Getting Started **Copy**

Table of Contents

I. Introduction
II. Game Mechanics
III. Posting Protocol
IV. Story/Plot Arcs

Quote


A huge castle made of stone and steel floating in an endless sky. That was all this world was.
It took a vagarious group of craftsmen one month to survey the place; the diameter of the base floor was about 10 kilometers — large enough to fit the entirety of Setagaya-ku within. Above, there were 100 floors stacking straight upwards; its sheer size was unbelievable. It was impossible to even guess how much data it consisted of.

Inside, there were a couple of large cities along with countless small scale towns and villages, forests and plains, and even lakes. Only one stairway linked each floor to another, and the stairways existed in dungeons where large numbers of monsters roamed; so discovering and getting through was no easy matter. However, once someone made a breakthrough and arrived at a city of the upper floor, the «Teleport Gates» there and of every cities in the lower floors would be connected making it possible for anyone to move freely through these levels.

The name of the castle was «Aincrad», a world of battles with swords that continued floating and had engulfed approximately six thousand people. Otherwise known as...

«Sword Art Online».



Welcome to the Sword Art Online Roleplay. This is a freeform play by post game. You post what your character does, and then the other person will post their reaction. So on and so forth. The gaming world is set in the realm of Aincrad, and you are a player of this game. However, the only way out, is perma-death. Your brain will be severed from your body, and you will cease to exist.

Alrighty, if you already know the game mechanics and the story setting. These links are for you.

Character Template
Fill out the character template and post it in the main forum for review. We will respond and either approve it, or tell you what needs to be fixed for approval.
The Aincrad Codex
The Aincrad Codex contains all the information you need to know about the realm of Aincrad. Armor, Weapons, Beasts, Bosses, Geography, etc.


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#2  Getting Started: post #2  Valeness Posted 09 November 2013 - 05:26 PM
You're unsuited for the wage of war, so pack up, go home, yo

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Game Mechanics

Leveling
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This is not like an ordinary RolePlay. You don't start out as someone with this long detailed history that got you to lead the front lines. You start as a new player at level one. Now that being said, this also means you have stats, and gain exp. You gain levels by posting and defeating monsters. The posts can be over a plethora of criteria. You can be sparring a friend, dueling, training alone, grinding mobs, or attacking bosses. Anything that you do in the game that requires combat skill, you can be awarded exp.

Now, to make things fair, all threads in which you acquire exp will need to be submitted in the Submission Thread, where mods will review them and distribute experience based upon post quality. Length does not matter, however, quality does. For example:

"Bob jumped down the well"

is not as sufficient as

"Bob wiped a bead of sweat from his brow, knowing he may never see his family again, and hesitantly took a blind leap down the Well of Doom!"

The latter will gain significantly more experience than the first. Ok, now that you know how experience is gained, you should know what to do with it once you get it. Now, in the Aincrad codex is the amount of Experience you need per level to level up. When you gain experience, Mods will edit it into the "exp" section of your character sheet. It will look something like this "124/350". And once you accumulate 350+ experience, the mods will notify you that you leveled up and gain 7 AP (Ability Points) to distribute among your 8 stats. Then post again in the submission thread with how you want your AP distributed. For example: If your stats read:

Level: 1
Attack: 2
Accuracy: 5
Agility: 0
Defense: 0
Evasion: 0
Intelligence: 0
Strength: 0
Spirit: 0

And you gain a level, your submission post should look like this: (along with a link to your profile.

Level: 2
Attack: 2
Accuracy: 5
Agility: 0 +3
Defense: 0 +2
Evasion: 0 +1
Intelligence: 0 +1
Strength: 0
Spirit: 0

Then it will be edited into your profile and you gain the boons that come along with the extra level. Easy, yeah?

Statistics
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Equipment:
Equipment Stats will add directly onto your normal stats. They won't be explicitly stated, but all equipment can be viewed in the Aincrad Codex. So if i have a [Tanned Leather Hat] and it grants me a +1 stat increase to accuracy. and my Accuracy stat is 7, it could be read as this "Accuracy: 7 + 1". Which is no different than "Accuracy: 6 + 2". The deciding factor is the addition of both your base stats, and your gear.

Breakdown of Statistics:
Each stat means something specific. The stats won't prevent you from doing things, they are there to compare against others and for qualification of being able to survive certain floors.

    Attack: Attack is how well you can use your weapon. This is essentially your skill with a blade. If you have a low attack skill, then the most you can do is swing a weapon around like a blind ape. The higher this skill is, the more refined you become and the more complex your attacks can be. So if somebody's attack exceeds your own, it will be easier for them to deflect your blows, counter attack, and pull off complex sword skills.
    Accuracy: This is how well you can control your blade. A character with a high level of Accuracy can land a blow on the small end of a needle. So if you aim for the neck, you'll hit their neck. This skill is directly proportionate to the Evasion skill. If they are highly evasive and you aren't very accurate. Good luck hitting them.
    Agility: This is how well you can jump around, climb cliffs, etc. A high Agility and Evasion skill can make you untouchable. Agility differs from Evasion in the sense that Agility does not deal with perception and avoiding blows. This is closer to a "speed" skill. How fast you can run/kick/punch.
    Defense: The Defense Stat allows you to absorb damage. A character with high Defense can more easily stop a blade with his bare hand and keep fighting even after being stabbed.
    Evasion: Evading will keep you alive longer. This stat heightens your perception of incoming attacks, and allows you to move out of the way. With more evasion, the opponent seems less accurate.
    Intelligence: With no magic in Sword Art Online, the intelligence skill, after a certain amount of AP is distributed, can allow you to predict your opponents fighting style, and thus think more moves ahead. So, since you knew that was going to happen, you can trigger a crafty counter-attack. Intelligence also allows you to find out more about the game and come up with new ideas. Such as using a catapult or building a wall.
    Strength: How strong you are. This is the simplest stat; it determines with how much force you can swing a weapon and the amount of weight you can lift. When an attack lands, this stat is rolled against defense. When your strength outmatches your opponent's defense, your attack will do the intended damage.
    Spirit: This is how fast you can regenerate HP on your own. This RP does not have any enforced HP amounts, but if you invest in Spirit, you will be able to fight and heal longer. Small nicks and cuts will not slow you down, and over time, large wounds can heal themselves in battle.

Character Creation
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A lot of this is covered in the character template thread, but the specifics are here.

Equipment:
Your character is given an initial of 105g to begin with. This is exactly enough to buy a full set of Tier 1 Leather armor. Or, you may choose to not buy a full set, but perhaps mix and match between leather, mail, and plate. This is fine. But keep in mind, you only have 105g to spend, so at level 1 there is no way you can start with full plate. It must be what you can afford.

All Tier 1 weapons are free, but you have an initial limit of only one. You can not dual wield to begin with. So only one weapon in your dominant hand, with the possibility of a shield in the off-hand slot.

You do not need to copy/paste the stats of the armor on your profile, just the name of the article of defense under it's respective section will suffice. The idea is that the armor will need to be looked up in the codex, similar to an MMO.

Stats:
You begin at level 1, and start with 7 AP (Ability Points) to distribute among 8 stats. For each level after that you continue to gain 7 AP for each level you advance. AP may also be awarded for story arcs and quests. Furthermore, you start with zero EXP.

Miscellaneous:
Many things are determined by the initial quality of your character profile. I will be able to tell those that really poured their heart and soul into a character, and I will reward those that take the extra step. And I regret to inform you, but writing ability will also contribute to your initial rewards, as it does with posting. This is to encourage you to use a thesaurus and take your time in writing, making each word count.

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#3  Getting Started: post #3  Valeness Posted 23 November 2013 - 04:33 PM
You're unsuited for the wage of war, so pack up, go home, yo

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Posting Protocol

If you've been on Colo for a while, then you know the flow. If not, listen close. This roleplay is freeform, despite it's mix of heavy traditional aspect. But the roleplaying itself is freeform. You can start threads where you want, do what you want, kill what you please. We really won't hinder you on posting and will allow you to do things even if they don't match the story/canon exactly. Or else, what's the point of roleplaying?

When you want to start a thread, please tag it in between brackets, with the exact floor/location you are on. And then after that, give it a clever name. For example. "[Floor 1/Starting City]Making New Friends". The important part would be the section in between brackets. Since it would be kind of tedious to list all 100 floors, you should just go to that section and specify what floor you are posting from. In the subtitle or topic description, you may choose how you wish others to act in that thread. For example:

Open (Anyone can post when they want to.)
Private (Nobody else may post unless the thread creator allows you.)
PM/Ask Only (Please ask the thread creator before joining in. They may or may not allow you.)
Custom (You may add anything you want. Such as "Level 1-8 looking to spar. PM with link to character please." or anything else you want.)

That being said, there are some things we request you do not post about.

Field bosses are yours to make up, kill, and submit for exp. But Floor Bosses, as in the monsters you need to defeat to advance a floor, are to be handled by the mods only. Furthermore, you are not allowed to go to a floor that has not been opened. So if they are currently fighting the boss for floor 5, you can not roleplay on floor 6 until it is posted that floor 6 is defeated.

Most of all, Have Fun! You should know the rules, and if you don't, you will catch on. I don't want players feeling hindered by rules, so if you have a problem with another player, please feel free to explain it to myself or another moderator.