Welcome fellow RP’ers to Don’t Rest Your Head: A Roleplaying game developed by Evil Hat Productions. I acquired the books from my college roommate, before the end of the semester. And after reading it, I knew I just had to run a session over RRR. I will mention now, that I have thought of everything necessary to bring this RP over to forum format. So don’t go around thinking: “Wait this was one of those tabletop games with the dice and everything?!” and go running off to the hills. You won’t be needing a random number generator, or any other exterior sources. Everything you’ll ever need to play will be right here in this topic.
Introduction
You can’t sleep. It started like that for all of us, back when we were garden variety insomniacs. Maybe you had nightmares -gods know we all do now- or maybe you just had problems that wouldn’t let you get a good night’s rest. Hell. -maybe you were just over-caffeinated. It doesn’t matter. Whatever it was, eventually you to a point where sleep became a choice, rather than a mandate… and then it just dropped off the list. And then, and only then, something clicked. That’s when you started noticing the extras. An extra door here or there. An extra window looking out onto a city packed with surplus buildings, hodgepodge towers standing shoulder to shoulder, roofs angling into one another. Clocks chiming the thirteenth hour and unfamiliar stars twinkling in the too-clear sky. Streets and alleys that weren’t there before, leading to late-night markets that sold things like laughter and indecision. When you took a long walk down the streets of the Mad City, you stopped being a Sleeper and started being Awake. But that click you heard wasn’t from the secret world snapping into place. It was the sound of the Nightmares flicking off the safety and pointing a gun at your head. When you crossed over you became a target. They can smell you now, if they get close enough. You’re chum in the water, my friend, and it’s time you got ready for it - before the clock chimes thirteen again. You’re going to get tired, more tired than you ever have before, but mark my words: sleep isn’t just off the list now, it’s an outright enemy that’ll strip away your vitality and leave you vulnerable. There’s no going back, and from here on out, there’s just one simple rule that must dominate your life. Stay awake. Don’t rest your head.
Character Sheet
Send these through pm. Please don’t post them here.
My name is… And I am Your occupation What’s been keeping me awake? What is the source of the character’s insomnia? This section should set up the immediate history of the character. What troubles him? What pressures turned him into an insomniac? Is he running from something? Does he stay awake due to nightmares? Has he lost someone dear to him and the grief is robbing him of sleep? What just happened to you? Describe the circumstances your character is in now. A fitting beginning for your origin story. What’s on the surface? What first impressions does your character give off. Tell us what is obvious about him. What’s his physical appearance? What sort of personality does he have? Does he put his best foot forward- or his worst? What lies beneath? Tell us some secrets of your character. The part of himself that he doesn’t want to show to the world if he can help it? What’s his real deal? What secrets would he give his life to protect? How does he see himself? What lies does he tell himself? What’s your path? What are your character’s goals? Where is he headed? What does he want or need? Exhaustion Talent Madness Talent
Exhaustion Talent is a skill that allows the character to be thoroughly exceptional (almost supernaturally so) at a particular thing he can already do. Such a talent might allow him to climb seemingly impossible surfaces, run far and fast, perform calculations as fast as a calculator, or simply shoot things very, very, well. The definition must be reasonably narrow. Using the exhaustion talent can push characters closer to the point of needing sleep.
When a character grows too exhausted, he crashes. A Crash means the imminent danger of falling asleep. After a crash, the character will remain asleep, and unresponsive for an undetermined amount of time. When he wakes back up, he has no access to his talents until he reclaims his insomniac lifestyle, by staying awake for as long as he slept. But, from the moment he falls asleep, to the moment he regains his power, he is like a beacon to the Nightmares, calling those nearby to his helpless body, possibly to become food or entertainment soon after. The only real chance of surviving is in the hands of those who watch over him as he sleeps and recovers.
Madness Talent allows the character to do something he simply can’t normally do, something outside the realm of human possibility. This might be as simple as flying without the aid of a device, reading minds, compelling others to tell the truth, or moving objects with telekinesis. Madness talents imply several levels of power at which they operate. Using madness talents push characters closer to the brink of insanity. If a character does go insane, he could become a Nightmare.
A character can snap due to overuse of the Madness Talent (though there are other ways as well). This is a moment of extreme stress, and he is imminent danger of going starkly insane. A character who snaps must spend at least one post acting on his psychotic break. Sometimes snapping is temporary, and sometimes it’s permanent.
There a few things to keep in mind when regarding your character’s Madness Talent. Madness Talents are not limited. Moments where the wizard blew the last of his spells, rendering him nothing more than a meat-shield, doesn’t happen here. Madness Talents are a tool for wish fulfillment, and you’re going to need them to win. The downside is the harder you hit with Madness, the more things are going to spiral into chaos. The more you use your Madness talent, and the more Madness you use during your task, the more it’s going to screw up everything for everyone around you and wreck your life faster than a cheating man from a country song.
When creating your madness talent use this template:
What can I do? Describe what your talent can do. Describe the minimal, maximum, and possibly middle levels of your power. How does it break me? What happens when shit hit’s the fan and you enter a fight of flight moment? How do I change?[Optional] All power comes with a cost. What happens to you physically and psychologically as you continue to use your power?
Example
The Silent Knight
What can I do?: You can make people be quite. Anything you could hear, you can silence by preventing an action or event that could cause noise. You can force people to move slowly and carefully, and there’ just no way to fire a gun quietly. The louder the sound, the easier it if for you to make things still. Heavy boot steps on a tile floor would be easy to silence, forcing the walker to tiptoe through invisible syrup, but creeping around in thick socks would be really hard to hush. At the very least you can hush up obvious and immediate noise-makers. Silence a scream, prevent a gun from firing , and if you can hear it, stop someone from breathing so loud. Kick the powers up a notch you can stop everything that makes noise, within the zone of your hearing, creating a zone of stillness. At the very pinaccle of your power, you can hush up anything that you anticipate to make noise, but has actually yet to. How does it break me? Making noise is a crime and a moral failing, so when you snap, you show no mercy to those who continue to uselessly squeeze their triggers, or attempt to force out a scream. On the other hand, everything makes noise. The buzzing of cell phones, dripping coffee pots, and the mindless people around you pollute the air. Sometimes it is all so overwhelming, and you just have to get away… quietly. How do I change? Sounds of all kinds grate your nerves. First only the midnight dog bark makes you wince, but later even the melodious sounds of a piano are knives to your ears. You start to take precautions to never make sounds yourself because you can’t stand to hear them.
--- You may be wandering how I’m going to determine when people Crash, or Snap. At the end of every major encounter, I’ll post your characters Stress, Vitality, and Sanity. If your stress is too high, be careful how you use madness, as you‘ll be one slip up away from snapping. If Vitality is too low, than watch the use of your exhaustion talent. Sanity dictates how close you are to becoming a Nightmare.
Rules
If you know anything about “Don’t Rest Your Head” you would know that is was meant to more “mature” setting. That does not mean you get to violate the Forum rules. Refrain from excessive swearing, violence and sexual content.
Do not take control of other player’s characters. While I understand it can be tempting when things come to a standstill, I will be the one calling the shots, if I feel we are getting to that point.
You can only have one character at a time. If your character dies you may fill out that character sheet again and play again.
Inactivity will result in character death. The Mad City is full of dangers and I won’t hesitate to use you as an example. You may make a new character afterwards if you wish, but I hope you would learn your lesson the first time.
No Godmodding. Don’t let those supernatural powers get to your head. Sometimes you will feel like a God. Sometimes you may even be a God. Go ahead and slaughter those insignificant minions. Have some fun, that‘s what we‘re all here for. But if you start going around killing those boss characters I took so much time developing in a single strike, or hand yourself everything you need to overcome the obstacles I’ve laid out for you in Deus Ex Machina fashion, than I won’t hesitate to make an example out of you.
Protagonists
Tyler Willow (Kratour)
Vincent Cambridge (Satou Asahira)
Arthur Twist (Sparrowsmith)
Daniel Willet (Niscp)
Locations:
The Mad City
The Mad City exists in the same space as the City Slumbering, also known as the world you used to think was all there was. The origins of the Mad City aren’t known to anyone. What’s know is this: the Mad City is the extra place, the lost place where missing socks and broken toys come to live a second life. It’s where the thirteenth hour on the clock went, and forgotten constellations fled when their gods died. That door you thought you saw out of the corner of your eye opens into the Mad City, and every now and then, when the City Slumbering seems to swallow someone whole, it’s because they stumble through such a door. The Mad City is crowded, packed densely, and overfull. The Mad City squeezes into the forgotten spaces in the middle of the City Slumbering. It touches every part of that sleeping burg, whether it’s in the shadows under a child’s bed, or at the back of a dusty utility closet, or down an alleyway that only exists for a few minutes past midnight. The Mad City has a timeless, if relentless urban, quality to it, and you can find folks in all manner of dress, carrying devices and driving vehicles from any year of the last century of a half, pretty much wherever you go in it. Anachronism is the mode of the day, and sometimes the people living there don’t seem to realize that it’s been a century since they first set up shop.
Getting to the Mad City is difficult for the sleeping, but terribly easy for the Awake. From anywhere in the City Slumbering, an Awake person can easily identify an entrance to the Mad City. It might be a window that looks out onto a constant and strange night sky, a manhole cover shaped like a crescent moon, or a bright orange doorway that nobody seems to notice. Whenever an Awake person passes into the Mad City, the sleeping nearby don’t remember him stepping through a hole in the sky that wasn’t there. Entrances to the Mad City needn’t be constant or reliable, and thus often aren’t. Even the Awake have trouble finding the same entry-way twice, and even those entrances that say put and don’t change shape may suddenly start opening onto a completely different place. And unless someone is very, very, lucky, and entrance very rarely takes them to the part of the Mad City that they most want to go.
The City Slumbering
No game about the Mad City can really ignore the City Slumbering. It’s the place the protagonists once knew and thought familiar, but which may now seem just as strange as the Mad City itself. Those how have become Awake, will find themselves feeling a strange hollow sort of connection from the City Slumbering. Old friends will be difficult to talk to, passers-by will eye the character suspiciously, dogs will bark incessantly at their presence, and favourite foods will taste just a little bit like sand. This doesn’t mean the mundane world has forgotten about them. The troubles of modern life may still dog them whenever they emerge from the constant nightfall of the Mad City and into the dulled and strange City Slumbering. They’ll still need to pay off that mortgage or alimony. Their girlfriends will wonder where they’re going at all times of day or night. Their jobs will, in all likelihood, fire them, if the Mad City proves to be enough of a distraction.
More Locations
District 13
The center of what passes for government and law enforcement, Nightmare style. Even the locals stay away from District Thirteen as long as possible, though the strange andd Byzantine bureucratic affections of the Tacks Man, and Officer Tock actually keep the Nightmares somewhat in check. Locals who venture into the District do so because they work there, or because they've been summoned for judgement or depudization. The Awake are often subpoenaed, but rarelly put in an appearance in the courts of the District. When charges are made against the Awake, the most certainly contain myriad Catch-22 rules violations and other legalities that practically guarantee a conviction.
Rooftop Jungle
Buildings in the Mad City are clustered so closely together that it's really quite easy to jump from one building to the next. The rooftops are where many of the Mad City's extra things -doorways and other passages - get squeezed, when there isn't room on the ground. The Rooftops are utter chaos, covered in doorways, windows, holes, archways, and even the occasional animate orifice. Locals and Nightmares who've become familiar with the topside realm favor it as a shotcut highway to get around the place. This makes it a favored hunting round, and many a Nightmare simply set up shop on the rooftops. Jabberwock sightings are uncoommon, but heard of. Learning your way around the the rooftops gives you an invaluable advantage in surviving the Mad City, but many guideless neophytes have been lost in just a few minutes up topside. Everyone in the Mad City finds him or her self up there now and again.
The Warrens
Counterpoint to the rooftops, the warrens beneath the Mad City are riddled with slick, intestinal tunnels that lead to ten thousand nowheres. In the middle of all of that is the Kingdom of Wax, where the Wax King s jealosusly regards the world above. Nothing styas long within the warrens without felling the touch of wax. The closer to the center of it all, to the Kingdom, the more of a risk there is that you'll one day wayke up with the wax crawling up your legs.
Key Terms
I’ll fill this section our with key terms as they come up in the RP. To keep myself from repeating things over and over, be sure to check back here for definitions, and information.
Goodies
[b]Blind Knights: In appearance, they look like normal men or woman. Their sole aberration is in their eyes, or rather, the lack of them. Instead of eyes they have a candle in each socket, which stays ever-lit so long as they live, casting a pale blue light over their surroundings. The Wax King employs a number of Blind Knights to keep his realm safe.
Hate Hives: Appear as normal people Hate Hives are rapidly infesting the rooftops and basements of Mad City. They appear as normal people except: 1) violently xenphobic, 2) they look, dress, and act exactly the same, 3) their culture is tight-knit to the point of being inbred and 4) they chew up the surrounding scenery and regurgitate it into a nest.. Each nest has a nightmarishly distorted correlations to an ethnic hate group in the real world. Hate Hives are noticeable for their unique architecture, as well as the buzzing that surrounds them: a babble of threats, complaints, and racial/social slurs unique to each Hive.
Smothered Folk: The whole of the Wax King's peasantry, composed of locals who have been enveloped in wax, had there identities melted away, and transformed into silent serivitors
The Tacks Man: The Tacks Man is the force behind the Districts's Nightmare bureaucracy. His fingers all come to metallic points.He is dressed impeccably in the uniform of political power, a business suit that never gets dirty or mussed. When the Tacks Man goes after his quarry, he's interested in something the target has. His fingers can pin something of his target to the spot. Maybe he'll pin an arm to the ground with it, or nail the last moments spent with a now-dead lover to his wall of trophies.
The Thirtheenth Hour: When the clocks in the Mad City chime thirteen, the City Slumbering forgets the Mad ways entirely. At the thirteeth hour, there is no passage between the two cities; all doors are locked tight. Nightmares particularly love the thirteenth hour because it traps the Awake in the Mad City.
This post has been edited by Ryuga: Aug 31 2011, 02:11 PM
So, following my usual trends of cautiously tiptoeing about, I suppose I should ask. What if a talentless newbie like me is interested in joining, am I welcome to try to get in?
__________________________
Go beyond the impossible and kick reason to the curb, that's what we do.
Uhm...Complex...I'm gonna need some time to think of a character, but I will sometime soon.
__________________________
"I may not agree with what you say, but i will fight to the death for your right to say it." -Voltaire
YOU. YES YOU, DO YOU LIKE ROLEPLAYING? DID YOU KNOW RRR HAS IT'S OWN ROLEPLAYING FORUMS? DO YOU KNOW IT'S QUITE AWESOME? YOU SHOULD JOIN! YES, THIS IS SHAMELESS ADVERTISING. NOW CLICK THIS LINK.
I'm with Nicsp. lol Gonna need a bit of time but this is definitely looking cool.
__________________________
I am
The Devil
Materiality. Material Force. Material temptation; sometimes obsession
The Devil is often a great card for business success; hard work and ambition.Perhaps the most misunderstood of all the major arcana, the Devil is not really "Satan" at all, but Pan the half-goat nature god and/or Dionysius. These are gods of pleasure and abandon, of wild behavior and unbridled desires. This is a card about ambitions; it is also synonymous with temptation and addiction. On the flip side, however, the card can be a warning to someone who is too restrained, someone who never allows themselves to get passionate or messy or wild - or ambitious. This, too, is a form of enslavement. As a person, the Devil can stand for a man of money or erotic power, aggressive, controlling, or just persuasive. This is not to say a bad man, but certainly a powerful man who is hard to resist. The important thing is to remember that any chain is freely worn. In most cases, you are enslaved only because you allow it.
Go ahead and take the time you guys need. I agree it's complicated, but hopefully, it's enought to keep the RP interesting.
I tend to take a while when filling out character sheets, so I'm not going to put you guys on another standard.
QUOTE (Kratour @ Jul 18 2011, 04:52 PM)
So, following my usual trends of cautiously tiptoeing about, I suppose I should ask. What if a talentless newbie like me is interested in joining, am I welcome to try to get in?
You've graduated from the school of noobism a long time ago Kratour. And this is not like some sort of exclusive club. Of course your welcome to get in.
As much as I'd hate to double post I thought it was necessary to give a quick update, and reminder. Otherwise things tend to drop off, especially with activity being lower than I anticipated.
So I've got two people's character sheets already. You can see who in the newly updated "Protagonists" section of the topic.
As for those of you who have yet to complete a character sheet, I remind you to get to work on those sometime soon. If the RP seems a little too complicated for your taste, and you'd rather withdraw, that's okay. But it would be nice to get a least one more person.
Group: Global Mod
Posts: 4,600
Type: Writer
RM Skill: Intermediate
Rev Points: 5
I just realised in my signup that I didn't use the madness talent template I got carried away... Anyway, I'll whip one up if you need it - pretty sure all the relevant info is there.
__________________________
Warning!this post may contain sarcasm, please re-read it in a funny voice The old spoiler was out of control, it had to be stopped.
Well, three's a crowd, so I'm going to go ahead and get started. Just a note. I'll be doing some soft controlling of everyone's character to build the scene. Rest assured it won't be happening very often, save for the instances I need a scene to keep moving.
Still be accepting late entries if anyone else wants to join in, just didn't have time over the week.
This post has been edited by Ryuga: Jul 27 2011, 11:41 AM
...I had pretty much forgotten that I needed to send my sign-up...FML.
I have the character ready though, i'll PM it to you in a few.
__________________________
"I may not agree with what you say, but i will fight to the death for your right to say it." -Voltaire
YOU. YES YOU, DO YOU LIKE ROLEPLAYING? DID YOU KNOW RRR HAS IT'S OWN ROLEPLAYING FORUMS? DO YOU KNOW IT'S QUITE AWESOME? YOU SHOULD JOIN! YES, THIS IS SHAMELESS ADVERTISING. NOW CLICK THIS LINK.
Group: Global Mod
Posts: 4,600
Type: Writer
RM Skill: Intermediate
Rev Points: 5
Going away for a week, probably won't have internet (there's a small chance at some point mid-week, but don't count on it) so feel free to: 1 - Somehow get my character to safety 2 - Kill my character (I'll make another, no worries) 3 - whatever you wanna do.
Edit: Disregard that, I've got broadband despite being in the middle of nowhere... How odd.
__________________________
Warning!this post may contain sarcasm, please re-read it in a funny voice The old spoiler was out of control, it had to be stopped.
Group: Global Mod
Posts: 4,600
Type: Writer
RM Skill: Intermediate
Rev Points: 5
oooo a questionnaire. How quaint
What things you guys like about this roleplay so far? - It's original, you've worked in our characters a lot deeper than most RPs dare to, and it seems like it's heading somewhere. What things suck? - We haven't used our powers yet, well I haven't anyway, but that's not actually your fault. How can I make this roleplay more enjoyable? - Keep the pace fairly similar to how it is. It's be kind of annoying if it eventually turns into us killing a bunch of Nightmares, I want the same sense of panic and controlled pace.
Didn't answer all the questions correctly but that's pretty much how I feel about the RP. It's solid as it is
__________________________
Warning!this post may contain sarcasm, please re-read it in a funny voice The old spoiler was out of control, it had to be stopped.
Sorry, I just really hadn't much idea of what to reply...I despise making short posts.
__________________________
"I may not agree with what you say, but i will fight to the death for your right to say it." -Voltaire
YOU. YES YOU, DO YOU LIKE ROLEPLAYING? DID YOU KNOW RRR HAS IT'S OWN ROLEPLAYING FORUMS? DO YOU KNOW IT'S QUITE AWESOME? YOU SHOULD JOIN! YES, THIS IS SHAMELESS ADVERTISING. NOW CLICK THIS LINK.
Sorry, I just really hadn't much idea of what to reply...I despise making short posts.
Yeah, I suppose that's one of the flaws in this RP. I'll change the style of my posts and compile some more info so you guys can acually start moving around freely as opposed to be constrained by the hand of God.
Don't worry about thinking of a post though. I'll add another section for Daniel, which will hopefully get things moving, tomorrow maybe. It's late right now and I don't have time to make a detailed RP post. Promise me you'll look out for it though.
Games
Resources
RPG Maker VX
RPG Maker XP
Scripts
Tutorials
Downloads
Don't Rest Your Head, Signup and OOC
Submit Your Article
Jul 17 2011, 01:09 PM
I got carried away...
