Darwin's Curse - Fluffy Fantasy RP?!

I don't know how much longer we'll last. This damnable war. Was it worth it? Were the powers and the delusions of godhood all it took to drive the human race to the brink of destruction?...No. We are not at the brink. We have flown off the edge. Only a miracle could save us now, and I fear that we've used up our supply of miracles. I'll admit, I was driven by the pursuit of magical exploration as much as the rest of you, but this was too much. No nuclear device could ever replicate what we've done in these last few days. I'm surprised there is even a planet left worth crying over. I fear my time is almost up. This Journal Crystal doesn't have but a few moments of charge left. All that can be left to say is: Our technology, our civilization, our power. All of it, has gone to the dogs.

In a totally inconsequential day and age, the human race untapped the magical realm. The Age of Aquarius was ushered in as the powers of elements and spirits were discovered for all of them to use. Humans quickly developed the skills and knowledge required for necromancy, summoning, teleportation, control over the elements, and all sorts of other magical fun things. It didn't take long for them to learn how to combine magic and science in a number of amazing ways. Curing diseases, creating magically-charged AI, and keeping people living for much, much longer was all possible thanks to the fantastic fusion of magic and science. But this age of peace and prosperity didn't last forever. Soon, groups of people all over the world fought over how magic should be used, as you can imagine. The war disrupted the lives of everyone on Earth, and it was turned into a war-torn planet with a new magical battle being fought somewhere every, single day.

As far as we know, there were no human survivors. That leave us.

It has been centuries since the Great Magical War the drove the human race to extinction. The large traces of magical energy left behind from the deadly weapons and spells of those people brought intelligence to a new group. The animal kingdom. All over the world, animals slowly began to develop sentience, and an understanding of the science and magic around them. They rose up in ways the humans did, forming civilizations and kingdoms, creating art, entertainment, religion, waging wars, and doing all the other things you would expect come from intelligent life. We never lost our animal bodies, but we gained so much more up top.

There are plenty of conservative animal groups that believe we've lost sight of our instincts, and our origins. (Despite most of them, besides the Primates, forgetting that humans ever existed at all)

Well, what about you? Have you lost your instincts? Or are you ready to bring your animal ingenuity together with might and magic, and survive and prosper in this savage, new age?

So, classes are almost done, so I will finally have at least the whole summer to devote to this story-driven RP that takes place in a world not too different from ours, many years in the future after the human race is extinct and only the animals are left to wield the technology and magic we left behind.We'll be playing as some of those animals, journeying across dangerous lands and kingdoms, battling other animals and strange magical beasts, and maybe saving the world in the process!

I'd like to actually keep this one alive. Quite an achievement, yes?

While magic is a big part of the experience, I will be a bit lax as far as a magic system goes. It is your standard mana-using, spellcasting system. Inexperienced mages usually need to chant their spells, but skilled sorcerers need only harness their magical energy. This is going to have a lot of the trappings and tropes of Dn D and Final Fantasy-type games, but we are all animals commonly found on the planet. The world on which the RP takes place has a strange combination of Renaissance Technology and Magic. Thus expect some small degree of magitek and clock punk to invade the setting.

A Few Important Things to Note:

• This is NOT a Furry RP. The animals are not anthropomorphic in the sense that they can walk on two longs, or have humanoid bodies. They just have human intelligence where it would allow, excluding bugs and insects. If an animal has the ability to walk on two legs in the real world, then it is very possible that intelligence would allow it to stay in that state more often, so keep that in mind. For example, a Raccoon could walk upright, but only run on all fours.
• Animals still have all the abilities and instincts they did in the real world.
• Common is the most used language, for our purposes.
• Because of the magical energy, and the difference in health and technology of the time period, DNA and birth works a little differently. In this world, animals of the same Family can make and create children. For example, all kinds of cats belong to the Family Felidae. Depending on the general strength of the sperm and the eggs or what have you, there is varied percentage of what the child species will be. There are NO halfies.
• Sometimes, animals can have a more varied size than what we known to be. But too much more varied.
• In this world, the biological classifications have social ramifications as well. Groups of many different kinds of animals can and do exist in a variety of different kinds of civilizations, but like our world, there is plenty of racism and favoritism. Currently, the most powerful group on the planet is the Felidae family, with most of the royalty belonging to it, but that does not mean all of its children prosper. For example, you could still be a poor cat living in the slums. There is just the distinction that you belong to a family that is more privileged than say...the order of Rodentia (mice, gerbils, hamsters, etc.) Another example is that Primates are considered to be the most intelligent race, and are often consulted on matters of great import.
• Because of the intelligence, animals have developed the same kinds of social cues as us, and sometimes wear clothing and things like that. But they don't have to.
• The tone of this game can range from serious to comical to dark to sad. So be sure to have fun with your characters!
• All the regular rules this site abides by should be kept in mind.

Sign-up

• Name: (Different cultures and species have different naming conventions. Perhaps your species doesn't have a concept of last names?)
• Species: (Common name and scientific name, please)
• Gender/Sex:
• Appearance: (Be sure to include a clothing description, if your animal wears any clothing.)
• Personality:
• Class: (Fighting class, silly. Are you a warrior, a magic, archer, what? Try to pick a class that could actually make sense with your character. It would be pretty difficult for a turtle to be a Monk.)
• Abilties/Spells/Skills: (Whatever applies. Keep in mind that magic-users typically have an affinity and stick to it. If you are a magic user that has no elemental affinity, your spells are not as powerful.)
• Weapons: (Any that apply. If you use a staff or wand, put that here. Warriors can rely on physical weapons like swords, or even natural weapons like sharp teeth.)
• Back-story:

That should be it. Oh, one more thing. These images are indicative of tone and style:

• http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=924504
• http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=1005452
• http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=924496
• http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=924507
• http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=793290
• http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=825875

And look at this page: Animal Stereotypes, but remember that everything can be subverted or averted. These are mostly the stereotypes that OTHER species believe.

edited 2nd May '13 2:09:29 PM by Saturn

So, do they have opposable thumbs? If not I don't see how they could build any kind of civilization. On the four-leg vs two-leg question, again, having to stay four-legged would make tool manipulation very difficult.

So its like The Secret Of NIMH and Peace on Earth?

^^ No. I'm handwaving it because I don't care, I guess.

^ I guess so.

What about the size? Are all animals the same size they normally supposed to be, or are there variations?

I'm interested, though I'll wait with my character until more people have shown interest.

judging by the picture examples, I'm assuming this takes place somewhere in the Americas?

There would be slightly variation. But really not that much.

As for location, I'd say the location is actually more around England, but it doesn't matter too much. While the geography is the same, it has been a very long time, and cultures and countries are no longer the same.

Darn. There goes my idea for a koi fish with a Texas accent.

I'll have a sign-up tomorrow when I get my other ideas in order.

Tentively interested depending on whether hybrids such as red wolves are allowed or not. Also how high are birds in this society?

Is this still a thing? Also interested about birds.