Description soon...
Reia is an open-source oRPG where four of an Ethereal's, a deity, offspring have a conflict. One of the children is Reia herself. This universe is a world where magic is capable, that includes your standard elements and more. Every Ethereal can create their own realm, what would be the equivalent of a giant planet that continues to grow in size as they consume ether from their surroundings & other realms. Player-owned floating islands, raids of varying sizes (even server-wide raids), Bosses, PvP zones, and custom mini-games!
In this world are the Ethereals. These entities are the equivalent of deities. They create their own realms and govern them according to their unique gifts. When a realm is created, the Ethereal that rules over it can use the energy within the realm to form occupants. These occupants can becomie anything; mindless zombies or being of free will -- including a love or hate for their creator.
A realm can be ruled in several ways at this stage; neutrally, passively, aggressively, and defensively. This determines how fast the realm will grow.
In a neutral realm, the Ethereal keeps their size as is. This prevents them from growing rapidly. But, it's not impossible. The realm can still grow by absorbing pure ether from the void, an area of emptiness between realms.
A passive realm will passively take energy from both the void and neighboring realms. Both of these options are still slow. This still poses some risk. Taking from other realms is considered hostile and can spark wars. Compared to taking ether from the void, siphoning from neighboring realms is much faster but still slow.
An aggressive realm is one that actively attacks other realms. When realms are at war with each other, they can send invasions. Ether can be stole from the realm itself, occupants, and directly from the Ethereal when at war. This can result in killing an Ethereal.
There's an instance where a realm may be under attack by an aggressive realm. This realm can take a defensive stance where any invader can have their occupants taken in as food, absorbing their ether and making the Ethereal's realm stronger.
But there's another way that doesn't involve any conflicts. Instead, it involves collaboration. Ethereals can choose to merge. Thsi s where two Ethereals come to an agreement for cohabitation. Their realms merge and they become one being. Their consciousness' are still separate and they can always split their body. But they are now existing as one being. A single Ethereal. Just 3 times as strong. Their abilities increase this much as a result of the merge itself, it ends up pulling in more ether, increasing their power in the process.
A realm has four states: faulted, normal, stimulated, and ascended. These determine how much the realm has matured via absorbing ether. A faulted state is a realm that is below the average strength. Normal realms are those that have naturally grown larger by absorbing the empty space around it. It factors in age. A stimulated realm is one that has chosen a path that accelerates its growth, such as attacking or defending. Lastly, an ascended realm is one that has been stimulated enough to have two times as much ether equal to that of their normal state.
When a realm ascends, a phenomenon occurs. Two, four during a merge, new occupants are created in that realm and become Ethereals. These occupants will have free will, no matter what. These new Ethereals eventually take on a physical shape. The form they take on is typically a humanoid one. But it's not an explicit decision. Nor is it a permanent one. It's a preference and identity.
Each newborn Ethereal will have a unique power at birth but can still use ether to perform basic elemental magic.
Once the children become teenagers, aging every 100 years, or a rate of 1:100, they're taught how to make their own realms. They aren't particularly age-restricted in this process. But their energy to do so is usually enough at this stage. A prodigy could make a realm at birth. Much like how a 2 year old could be the world's greatest mathematician. Ridiculously unlikely, but not entirely impossible!
Once the children make their own realm, they move out of their parents' realm and transfer to their new home. At this point, they can make their own choices on how they'd like to govern. This includes how they choose to grow their realms & what type of occupants they may have.
The game instantly throws the player in an intense situation. Once they login for the first time, they're presented with a "Delve into the deep..." button that pulses and a "Sleep for a while longer." button. Immediately, this lets you know that your choices changes your outcome.
Sleeping for a while longer just allows the player to play as Reia and view how she interacted with her realm's occupants. It also depicts how much they loved and worshiped her. There's no conflict during this timeline. It's just extra story.
Delving into the deep starts the Nightmare of Reia. Reia, much like in the initial login view, is posted up on a hill. The player zooms into her, getting into the standard 3rd person perspective. They player will also be allowed to use all of Reia's abilities. Giving them her full arsenal. But the skill bar will only have a limited amount of abilities. Changing abilities is possible, but not something told to the player since they have no real need for it. The sky turns dark and a fleet of enemy occupants can be seen raining down from the sky. They seem like small meteors. But when a larger one lands, along with a large tower crashing down, she knows what's happening. She's being invaded by one of her siblings.
After the player finishes fending off the invasion, the vision backs out, a clock can be seen, it spins forward in time, it zooms in again, Reia can be seen fighting ferociously, time speeds up again, Reia can be seen in her crystal, it zooms out and the player wakes up in 1st person. They're panting, get out of bed, and walk up to a mirror where character customization now happens.
It should be noted that every outcome can be replayed and alternate choices can be played through without creating a new account. But, in reality, you're still stuck with your real choices. This process is just to allow you to experience alternate possibilities and unlock items from them as well.
You play as an occupant of Reia's realm. One of your main tasks is to find spirits that are fragments of Reia. They possess unique elements and can be leveled up. Your individual levels and your spirit level are separate. But your individual levels can have an impact on your spirit form. There are player-owned floating islands where you can customize them & govern them with trainable NPCs. Upgradeable gear with replacable parts is also a feature for versaility in combat. Players can sell books, music, and in-game goods (skins) in a marketplace. This allows people to have a way to creatively express themselves and gives their island a way to act as an actual store. There are endless open-world areas that are procedurally generated. Puzzles and mini-games are also included, with mini-games potentially being player-created. Day night cycles & regions means that certain cities will have different time zones. This overview is very roughly written, but more will be added eventually.
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