Somnambulance OoC Thread

A Statistical Roleplay divined from the depths by The Keeper of Havoc and Hell:
​

Somnambulance​

the act of sleep-walking​

And this would be the Out-of-Character Thread.​

"Dreams are mysterious, and ambiguous; and that is all that is known about them for certain."​

L'Profile Template...

Code:

[CENTER][b]~The Core Somnambulist~[/b][/CENTER]
 [b]Name:[/b]
 [b]Gender:[/b]
 [b]Age:[/b]
 [b]Personality:[/b]
 [b]Appearance:[/b]

 [b]Aptitude:[/b]
 [b]REMs:[/b]
 [b]U-Sleight:[/b]

 [b][u]Stats:[/u][/b]
 [b]Substance:[/b]
 [b]Focus:[/b]
 [b]Power:[/b]
 [b]Wisdom:[/b]
 [b]Fortitude:[/b]
 [b]Flexibility:[/b]
 [b]Fortune:[/b]
 [b]Blink:[/b]
 [b]Move:[/b]


 [CENTER][b]~Dream~[/b][/CENTER]
 [CENTER] (Description) [/CENTER]

 [b]Level:[/b]
 [b]Next Level:[/b]
 [b]Physical Adaptation:[/b]
 [spoiler=I-Concept]
 [b][u]Stat Modifiers:[/u][/b]

 [b]Substance:[/b]
 [b]Focus:[/b]
 [b]Power:[/b]
 [b]Wisdom:[/b]
 [b]Fortitude:[/b]
 [b]Flexibility:[/b]
 [b]Fortune:[/b]
 [b]Blink:[/b]
 [b]Move:[/b]


 [b][u]Elemental Affinities:[/u][/b]


 [b][u]List of Inflictions:[/u][/b]


 [b]Basic Attack:[/b]

 [b]Innates:[/b]

 [/spoiler]

 [b]O-Concept:[/b]
 [b]D-Concept:[/b]
 [b]X-Concept:[/b]

 [b]B-Sleight:[/b]

 [b](First Sleight)[/b]

 [b](Second Sleight)[/b]

 [b]C-Sleight:[/b]

 [b]E-Figment:[/b]

 [b]R-Sleight:[/b]
 [b]T-Sleight:[/b]

 [b]Z-Figment:[/b]
 [b]L-Figment:[/b]

 [b]A-Sleight:[/b]


 [b]Skill Points:[/b]
 [b]Fantasy Points:[/b]

Alright, so most of that is obviously new. A lot of things in this statplay will be new-- so I obviously have a lot of explaining to do. I'll put all of the mechanic explanations in spoilers; combined, they'd make this post fuqing long and daunting. It's not so much to take in, I swear. They aren't mindfucking, complex things-- just keep an open mind. I have great things in mind for this RP's plot, and I'd hate to turn people off merely because of the unorthodox mechanics.

"What are the origins of a dream, and what do they have to do with the origins of life?"​

Spoiler: Profile Dissection

Name, Gender, Age, Personality, and Appearance are all straightforward. I have Personality here because, while a rare field in statplays, Somnambulance (ideally) will challenge you to delve into your character's minds; you have to come up with their Dreams, after all, so I figure having to enter a Personality will, in a small way, induct you into describing their inner selves. I'm thinking it'll also help for interactions/ events in Reality.

Aptitude is the limit on how high a Level your Dreams can be; it increases each night. Your Aptitude will start at Lv. 7. Aptitude is present in an attempt to keep all of your Dreams balanced, level-wise (and also because it fits with the theme of "gradually becoming a better Dreamer").
REMs are the currency of sorts that apply to upgrading your Dreams. They're earned primarily in a way congruent with Experience in normal statplays, except you control how it is allotted.
The U-Sleight is the Ubiquitous Sleight; it always applies to your character. This could be either Passive or Active (or maybe even Trigger). The main idea is that it's something you're character has availability to or in effect on them regardless of which Dream they have equipped. I'm not going to set an outright limit, since you can have more than one, certainly, but let's not get carried away. I'm also undecided-- for now, at least-- on whether or not you can gain more as the RP progresses.

All right. And then, the Stats.
Substance is equivalent to HP. It's how constitutional your character's dream selves are. It's somewhat of an inexplicable force, but generally dream entities that have taken damage and lost Substance will appear as if they were fading.
Focus is equivalent to MP. And... I'm thinking of having it count upwards, from 0 to max instead of the traditional vice versa. For in dreams, the more you focus on and question and try to affect the world around you, the less cohesive your interaction with the dream is.
Power is... basically equivalent to Atk. However, for Somnambulance, it represents how capable your character is at garnering the energies of the world around them and channeling it through themselves.
Wisdom is... basically equivalent to Int. This represents how adept your Dreamer is at influencing the energies around them without relying on the strength of their own bodies.
Fortitude is basically equivalent to Def. It represents how stable your characters are, both of mind and body. Acts to negate Power-based attacks.
Flexibility is basically equivalent to Spr. This stat represents how versatile your character is, and how well they can adapt to circumstances. Acts to negate Wisdom-based attacks.
Fortune is... not necessarily equivalent to, but for the sake of clarity let's say it functions the same as: the Critical rate. Fortune affects how likely you are to strike upon a Prodigious Figment (which is yeah, the equivalent of a Critical hit...).
Blink determines your chance of Blinking-- in layman's terms, avoiding an attack. It functions the same as Dodge / Evade. For the sake of writing, Blinking usually entails blanking on events for a moment and therefore not experiencing an incoming attack.
Move-- oh lord, I wonder. I'm thinking of keeping this eternally at 2 for the main stats, but you can add Move in your Dreams' Stat Modifiers (on Lv. 1, Lv. 10, and the increments of ten on) using that Level's obligatory stat points.

On to the best part: the Dreams. You might have guessed already, but for the sake of clarity, I state: Your character will have multiple Dreams. Three, to be exact (at least, three gained through the canon). You only start with one, but the rest will come quickly enough so that level-balance won't be so ersatz. For now, I'll just explain the template fields. Note that you're expected to complete the "~Dream~" header with what that specific dream is; "Dream of Inferno" or "Dream of Hell", for instance (No, it doesn't have to be Dream of ___. That's just the form I find easiest and most legible, myself).

Dream Descriptions aren't exactly necessary, but it gives you a chance to provide context for the Dream. The main purpose of it is to describe what the Dream is, from an in-character point of view. Or something like that.

Level is obvious, but I'll take this opportunity to say that, while there is no implemented Class Upgrade system or anything for Dreams, feel free to renovate the small aspects of a Dream-- the parts that won't affect battle performance-- to accentuate growth or something, if you want. Like... changing "Dream of Grave" to "Dream of Cemetery". Or something. I have no idea.

Next Level bases at 0/500 REMs.

Physical Adaptation is optional, and would entail describing any physical changes your character incurs while this Dream is equipped.

Alright, the I-Concept. Mandatory Spoiler because this is the Index Concept, and contains the Dreams' Stat Modifiers, Elemental Affinities, List of Inflictions [more on this particular thing later], Basic Attack, and 'Innates'. More on these in the 'Final Notes'.

The O-Concept, D-Concept, and X-Concept are equivalent to Weapon, Armor, and Accessory, respectively. You upgrade and make these with Concept Outlines, which will be fairly common and feature a set amount of power, or value.

B-Sleights are the simple, common Battle Sleights. There's not any new twist to these or anything. Although, I am undecided on the max number of them; either 10 or 15...

C-Sleights are the Chimerical Sleights; they are only usable in battle if you have incurred an Inspiration. C-Sleights have license to be quite powerful (definitely moreso than B-Sleights, but still not comparable to A-Sleights), and typically don't have any cost save for consuming the Inspiration. More on Inspiration later. You automatically earn the first C-Sleight at Dream Lv. 7, and you can earn more through special Muse items.

And then the E-Figments. Essence Figments, which are abilities manifesting the energies of the Dream. In all truth, these are quite comparable to T-Abilities (found in This Dream) in that they're small traits that will grow into significant advantages if cultivated properly. E-Figments, though, contain less emphasis and complexity, but I still think they're important and appropriate for Dream customization.

The R-Sleight is the Retributive, or Response Sleight. Nothing new here, but it's a classic and couldn't be left out. Must be Trigger, and you can buy your first one using Skill Points-- therefore, you don't start with one.

Ah, the T-Sleight. Those special skills that are usable only when your character is in the midst of a Dream Transition-- switching equipped Dreams, basically. During a Dream Transition, you have access only to the Basic Attack and Z-Figment of either Dream involved in the Transition-- and also the applicable T-Sleights. Transition Sleights should feature combined energies of two Dreams, and they have license to require a lower Focus cost since it's not like you can use them every turn.

Z-Figment; the Zen Figment. This is the standard Passive/Active Ability, equivalent to the standardized S-Ability. You automatically start with one.

And the L-Figments-- the Lucid Figments, activated upon incurring a Lucid Onset [more on these later]. Basically it's a stage of increased capabilities and battle prowess. The L-Figments have license to cause greater changes than E-Figments-- they could even grant Dual Wield during Lucid Onsets, for instance. A Dream becomes capable of incurring a Lucid Onset-- and thus, gains it's first L-Figment-- at Lv. 9.

Now, finally! The A-Sleight. The momentous Ascension Sleight, bearing license and necessity to be the most powerful Sleight of all. Using one requires expending Immersion (is this seriously the first time I've mentioned Immersion? ...It is. Huh. Well, more on Immersion later) but it should be worth it. Now here's the new aspect: You can have more than one of these. First of all, your Dream only becomes powerful enough to bear it's first A-Sleight at Lv. 5, and you can create another A-Sleight or just upgrade your current one upon reaching Dream Level 15, 25, and 35.

And that's all the explanation for the Profiles. Now on to all the mechanics and other new stuff!

"Dreams are composed by the subconscious mind. We lay asleep, with our minds wide open to the mysticism of our own identity."​

Spoiler: Extra Mechanics

I hardly even know where to begin... Guess I'll start with the largest things first.

Reality. While the primary focus of this RP will be the nightly dreams, a large portion that cannot be overlooked is Reality. This won't be describing your character's boring life at their boring job-- most definitely not. The Reality portions will be handled sort of like a choose-your-own-adventure. I mean, you'll have a lot of choice over where your characters go and what they do. I'll do my best to keep it eventful, and there will be plenty of things for your character to do. There will also be phenomena that will link directly to Dreams-- Stat Gates, for example, which are events invoked only when a character with the right amount of a certain stat happens upon them. There'll also be ways to improve your Dreams via Reality, one of them being a game. Overall, though, I promise these Reality portions will not be static or dreary.

The Dreamcatcher. You may recall I mentioned a 'Creeper and his web in the sky' in the Interest Check. During all the development I put Somnambulance through, I changed that to 'the Reaver and his Dreamcatcher in the sky'. This has a canon purpose, but I also implemented it into the battle mechanics. Basically, there'll be a percentage, which indicates the completion of the Dreamcatcher as the Reaver constructs it each night. There'll be options and choices in the dream portions, and this'll force a more powerful gravity on them-- because it'll be hell if the Dreamcatcher is completed and the Reaver descends. It won't be instant game over, but I can guarantee everything will be harder. Don't worry too much, though, as there'll definitely be ways to impede the Dreamcatcher's progress.

Immersion. This is Somnambulance's equivalent to DD, IP, the X-Gauge, Flow Drive, and whatever else. This is a 0-100 scale, and gaining Immersion will be a constant tug-of-war. Being able to use your A-Sleights isn't the only advantage to gaining Immersion; several favorable mechanics will be influenced by high Immersion, while unfavorable occurrences could result from low Immersion-- especially when paired with strained Focus. As for what Immersion is, for prose purposes, it's exactly what it says on the tin: how deeply immersed your character is in the dream. The more immersed the dreamer, the more aware and balanced they are with their environment.

Lucid Onset. Quite a wonderful phase, in which your character's Dream is at it's most powerful. Incurring a Lucid Onset is random, and having high Immersion-- as well as other subjective circumstances-- will increase your chances of incurring one. Lucid Onsets normally last only 3 turns, and they innately multiply a dreamer's Power, Wisdom, Fortitude, and Flexibility by 1.2 for their duration. Combine this with L-Figments, and Lucid Onsets can become a battle-changing advantage.

Inspiration. An idea that suddenly occurs; a flash of brilliance, drawn from who-knows-where. Inspiration mainly functions in accordance with C-Sleights, and are randomly obtained. Inspiration normally lasts only 2 turns-- if you don't use it by then, it converts to 10% Immersion. Inspiration-- if used on the optimal C-Sleight-- can become a deus ex machina in a battle, or merely help to finish the battle more quickly. High Immersion results in higher chances of getting Inspiration.

Nondescript Zones. Those places in dreams that just don't seem significant-- or maybe you just don't even know they're there. These are Nondescript Zones; you can literally walk right through one without acknowledging it. Cells that comprise a Nondescript Zone will be skipped over, as if they weren't there, but sometimes a Nondescript Zone veils a treasure-- or maybe an enemy. You can access the inside of one of these Zones by Expelling it (an act that requires a subjective amount of Focus).

Relapsing. That sense of deja vu... but from a dream, really? Relapsing is, most often, a negative effect, caused by low Immersion and strained Focus. It entails the afflicted involuntarily repeating their last action, whereas the rest of the battle has moved on without them. Relapsing is a merciless phenomena, and even an A-Sleight must be repeated if it is to be the Relapsed action.

Dream Transition. A state between two Dreams, Dream Transitions occur when a dreamer switches equipped Dreams. This could potentially be a powerful stage, as the dreamer has access to both of the involved Dreams' Basic Attacks, Z-Figments, half of each Dream's total Stat Modifiers, as well as the applicable T-Sleights. Dream Transitions traditionally last only one turn, and require 5% Immersion to enter (added turns in Dream Transitions will require another 5% Immersion per turn).

Inflictions. The twist here is that you get to create your own inflictions-- thus, the 'List of Inflictions' in the I-Concept of a Dream. I'm positive that I'd just come up with hella' weird Inflictions, and I also like this method, as it suits Dream customization.

And I think those are all the new, necessary mechanics I must explain. We're almost done!

"In the world of dreams, we face the veracity of our minds, and the vestiges of our waking thoughts."​

Spoiler: Final Notes

And this would be the part where the more miscellaneous-- not to say unimportant, because certain stuff in here will definitely be important-- subjects are expanded.

How the Stats Develop. You'll notice there are base stats, found in "The Core Somnambulist", and also "Stat Modifiers" found in a Dream's I-Concept. You obtain one obligatory stat point to distribute among the base stats upon completion of all battles (unless stated otherwise-- namely, boss battles may be prone to augmenting the count). And then, every time a Dream levels up, you can distribute two stat points in the Stat Modifiers. If you want to raise the Blink and Fortune percentages, both stat points must be expended to raise one of them by 3%. On certain levels (Lv. 1, Lv. 10, Lv. 20, Lv. 30, etc.) you can convert these stat points to add one cell to Move.

Elemental Affinities. The basest way to increase these is through the Innates in your Dreams, but alternate methods will sprout up as the RP progresses-- most likely via particular items, and perhaps even through interactions with the environments.

Peraconchus. That weirdly-named town, which is where your dreamers live. For all sakes of convenience, assume that this is a town on Earth-- although it will be sort of secluded. That's not to say, though, that it's a small town-- Peraconchus is a productive city, and it has a sizable population. Let's call it landlocked, with defined seasons (hot in the summer, cold and snowy in the winter). It's decidedly un-polluted, with revolutions in alternate energy sources being devoutly implemented. In the end, it's that large, quaint town with plenty of entertainment. But yeah, it has the typical Earth society, and normal establishments for a town.

The Base Stats. Here's something new: instead of myself assigning you stats when you submit your profiles, you get to allot them yourself. There are multiple reasons for this, most of them pertaining to my own ideals. But yeah. Substance and Focus should total a combined maximum of 40; Power, Wisdom, Fortitude, and Flexibility should total a combined maximum of 12; Fortune and Blink should total a combined maximum of 10%.

"While drifting along the aimless destinies that comprise our dreams, we must not give in to weaknesses of our own character."​

And, that's everything... yeah. If you posted in the Interest Check, don't feel irrevocably obliged to join Somnambulance-- although it would obviously be great if you did, I can understand if your interests have changed. There will obviously be a lot going for you in battle, so I'm determined to make this a difficult statplay, and hopefully the plot will become the magnificent thing I imagine it will be. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to pose them, and for those of you who are interested, I eagerly await your profiles!

"For, in dreams, anything is possible."​

 

Alright. As people could see, I finally have Somnambulance up!

Yeah.

G-Go and post, my pretties...

Note that your characters don't have even their first Dream yet-- that would be the "power" the Courier (you'll learn the true identity of that mysterious voice at a later time, for now just call him what his job is) was talking about, which your dreamers gain upon interacting with this "Eccentric One".

Feel free to ask questions if you so need to~

Edit: Oh, also. I'm confident in saying Naru is probably not going to resurrect himself just for this SP, so there is a slot open here in Somnambulance. I suggested my friend, hinataro, to check out Somnambulance, but in case she isn't interested I will be looking to keep the count up to 7 players, as with the pre-determined count I've already switched planned maps from all-inclusive battles to split routes, and I am not changing it again. And I would most like the split-route maps to involve equal 4-by-4 splits.

 

Thanks for reporting, Kuda~

If most everyone else who's in Somnambulance has little idea what to do at the moment, or would prefer further prompting for their own post-- considering right now it's mainly "introduce yourself" and most of the characters present don't really seem like the social butterfly type-- I could post for Roarke, although I planned and would still prefer to have this first step be taken without him (he is one of the present eight people, but he starts off in a bit of a stupor). If no one has posted yet by, say, Monday, I'll do that.

 

omg Elegante<3

 

Thank you much, Gist~

And you, too, Eebit! I'll do my best to reciprocate with activity in Somnambulance soon myself. Before I do, however, I need to know whether or not @Elegante is still in this.

 

I've known I should have posted for Somnambulance for... *looks at RP thread* Three months now ;-;
That's the point when all roleplayers put up their posts, so by the typical posting rhythm on ZEJ I should have posted. And I still often remember that I need to do so, but an obligation to work on other things keeps me from putting Somnambulance high on my priority list, especially since I don't want to appear like a roleplayer who puts other people's work behind his own (although at this point if anyone accused me of that I'd point at how long ago I should have updated Somnambulance).
I can't say I'll post for this immediately, but this next weekend my school semester ends, so that's all the pressure of homework temporarily relieved, and by that point I also hope to have the most pressing extraneous roleplaying demands met. @Eebit, you said you wanted to post before me, so if you want to do so-- honestly, in my opinion, I am the only one who's needed to post since Elegante posted, but here Masq and Kuda are, going beyond that expectation-- I'm wanting to post this next weekend.

As a side note, to all the Somnambulance roleplayers, if you ever wonder if Somnambulance is 'still alive', so long as you remain interested and open to participating, I will never give the roleplay up. I'm not here to tell a story of my own (I put my lifeblood into the plot, and will continue to do so, but I honestly don't care if Somnambulance's plot gets relayed, as if I really needed to get it out there, I'd write it myself as a story), I'm here to give people an experience.

 

@Keileon That's actually a tough one. It's nice to have Somnambulance being looked back upon in interest, but I don't see it being my next roleplaying project, unfortunately. I have several other ideas for roleplays floating around in my heads-- one being a statistical chatplay so we can try out that territory-- and some of those involve developing another world for the Manaverse. Compared to Somnambulance, which is set primarily in the fabled Dreamverse that we know very little about, it seems more conducive to work towards that planet in the Manaverse. Ironically, it would also probably be easier to start one of those new roleplays than to reboot Somnambulance, since in retrospect Somnam needs a lot of restructuring and that involves deciding what to do with a lot of old ideas. The very tip of the iceberg that you guys already roleplayed of it is pretty stable, but I had a lot plans and ideas that I know now need refining (including the profile template).

And on top of all this, of course, I'm not even keeping up that well with the roleplays I'm already participating in, and in principle I have to admit those should take priority. If I had to guess, though, my next roleplay will probably be the statistical chatplay.