Shardworld: Game within the Dataverse

[Amaterasu]

Here's a couple more ideas for Raids I might also open the Shardworld up for Beta testing, if you're interested you can subscribe to the shardworld thread in the messageboards: <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://omniverse-rpg.com/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=4389">viewtopic.php?f=39&t=4389</a><!-- l --> I will announce it there when I open it up.

Off the Island! (Raid, 1-5 chars)
[spoiler]This is a "tutorial" raid which is the last part of the Introduction Island Shard. It primarily teaches the players about group raids and combat, but can also be accessed by people who are already off the Introduction Island Shard so as to avoid people getting stuck in the Introduction Island Shard.
It can be skipped if nobody is to be found, or the difficulty can be reduced so fewer players are able to play through it. Skipping it entirely is not advised of course.

Meant for: 1-5 people.
Difficulty: Easy.

Gameplay: The raid begins in the underground of the island Shard. An Island Master is about to open up a portal to the rest of the game to let players leave when an otherworldly demon uses the portal stones to open up a rift from his homeworld. Ignoring the party he laughs and teleports away. The Island Master identifies that demon as a Lesser Chaos demon, which likely intends to cut the influx of heroes from the Introduction Shard by eliminating the Island Masters who teach people about the game. As the demon's presence keeps the rift open and the Island Master is only able to keep it from letting more demons in, but not fully close it, he tasks the adventurer(s) with slaying the demon so that they can leave.

The players must then backtrack their steps through the island. A number of cannon-fodder demons have been spawned by the Lesser Chaos demon which are fighting the Island Masters, although they are holding their own very well as they are all seasoned adventurers themselves. There are three encounters with minor bosses which happen to be linked to the skill whose skill area they are fighting in. For instance, the Fishing Teacher is fighting an octopus-style demon that is in the training pond and must first be forced out of the water with a fishing rod before it can be damaged, and the Mining boss would be a demon which is using the ore rocks from the Mining Area as armor - which can be mined off. The players can choose any three skills that they want to fight the bosses for.

(Placeholder: I'll add a list of bosses once I have all the skills figured out)

At the end near the starting area lies the Lesser Chaos demon who has defeated and knocked out the Island Master that welcomes players to the Shardworld. Before being able to deliver the death blow the players arrive and interrupt him, upon which the demon attacks them. This is not a hard bossfight: the Lesser Chaos demon uses melee against close opponents and ranged missile bolts against others. He may hop around the battlefield to switch targets on the fly, and periodically affirms how resisting him is futile. His strongest attack is Chaos Cloud, which he rarely uses: he releases a large amount of a black fog-like substance from his body which coats the battlefield in darkness and teleports everyone except Lesser Chaos demon around at random in intervals of ca. 5 seconds. It is possible to escape the cloud to avoid being teleported, and very much advised so, as after ~1 minute it explodes, dealing moderate damage to everyone caught in it.

When the Lesser Chaos demon is defeated he conjures up a portal with his last strength and escapes, claiming that he will be back. The Island Master can then be woken up: he will congratulate the adventurers for their victory, and allow each of them to pick a skill-book which will teach them about that certain skill, unlocking more advanced recipes. More experience is also awarded in the three skills that the bosses were fought for. The Island Master then teleports the players back to the portal room, where they can leave the Raid and escape the island.[/spoiler]

City in the Clouds (Raid, 3-5 chars)
[spoiler]Sae'Nua, the City in the Clouds, is a city built upon a shard which floats very high above the Central Shard and is stationary. It is mostly independant and the people living there worship no god. It has tech levels similar to the Godless factions, and even has developed magic-powered wings that allow for flight between the island pieces. They are a very peaceful population though.
However, not all is fun and light up there: a group of cultists worshipping some avian deity have assaulted and occupied vast parts of the city with little resistance. If left unchecked, they could take over the entire city and acquire a strategically important point to launch assaults against the central shard from above. This cannot be allowed: they must be stopped.

Meant for: 3-5 people
Difficulty: Hard.

Gameplay: The players are teleported to a military airship from the Godless faction outside of the Sae'Nua shard which is overlooking the city. Because it is nearly impossible to travel between the city islands after the cultists have torn down most bridges, the Godless have replicated the wing tech to allow for long jumps between the islands, but aren't powerful enough to reach the higher levels, for which the adventurers would need original Sae'Nua wings. Their order of business is to get to one of the fortified locations where Sae'Nua citizens are, and obtain proper wings from them. After that the adventurers are able to fly to the upper levels and confront the cultists leaders in a final battle.

Sae'Nua is not only very dangerous because one wrong step or one misplaced jump can spell death by falling off the shard, but it is also filled with cultists in the maze-like lower levels, and powerful high priests in the upper levels where the Sae'Nua nobles reside. The cultists are powerful magic users and will stop at nothing to defeat the adventurers, happily throwing themselves at death to service their god. The high priests on the other hand use highly powerful spells and may even try to knock players off the island with wind spells or breaking off pieces of the ground they are standing on.

There are four bosses to be encountered:

First is the relatively easy Sparrow, a cultist group leader who fights with the assistance of five cultists and hovers above the battlefield while peppering the players with powerful weather-themed spells. He will periodically consume the life essence of his cultists to heal himself. He guards a massive bridge which the players must cross to get to the slums.

Second comes Owl, who oversees the battering rams that are trying to breach the fortified refugee camp where the adventurers will get their Sae'Nua wings. She periodically coats the battlefield in total darkness which requires the adventurers to use light sources to find and battle her, other than that she relies heavily on sneak attacks with her sharp talons to attack unsuspecting foes from behind. She may also periodically swallow a player whole, dealing periodic damage to them and requiring the other players to attack Owl's stomach to force her to regurgitate the player before they can be digested.

Third comes Condor. This boss fights by himself and darts around the battlefield extremely fast, being nearly unhittable most of the time. He will however periodically descend upon one player, slam them against the ground and viciously bite them, healing with each successful hit but also being a stationary target. It is also possible to prevent him from flying around freely by attacking his wings. Although this deals no direct damage it will ground him. Being a very high ranking priest, this boss is not to be taken lightly even on the ground though!

Last are Hawk and Crow - indeed, the cultist group is led by two individuals. They are encountered in the Halls of the King, where they have set up shop and are bringing in the other cultists through portals. Hawk is a white-feathered female who flies in circles over the battlefield and fires down various solar-themed attacks such as beams and blinding flashes, usually scorching the ground and leaving fires everywhere. Crow on the other hand is a black-feathered male who battles with a two-handed sword that is coated in a dark magic which freezes what it comes to contact with. Despite being polar opposites they work very well together, but this is also their downfall: the players can use mirrors such as the polished marble surfaces encountered everywhere in the throne room to reflect Hawk's solar attacks at Crow. When Crow is defeated, Hawk swoops down and coats herself in a mantle of fire, becoming harder to damage and scorching everyone near her. One player must then pick up Crow's black sword and use it to damage Hawk past her fire protection, ultimately defeating her.

At the defeat of Hawk and Crow, an ominous voice tells the two of them that they have failed "him" and tells the adventurers not to get overly confident - "he" will be back. The Sae'Nua King then appears with an escort and greatly thanks the adventurers for defeating the cultists and defending the city. The Godless forces are cleaning up the remains, but it was them who did most of the work. As such, the king awards them with the honorary title of "Sae'Nua Knight", gifts them with a pair of Sae'Nua wings that the adventurer can freely customize with an NPC in Sae'Nua, and complete access to the kingdom of Sae'Nua. (before that only the slums are accessible, wings may not be purchased).[/spoiler]