Be careful what you wish for
When the world was young and the gods who ruled it were still foolish and boastful there disputes would be settled by the creatures of the world. Artefacts and relics of incredible power litter the land; swords that could split the sea, wands that could alter reality, armours which could protect the wearer from any physical harm. During this era the world was a place of chaos, even a small duel between just two would turn into a calamity when such potent and powerful items were bared. The gods, in all their petty greed and spite of each other had created means for the world to be destroyed and as the days grew darker it seemed that without intervening total destruction was the only possible outcome the seeds the gods had sowed would reap.
a council was held by the gods, and it was decided that these items of incredible power needed to be destroyed. They each chose a champion and tasked them with reclaiming all the items, and destroying them in the forges of lava at the heart of the world.
And so it was that the world was made safe again, as each gods champion collected and destroyed the most potent and powerful magical items, melting them in the fires of the world. All the items that is, except for one; while the more boisterous, valorous, fearsome, and powerful gods had bickered with each other, using the creatures of the world to settle their disputes, Hanansi the trickster had waited, whispering in an ear here, bragging of a foes achievement there. Hanansi had bided his time and waited, waited until the council had been called and the items were set to be destroyed. Then, as was his capricious way, he’d chosen a champion of his own and had them hide in the fires at the heart of the world with the only item Hanansi had ever crafted, a net that could withstand lava, an artefact so simple the other gods had laughed when he’d first crafted it so many years ago.
And so it was that as the champions did their gods biddings, Hanansi’s champion did his gods too. He scooped up the molten slag of the destroyed artefacts, and sifted from it only the most potent fragments of magical power. These he set aside to harden together into a single object of raw godly energies, The Wishing Stone. It wasn’t a perfect sphere, nor was it a perfect oval; rather the reality of the shape lay somewhere in between, like some one had grabbed an egg and managed to pull it apart without it breaking. And although the stone glowed with a dull blue energy, it wasn’t by any stretch of the imagination what anyone would call magnificent. It didn’t inspire awe, nor did it induce feelings of serendipity or trepidation. But that didn’t mean the Stone was any less powerful. Hanansi had watched the gods bequeath to the creatures of the world weapons and items of incredible power. He’d watched how these objects were used by the creatures of the world to wreath destruction and havoc only confined by the limitations of the weapons that they wielded. And so Hanansi had created an object which removed all those limitations, destructive potential without end. Hanansi wanted to see what would happen if the creatures of the world were given limitless opportunity, would they do good or bad?
Once the Stone was finished setting Hanansi’s champion asked his god for his reward, but Hanansi is above all things a capricious trickster, and he had beckoned his champion to him, luring him to the edges of the lava with promises of rewards beyond the imagination. There, on the lip of a chasm surrounding the lava the earth had broken and Hanansi’s champion had died, taking with him the only knowledge of where the Stone was secreted.
And so it came to be that the Wishing Stone, the most potent magical object in the world was buried at the heart of the world, not to be seen again. That is to say, not until Hanansi decided it was time; and so Hanansi watched, and waited, avoiding the affairs of gods and the creatures of the world until the time was right; bidding his time like the spider sitting in its web.
And like the spider in its web Hanansi feels all the vibrations around him, vibrations that are telling him it is time. So with a whisper into the ear of a lord here, a sign to a peasant there, slowly Hanansi is spreading the word. The Wishing Stone is a secret no more.
What is it?:-
Welcome to the first goblins Ratings War. What is a Ratings War I hear you asking yourself, which is probably a pretty good questions in all honesty.
A Ratings War is a Role-play which takes the form of a character battle; specifically an Original Character battle. (The key word here is Original.)
In a Ratings War contestants compete against each other in battles of prose; pitting their characters against each other in a short story that ends in defeat for their opponent, and victory for their protagonist. Both competitors write an entry to completion, but in the end only one will be the true victor.
Rules:-
The competitors of the Rating War will be divided into (hopefully) even brackets, with each bracket’s competitors ‘fighting’ against each other in few rounds of preliminary battles.
In each battle two competitors will be paired off against each other, battling in a predetermined arena; each battle will last a full week from its announcement, during that time the players must write a piece of prose to it’s completion in which their character must fight and defeat their opponent’s character.
The only limitation I’ll be imposing on the battles at present is to please refrain from killing your opponent’s characters in the preliminary rounds. After all, if there is more then one bout of preliminaries then their character still needs to be alive to compete in them. But aside from that, the rest of the battle is entirely up to your creativity and imagination.
Each entry will be rated by three judges, and at the end of the round the player with the highest score will be the winner.
After the end of the preliminary battles the highest scoring writers from the brackets will proceed to the next rounds, engaging in elimination battles until finally only one combatant is left. They shall be proclaimed as the winner of the Ratings War, and all the gloating rights that come with it.
If a player fails to submit an entry in the one week time frame, then their opponent will win on default. If both players fail to submit entries, then how each round is proceeded on will be decided by me on a case by case basis. But hopefully no such cases arise, so this wont shouldn’t be a problem.
What I need from you:-
Still with me? Well if you’ve read this far I assume you’re actually interested in joining this competition. Good for you. To actually sign up to this battle here’s what I need; your Character sheet. It must include the following details (so feel free to ctrl+c ctrl+v it)
Name: Self explanatory really.
Nicknames/aliases: Do they have any?
Eye color: Self explanatory really.
Hair color: Self explanatory really.
Age: Self explanatory really.
Race: No limitations on races; be what ever you want.
Appearance: Physical looks, clothing, the whole hog. More is better than less.
Weapons/powers: How does your character fight?
Biography: Please try to provide a lot of information on your character here; it’ll be really useful for both the judges to get a feel on how well you’re writing your character, and for your opponents on how to write your character competitively in turn.
Reason for wanting the Stone: Are they looking to protect the wishing stone forever? Do they have a wish they want granted? Do they even know why they are here or was it just an act of fate? Even if you establish this in the biography, reiterate it in short hand here please.
Tips for starters:-
Be the underdog: Everyone loves an underdog, and even though you can win with an overpowered character (the competition is based on your writing skills after all) stories become much more engaging when the protagonist is on the back foot; at least for some of it. Think of all your favourite movies and books, I guarantee you that one of the best things about them is wondering just how the protagonists will overcome their seemingly unstoppable foes.
Depth: Even though a lot of the fights will be predominantly physical (although if you can think of other more creative ways to beat your opponents, by all means go for it.) Both the reads of this thread and the judges are going to want to see your character develop and grow. Show what they think, sho what they feel, show how they react both emotionally and physically to the battles they are going through. Do they have vices or flaws? Can they over come them? Do they develop any faults from there fights? Is their motivation for fighting consistent or does it change as the competition progresses? We want to see all these things, so show them to us!
Discussion: You’re not just going to be writing your own character, you’re going to be writing a variety of your opponent’s characters well, so get to know them! PM your opponent with questions you have, and in turn answer any questions they have about yours. Often in getting to know the player behind the character, you’ll also get to understand the character too. Not to mention, no one wants to see there character written poorly, so make sure you treat everyone else’s character with the same amount of respect that you’d like them to show yours in turn.
Edit, Edit, Edit: After writing your piece make sure you take the time to reread it and edit it. This is after all a writing competition; things like grammatical errors could end up costing you the round.
FAQS:-
Will this be a massive time demand?
No, not at all. If we had say for example 8 writers, that can be broken down into 2 brackets of 4, with each person writing against 1 opponents in the bracket in each round. Each round lasts for say a week, and we only cover one bracket in each week (this is to keep things manageable for the judges)
So, for example, we have writers A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H
Bracket 1
A,B,C,D
Bracket 2
E,F,G,H
Round 1
A vs B
C vs D
Round 2
E vs F
G vs H
Round 3
A vs C
D vs B
Round 4
E vs H
F vs G
Highest scores in Bracket 1 and 2 proceed to finals
Semi final 1
winner of bracket 1 vs second winner of bracket 2
Semi final 2
second winner 1 vs winner of bracket 2
Final
Winner of semi 1 vs winner of semi 2.
All up 7 rounds of writing, only 2 of which you are definitely going to write in.
What if I can’t write?
No time like the present to start. But seriously, if you’re even curious about writing, a Ratings War is a great way to get feedback on your writing technique from a range of different people.
Dusk9 wrote:I have a couple of questions about the setting - is this a D&D world? If yes, does that mean characters are limited to the races (and classes) of D&D, or can they be and do anything we can imagine?
Also, what are the civilisations of this world like? Magic is obviously common, or at least known of, but how advanced are things like non-magical technology, weaponry, and travel?
This is not a D&D universe, rather think of it as a universe of almost limitless potential. If it's a race you want to write, than create it. If it's a magical ability you want your character to poses, go for it.
However a note on technology; I'm happy for people to bring in Steam Punk era tech, but nothing more modern then that.
I can’t think of anything else, but feel free to ask any questions you have and I’ll answer them.
Judges:-
The judges have been selected. Thank you all applicants.
Cast of Characters:- Just copy each line of code after the http:// for a quick link to each players post.
SilverMK2s Vrita
forums.keenspot.com/viewtopic.php?f=136&t=114325p=3691511#p3691511
TheKidds Scott Lyndon
forums.keenspot.com/viewtopic.php?f=136&t=114325p=3691737#p3691737
Xylls Zaltin
forums.keenspot.com/viewtopic.php?f=136&t=114325p=3691747#p3691747
Dusk9s Simon Emrys Lex’Ander
forums.keenspot.com/viewtopic.php?f=136&t=114325p=3691781#p3691781
RandomMercs Kane Selion
forums.keenspot.com/viewtopic.php?f=136&t=114325p=3691787#p3691787
M0rtimers SerV3
forums.keenspot.com/viewtopic.php?f=136&t=114325&start=25p=3692375#p3692375
Theonewhoisodds Flacks Firehawk
forums.keenspot.com/viewtopic.php?f=136&t=114325&start=25p=3692831#p3692831
Knucklekrakens ROY!
forums.keenspot.com/viewtopic.php?f=136&t=114325&start=25p=3694425#p3694425
BurnsBees Bruce
forums.keenspot.com/viewtopic.php?f=136&t=114325&start=50p=3694723#p3694723
PicksUpSticks Jimmy one arm
forums.keenspot.com/viewtopic.php?f=136&t=114325&start=50p=3694795#p3694795
ReadsVoraciouslys Aloysius Aduviri
forums.keenspot.com/viewtopic.php?f=136&t=114325&start=50p=3695971#p3695971
SharesLoots Lady of the Flies
forums.keenspot.com/viewtopic.php?f=136&t=114325&start=50p=3696041#p3696041
Thatguys Augur
forums.keenspot.com/viewtopic.php?f=136&t=114325&start=50p=3696087#p3696087
ArcticTornados Inti
forums.keenspot.com/viewtopic.php?f=136&t=114325&start=175p=3699775#p3699775
Brackets:-
Bracket 1
1. TheKidds Scott Lyndon
2. SharesLoots Lady of the Flies
3. Xylls Zaltin
4. Dusk9s Simon Emrys Lex’Ander
5. ReadsVoraciouslys Aloysius Aduviri
6. Knucklekrakens ROY!
7. Thatguys Augur
Bracket 2
1. PicksUpSticks Jimmy one arm
2. RandomMercs Kane Selion
3. M0rtimers SerV3
4. BurnsBees Bruce
5. SilverMK2s Vritra
6. Theonewhoisodds Flacks Firehawk
7. ArcticTornados Inti
Results:-
Round 1
Knucklekrakens ROY! defeats Xylls Zaltin
ReadsVoraciouslys Aloysius Aduviri defeats Thatguys Augur
TheKidds Scott Lyndon defeats SharesLoots Lady of the Flies
Round 2
SilverMK2s Vrita defeats BurnsBees Bruce
ArcticTornados Inti defeats RandomMercs Kane Selion
PicksUpSticks Jimmy one arm defeats M0rtimers SerV3
Round 3
Dusk9s Simon Emrys Lex’Ander defeats Xylls Zaltin
M0rtimers SerV3 defeats Theonewhoisodds Flacks Firehawk
Knucklekrakens ROY! defeats ReadsVoraciouslys Aloysius Aduviri
Round 4
Dusk9s Simon Emrys Lex’Ander defeats SharesLoots Lady of the Flies
ArcticTornados Inti defeats Theonewhoisodds Flacks Firehawk
Thatguys Augur and TheKidds Scott Lyndon both forfeit
Round 5
RandomMercs Kane Selion defeats SilverMK2s Vrita
PicksUpSticks Jimmy one arm defeats BurnsBees Bruce
Quarter Finals
Dusk9s Simon Emrys Lex’Ander defeats RandomMercs Kane Selion
M0rtimers SerV3 defeats Knucklekrakens ROY!
ArcticTornados Inti defeats SilverMK2s Vrita
PicksUpSticks Jimmy one arm defeats ReadsVoraciouslys Aloysius Aduviri
Semi Finals
M0rtimers SerV3 defeats Dusk9s Simon Emrys Lex’Ander
ArcticTornados Inti defeats PicksUpSticks Jimmy one arm
Finale
M0rtimers SerV3 vs ArcticTornados Inti
Disclaimer:-
I can take no credit for the Ratings War as a concept; I’m merely introducing it to these forums