[Other] In The Eyes of Dreamers: Into the Tomb

[Red Leper]

Game Name In The Eyes of Dreamers: Into the Tomb

Game System Other Roleplaying Games

Theme Modern day people fighting against the forces of evil to find their way home.

Flavour Topsy-turvy, timey-wimey, wibbly-wobbly, and etc.

Plot Summary It’s another boring Monday, you wake up and the sun is shining through the windows, urging you to action. You finally shake yourself into motion and shed the blankets, work or school awaits you, after all. You begin to get ready for those dismal tasks that beckon you, standing before your bathroom mirror, brushing your hair or teeth, wiping the sleep from your eyes when, a little pinprick of light, no bigger than a star in the night sky, perforates the surface of the mirror. As you attempt to focus on the small light, you begin to wonder, is it the notification light on your cell phone? No. The pinprick gradually begins to grow and spread out over the surface of the mirror. You feel frozen as you watch a galaxy of stars unfold within your mirror, dotted with space debris and traced with whorls of space dust. Before you can unfreeze your joints, the toothbrush still hanging from your mouth or hairbrush drug halfway through your hair, you feel the pull of the wide world inside the mirror, and in an instant, it drags you through. You feel a spark of electricity move all through your body and a tingle along your skin. You appear in a tropical city under the blazing sun. The familiar sounds of a harbor - creaking ropes, slapping waves, heavy barrels rolling across cobblestones - mingle with voices shouting and cursing in an unfamiliar language filled with clicks, inhalations and singsongy words that make it sound almost musical. The aroma of unfamiliar spices and tropical fruit mixes with the wharf-side smells of fish, tar and canvas. Beyond all that, this strange port you find yourself in is an explosion of color. Buildings are painted in bright shades of blue, green, orange and salmon pink, or the walls are adorned with murals portraying giant reptiles and mythical heroes. Every building sports baskets and clay urns of colorful flowers or is draped in leafy, flowering vines. Minstrels in bright clothing adorned with feathers and shells perform on street corners. Multicolored pennants and sun awnings flutter atop the city walls. A crowd of children dressed in feathered hats and capes race past you, squealing in delighted terror as a street performer costumed as a big-toothed lizard stomps and roars behind them. The whole city seems to be bustling, sweating, laughing, swearing, and singing. Details: -System: I bet you’re wondering and I’m going to tell you; I’ll be using a homebrewed d20 system, twice the sugar with half the crunch. All you need is a character concept, a good backstory and a d20, of course. If you feel like you need to perform a skill check, roll it. You’ll get bonuses to rolls based on what your character would reasonably know how to do and things you learn in this new world. Classless. -Player requirements: You’ll need an application, modern era characters outlined in the application format that follows. -Playstyle: This will be Tomb of Annihilation but with characters that have been brought into a fantasy realm from the modern world. I would say 90% RP with 10% in rolls and combat, somewhat following the book. -Number of players: 4-5, I hope. Deadline, Monday, 8/26! You'll still have time to complete whatever you start before then so get something up! Please Don't roll in this thread! There is no need anyway! Application: Name: Gender: I don’t much care but I’m sure you don’t want me using the wrong pronouns. Concept: Basic description, the vibe, the feel. Appearance: Picture required but accompanied by a paragraph. A picture is worth a thousand words, I want your interpretation of the picture, what do you see? Personality: Backstory: The modern world nowadays is boring but that’s okay, stuff still happens that makes each of us different. This will decide any bonuses to rolls during the start of gameplay. RP Sample: Your prompt starts with your character waking up and ends when the mirror-portal sucks them in.

Applications: Player Character Status Classic Gamer Ric Coswell WIP Kanly Adam Balkcom Complete Krossingkhory Elizabeth "Lizette" Sandland WIP Whovian Robert "Scout" Miller Withdrawn Tacobob Emili Faythe Complete Nivek Nathan (Nate) Complete DrewW Perla Zambrano Complete O2CXt3 Veronica 'Vee' Sinclair Complete LlaApendici Attentive ?? Amarga Mik Tsotsarov Complete One Darkness Tom Harker Complete

[Classic Gamer]

Twice the sugar with half the crunch? My sweet tooth is intrigued.

Application: Name: Ric Coswell Gender: Male Concept: Rocker Type, Bard Bound Appearance: Ric has long dark hair and dresses in typical bar band fashion. He has a small dark beard and piercing blue eyes. His favorite expression is a sardonic smile. Personality: Mellow, but passionate Backstory: Life was a series of break ups for Ric. His girlfriend Sophia two weeks ago. His band Wednesday. His college work study/financial aid yesterday. Who knew what today would bring? RP Sample: Your prompt starts with your character waking up and ends when the mirror-portal sucks them in.

[Red Leper]

I guess I should give a bit more context. You'll be the equivalent of level one characters, pretty much. Real life doesn't give much adventure, lack of experience points, for sure.

I would like normal people who would be wanting to return to normal, at first, at least. The end game is defeating the BBEG and returning home. Characters develop, of course.

[Red Leper]

I'm hoping this is just the weekend lull and not that I scared everyone off with possibly unrealistic character requirements.

[kanly]

Name: Adam Balkcom
Gender: Male
Concept: Burned out medical intern
Skills: Investigation, Medicine
Appearance: Adam is naturally a tall, thin man, though the stress and lack of sleep from his work have caused him to drop another 15-20 pounds that he couldn't really afford to loose. He has the sunken eyed, half lidded expression of someone who is severely sleep deprived, and his pale blue eyes are habitually bloodshot. He keeps his hair fairly short, though his naturally auburn locks often look closer to a muddy brown hue and he has a near constant case of 5'oclock shadow since things like shaving or regular bathing only really happen to other people. He can't remember the last time he was dressed in anything other than scrubs.
Personality: Adam is an energetic go-getter who is sharp as a tack. His greatest desire is to help people as he was once helped. Or at least that is who he was before the grinding pressure of 36 hour shifts and 80 hour work weeks. Now days, he is lucky if he has any personality at all, unless "NEED COFFEE" counted as one.
Backstory: Adam was diagnosed with Acute lymphocytic leukemia when he was 8. Thankfully it was still in the early stages when it was caught, and so he was able to make a full recovery. He idolized his doctor as a miracle worker and vowed to follow in his footsteps when he grew up. Fast forward 20 years, and Adam is thinking that maybe he made a mistake. College and med school were hard enough, but this residency was totally insane. Crazy hours, intense competition with his fellow residents and inhumane treatment by the doctors that he was working under were just the highpoints. There was also the complete lack of a social life and paying rent on an apartment that he didn't even get to use for anything more than a mail drop and sometimes changing room. He was getting close to a breaking point and he knew it.
RP Sample: Adam started awake, and stumbled back from where he had been standing/slouching, completely disoriented. Looking around himself, he saw a bland breakroom with off white linoleum, a half dozen reasonably clean tables with matching stackable chairs and an industrial coffee vending machine. Somehow, he had managed to fall asleep while leaning up on it despite the noise of its grinding beans and burbling water flowing through it to deliver his dull beige elixir of life. Extra sugar to feed him enough calories to stay alive, extra cream to try and avoid bloody ulcers in his stomach lining and all the caffeine he could get to keep him awake for just a few more hours. He was on hour 29 of his most recent 36 hour and so the end was in sight, but in many ways, that was what made it the hardest part of the shift. Sit down, or let your mind wander for too long and, boom, you were asleep. Exactly like what had just happened to him. The warmth and rhythmatic buzz of the coffee machine had simply been too much for him.

[krossingkhory]

Name: Elizabeth "Lizette" Sandland
Gender: Female...but she'll respond to almost anything. Liz, Beth, Liza, her, she, dudette, chiquita-banana, etc. As long as it isn't derogatory, she'll respond.
Concept: Lizette is two halves of one weird coin. She's a hardcore skateboarder, and she's really talented (although she hasn't gotten her "big break" that she thinks is just around the corner). On the other side, she's a really smart engineering student...but, like Peter Parker in the Sam Raimi universe, rather lazy. She could easily graduate college at least a year early, but she doesn't put the effort into her studies. She'd rather take a day off - like, EVERY day - and just skate around the city. Get a coffee here, jump those stairs there, sit and watch the clouds over there.

Appearance: Mid 20s and thin. Like, rail thin. But wiry, thanks to the constant skating; it takes muscles and coordination to stay upright, let alone pull off ollies and grinds. She's got long brownish hair, straight, that she keeps out of her eyes with the help of a skull cap/ski hat. She likes to wear flannel shirts, unbuttoned, over other t-shirts that generally have some odd skateboarding saying on them. She tops her outfits off with not-too-baggy jeans, rolled up cuffs at the ankles, and some old-school-looking Reebok high-top shoes.

Most of the time she can be seen with a messenger bag thrown over one shoulder, books stuff into it haphazardly (remember, she's lazy, and doesn't care if the books get destroyed). Most of the books have to do with studies of some kind, mostly math and engineering, but one thing she is never without is a notebook crammed with scribblings and ideas for tricks she wants to pull off. In the center of that notebook are plans for a skate arena she wants to build in her backyard, which shows the engineering prowess she could have if she applied herself.

Personality: She's a typical skateboarder, through and through, from always being on a board to the "I don't care about nothing" attitude she carries around with her. She could really be something special, either in her studies or on a board, if she would only apply herself. As mentioned previously, she'd rather just take the day off and skate around.

She isn't harsh or sad or angry about anything. Rather the opposite; she is perpetually happy, always smiling and trying to be in a good mood. Even when someone brings up how she could be better than she is she simply replies "Well, I'm pretty good the way I am now". Nothing bothers her; she believes that everything will play out the way it's supposed to, so she focuses on what she can control...and she'll tell you that what she can control ain't much.

Backstory: WIP
RP Sample: WIP

[Whovian]

Blurb Oh... how *exciting*. You had my interest at Tomb of Annihilation. I've read the first couple pages, and wanted to run the campaign for ages now. I've also desired to actually play in the campaign for some time now as well. However, with the inclusion of the "isekai" concept... well now you've got my attention friend!

Character Application: Name: Robert "Scout" Miller Gender: Male (He/Him) Concept: Adventurous hiker with a side of survivalist. Self-promoting "health nut" YouTube personality type. Appearance: Scout is arguably a very handsome man who has periods of getting or letting himself "get dirty". His skin, hair, eyes, are all various shades of browns. Tanned, well-kept (when possible), and fit... he exudes an air of ruggedness mixed with a smile that promotes kindness and compassion, hidden behind hardset eyes that belies a point of forbearance, within reason. Personality: WIP Backstory: WIP RP Sample: WIP

[/FIELDSET]

[Tacobob]

Name: Emili Faythe

Gender: Female

Concept: Overworked student and fast food employee.

Appearance: Red haired girl with white colored bangs. This is not her natural hair color. At the start of the game, she is wearing her uniform. 100% polyester. These might have been baseball uniforms at one time. She tends to smell like French fry grease.

Personality: Emili spends her time between employment at a local fast food restaurant, and a local community college. Two years of mediocre teachers and working at fast food has made her a little cranky. She usually likes to make herself feel a little better by telling jokes to her fellow wage slaves. Sometimes her jokes are about her customers or her boss. She is also very sensitive about her height and build. She stands barely over five feet tall and has a somewhat petite build.

Skills: Emili has a sense of humor. It can be a little dry sometimes and she may offend someone more than she had planned, but her sense of humor could help deescalate a situation or issue. This also could help anger a foe so hard that he or she may make an error that they would not have done before. While she does not consider herself an athlete, she is rather agile. She had (started) classes in parkour, dance and gymnastics. She had never finished any of these classes, but she still learned a little from each of the classes. (Humor & Agility)

Backstory: Emili had it all. Rich parents, a great house, super-cool friends, and then her father decided his little 'princess' would get a job. While he spent his life enjoying the fruits of his father's labor, his little “E-E” would have to pull herself up by her own boot strings and make something of herself! She would work at the local fast food restaurant when she was not attending the community college that was conveniently right next door. This was so convenient, that she did not need to bother getting a new car after gradating from high school like all of her friends did, she could just take the bus! Both places were located at the "World Famous Shellaberger City Shopping Centre". The depressing shopping area also had three check cashing places, one tattoo parlor, a long abandoned "Toy City!" and a poor man's "Chucky Cheese" called "Crunchy Bob's". While she had dreams of just moving on and leaving her hometown, she still loves her parents and has a theory that her father is testing her. Once she finished school, he would reward her with everything she ever dreamed off. She just needs to be patient.

RP Sample: Emili slowly opened her eyes and looked into the cold, dead eyes of the “Jolly Dumple”, the 'beloved' mascot of “Dumble's Diner”. She had no idea what a “Dumble” was, nor what he was supposed to be. She knew the costume was made of 100% polymascot foamalate and during the times she had been forced to wear it outside, she nearly passed out at least two times! The costume was never cleaned, and it smelled like hot dog water! Which was odd as the 'Dumple' did not sell hot dogs. Thankfully, she was not going to be *running around or 'anticking', as she was about to head off class. Her manager, Tracy was nice enough to let her take a quick nap in the break room. She had more than enough time to rush off to class! She grabbed her backpack and pushed open the backdoor, where she was greeted by a strange light...

[Nivek]

Name: Nathan (Nate)

Gender: Male

Concept: Young mechanical engineer who is fascinated by the world around him



Appearance: Would have been fresh out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his waste when the mirror engulfed him. Not enough time to comb the hair, toothbrush indeed still hanging out of his mouth. First order of business would be to get some clothes .. maybe something brightly colored since that seems to be the theme around here.

Personality: Nathan loves science and engineering, and gets along well with others but can have a dry sense of humor that not all people get. He's recently married with a kid (daughter) on the way, and is motivated to get back to Earth as much for his upcoming addition as much as to keep his wife from getting angry at him.

Skills:
Soldering - worked on electronics growing up
Mechanical engineering - has an affinity for tech and machines. In a fantasy world, this may translate to an ability with magical equipment, akin to an Artificer, but that remains to be seen.

Backstory: Fresh out of college and just a few months into his first real job, he feels a bit of hazing from his coworkers in being given the work no one wants. This he doesn't mind so much because he loves understanding how things work, and reviewing equipment allows him to see how others have put things together.

In his teenage years he tinkered with stuff his late father (who was an electrician) had left around the house, as well as anything he could order off Amazon with money he could bum off his mother. He once attached an adapted laser to the front of his car to pop the tires of people who cut in front of him. This worked better than expected, but he figured he'd get someone killed if he took it too far.

RP Sample: "It's hard to wake up .. when the shades have been pulled shut!"

Nate grabbed his phone and slid the alarm icon to the right, making certain, as always, not to move it to snooze. Still a bit blurry eyed, he set his phone down on the maroon-colored stand his wife had picked out for their bedroom. He rubbed the bridge of his nose with his right hand, then looked over at his wife.

His wife, Kristen, hadn't even stirred. Still snoozing away, and looking beautiful despite not having makeup on, she brought a smile to Nate's face as he considered how rapidly she had adapted to his alarm and early schedule. Then again, she was probably up late last night eating ice cream or some other random food item. Maybe she was just exhausted.

Nate resisted the urge to place his palm on the growing belly of the sleeping mother. Women hated that, he had always been told, and Kristen would probably wake up and then look less "pretty", and more "angry". Instead, he slid out of bed, straightened the blankets on his side of the bed as best as he could without disturbing his wife, then headed to the shower.

Work would come early today. Nate tried hard not to think about the projects on today's list while he went through the regular motions needed to stave off body odor. It helped that he had just woken up, and his brain was still booting, but soon enough he began thinking about what was causing the issue with the ice cream machines at the local Farr's factory. These were the ones his boss had designed, and the technicians were having a hard time making heads or tails of why they kept shutting down randomly.

Nate didn't much like the cold. Even now he was running the shower hotter than his wife could stand. The ice cream factory kept their whole warehouse at 20 below, and today he would probably have to go there and put on those massive coats they had their warehouse workers wear. Not something he was looking forward to.

Nate exited the shower, grabbed for the light green towel and began drying himself. He used the towel to wipe off the fogged up mirror (something his wife hated him doing since it was not "clean"), and began pushing his hands through his hair in an attempt to shape it. "Not bad looking, if I do say so myself," he commented to no one in particular.

He grabbed for his toothbrush, rinsed, applied mint flavored Sensodyne to avoid canker sores, and began to meticulously brush. Left to right, he thought, to make sure he didn't miss anything.

Then it happened. Despite looking straight at it, his eye didn't catch hold of the small black dot on the mirror initially. He did a double take, reached out his finger to scrape at the spot, as if something had gotten on the mirror that just needed a good finger wipe.

Not only did the dot not go away, but was growing before his eyes. When he'd rubbed his finger over it, he'd felt the slightest indentation. What the heck?

Nate backed up a bit, toothbrush hanging from his mouth as he squinted, then rubbed his eyes again with his free hand to make sure he hadn't passed out in front of the mirror.

The dot wasn't a perfect circle; that he noticed immediately. Despite being mostly circular, it had uneven ridges around it as it grew, more like an ink blot than anything. Now nearly 3 inches wide and growing rapidly, Nate noticed within it stars. It reminded him of a movie he had watched with his dad years earlier, though for the life of him he couldn't remember the title of that movie now.

He briefly considered being afraid, but instead a movie line entered his mind unbidden: "My God. It's full of stars."

Then, suddenly, he wasn't in his bathroom anymore.

[DrewW]

Name: Perla Zambrano

Gender: Female

Concept: Perla Zambrano is the embodiment of resilience and quiet strength. She’s a woman who’s learned to navigate life’s obstacles with a smile, even if it sometimes feels like that smile is more for others than herself. Perla has a warm, grounded presence, the type of person who’s always prepared with a kind word or a knowing glance. Yet, beneath her calm exterior, she’s a keen observer of the world, noticing the little details that others often miss. There’s a sense of untapped potential within her — a feeling that she’s meant for something more, even if she’s not quite sure what that is.

Appearance: Perla is of average height, around 5'5", with a curvy, yet fit build from years of walking her postal route. She has warm, caramel-colored skin that glows with health, even under the artificial lights of her workplace. Her dark, wavy hair falls to just above her waist and is usually tied back in a loose ponytail when she is at work. She has deep brown eyes that seem to see more than they let on, framed by long lashes and subtly arched brows. Perla favors simple, practical clothing — jeans, comfortable shoes, and t-shirts — often in muted tones, but she always accessorizes with a splash of color, like a bright scarf or earrings that hint at her vibrant personality. Today, though, she's stuck in her white pajamas.

Personality: Perla is a blend of patience, empathy, and quiet determination. She’s the kind of person who listens more than she talks, absorbing everything around her and making mental notes. She’s good with people, able to persuade even the grumpiest of customers at the post office with her natural charm and calm demeanor. Though she tends to keep her own problems to herself, Perla is always ready to help others, often putting their needs above her own. She’s fiercely loyal to those she cares about and has a soft spot for children and animals. Perla’s sense of humor is dry and understated, often catching people off guard with her quick wit.

Backstory: Perla grew up in a tight-knit Latino community in a small town in Texas, the daughter of hardworking immigrants who instilled in her a strong work ethic and a deep sense of family. From a young age, she was the peacemaker in her family, always the one to diffuse tension with a well-placed joke or a comforting word. She excelled in school, particularly in subjects that required observation and analysis, like history and literature. After high school, Perla stayed close to home, working a series of jobs before landing at the United States Postal Service, where she’s been for the past eight years. Her job as a postal clerk has honed her attention to detail and her ability to read people, both skills that have served her well in navigating the sometimes tricky waters of customer service. Though she enjoys her work, Perla often wonders if there’s more to life than the daily grind, a thought she usually brushes aside with a shrug and a smile.

Skills: Perception / Persuasion

RP Sample: The blare of her alarm cut through the haze of sleep, and Perla groaned, pulling the covers over her head. Just five more minutes. But the sun was insistent, streaming through the thin curtains and casting a warm glow over her modest bedroom. With a sigh, she pushed herself up, the worn springs of the mattress creaking in protest. Another Monday.

She shuffled to the bathroom, her bare feet cold against the linoleum. The mirror was foggy from the humidity of the morning, and she wiped it clean with the edge of her towel, catching sight of her reflection. Dark circles under her eyes, hair in disarray—nothing a good cup of coffee couldn’t fix. She reached for her toothbrush, absently scrubbing as her mind wandered to the day ahead: packages to sort, grumpy regulars to placate, another day like all the rest.

As she rinsed her mouth, a tiny, almost imperceptible light caught her eye. She frowned, leaning closer to the mirror. Was it her phone? No, the light was coming from the mirror itself, a single, pinprick of brightness that seemed out of place. She blinked, trying to clear the fog from her brain, but the light only grew, spreading across the mirror’s surface in a slow, deliberate creep.

“What the…?” Perla muttered, her toothbrush hanging forgotten from her hand.

The light expanded, filling the mirror with a swirling galaxy of stars, vivid and impossible. She felt a strange pull in her chest, as if the mirror was calling to her, drawing her in. Before she could react, her body went rigid, a tingling sensation running down her spine. The next moment, the world tilted, and she was pulled through the mirror, the bathroom, and the morning sun vanishing in an instant.

All that was left was the echo of her startled gasp, hanging in the now-empty room.

[Red Leper]

In an effort to breath a little more life into this thread and thus the game itself I think I could explain a bit more and maybe get a little more info from you guys.

If you could each give me two skills your character might have, things that they excel at, it can be kinda general but the more specific, the higher the bonus you will get. With this concept in mind, the harder a skill is to apply to a situation, the more of a bonus you get.

Now, as you play the game, you'll be able to learn skills through success and failure, learning how to use a sword, for example, effectively through 'This is how it cuts' or 'that's not how that works.'

Let me know when you have updated or completed your apps.

[Hotshot lasgun]

would you allow someone just out of basic? good control, discipline but ready to be forged into a warrior? basically hot metal ready to be quenched in water

[Tacobob]

I have added the skills and also a little bit more to her sheet. It can be considered 'finished' but I may add more when I can.

[Nivek]

Skills added to Nathan, derived from existing backstory. Thanks.

[Tarus]

Tentatively interested if there is still space in this one?