While we're waiting on Skoops, I'll put up information about the game and the character sheet. Prepare for a bit of reading. Well, not too much. Remember, anyone else who is interested in the game, feel free to still show interest and put up a character.
The Sixth Plane is a place much different from Earth. Many natural laws do not apply. Beings there do not need to eat or drink to sustain themselves, but the corporeal forms of humans are still prone to injury as they are on Earth. There is no air, but human bodies do not need it on the Sixth Plane either. What gives entities on the Sixth Plane strength and vitality is the consumption of other souls, be they demon, spirit…or human.
An entity can exist almost indefinitely without feeding on a soul, but they will be weak and frail in comparison to others who do consume.
Also note that everyone can understand each other on the Sixth Plane. You'll all speak and write the same language (including spirits and demons, etc).
Objective
The objective of this game will be to avoid consumption by spirits or demons, and find a way to return to Earth.
Entities
Anything with a soul can be defined as an entity. This includes spirits, demons and humans. In their quest to summon and enslave the denizens of the Sixth Plane, humanity has learned much about them, classifying them as either spirits or demons.
Spirits are often incorporeal and uninterested in power mongering and deception, and prefer to be honest and straightforward. They are generally beings of air or water. They tend to have greater powers than Demons but are less numerous. Some are easy to deceive, being the straightforward beings that they are, while others are intelligent enough to know when they are being fooled.
Demons are usually corporeal beings. Malicious and greedy, they lust for power, and fresh souls to consume. They are mostly beings of fire or earth. While there are plenty of powerful, near almighty Demons, they are far more commonly seen as unintelligible brutes or bloodthirsty runts. They are dangerous and deceptive, and not to be trusted, for they always have their own agendas at heart.
Both Spirits and Demons have been categorised into groups based on their power and ability. There are five main classifications, but there are plenty above and below these classes.
- Agjonates are the weakest of classified entities. They are the second-most numerous class. More than half of the entities classified as agjonates are Demons. Easy to destroy, control and consume, they offer the least amount of Soul Energy but are dangerous in large groups, as they are often found in. It is very rare for agjonates to have incorporeal forms.
- Foliots are the second-weakest of classified entities. Known for their intelligence, they are generally the most malleable of entities, willing to cooperate with others, should it serve their own purposes. Many foliots are capable of flight, and are usually too concerned with themselves to bother causing trouble for others.
- Djinn are the most numerous of all classified entities, and cover a wide range of ‘normal’ Spirits and Demons. They tend not to conform to any one stereotype save their destructive capabilities, but even that varies to some degree. An even mix of Spirits and Demons make up the classification.
- Afrits are powerful entities, more commonly Spirits than Demons, but are not often seen in comparison to the lower classes. Afrits with physical forms have far greater strength than four djinn combined, but compensate for this with a lack of ingenuity or the cunning that foliots and djinn are better known for. They have a strong sense of loyalty and are often protectors or henchmen of even more powerful entities.
- Marids are the most dangerous of classified entities. Their power puts most other beings to shame. They are the rarest of entities, as they prefer to laze about and not worry about the trivial affairs of anyone else. Should a marid become enraged or angered, most other entities disappear, afraid that they will be destroyed with the twitch of a limb or the blink of an eye. Fortunately they have rather calm tempers.
The Soulless
The Soulless are the savage inhabitants of the Sixth Plane. It is unclear whether they are the discarded bodies of consumed entities, or they are simply frenzied monsters eager for violence. In any case, there is little bargaining that can be done with them, for most cannot even speak, and do not seem the slightest bit interested in promises or assurances.
The vast majority of them have forms akin to withered corpses, bone dry skeletons or fleshy husks. With no Soul Energy to be found in them, and no will to control, few find any reason to let them continue living, if they can help it…
Sorcery
In order to defend themselves, the humans will need to call upon their arcane knowledge in order to control or destroy spirits and demons they encounter. Doing so will deplete their Soul Energy.
Soul Energy is the power contained by an entity. Humans possess very little in comparison to some other entities, but combined with their knowledge of spells, it can make them very powerful.
Human sorcery comes in the form of disciplines, with each sorcerer devoting themselves to one particular field of practice. The main disciplines are Blood, Death, Demonology, Flame, Litany and Shadow. Most magic is invoked through complex hand movements or uttered phrases of power. Sometimes, sacrifices other than Soul Energy are required.
Shackling
The unique properties of the human soul allow it to bond other souls to it, with the strongest will maintaining control of any physical or mental abilities of the human. This act is known as shackling, and is a human’s greatest ability.
Shackling can be performed on spirits and demons, and involves absorbing an entity in its entirety. This can be a daunting task, specifically with more powerful beings. Thus it is often necessary to weaken something one wishes to shackle, beforehand. Once shackled, an entity will have a hard time escaping or assuming control, thanks to the incantations and enchantments weaved by the human.
Shackled entities can be summoned to aid the human controlling them. They are forced to obey any command given or can instead be sacrificed to replenish Soul Energy.
It's possible there will be more info to come, but for now, here's the character creation sheet:
Name: Your name.
Gender: Your gender.
Age: Your age. No character can be under 20 years of age.
Appearance: What you look like. Characters come from a nondescript medieval time period ("Earth" is simply the name of our realm, not necessarily the same Earth as we know) and arrive in the sixth plane with no belongings save their clothes and a ritual dagger, as that was all that was allowed to be brought to the ritual.
Discipline: Players choose one field of sorcery. The fields are:
Blood: This discipline focuses on sacrifice, suffering and pain. Choosing Blood as your major field grants you the spells Blood Tribute, Affliction and Vitality Leech.
- Blood Tribute: The caster can use either their own blood or that of a corporeal entity they have shackled to increase their power. The more blood sacrificed, the more powerful and simple to perform the caster’s other spells become. Sacrificing a shacked entity will also heal the caster of all wounds, in addition to replenishing Soul Energy.
- Affliction: The caster curses the blood of a corporeal enemy, choosing either to paralyse, maim or weaken them for a temporary period. The more blood has been sacrificed, the longer lasting or more damaging the spell is.
- Vitality Leech: The caster drains the very essence of life from an enemy, be they corporeal or not, transferring it to them. The more blood that has been sacrificed, the more essence can be transferred.
Death: This discipline focuses on necromancy, application and prevention of death. Choosing Death as your major field grants you the spells Raise Minion, Decay and Protect.
- Raise Minion: The sixth plane is littered with the remains of the corporeal forms of spirits and demons. The caster can summon to their aid a husk of animated death to do their will. The longer the spell is sustained the more taxing it is on the caster. Note that there doesn't have to be a physical corpse nearby.
- Decay: With the power of death at their fingers, the caster is able to drain the life and energy from an entity, turning it into a withered shadow of its former self. Effective against corporeal enemies. Ineffective against incorporeal enemies.
- Protect: Being a master of death means knowing how to avoid it. The caster can create a barrier of energy to protect themself or another entity from harm. The more damage absorbed, the more taxing it is on the caster.
Demonology: This discipline focuses on advanced control and manipulation of demons. Choosing Demonology as your major field grants you the spells Multiple Summon, Will Domination and Soul Bond.
- Multiple Summon: Allows the caster to summon more than one demon at a time. The more demons summoned at once, the more taxing it is on the caster. The first two demons count as one for this purpose.
- Will Domination: The caster uses their deep knowledge of Demon-kind to take over those not already contained within them, and control them with their mind. Allows the caster to control a non-shackled demon for an amount of time up to them (cannot control Marids).
- Power Drain: When the caster consumes a demon’ soul, that soul will transfer part of the demon’s power to the caster, in addition to the usual Soul Energy.
Demonologists have an easier time shackling demons.
Flame: This discipline focuses on destruction, aggression and offense. Choosing Flame as your major field grants you the spells Conflagrate, Flameform and Burning Brand.
- Conflagrate: The caster summons ethereal flames to burn and disorient an enemy. High damage to spirits. Weakened damage to demons. The more fire that is created, the more taxing the spell is on the caster.
- Flameform: The caster wreaths themselves in ethereal fire, creating an incorporeal barrier that also consumes any physical matter unfortunate enough to be too close. The longer the barrier is maintained, the more taxing it is on the caster.
- Burning Brand: The caster marks an enemy with a flaming symbol, slowly burning them from the inside and allowing the caster to manipulate or harm them with precise cruelty. Choose to weaken, confuse or enrage the target, in addition to the burning. More effective against corporeal targets than incorporeal.
Litany: This discipline focuses on vindication, banishment and destruction of incorporeal entities. Choosing Litany as your major field grants you the spells Wraithbane, Etherblast and Imbue.
- Wraithbane: The caster wards away incorporeal enemies with an incantation of deterrence. Incorporeal enemies cannot maintain proximity to the caster without suffering severe damage to their forms. The longer the spell is maintained, the more taxing it is on the caster.
- Etherblast: The caster assaults the form of a foe with violent bursts of incorporeal energy, causing great harm to both the body and soul of the enemy. The stronger the assault, the more taxing it is on the caster. Affects both corporeal and incorporeal targets.
- Imbue: The caster utters an incantation of augmentation, instilling themself or another with arcane power. Physical strength and endurance are increased. If casting on self, the caster (and any weapon they possess) becomes able to harm incorporeal entities as if they were corporeal. The longer the spell is maintained, and the greater the enhancements it imbues, the more taxing it is on the caster.
Shadow: This discipline focuses on deception, illusion and intimidation. Choosing Shadow as you major field grants you the spells Shadowguise, Shadeform and Deceive.
- Shadowguise: The caster alters their form, allowing them to transform into as small a creature as a rat to as large a creature as an elephant, and take on any form they can imagine. The longer the caster uses this spell, the more taxing it is on them.
- Shadeform: The caster turns their body incorporeal, protecting it from physical dangers and obstacles. Corporeal enemies and damage sources do not affect the caster, and they can move through otherwise impassable objects.
- Deceive: The caster manipulates the mind of another entity, forcing it to see what the caster wants it to see. Can be used to create confusion or fear among enemies, possibly resulting in damage. The grander the illusion and the longer it is maintained, the more taxing it is on the caster.
No more than two players can choose the same discipline.
