Echelon
Welcome to the world of Echelon! A world where heroes, magic, and monsters not only exist, but thrive. Perhaps you'll be able to be a hero with a troubled past or a mage from a far away land? No. You, my players, are monsters. More specifically you're the weakest of the weak monsters when you begin your journey to become the strongest.
Bestiary
The guide to the creatures that the players have met as well as their skills. More will be filled in when creatures are met/discovered. Eating them gives the summary and absorbing their abilities or learning them through a specific skill adds them to the Bestiary.
Humanoid Monsters
1. Goblin - A typically stupid, easy going monster. They can become quite fierce when faced with an enemy or a difficult situation. With a high growth rate, it only takes 3 days for a newborn Goblin to be standard size and able to be self-sufficient. Goblins have a lifespan of about 20 years and a low conception rate. This is why it is common practice to capture human females (or men in some cases) for reproduction purposes. All Goblins must hunt for their own food, or they may follow someone they deem worthy to be their leader. Male Goblins are bald while female Goblins normally have short hair. Natural Skills
2. Orc - Very large, pig faced monster. Orcs tend to be unintelligent and focus most of their energy lazing around and eating. Their strongest asset is their smell. It causes most predatory creatures to keep their distance. They taste like high quality pork. Natural Skills
3. Imp - Incredibly small humanoid monsters. Imps are natural scavengers and always show up in droves. While they can hunt by themselves, it's easier to simply steal the prey of other species. They tend to have annoying personalities and often are considered the most hated race of monster in the wilderness. Natural Skills Predatory Creatures 1. Night Viper - This snake is a very venomous creature. It's main prey are smaller creatures like lizards and mice. They are very territorial and tend to live in small packs. It's common for them to attack, even when not threatened. Simply walking by one's burrow is enough to make these creatures strike. Natural Skills
2. Spiked Wolf - These wolves are actually solitary creatures for most of their lives. They stay separate until the time to breed comes. At this time they form packs with a single alpha male. Weaker males are killed or exiled from the pack. These creatures are known for the spikes on their backs. Natural Skills
3. Black Griffin - These creatures are rather deadly and live in the mountainous regions of the world. They patrol the skies near their nests for potential prey. Because of the cold regions that they live in, they adapted to be able to breathe fire. This could be because they need to heat their eggs and also they commonly heat stones or rocks then use those to rest upon. Natural Skills 4. Oasis Turtle - A turtle that grows throughout it's entire life. These creatures rarely leave their territory, but do when it is mating season. They leave to find other Oasis turtles to breed with. As an ambush predator they stay at the bottom of lakes and wait for unsuspecting prey to wander by. Natural Skills 5. Mountain Ape - One of the apex predators of any mountainous region. They found a way to eat rocks, which makes their large backs grow exponentially. Each Mountain Ape needs a large amount of nourishment and as such eats trees and creatures alike. Steer clear of these beasts as they will not hesitate to pick up a free meal. Natural Skills Creatures of Prey 1. Horned Rabbit - This small creature is docile in nature, but it will defend itself. They come in both small and medium sizes, with the medium size being twice the size of the younger rabbits. Their horns are very sharp and have incredible piercing and thrusting power. Natural Skills
2. Armored Tanuki - A small raccoon-like creature. They have a hard shell on their back strong enough to withstand a Horned Rabbit's horn. Rarely do they leave their shelter. Natural Skills
3. Winged Frog - Its massive size (similar to that of a Horned Rabbit) and small wingspan serves to deceive predators. Winged Frogs can reach great heights via the use of their powerful legs and are able to leap from one tree to another due to their lightweight frame and skillful control of their entire body. Natural Skills
4. Rock Porcupine - This small critter is close to the bottom of the food chain in mountainous areas. It's preyed upon rather easily by almost every creature. They reproduce quickly and create dens under small rock formations to keep out of view from predators. Natural Skills Rare Monsters 1. Black River Panther - ??? Natural Skills
Rank Up System
Levels - A rough gauge for the strength of an individual of that race or job. Level is increased by learning new skills, defeating stronger enemies, or even simple tasks like creating or disassembling tools. The fastest and most sure method to leveling up is defeating enemies who are more powerful than you or at your appropriate level. Every monster knows his or her own level, but cannot gauge an enemy's level immediately without a proper skill. This is important for those who wish to keep their level hidden. The max level is 100 for an individual species which, upon being reached, allows for them to "Rank Up" into another strong species.
Rank Up/Evolving - Monsters like Goblins, Imps, Orcs, etc, etc. all have the option of advancing into a new species. The species being evolved into depends on the criteria that an individual meets and certain evolutions are only available if certain requirements are met. Upon Ranking Up it is common for monsters to gain access to powerful abilities they previously hadn't been able to use. This is especially true for Variants or specialist evolutions.
Common Examples
- Level 100 Goblin ---> Level 1 Hobgoblin
- Level 100 Imp ---> Level 1 Demon
Uncommon Examples
- Level 100 Goblin ---> Level 1 Hobgoblin Variant
- Level 100 Imp ---> Level 1 Demon Variant
In the case of these uncommon examples, the Goblin had the talents for Magecraft and Strength along with the skills "Swift Swimming" and "Extreme Lung Capacity". This caused the Goblin to evolve into a Hobgoblin Variant with blue skin and the "Water Magic" talent. This may or may not lead to this Hobgoblin to evolve into the race "Half-Spell Lord Variant" with a more specialized aptitude in Water Magic.
While Variants tend to be rarer and more powerful, becoming a regular Hobgoblin would not hinder one's growth. Some could say that not choosing a specialization may even make one more powerful in the long run because they would have more choices for their Rank Up as they level up. It is also important to note that some species do not have the ability to continue evolving. These species tend to make the monster more closely related to humans and instead gain the ability to make use of the "Job System". This is a system that only humans use and is considered inferior when it comes to overall potential, but many believe it to be stronger when in the hands of an evolved monster. The Job System will be explained when the information is come across in the RP or if someone decides to take this route and has reached their maximum evolution.
Skills System
Skills - These are abilities or passive abilities that you as an individual have access to. These can be both learned and taken through the monster skill Absorption. There are an almost infinite amount of skills that can be learned, and many can only be gained through the use of other methods such as evolving. Skills come in four types. Utility, Offensive, Defensive, and Unique.
Utility skills are abilities that help an individual through a variety of different uses and are normally the most flexible with their uses, especially when it comes to out of combat. Things like venom, spider webs, and a high lung capacity are examples of utility skills. More often than not utility skills are species specific skills that require the Absorption ability to learn. Most passive abilities are utility skills.
Offensive skills are ones that are almost entirely destructive or used for combat. Abilities such as fire magic, weaponry skills, and a large amount of stealth abilities fall under this category. These skills are mostly learned by the monsters that prefer combat over all else as a form of leveling up.
Defensive skills make it easier to survive most situations. Toughened skin, shield tactics, and an infinite amount of survival skills end up here. There are a few exceptions to this rule though. Abilities like "Escape" and "Grow Armored Scales" fall under utility.
Finally, Unique skills are specific skills to individuals. These are mostly abilities gained through Ranking Up or by meeting specific criteria. It is almost impossible to predict when or how someone will receive a unique skill, or if they'll ever even get one. Mystery shrouds this topic and even now many do not know how to acquire these.
Skill Ranks - When a certain skill becomes powerful enough or mastered enough, it has the possibility of becoming the next letter rank. This scale goes from the lowest, E-Rank, up to the highest, S-Rank. Most monsters never reach S-Rank in any skill as they normally don't evolve far enough for their body to use it. Thus, S-Rank in anything is almost unheard of. It would be considered in a territory that could easily wipe out an entire city. Rumors exist that higher ranks are possible, but that would be Godhood territory. The only ability to not have a rank is Absorption.
Absorption - Taking skills from other creatures through devouring them is common practice in this world for monster. It may sound simple, but it is a very selective process. Since only 6 skills can be taken per Rank Up it's important to watch what you take. The average Goblin will simply take whatever skills they can get as soon as possible, but the more successful ones tend to wait on it. While the ones who wait on which skills to take are normally the successful ones, there is an equal amount who are unsuccessful and simply die because they didn't have any skills to use for the situation at hand. While the ones who just take whatever skills they can get their hands on don't get very powerful, at least they can survive some situations.
When a creature is devoured a series of options is available. They will have the choice of which abilities to steal for themselves, but they won't know what they are. This is why the ability to foresee and predict abilities is important. All abilities that are stolen begin as E-Rank.
Common Examples
1. Goblin Sei eats a Horned Rabbit. She decides to absorb an ability. The Horned Rabbit had the following abilities...
- [???] - Utility Skill
Goblin Sei gains the ability... Escape.
2. Goblin Sei eats an Armored Dog. She decides to absorb an ability. The Armored Dog had the following abilities...
- [???] - Defensive Skill
- [???] - Offensive Skill
Goblin Sei gains the ability... Intimidation.
Uncommon Examples
1. Goblin Sei eats a Horned Rabbit Variant. She decides to absorb an ability. The Horned Rabbit Variant has the following abilities...
- [Escape] - The ability to flee and get to a safe location much more efficiently. D-Rank
- [???] - Offensive Skill
Because Sei already absorbed and learned what ability Escape was, she'll always know which creatures have it after eating them. This Horned Rabbit is rarer than normal though so she wants to take its other ability.
Goblin Sei gains the ability... Camouflage.
Tribal Hierarchy
To be decided...