kenod

I had basically the same idea for this, although using special setups to distill magic energy from leylines instead. I dislike the idea of magitek though, at least in large or advanced quantities, since it would mean that the setting probably won't stay as classic fantasy for long, and it tends to have rather large implications on societies. Limited amounts of it could work though, as long as they're rare enough that the normal population wouldn't have access to it.

Because calling them Hellbent kind of indicates that they're meant to be at least as horrifying as what the GM would throw at the players. Also, Anthony and Ronin are still an issue, since they're fairly skilled warriors, who are more likely to just smash the monster into pieces instead of going into a mental breakdown.

Please don't, or at least not without discussing it with Voidus, given that he'll probably serve as GM. Edit: I'll probably take a researcher who's trying to figure out what's going on, possibly going slowly mad as everything they thought was true is proven wrong.

To me the Keepers seem better as the wise hermit/druid/monk types.

Same, though I'm not sure how well it would work for this. For one thing, I have a feeling we'd probably end up with a lolFoundation situation, or transition into an action setting.

Eh, in that case I'd prefer something more SCP-Foundation like, where they're more dark gray than fully evil. But just having all characters be evil wouldn't really work for a horror setting, since most characters would be the victims, not the people causing bad stuff.

I'd suggest three different magic systems, or at least three different groups: Innate, Ecology and Ritual. Innate would be something only a few people possess and would be capable of fewer effects, but is easy to access if you have it and more of a combat type magic (think metallic arts). Getting access to this would probably be a birth thing, or something that requires special training? Ecology would consist of two different parts, areas in the world with large concentrations of magic, which effects the area, manifesting special effects and creatures, as well as things similar to spren (though probably closer to Shinto Kami). The second part are people who have figured out ways to use these hotspots to use magic by working together with these entities. This would be more of a witchcraft/druid style system, both communicating with spirits to alter nature, as well as binding them as familiars to be able to use a limited amount of magic much faster, to the same degree as Innate users. Might have a degree of wild magic going on as well. Ritual magic would be accessible to anyone, but might require special resources (solid/liquid Investure?) and a lot of study to be able to use it, and even more to create your own techniques/spells, or create ways to access it more quickly. This would have the most options, with different branches of magic (some of them possibly illegal), but most people don't have the time and resources to study it. Something Sellish might be good for this, with symbols and large diagrams/magic circles being used to cast magic. Would probably have hacks to allow experienced users to cast magic quickly, but with lower flexibility than those using the other groups of magic. Metallic arts would still have issues, Allomancy suffers from being in another universe, thus lacking a source of Connection with Preservation/Harmony (unless this works across universes?). Feruchemy should work, but still suffers from the fact that you'll lack easy access to 6 of your metals, and lack of advanced metallurgy would make getting alloys difficult as well. There isn't really a cosmere prohibition on this, the only limit the cosmere has is that you're never sure if the predictions will come true, since you're just seeing different branches of the future. The prohibition on future sight is because of meta reasons, since with everybody controlling the story to some degree you can't really predict the future, not without locking everyone in a story they might not want, or railroading stuff.

Are we sure we actually want to use the idea of the three realms for this? It implies that we'll either be copying the Cosmere magic systems, or at least that we won't have a lot of deviation from them, which limits what we can do with the setting.

I do have an idea floating around for this, to explain spren, but I'm still trying to work out a few details. They way it currently works it would also allow for the creation of weird magical areas and our Investure sources, as well as possibly certain other fantasy tropes.

More like the way Hemalurgy is capable of creating new species. Basically, it would be warping the bodies (and possibly souls) of those affected by it, creating new species/monstrosities, but would also be capable of just changing a person's appearance, or healing them. Healing magic would be one form of this (probably the only legal one as well, except maybe cosmetic stuff). Of course, something like this being added depends on what the general opinion is on modifying the default magic systems, instead of just transplanting them. On an unrelated note, we'd probably also need to look into ecology, especially if we want to add Rosharan magics. Most Rosharan magic is rather intimately entwined with the ecology, and said ecology doesn't really work in a classical fantasy setting. At the same time, the requirement for gemstones for magic would make it something that ranges from ridiculously expensive to unusable, given that the size and number of gemstones used by Roshar are unfeasible for a world without greatshells or large scale industrial mining (and would probably effect the economy a lot as well).

I'd say Warhammer Fantasy might be better, but still, it probably wouldn't add anything to the setting that really makes a big difference without just ripping it off or just having a variation on a standard fantasy trope like Orcs, Elves and sorcerers.

Given that we're trying to keep it alleyverse related (I think), I'd suggest by seeing how the (great) guilds would work in this. It would probably also be good to decide which of the magic systems we want to use, and if we want to include non-humans, and if so, how. As for guilds, my suggestions would be the following: Ghostbloods: Assassins, plain and simple. Probably would have access to some type of supernatural abilities though, possibly the ones that are quick to use, such as physical enhancement and stealth. DA: Insane, underground group of mages with little ethics. Would probably be using the more darker types of magic in the setting, as well as the ones that require a lot of research (human sacrifice, necromancy, flesh sorcery). TUBA: Official mages guild. Not allowed to use certain restricted magics the DA is known for, would probably have more numbers though (npcs), would probably look more into things like Aons and Fabrials. For these, exact magic systems would probably change depending on later decisions, and are mainly specializations, any member of any group could theoretically use any type of magic (not counting possible special qualifiers), but the group specializing in them would be better at them, having better training and knowledge. Edit: We might not want to fully stick to Sanderson though, or at least modify his magic systems slightly, to make them fit this world better. We might also want to cut out a few if they don't work in the setting, or introduce something of our own if we feel it would fit well. To me, it would be better to stick to the general theme of Sanderson magic systems instead, and modifying or adding our own things if it would make the setting better. Also, I'd say the core of the Alleyverse is the guilds, not Sanderson magic systems (case in point, WH40k). While sticking to them would be preferable since it'd fit better with the greater universe and it would be easier for newcomers to understand, it shouldn't be done if it would be detrimental to the setting, or if adding something new improves it.

Never played it myself either (never did any RP related things before this), but it's kind of a weird thing, where it's basically the GM's role to mess with other players, like passing them notes without anything on it, changing the rules, all that kind of stuff. The TV Tropes page has some great examples.

Sounds interesting, it reminds me of the old alleyverse D&D that we had at some point. I'm guessing that the way this will work is that we'll receive a small amount of info, just enough to make our characters, and for the rest take the Paranoia approach, with players not actually being aware of the rules/world-building?

So something similar to say, Call of Cthulhu, With a GM and players, but the players typing stuff out instead of everyone sitting around a table?

Alright, thanks.

Are the summaries of the other finished matches going to be added soon? Also, how many matches have been finished already?

I can help with the world building as well, both sci-fi as well as fantasy. I'd recommend creating separate threads for the world building though, possibly also creating a google doc for actually writing down details. These type of things can grow really large really fast, and might clutter stuff up. Also, for horror are we talking about cosmic horror, victorian/gothic horror, slasher horror, phychological horror, @Voidus? You don't have answer if it'd spoil the surprise though.

Also, how do we decide on which settings to use? I know some people are interested in a sci-fi universe, and I've also created a basic setting for a magical girl type universe (not entirely sure why though). Perhaps it would be a good idea to have other people suggest settings as well, so that when we do the test run we'll be using settings people are interested in using?

I'd say that the best method would be to have a thread for pitching ideas (preferably complete ones), and see how much interest there is for them, after which the mods would have to decide if it should be created. On that note, I'd suggest multiple types of universes as well, mostly relating to how many threads they can have, and how many we can have going on at the same time. I'd suggest having two or three main universes, which are kind of like the current alleyverse, except with somewhat less threads. At the same time, we'd also have a number of side universes, which are smaller, and generally consist of only one or two threads. The final type of universe would be a one-shot, which is kind of like how the OSotW thread worked, where a single person controls the npcs and has already created the plot, and others simply participate in it. As for people moving around, I'd suggest keeping it to a minimum, preferably not at all, with each character staying in their own universe.

"Kitten", probably. Or maybe "Cat".

@Sorana I'll see if I can send you the initial write up/concept tomorrow (it's a big one, and I don't have enough time this evening to type it all out). On a more on topic note, I think that the best strategy for the multiple universes thing would be to create a few test worlds, and see how people like them. Since they'd be standalone settings, they can be abandoned if they don't work out, and won't influence the main universe canon (this means don't transfer over existing characters). I'd suggest people with concepts ready work them out (perhaps post a very basic out-line on what you're doing, so people with similar ideas can work together), post the worked out versions, and pick two or three to actually create. Also, I suggest that at least initially, the mods will create the new threads, to prevent everybody from creating their own universe, and causes a confusing mess of dead threads and massive amounts of overwork for the mods trying to keep track of everything.

Alright. That's kind of the issue to me though, to me the main benefit of the universe system would be the ability to develop larger, different settings. For smaller setting the Other Side of the World would be good, but it still places a lot of restrictions of what can be done. For example, sci-fi or high tech-levels wouldn't work, since those require infrastructure, and a lot of people working and thinking together, which either wouldn't be possible because of travel limits, or would break these limits and cause trouble. While the OSotW would be great for smaller settings, especially exploration themed ones, or ones set in older time periods, it will not work for larger settings, or anything set past the industrial revolution.

Another issue with the other side of the world is that it if you want unique settings you can only create something really small. You can't have larger histories or countries as part of the world building, unless the alleyplanet has the surface area of Jupiter. Otherwise the first setting to have flying vehicles with any decent speed can go and explore everything, ruining the different, independent settings that existed at the time.