r/pbp • u/The_Enby_Shinobi • 12h ago
Discord [LFG][BESM 4E / Anime 5E][EST] Welcome to Tears of Radiance: A Homebrewed JRPG-Inspired Heroic Campaign!
Howdy, hi, and hello potential new friends! You can call me Shinobi! I am a 31-year old individual looking to wrangle some players together for a play-by-post campaign set in a fully homebrewed setting I’ve been working on for quite some time! Tears of Radiance is a work of personal passion, and the culmination of a lifelong obsession with JRPGs and classic shonen/seinen anime. It's meant to evoke all the best story and emotional beats of those genres that I so dearly love, meaning this is your chance to be part of a party of unique, powerful characters navigating a magical world full of emotionally-charged roleplay (and the occasional silly side plot), exciting combat, and highly personalized backstories that will be integrated into the main plot!
The Setting:
Almost a full century after a devastating continental war, the continent of Graldyr sits in the middle of a full blown magical industrial revolution, powered by Marrow, a powerful liquid given to humanity by the gods that flows beneath the earth and fuels all life and magic. A marrow fueled technology, known as magi-circuits created by the legendary Dr. Anselm Redgrove changed the world almost overnight, providing access to nearly limitless clean energy to the masses. Soldiers carry this magi-circuit gear into battle, spirits drift between their realm, The Mercurial Gardens, and ours, and terrifying creatures called Wyrms devour Marrow ravenously. Holding a fragile peace together with both hands is the Sabers Guild, an international order of adventurers and peacekeepers granted the ability to cross any border when called to help.
Graldyr is a continent dominated by seven nations, each with its own culture and complicated history: the democratic powerhouse that is the Republic of Cordia, the honor-bound and rapidly modernizing Shogunate of Amagane, the northern snow-swept oligarchy of Vestaya where a potential civil war looms, the merchant Sultanate of Samarqand, the ancient Empire of Tianshu, the church-led diarchy of Valatheia, and the free port of Kalay, founded by a winged king who is also one of the gods’ immortal Heavenly Children.
Magic in Graldyr comes in three primary expressions: The Path of Ignition stemming from the raw power of the soul, tech-focused magi-circuit experts etching them into weapons and armor, and Synthesis forging pacts known as Noble Accords with the disparate spirits of the world. Beneath it all, the impossibly advanced machines of a vanished civilization known as the Clovis still hum with life beneath the continent’s feet…
The Game:
In this roleplay-heavy campaign you will all be playing as newly accepted Sabers, fresh-faced adventures ready for your first real contracts. Every character should be built with a unique, impactful power and a backstory intended to be woven into the narrative itself in mind. The options for this are endless, and I am more than happy to work personally with each of you to create a character you truly love both mechanically and in roleplay!
The System:
For this particular game we’ll be using either BESM 4E or the Anime 5E conversion made by the same developers. Both of these systems are designed around freedom of expression, allowing you to use character points to build exactly the sort of power-set you want to use. Once the players are all settled and we get introduced we’ll be voting on which one specifically to use together in session zero. Prior experience with either isn’t really required, and I love helping out with character building so I’ll be there for you every step of the way!
What I’m looking for:
At the end of the day this is a game, and setting, built around heroism and characters who aspire to such an ideal. Flawed, conflicted, or morally gray heroes are very welcome, but heroes they still must be. Your character should be one who ultimately wishes to do good, and who maintains a reason to not only remain in the party, but to work alongside them as well. Disagreements and heated roleplay is never a bad thing, and can lead to some amazing character moments, but PVP and strictly evil PCs likely won’t work for this game.
I also want to be upfront and mention that this is a strictly LGBTQ+, POC, and disability friendly game, for both players and characters.
Bigotry at my table is not tolerated, at all, and will result in being kicked immediately. Additionally, I would prefer players do NOT knowingly make use of AI at my table, for art and especially writing.
Why Should You Apply?!:
You’ll probably enjoy this game if you’re a big fan of JRPGs and shonen anime like me! Even if you’re not and want to dip your toes in them, you could be a good fit too! If you love:
- Detailed RP with a focus on interpersonal relationships
- Themes of found family and heroism / what it means to be a hero
- Heated rivalries
- Lofty emotional moments
- Over the top combat
- A willingness to share the spotlight so everyone gets to feel equally important
Then please send in an application! I’m looking for players who enjoy delving deep into their characters and building relationships with other PCs and NPCs alike. As this is a homebrew setting, curiosity and enthusiasm will go a long way!
Boring Ol’ Logistics:
- 18+ Applicants only please!
- My Timezone: EST
- Platform: Discord with dice-rolling bot, potential for tupper if players would like to make use of it.
- I will be running on a 24 to 48 hour window (agreed upon later) per ‘turn’. If your place in combat or a roleplay scene comes up and I haven’t heard from you in that time, we’ll skip ahead for now so that momentum is maintained to some degree, and your character can slot back in whenever you’ve returned. If you give me advance notice that you’ll be away, we can easily work on it together. Reliability matters more to me than consistently long posts!
- I may occasionally ping people to remind them, but don’t feel pressured to reply ASAP after a poke.
- There IS a full lore document for the setting with over 100 pages written by me, but I would never expect anyone to read all of it to be a player in my game. But it’s there for people like me who really like to obsess over their PCs lol. I’ll also be providing a more abridged campaign primer version to help with onboarding. But feel free to ask me a million or more questions so I can help you find a concept that fits the world.
FINALLY I’M DONE TALKING!
If you’re still with me, congrats! Please fill out the following questionnaire, as it is the only thing I’ll be accepting as an application!