightenment, or tapped into a forbidden power…they’re partly right on both counts; nobody is supposed to be even partially aware that this is not the true reality, or be able to wield more power than anyone else. Let us just say, for the moment, that deep within the Dreamer’s subconscious mind is a grain of knowledge of the nature of the world that allows them to exert their will slightly more than the average person, which manifests itself in certain abilities. Who doesn’t have superpowers in their dreams?
+ Let me get this clear right now though: DREAMERS ARE NOT CONSCIOUSLY AWARE OF THE NATURE OF THE WORLD, AND WITHOUT DIRECT PROMPTING THEY NEVER WILL BE. Like everyone else, Dreamers are blind to the truth of the world, the sole difference is that they are, perhaps, of a slightly stronger will than the average person. There is a feeling that you sometimes get in your dreams that you are within a dream, but dismiss and do not remember until much later, when you stir to wakefulness. Dreamers have such a feeling, and react in the same fashion. It is a subconscious feeling that they cannot explain, and so rationalize into something else, or never even notice it; it is something that they simply take for granted. Think of it like the structure of society: many people do not stop to question certain aspects of it. There is no NEED to question it. But this is why they have abilities and others do not; some small part of them clicks, but it is so small and vague that they either will miss it completely or it translates into something else.
+ Nonetheless, Dreamers are regarded with some fear and suspicion: not outright intolerance, but not complete acceptance, which drastically restricts what they can do with their powers openly. People always fear what they don’t understand, and not even Dreamers understand themselves. The Guard react to the discomfort of the people, and if a Dreamer upsets enough people – which they can do with their presence alone – it is only a matter of time before the Guard descends upon them. To be recognised as a Dreamer is to become an outcast, because nobody knows exactly what triggers the abilities.
+ Dreamers CAN fight one another, but it must be a formal challenge in highly controlled conditions; mutual consent between two or more individuals is the key. This is why there is no war: getting EVERYONE to agree to war is next to impossible, and really any conflicts are between two groups who share ideals. The world has its own state of balance that none can interfere with. Politics are still commonplace, as there is always a general consensus for a leader, or for order – people don’t have to LIKE something in order to accept it – but mass scale conflict and war goes against the natural order, because it is, as we know, impossible to get everyone to agree to an idea.
+ So, that’s the world, and that’s the concept of Dreamers, in brief. Now we come to the role Nightmares play in this. These are spontaneous events, anomalies. Think of it like crossing an invisible threshold into another world; one technically outside of the World of Dreams, but also a part of it, as any individual can enter that world. Not every mind is connected to the World of Dreams, but minds can become connected to it; when you’re in a Nightmare you are often alone and desperate, and reach out to others, and thus you establish that connection…but you take your Nightmare with you. It is far too strong a feeling to be destroyed when crossing that threshold, and yet it cannot join with the world fully, because it is the product of a single mind. So it lingers between the two, joined and yet not joined. The source of the Nightmare cannot leave the Nightmare without destroying it; once they enter the World of Dreams, the Nightmare ends. Yet people from the World of Dreams can enter Nightmares, and for them, things are all too real, and often fatal: their mind is literally overwhelmed by the other person’s, and if they die in the Nightmare, they die in reality.
+ Nightmares seek Dreamers out. People who have Nightmares subconsciously want to wake up, and in a shared space of dreams, what do they do? Gravitate towards those who are the closest to waking up. That would be the Dreamers. Many believe that the Dreamers bring the Nightmares with their presence alone, and perhaps this is true. Who knows. But, worse, they strip Dreamers of their powers: you have no power in another person’s mind. This means that the Guard have no power either (a Nightmare is the product of one mind, not the masses, and the Guard are the creation of the masses) and so the Dreamers COULD use their abilities to defend themselves…if they still had them. Once a Dreamer is in a Nightmare, the ONLY way they can leave it is to guide the one having it out of it, which is easier said than done.
+ It is only a matter of time before Dreamers succumb to a Nightmare, really: people can imagine some truly terrible things, and it is all too easy to get caught in them. You might find yourself just being chased by a phantom of some kind…or immediately dumped into the cold vacuum of space, killing you instantly. This is the fate of all Dreamers; it is unavoidable.
+ So then, what are the goals of this RP? Well, I can tell you now that there will be an antagonist, and one that can defy the Guard. One who is above the rules of the world – to a point – and is out to kill every other Dreamer. Many believe this individual to be a deity; the leader of the Guard. There will, naturally, be more to it than that, but if I tell you what I have in mind…what fun would it be? You’d just have to wait and see what the reasons for their existence are. There is space for another such character, either in co-operation or conflict with this character, for anyone interested…naturally, you’d need to contact me for the details, because it will be extremely plot spoiler heavy. If people are interested in the primary antagonist, they will similarly need to contact me for details; I'm not fussed if I take the role or not, but it is one that is highly specific, as it ties into the entire plot.
+ There also exists - somewhere - an item of power that will have some great significance to Dreamers in particular; details surrounding it are sketchy (not only because I have yet to write the lore for it) but rumour has it that a Dreamer who finds it can attain unlock even greater power, and can avoid being caught within Nightmares. A way to avoid untimely demise is something that any sane person will want to find. A cure, perhaps, to being a Dreamer; remember, these are people are regarded as cursed, and burdened with the knowledge that they will die one day very soon.
+ So, the goals: find this object, avoid the one out to kill you, avoid Nightmares, and anything else you may feel like: there are politics to be involved in if you wish, and plenty of other things I’ll come up with as I go and get input from others. You don’t HAVE to be a Dreamer if you don’t want to be; whilst Dreamers have the strongest wills and the most power, it is possible to not be a Dreamer. You could even become one over the course of the RP; how people become Dreamers is something that will not be divulged until much, much later in the RP.
So, that’s the details. Now for some general notes:
Please bear in mind that, if this does go ahead, it probably won’t start until mid-November or early-December, even if I push myself. The world will need to be MUCH bigger than the one I designed for the Digimon RP, and more detail will need to go into it: politics, economy, major NPCs, concepts, etc. There will be a LOT of detail to this.
One thing there will not be, however, is a history of the world. Time is irrelevant in dreams, other than the time of day: there will be an impression of time, but it’s an in-the-moment sort of thing, as a frame of reference. After all, in dreams, who really pays attention to time and date in dreams? There is the concept of things moving forward, but only in the moment; it’s an eternal sort of world.
For a dream world, this will be highly structured, as there is a need for structure in human society, and this is the product of a collective subconscious. However, the world itself will be weird and wonderful, from a variety of different time periods and cultural backgrounds (although not all; some lesser known cultures will not be included, because they aren’t as well known outside of the region from which they originate, but others will be very prominent…or rather, what people see them as) and there will be PLENTY of depth and wackiness to it, and things WILL get a bit more of a mindfuck as the RP progresses. Naturally, not everything will be on the table at once.
Don’t think Inception; that movie was utter shit, and nowhere near weird enough for the human mind. Think along the lines of Eternal Sonata (only not as boring) mixed with the World of Dreams from the Wheel of Time novels in structure, and some other references that people wouldn’t recognise but inspired the idea.
You won’t have to write a history for this RP, at least, not the first one. But you can be damn sure I will want long, structured bios with a lot of detail, and a high standard of English will be required for participation: this does NOT mean just spelling; it means grammar, punctuation and presentation as well. If I haven’t RPed with you before, I will likely ask for a roleplay sample as well. This will be an open RP; anyone can apply, although when I say no, I mean no.
So…any takers? Ideally I’m looking for four other people, minimum, who would definitely participate.
Depending on the interest, I may condense the world to a large island and turn the RP into one that has multiple parts and open up new continents as old RPs end and new ones begin; that would mean it’d be up faster and would have room for expansion, but there would be less in terms of political conflict initially etc. Which would you prefer? A smaller scale world for a quicker start, or a huge, in-depth world that you can explore as you wish that will take me longer to construct and so push the timing of the RP back? I could easily turn this into a multi-part RP if necessary, or leave it as a standalone. Flexibility is good. But I'd go with majority consensus in this case.
If this becomes a multi-part RP, you can be sure that things will progress in a manner you don’t expect…
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