I just wanted to see if anyone was willing to take part in a rick riordan-esque world commingling myth and modern man. I am by no means a devout historian, aiming rather to draw inspiration from the nordic mythos rather than copy and paste it. System would be freeform, unless anyone has a fairly simple system they'd be able to convince me to run xD

Ahh, foreword out of the way, I guess I better set some kind of scene, eh?

Valhalla- the hallowed keep at the end of time, the single stronghold against the everlasting darkness. Half myth, half memory, these walls house the bravest souls from across the tattered reaches of infinity. Her stone walls lie silent, yet echoes tell of a time where mirth had filled her, expanding her environs far past the meagre castle you see before you.

The odin force- the collection of strength, wisdom, and inspiration comprised of all the brave and noble hearts before mentioned- lies in shambles, the AllFather himself reduced to a fraction of his former power.

And the valkyries- those rulers of the sky, calling forth hope to those brave souls, and casting terror upon the wretched- have all but lost their wings, though their fighting spirit remains.

And you, blessed einherjar- lying forgotten in the impregnable fortress that modern man has built against myth in rebellion against the heavens. Man hath succeeded, and thus brought about his own doom- having cut himself off, therefore, from any sort of truth or higher meaning.

The comforts of society provide but a distraction, and deep within you lies a restless hunger, a deep seeming that has laid about you since birth. Cast forth, and reveal your heritage to the earth once more, and sunder the skies in your wake. Time waits for no man, and ragnarok marches steadily on.

With hope all but lost, odin has cast himself to sleep for what may be the final time- distributing what remains of his power amongst the few valkyrie left to his disposal, burdening them to redouble their search for the einherjar.

Yet, even amongst these- of whom gentler legends have been told about the faery- there are many whom deride the pitiful and weak modern man, and, having bolstered themselves with the remaining light, even formed a battalion of their own. Misguided, they lost their discrimination, that most precious gift from odin, and some have even taken to slaughtering humans and monsters alike.

Will you answer the call of destiny, that trembling cry which sets you athwart your world, your fate, and the heavens themselves; for the cause of a war all but lost and facing enemies on all sides? Or will you lay your head down back to sleep, ignoring reality crumbling around you for the safety of glass and concrete?

Afterword: this idea is only as fleshed out as you have read here; the premise came to me as I happened to come across some mention of a valkyrie. When it comes to gming, I am not a very crunchy, detailed person, relying instead on a thread of inspiration to keep the pages turning. So if you think this idea has promise, come, tag along for the ride and I can surely use your help!
This message was last edited by the user at 21:01, Sun 19 Sept 2021.

The basic concept sounds like it has promise! But I do have a couple of questions:

Who/what are the antagonists of the story? What does it mean to be an 'Einherjar'? Are they basically super heroes, or is there more to it than that (restrictions/themes and the like)?

Good questions! I am always in need of good question askers :) although I am not a historian myself, and am like as not to weave a thread from what knowledge I have stored, I particularly welcome a focus on details and particulars, and in this sense always invite my players to collaborate with me. I see freeform as a way of investing with the story, and the extent of my gming dependant on how aligned my writers are with said story, does that make sense? But it's a two way street, my writers can often be more correct than me, or have ideas or questions I've never considered, and so I rely on them also to keep me, shall we say, focused? :)

I was trying to put up a semifactual narrative with quotes and such, but the long and short of it is that einherjar means "those who fight as one" or "those who fight alone". They are classically warriors who, upon death, are rewarded their bravery by being escorted to Valhalla- the hall of oden where he has gathered these warriors to await ragnarok- the end of the world, via calamitous occurrence and malevolent intent. Mainly giants and demons, the latter part being the main source of inspiration for antagonists, as well as key figures of the myth, fenrir, and the world snake, and some others, in addition to rebellious valkyrie and in many ways, human society itself, or rather, the way it has been warped till now.

As for the valkyrie, they are often depicted as winged warriors themselves, female, the lot of them, and they choose amongst the dead of battlefields and escort them to valhalla. They are sometimes described as also choosing the fate of battle, and of loving or having life for or with men(or women xD) and it is here I have taken license to paint them as muses, the import of which I shall attempt to convey in a second.

The reason for the desolate picture described in the op is that, although ragnarok has not yet descended, earth is a battlefield lost, in a sense, due to humans having, as a whole, managed to cut themselves off from myth entirely- owing due to this their advances in technology, and their strongholds within reason acting thus as a barrier to any "foolish stories".

There then, in a sense, lies a sort of half death, or metaphysical death, amongst these humans: here we see the valkyrie as muses, floating over the battlefield of mankind's war against itself, looking for those worthy. However, in this sense, to die on the battlefield nobly and in order to be chosen, one must be at least facing this general direction: that's this bit here "The comforts of society provide but a distraction, and deep within you lies a restless hunger, a deep seeming that has laid about you since birth."

You are correct in thinking towards superheros, and also in regarding restrictions/themes; in the mythology ragnarok seems to be in perpetual postponement, and in regards to the setting of the story the time has been chosen due to the fall of man's heart.

So the superhuman abilities are thematically connected to passions- typically virtues- and are described as such when the players become accustomed to them- rather than passions I should suppose more accurately to say identities, inner strength.

So the antagonists are twofold- there are the obvious, physical threats before mentioned-, and then the vague, underlying cause of calamity and disaster itself- this idea of a dark intent within reality itself set opposed to inspiration- itself a cosmic portrayal of the inner darkness of mankind.

As for the powers themselves, they will come later, the opening premise is coming to your own terms within this framework, for which I am here to be what guide, inspiration and or resource as I can manage to provide, as the character of your choosing.

Thoughts?

Thoughts... thoughts...

I am thinking about it. Your answer was a bit more thorough than I expected, and today was a bad day for me to be processing a proper response. I don't want to leave you hanging though, so I figured I'd post this out of respect before I head off to sleep for the night.

Oddly enough, when I read what you wrote, it almost sounds like the plot of "The Matrix", only instead of virtual reality and machines, you have a metaphysical prison of unbelief and a supernatural legion, with the players acting as 'freed minds' who are all, in their own ways, "The One"... The "Einherjar". The "Army of One".

I'd say that, as someone who's been PbP gaming for a good long while, I'd recommend crystalizing the concept into something a bit closer to a classic 'elevator pitch'; which if I'm not mistaken sounds something like:

"Players take the role of Einherjar. These supernaturally gifted men and women have to discover their inner powers over time, while also coming to grips with the grim reality that exists behind the veil of our modern world: the reality of Ragnarok, and the legion of threats that work tirelessly from without, and from within, to end all things."

Or:

"Players take the role of Einherjar. Individuals who at first might be mistaken for superheroes, but who are in fact beings of absolute concept and axiom: manifestations of purest virtue and inner strength... and the only people standing between the world we know, and the mythic end of days known as Ragnarok!"

Am I off? Or does that sound about right?

In reply to Carakav (msg # 4):



Very much so!! I am glad you came across this thought so directly; though I do suppose it must be rather odd, to me it is the most natural conclusion :) each person has the capacity to be "the one" and einherjar are those who are acting in regards to this potential! Whether it's one person or many that reach that peak, they will stand as one!

Thanks for the elevator pitch! I try to be as succinct as possible but true synopsis tends to elude me; I'm just too focused on trying to establish connections that I can't help but wander a bit... So I always value those that try to help me condense! that sounds pretty much on point, so much so that I won't write my own but rather combine those two fine specimens into one:

"Players take the role of Einherjar. These beings of absolute concept and axiom have to discover their inner powers over time [by discovering their] manifestations of purest virtue and inner strength... while also coming to grips with the grim reality that exists behind the veil of our modern world: the reality of Ragnarok, and the legion of threats that work tirelessly from without, and from within, to end all things."
This message was last edited by the user at 04:36, Tue 21 Sept 2021.