"If you do not descend into the depths you will never find the truth. Nor will you find the treasures within..." (Some explorer maybe idk Ofiuco made it up)
"Rise and shine. A new day of adventure awaits." Every piece of technology in the city that could broadcast sound and / or images whirred to life at exactly midnight, surely awakening any "early to bed, early to risers" long before they wanted to wake up. The voice was familiar in its monotone, but it didn't carry the robotic hollowness that it once had. That was because it was the voice of Ofiuco, who had recently undergone some changes to become one of the Stars herself.
She waited a minute before proceeding, giving the watchers and listeners ample time to wake up first. "I apologize for waking you, but as it seems to be the standard of the Stars to make these announcements at this unpleasant hour, I am expected to do the same. I take no joy from having to do so..."
For those watching on a screen, the android holding her hand out to the side with her palm flat could be seen, upon which a screenshot seemed to rest. A screenshot that was undeniably of the hole in the city's centre, but something was different. It was lit up! "As you can see, an anomaly has opened in the city's centre. I have deployed my remote version to investigate, but to no avail. A lift has been set up to take you down to the bottom."
The images that floated above her hand changes as she described different things. It lingered on an image of the older version of Ofiuco hastily putting a lift together though, before the image changed to one of a large, glowing gate at the bottom of a huge pit. The bottom of the hole that no one was allowed to see.
"I am unable to send my remote body through that gate. And as my scans have confirmed, the world on the other side of that gate is unstable. Uncharted. Every time someone enters it, its design and layout are different. We need you to do the charting for us. I understand that we're... I'm asking a lot, but you will be rewarded for your efforts. Please." The broadcast ended, but something didn't feel quite right.
Why did Ofiuco seem so concerned?
Welcome to our newest event, DOWN YOU GO! Inspired by dungeon crawler and roguelike games, it will have your character (either by themselves or with a party) exploring a variety of environment in pursuit of answers and treasures. But mostly treasures. Here are all of the features of this event:
four unique biomes to explore
each biome has its own mechanics and circumstances
a random buff / debuff system
a grand prize to be received at random once you've reached a certain word count with your event threads
abilities unlocked while within a biome, though difficulty scales accordingly
Each biome is unique and features different gimmicks, enemies, and a different challenge to overcome. Outside of the descriptions provided below, you have complete control over how the biome's size and how it looks, as well what is inside of it (such as things like poisonous swamps or lava pools). The challenged you encounter and how you overcome them are also up to you!
FANTASY
A biome inspired by fantasy. A series of caverns and open forest clearings that are rife for exploring. You are liable to find standard fantasy fare here in terms of monsters, so everything from goblins to dragons is on the table. This is also the biome most populated with monsters in general, and will be the most combat focused. The stronger the characters that enter this biome are, the more dangerous and ravenous the monsters will be, and they will not be so easily killed even by overpowered abilities.
SPACE
A biome inspired by space horror. The setting is an abandoned space station deep in the depths of the void. You must navigate the halls of the space station while being pursued by a murderous alien creature that will not stop until your whole party is dead, while navigating the risks of using abilities in a place where destroying one window could kill everyone. Feel free to customize the alien however you'd like provided it isn't just a licensed alien from an existing property! Just make sure it's a suitable challenge, because the alien cannot be killed. It will pursue you until you reach the control room where the treasure can be found.
SEA
A biome inspired by pirates and ocean-related myths. Completely submerged within the depths of the ocean, this biome's gimmick is that your character has been adapted into a new form to thrive. They have become a merfolk, obtaining fish traits to help them move about the dark, underwater caves. They are rife with undersea monsters that can take advantage of their speed and experience vs your character who is still adjusting to their new underwater abilities. You're free to customize your character however so that they can function underwater!
JUNGLE
A biome inspired by old adventure movies. While monsters are scarce, the caves and open jungle are plagued with numerous traps that seek to immobilize your character, if not kill them outright. It's also extremely hot and humid. For the sake of fairness, any mobility related abilities will be disabled in this biome, as well as any that provide invulnerability. Be as inventive as you want with the traps! Now is your chance to be chased by a giant boulder!
Every character will be returned their abilities and weapons for the event while within a biome, but remember difficulty should be scaled according to how powerful the characters exploring are so that characters cannot steamroll it. While most of them are caves and tunnels, they're still extremely spacious for fights, barring the space station considering its unique threat. The corridors there are much tighter.
For characters that have no powers, the Fantasia system will be active and they can access their Fantasia forms while within the biomes. For those of you who weren't around during the Fantasia War event, you can still make a form for your character! You just need to pick one of the races from this post, and your character can then use any of these spells!
Within each biome a series of chests can be found (aesthetically reflecting the biome's theme). When opened, this chest provides a buff or debuff to the entire party. We've put together a wheel here where you can roll for what that buff or debuff might affect them. Of course this isn't something we can control, so if you just want to pick one for narrative purposes that's also fine! We just wanted to include the option. The list of buffs / debuffs you can receive can be found below:
ATK + / ATK-
An increase or decrease to the strength of all of the characters.
SPD+ / SPD-
An increase or decrease to the speed of all of the characters.
INVINCIBILITY
All characters are invincible to damage and knockback for five minutes.
HEAL ALL
All characters in the party have their health restored to full.
POISONOUS FOG
A poisonous fog amasses within the biome that slowly drains the health of all party members and obscures the surroundings. Can be cleansed with the right abilities.
GRAVITY+ / GRAVITY-
Gravity increases or decreases slightly, altering the ease of movement. (If in the sea biome, reroll)
FORTITUDE
Every party member is shrouded with a barrier that can negate all damage from the next attack received.
DIVINE INTERVENTION
Revives a fallen party member with the group. (If no one is fallen, reroll)
WELL RESTED
Everyone's energy levels are restored. It's easier to forge ahead!
OFIUCLONE SWARM
Summons a swarm of ten Ofiuclones during your next enemy encounter to aid in battle.
TRANSMOGRIFICATION
Everyone in the party is changed into a random animal for ten minutes.
GOOD VIBES
During the next enemy encounter, everyone's overall stats are increased. You feel like you can take on anything!
You're only required to make a single event post or drabble to be eligible for event participation, but we are also offering a grand prize to everyone who reaches 1000 words* across all of their event threads. This prize is random, and for each person that reaches this point we will be spinning a prize wheel to determine what you receive! Every character can only receive this prize once, but if you do not like your initial prize you get one reroll. You can also exchange your prize in for a Star amount equivalent to its retail price and put the money towards an item or items you do want!
The included prizes are as follows, all taken from our Galaxy marketplace:
*You do not need 1000 words before the event ends. So long as the threads are started before the event period concludes, you can cash in for this prize whenever you hit that milestone. In the case that a thread partner drops in the meantime, you can continue the thread in a new thread or drabble with that person separated provided you link back to the original in the first post. We will not be awarding prizes until the event period has ended.
WHAT HAPPENS IF A CHARACTER DIES WITHIN THE BIOME?
Accidents happen! Your character will simply respawn at the beginning and will be able to catch up with the others by trekking through the explored areas already. This may be more difficult in some biomes than others.
HOW ARE ENEMIES BALANCED WHEN CHARACTERS OF VARYING POWERS ARE IN THE SAME PARTY?
Every group of enemies will have at least one foe that is equivalent in strength to your strongest member and will aggro to them. Unless your weaker members aggro the monster themselves, in which case? Good luck! If your strongest character has abilities that are considered "gamebreaking" like the ability to alter reality and so forth, this enemy will be immune to those abilities.
WHAT ABOUT THE ALIEN MONSTER IN THE SPACE BIOME?
It cannot be hurt or killed even by your strongest party member. Run!
CAN WE USE A FANTASIA FORM IF OUR CHARACTER HAS ABILITIES OF THEIR OWN?
In the case that those abilities would not help them in a combat situation, then yes!
ARE OUR CHARACTERS ALLOWED TO CHANGE THEIR FANTASIA FORMS?
Sure thing! That information is stored in the Intraverse, so they could go in and change in whenever they like so long as it remains within the limitations of the Fantasia System.
CAN WE USE ABILITIES THAT WOULD "CHEAT" THE SYSTEM? LIKE BEING ABLE TO JUST TELEPORT TO THE END?
Abilities that would otherwise break the spirit of the event are disabled even if your character has everything unlocked otherwise for the sake of fairness.
DO WE NEED TO RANDOMIZE THE BUFFS / DEBUFFS FROM THE CHESTS?
As mentioned, you don't need to, but we hope you will as a fun mechanic! It isn't like there's a way for us to check if you actually did it randomly, and your threads are your own.
DO WE NEED TO CLAIM THE PRIZE TO GET PARTICIPATION?
Nope! That prize is just a little something extra if you choose to shoot for it. Participation requirements are normal. And remember, you don't need to claim the prize by the event's end. You can finish it whenever so long as the thread is started before the event concludes at the end of the day on February 10th.
