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, welcome to Europa: 513 AD

07:33, 29th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Joining Europa 512 AD.

Posted by BenFor group public
Ben
GM, 3 posts
Mon 2 Mar 2009
at 20:57
  • msg #1

Joining Europa 512 AD

Thinking of joining Europa 512?  Take a look around the game.  This is a big, busy, involved world.  A lot happens, there are a lot of characters, a lot of interaction, and we've been here a while.  We are on our third year!  I call this "DnD 3.5 Lite" because I generally don't follow all the mechanics of the rules.  They are guides.  Fighting a round by round battle takes too long here, so things like that are somewhat "abstracted".

  Here, the intent is the characters and their world.  You don't meet strangers in a tavern to go off on some simple quest- you are part of the a larger story, the sweep of history around you, not a single episode adventure.

There are many threads and characters, but the plot arcs weave into each other.  If one arc isn't suiting you, there are plenty of opportunities to switch.  That's an advantage of a big, diverse game.  There's likely to be something going on that suits your style.

The GM will update all threads at least 3 times a week, often more.  Players are expected to contribute at least at the same rate.  It's not a "fast" game as games go, but it's not slow either.  Furthermore, posts are expected to be more than simple one-liners.  In Europe you describe, you don't simply type "I go left" and move on.  I insist on one thing, though:  if your fellow gamers ask something of your character, and the thread is waiting on your answer, please answer.  Even if you can only manage a brief post.  It's the polite thing to do.

Think, feel, react, tell:  it's a story, not a video game!

Character creation is handled by a series of questionnaires exploring the origins and development of the character.  Through the answers you define the character.

Or, if you want to pick up an existing character, see the list at the bottom for options.

If you join with a new character, there is sometimes a part 2 to the questionaire, that follows up on some specifics.

Simply answer the following questions as you imagine your character would:


Where are you now, in life?

1.  An older child, still unaware of most of the world, still developing, lots of untapped raw potential, limitless possibilities?
2.  A teenager, on the verge of adulthood but not yet there, finding your identity?
3.  A young adult, setting out on the path that will define your life?
4.  A adult, physically at your prime, knowing who and what you are?
5.  A mature adult, hardened by the world, your fully developed skills at their peak?
6.  An older adult, whose broad experiences and time tested relationships offset the slow decline of your physical abilities?
7.  An elder, in the long autumn of your life, passing the burdens you have carried to the next generation?

Note:  Because new players in this very long standing game have so much to learn compared to the veterans, it is requested that new characters for new players not be older than Young Adult, unless they have a good reason for their inexperience, or unless the player wishes to do a LOT of reading.

You are not ordinary.  Fate and your own actions makes you someone central to the destiny of others.  You have chosen not to live an ordinary life.  Why do you do the things you do?

1.  Thrills.
2.   For the things it can get you.  It’s all about you.
3.  To prove yourself.
4.  Fame.  You want to live forever, light up the sky with your name.
5.  Destiny, fate, some prophecy, maybe a strange birthmark you bear.
6.  To you, this is an ordinary life.
7.  Your moral code demands it.
8.  Someone to whom you have pledged yourself needs you to do this.
9.  You don’t really know.  You’re just trying to get through life, and these things happen.
10.  The gods themselves ask this of you.
11.  In the service of your guild/order/secret society, etc.
12.  It’s for your people.
13.  Those of your lineage have always done this, you are just keeping up tradition.
14.  Because you are a nutjob.  Wacko.  Some of the arrows in your quiver are bent.
15.  As a path towards some great goal that defines your life.

Your character wants to get to the other side of a trackless howling wildnerness, and the only trail is notoriously unsafe.  Many things come to mind.  From the list below, identify three thoughts that appeal to your character the most.

1 Consult with the birds and the beasts, let them be your guide.
2 Don't take the trail.  You are comfortable finding the way through the wilderness.
3 Don't think small!  Clear the wilderness, establish a real road, waystations, patrols...
4 Clean your blade, preparing to make that unsafe trail even less safe- for anyone trying to bother you.
5 The faster you go, the more likely you are to avoid a problem.
6 They can't get you if they can't see you.
7 The thicker your armor, the safer you'll be.
8 Stay vigilant, stay alert, trust your senses.
9 Travel with strong, competent escorts.
10 Travel with others who will make much more tempting targets than yourself!
11 Trust your magic to deal with any trouble along the way.
12 Use Magic to make traveling easier and/or faster.
13 Inspire those around you to great effort and together you will overcome obstacles.
14 Some target practice first will help you stay ready for trouble.
15 Whatever threat there is can be properly appeased, bribed, negotiated with.
16 What use are precautions?  What fate wills, will be.
17 Go the long way around. 
18 Pray to the gods for their blessing.
19 Wait, unsafe?  Then it's just not worth going.

Your character wants to get inside a castle, but the castle owner doesn’t approve.  There are many possible solutions to this problem.  From the list below, identify three that appeal to your character the most.

1.  Smash your way in.
2.  Sneak in.
3.  Lead your troops against it.
4.  Delegate the problem to someone else.
5.  Negotiate with the owner.
6.  Threaten the owner.
7.  Use magic to get in.
8.  Disguise yourself as someone allowed in.
9.  Bribe a guard or castle worker.
10. Seduce a guard or castle worker.
11. Purge yourself of these bad thoughts and find something else to do.
12.  Have faith that the gods will provide an answer to your problem
13.  Destroy the castle, have it rebuilt with you inside.
14.  Change your shape into that of a small, inoffensive animal.
15.  Build a large animal out of wood.  Get in.
16.  Allow yourself to be taken prisoner.
17.  Lay siege to the castle.  Make life miserable for the owner until he relents.

Packing for a long journey, you double check to make sure two important items are there.  What are they?  (Pick two)

1.  Money.  Secure, of course.
2.  A map.  Duh.
3.  Extra arrows.  You go through so many of those.
4.  Your musical instrument.
5.  Your journal.
6.  Your spell book.
7.  Your Holy symbol.
8.  Lunch.
9.  A very well hidden weapon.  Because you never know.
10.  Your tool kit.
11   Bandages and healing herbs.  Just in case.
12   A ten foot pole.  No such thing as too paranoid.
13  A disguise.
14   Your familiar.
15   A big, dangerous weapon.
16   Trade goods.  No sense making a journey if there's no profit in it.
17   Nothing, really.  You don't pack much.
18.  Your special bag of... things you don't want to talk about.



Who is important to you?  Note all who apply.

1.  No one. You live, you die.
2   You are important to you.
3   Your immediate family.
4   Your close friends.
5   Your tribe, clan, or extended family.
6   Your people.
7   Your leader, or leaders.
8   Your secret society, guild, sacred order, or other such group.
9   Your soldiers.
10   Animals, plants, nature- they’re people too, even if most people don’t recognize it.
11.  The spirits of your ancestors.
12.  Someone else?
13.  Everyone.


What is important to you?  Note up to 3.

1.  Doing right.
2.  Satisfying my own wants.
3.  Heritage
4.  Prestige
5.  Power.
6.  Wealth.
7.  Learning.
8.  Talent
9.  The gods.
10. Beauty
11  Having my name remembered
12  Reputation
13  Vengeance
14  Home
15   Food
16  The pursuit of truth
17   Nothing.  Life is meaningless.


What do you want most out of life?  (Choose 1-3)

1   To see the world!
2   Enlightenment.
3   My friends/family around me.
4   Wealth!
5   Power!
6   Dinner!
7   True Love!
8   Fame and Glory!
9   To know I have done right.
10  I haven't figured this out yet.




Your are truly yourself when you are wearing clothes that are  (choose up to 3)

1 Adorned with Mystic Runes
2 Battleworn
3 Cheap
4 Cheerful
5 Concealing
6 Dazzling
7 Ecclesiastical
8 Elegant
9 Exotic
10 Formal
11 Military
12 Minimal
13 Odd
14 Polished
15 Practical
16 Primitive
17 Professional
18 Rugged
19 Scary
20 Simple
21 Somber
22 Stylish
23 Traditional


Naturally there are no internal combustion engines in the world of Europa: 512 AD, (Gnomish rumors notwithstanding), but IF your character could drive one of these vehicles, which one would it be:


1.   A Volkswagen Bug
2.   A Dodge Caravan
3.   A Mustang Shelby GT
4.   An AMC Gremlin
5.   A 1931 Chrysler Roadster
6.   A Lamborghini Murcielago
7.   A Ford Excursion
8.   A Mercury Grand Marquis
9.   A Yugo 55 GTL
10.  A Toyota Prius
11.  A 1957 Chevy Bel Air Two-tone
12.  A Smartcar
13.  A GM Hummer H2
14.  A Volvo 240 Wagon
15.  A Range Rover
16.  A Rolls Royce Phantom
17.  A 1934 Ford Woody
18.  A Mazda Miata
19.  A Unimog UGN 405
20.  A Vespa.
21.  An Ice Cream Truck
22.  A Hearse




Morality:   Choose up to 3 that you agree with:

1   Is an illusion, a waste.
2   Is something people ought to consider, even if they often fall short.
3   Is something of great importance to you.
4   Is alright, in principle, but…
5    Guides your sword (or your wand, arrows, dagger…)
6    is what makes civilization civilized.
7    Can mean different things to different people.
8    is defined by some universal truths.
9    is something you teach to others.
10  is something you feel simply comes naturally to you
11  is something you’ve seen too little of.
12  requires you to listen to the still, quiet voice within
13  is the last thing we have left
14  is something you don’t think about
15  is (other)

Where are you now?

1.  My native soil.  I was born and raised here.
2.  I call this place home, although I come from somewhere else.
3.  Not my home, although I’ve come to know it well.
4.  A wonderful place, and I hope to make it my home!
5.  This place is as good as any, I guess.
6.  Far from home.  I wish I could go home.
7.  Where destiny has taken me.
8.  The way I keep moving, does it really matter?
9.  As far from home as I can get!
10. I have no idea where I am.



You are romantically attracted to…
1.  The opposite gender.
2.   The same gender.
3.  Whatever.
4.   I don’t let that distract me.


Your favorite color is:

Some of the Druids train with animal spirit guides.  Even if you are not a Druid, if you had an animal spirit guide, what kind of animal would you want it to be?



Where do you see yourself seeking your destiny, today?  Choose all that apply:

1.  A swift moving longboat, coursing along the waves and the rivers.
2.  The glittering halls of the aristocracy
3.  The shadowy depths of great forests
4.  Back alleys and crowded streets
5.  Battlefields
6.  The roads, traveling from place to place.
7.  Among a troupe of performers
8.  In lost, forbidden places
9.  Among piles of books.
10. In rustic villages
11. Other?



When you were born, it was clear…

1.  From your pointed ears and fair skin that you were an Elf
2.  From your size and general proportions that you were Human
            But there are three main heritage groups of Humans.   Primarily, yours is…
     2A.       Roman, the people of civilization, progress, and culture.
     2B.      Celtic, the people of the land, close to the ways of nature.
     2C       Germanic, the people of action and destiny.
3.  From the wisps of hair on your chin that you were a Dwarf
4.  From your small size that you were a Halfling
5.  From your hooves and equine lower body, that you were a Centaur
6.  From the gentleness and grace of your otherwise Human features that you were a Half Elf
7.  From your ugly and mottled appearance that you were a Mongrel
8.  From your small size and delicate build that you were one of the Fey
9.  From your fanged teeth that you were a Half Orc
10.  From fur, or perhaps feathers, that you were a Lycanthrope
11.  From your very hairy legs that you were a Faun.
12.  From your deer-like lower body, that you were a Hybsil

And you were a...

1.   Boy
2.   Girl


And you were a child of...
1.  A powerful family.  Nobility, aristocracy, a great house.
2.  A wealthy family
3.  A family of average means
4.  A poor family
5.  Slaves, prisoners, the wretched of the Earth.
6.  Family?   Your mother/father/foster parent/guardian was alone in the world
7.  You don’t know.   You weren’t even raised by my own kind.  You was raised by…
8.  You don’t remember your family.
9.   You were adopted.  Your adoptive family was one of the top seven above, specifically…



What is your overall impression of your life as a child?

1.  You were very happy.
2.  It was good, you guess.
3.  You remember some good times, some bad times.
4.  Life was hard.
5.  It was a nightmare.
6.  You don’t really remember much.



Do you remember anything about the place of your earliest years?  (Pick the one most memorable.  Remember, you were young then!)
1.  It was a city, you remember buildings, and people.
2    It was by the sea
3.  Forests.  You remember deep forests.
4.  You recall mountains.
5.  You remember lush, bountiful farmlands.
6.  You know your family moved around a lot.
7.  You don’t remember.



When you were still a young child, it was already clear that you had one particular good quality.  What was it?  Were you:

1.  Strong
2.  Quick
3.  Healthy
4.  Smart
5.  Wise
6.  Lovable

While you were still a young child, did you leave the area in which you were living?

1.  You don’t remember.
2.  No, your family stayed were they were.
3.  Yes, but you don’t know why.
4.  You were moving a lot.
5.  Yes, and it was horrible.
6.  Yes, your family left for a new life and new opportunities.
7.  Yes, your family went back to their homeland.

Eventually as you grew up you began to understand the world around you.  Did you fit in?

1.  You were very much a part of your people, your culture.
2.  Well, sort of.
3.  Not really.
4.  You were strangers in a strange land.


If you are a half elf, do you know if you were raised:
1.  Mostly in a Human environment
2.  Mostly in an Elven environment
3.  Neither

If you are a half Orc, do you know if you were raised:
1.  Mostly in a Human environment
2.  Mostly in an Orcish environment
3.  Neither

Finally, what is your character's name?


At this point you are finished with part one. Send your responses to the GM.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:46, Mon 21 Apr 2014.
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