extremely tentative farm game test drive

[prospitian]

 

Saving Sunbridge

hi this is a SUPER quick and dirty test drive for an idea i’m still fleshing out—please feel free to invite your friends if they’re cool, but i’m not making a big public thing of it until i have more information done lmao.

the basic premise: your character has been isekai’d into Sunbridge Town, a small village in the vein of harvest moon/stardew valley/story of seasons, by the sunsprites, our jumino/harvest sprite/etc. equivalents. a Threat looms over the town—expect the details to either get much more specific or to change entirely, but the magic that has existed in it all this time has been draining over time as the townsfolk find themselves burdened and struggling with the encroachment of Big Capitalism. the draining magic has resulted in poorer harvests and other parts of the town faltering, resulting in a vicious cycle. the harvest goddess figure has even grown sick! in a last ditch effort, the sunsprites have gathered up the magic they have and summoned strangers from other worlds to assist. they’re on a time limit, though they have at least a season or two, and if they manage to save the town, heal the harvest goddess, and return the magic to its full power, the sunsprites will be able to send everyone home.

setting notes

• for now, picture the sunsprites as particularly sparkly juminos. they are represented by a single spirit who takes a more humanoid form, for now just referred to as the harvest goddess, who was able to explain the situation to the new arrivals. her presence is sporadic.
• with few exceptions, the townsfolk were largely unaware of the sunsprites and the magic in their town before the arrival of the strangers. they sure are aware of it now! they’re learning about this magic just as much as y’all, and are reacting in various ways to everyone’s presence—from curiosity, to eager helpfulness, to fear.
• the sunsprites have made space for the new arrivals to sleep and settle in a fairly recently abandoned farmstead. there’s plenty of room, but not necessarily much privacy; a lot of people will be group bunking in the barn or having a big sleepover in the house’s living room sort of deal, if they haven’t chosen to pitch a tent and camp outside.
• technology level is typical of stardew valley et al; low, but not nonexistent. we don’t have internet.

places your character can be

• the abandoned farmstead where characters will be staying
• the forests behind the farmlands. they’re just normal woods, but they go deep enough and get thick enough that there’s little point going in there unless you seek the sunsprites, whose emergence point is the lake in the grove in which the harvest goddess stays when she takes on her humanoid form
• the ruins at the town’s edge. it’s hard to tell what they used to be—remnants of a previous town, perhaps? there’s only one structure intact enough to really go inside of, and there’s stairs that lead to a basement with yet another set of stairs going down, and no telling how deep it goes…
• the beach! it’s a beach. it has fun beach things. you can go fishing here
• the town itself, which contains all your basic town amenities

character notes

please note you can play whoever you want on this test drive but i want to set expectations about who can and can’t be played in the actual game on the off chance that it happens so that you know what you’re getting into.

• canon characters and ocs are all good. ocs can be from existing canons as long as they’re not weird about relationships with canon characters
• characters i am probably not going to allow in the game if it comes to fruition: AUs (including CRAUs), anyone based on a real person, customizable protags who have inconsistent relationships with canon characters (ex. WoLs, inquisitors, shepherds)
• characters who aren’t going to engage with the setting right off the bat are going to be a bad fit—”my grump needs a couple weeks to make friends first” isn’t going to work unless you can append something like “but they’ll immediately be worried about the livestock and start working with them”
• characters are probably going to be allowed to have powers that aren't game-breaking. they can also have their pokémon or whatever. if you want to nerf your character's powers, you can.
• nonhuman characters are not humanized. they also aren't downsized unless it would be game-breaking, or if you want them to be.

prompts

• when the new arrivals are shown to the place they’re staying, it’s…well, it’s going to fit them? it hasn’t been abandoned for terribly long, so the farmstead isn’t exactly decrepit, but it clearly wasn’t taken care of over this past winter. there’s also not exactly space for everyone to have their own room or anything—there’s exactly one private bedroom, and it’s likely that people are going to want to share the floorspace if they aren’t interested in stuffing themselves into the rafters of the barn, which is probably happening anyway. the fields are full of weeds and sticks and stones. how is your character settling in? are they helping clean up? are they fighting someone else for space? do they want to actually do farming?
• the sunsprites will often leave quests for the new arrivals! these will appear randomly, and require people to interact with and assist each other. some quests your character might be on include:
  • the river is low and dry this year. one of you has been tasked with collecting and recording, in whatever way they can, sorrowful memories from as many people as possible, so that the harvest goddess can hear them and her tears can fill the river again.
  • the cold of winter is lasting longer than it ought to into the beginning of spring, with frost still clinging to the land. to nurture the flowers that wait in fear for the chance to grow, a pair of people will have to find something one of them has never done before that the other can guide them through.
  • the soil is weak, and the harvest is struggling. a character is asked to remind the soil of what its bounty means by sharing something they've made with their own two hands, freely and without anything expected in return.
  • or make up your own idea!
• the townsfolk have a jobs board up in the main square! you can post any requests you’d like up there so that someone else might be able to help!
• there’s a festival coming up!
  • the festival could be…
    • a celebration of the autumn harvest
    • a beach party
    • a flower festival to celebrate spring
    • a night market
  • your character could be…
    • partying, of course
    • helping with the setup and preparation
    • inviting others and trying to make the festival really happen instead of just being like four people standing around awkwardly
• if you want an npc existing resident of any kind, please make a prompt and let me know! you could ask for…
  • someone specific:
    • the harvest goddess; ill, but eager to help as best she can. generally kept in the forests behind the farmlands, in a grove near the lake the sunsprites emerge from.
    • ethel, an elderly woman who’s known about the magic all this time and is thrilled about the new arrivals. softspoken, gentle, and blind. lives with her more outgoing wife, eudora, who hasn’t disbelieved ethel but is still stunned to see the magic and the sunsprites real and in person.
    • melanie, a researcher in her early 30s here to investigate the history of the ruins at the edge of sunbridge town. brusque, blunt, and suspicious of magic in all its forms, and so meets all the newcomers with a healthy dose of caution and suspicion—but she also has a thirst for knowledge that makes it easy to get her talking.
    • bellamy, mid 20s, local florist and dandy. seeks beauty in everything, and the beauty in sunbridge town has kept him here all this time, and despite his general nature of cheerfully flouncing about, he’s struggling with watching the town falter. tentatively hopeful that the new arrivals can help, and while the weirdness of many of their existences frightens him, he’s eager to assist if asked.
    • felix, a middleaged man who owns the local tavern/bar. gregarious and generous. a little skeptical about the new arrivals’ ability to help, but has taken this whole “magic is real” thing in surprising stride—or he’s just too focused on his business to worry too much about it.
    • rowan, early 20s, waitress at the local tavern/bar. puts on a friendly face at work for the new arrivals but has a standoffish caution around them outside of it. an artist who’s saving up money with the intention of moving to the big city where she hopes to be more successful, but struggles with her attachment to the town and how it hurts to watch it suffer and to think of leaving it.
  • a general archetype:
    • someone who is suspicious of the new arrivals—did your character take their job from the board? have they been forced into the same circumstance? is your character just trying to buy something from the store and it’s become a whole thing?
    • a small child immensely curious about the new arrivals—do you want to be interrogated?
    • someone who works with the livestock—let’s talk about animals!
    • idk choose your own adventure i don’t have a full cast yet

Comments

ask clarifying questions about the game/setting/etc. here

[prospitian]

[aria_ardeinae]

How fast do vegetables grow? Like irl where you plant carrots and it takes 2-3 months to grow or harvest moon style where it's about a week?

[prospitian]

tbh im still working on how heavily i wanna abstract time—it might be the former, with those 2-3 months being represented by like 5 ooc weeks, but if you have a funny idea for the latter for this tdm don't let me stop you

[velka]

just to get some ducks in a row about the ridiculous thing I'm considering

- would silent protagonists from less freeform/choice-based/dating simmesque/blorbo-creatory games fall under the same rule as customizable ones? the kind you'd still be playing with a lot of headcanon for, but like, there are some canonical rails you'd have to go pretty far off of to throw any major awkward curveballs at potential canonmates

- what's the policy for, like... package deal characters. like, two characters who whether for plural or supernatural reasons inhabit the same body (or something)? what if character B can only actually canonically talk to character A, and nobody else around can hear them? or assuming somebody wanted to play the character B from that scenario separately, would the lack of humanization still apply for characters who canonically don't have bodies? this is a gruesome recombined homunculus of terrible questions I am SO sorry

- how low tech is low tech. are there, like, tractors? pickup trucks? could the town potentially use a mechanic

[prospitian]

- totally fine—if they're closer to the pokémon protag end of the spectrum that's great, this limitation is mostly about me avoiding aus of a canon inside the same cast

- OOOH HM. i think i wanna handle this one case by case, like what is most fun for you kind of thing. i would very possibly be willing to let one player play both characters or if you wanted to yoink one out of their shared body and give them a new form so you can play them independently we could do that

- yes on all counts!! think like...most places have a landline and many have a TV with antennae and cars EXIST but the town doesn't need them or have real roads so like a taxi or a bus might appear at the edge of town from the city one in a blue moon but they aren't like driven around the town itself. farm gear like tractors and pickup trucks for moving heavy things purposes rather than getting around purposes are absolutely on the table and maybe a vehicle for getting around becomes more useful as you find more areas around town!!

Miles Edgeworth | Ace Attorney

[mind_chess]

[Look at this man, with his obviously expensive, hand-tailored suit. Gaze upon the perfectly manicured nails on his soft hands, hands made only for desk-slapping and accusatory pointing. Miles Edgeworth is not here to farm, and how dare you for thinking otherwise.]

...I suppose I could take a look over the farm's ledgers and legal documents. It does have the proper paperwork, I hope?

[apockatherry]

Paper...work?

[Alfyn understands these two words individually, but...]

[mind_chess]

Whatever we have on hand. Ideally I'd like to see the deed, accounting ledgers, and recent tax returns.

[steel_over_blood]

Might find some of that in the town hall, right? There are clerks who are in charge of that sort of thing, so they know how much every place owes in taxes.

[ Bulat is nothing if not daring, and doesn't necessarily have much inherent respect for anyone with nice clean hands unless they're like that because they've been hard at work scrubbing out laundry. ]

Until we get ahold of it, we might as well clear out some of the debris out there. Roll our sleeves up and start splitting wood, that kind of thing.

[mind_chess]

[ Yeah, no. Edgeworth did not go to law school for this. ]

That's a good idea. Go right ahead. I'll be making some notes in preparation for my visit to the town hall.

[exposethetruth]

If it doesn't, it's manageable. Many things pertaining to ownership and even incorporation, in such a rural setting, fall onto 'grandfathering' laws. What it's been used for. Not to mention that the statute of limitations on abandoned property in most places is just two years.

[Gregory smiled - a small, gentle expression on his usually-stern face.]

No matter what, it's easily enough managed.

[mind_chess]

You raise a good point. It's heartening to see I'm not the only—

[ Exceeept the second he actually turns to look at Gregory, he viscerally, whole-body winces. ]

Bulat | Akame Ga Kill

[steel_over_blood]

Spring Cleaning

"Ah, well. I've seen worse. It's not in a swamp, for one."

Bulat considers himself a realist and an optimist. It sure isn't in a swamp!

"Where do you think you'd leave a broom in this place? I'm a decent housekeeper, believe it or not."

Cold of Winter

Here we are, learning about this new development from the sprites, walking back to the farm along a frozen riverbank. Bulat has not been enjoying the long winter. He's still been taking his shirt off now and then on various pretexts, for morale, but he has not been having as much fun with it as he usually would.

"Nurturing flowers, huh? Can't be that much different than nurturing a student through the arts of combat with tender care... What do you think, want to learn some of my techniques?"

Spring Cleaning

[apockatherry]

Alfyn doesn't seem put out at all to be talking to a stranger in a strange place. He turns from the bit of floor he's claimed with his bedroll and a handful of things he's been unpacking from his satchel: vials of various shapes and sizes, drying herbs tied with twine, a leather-bound book.

"Well, personally, I leave mine right by the front door. Can't miss it when I need it! Though I guess this farm's a fair sight bigger than my humble home back in Clearbrook..."

He hums as he considers.

"Still, I reckon I'd check near the entrance of the main house. Maybe in a closet? Whaddya think?"

[steel_over_blood]

Bulat hasn't been in the closet for a while, apparently.

"Ah, that makes sense. I kept mine in the shed next to the polearms."

He'd thought about being more circumspect about his combat heavy background for a short minute but concluded that hiding it would make him look more suspicious in the long run. Hes already slightly out of touch with how regular people act and he knows it. What other exciting things can be found in a broom closet...

"This one's more of a linen closet. Need any sheets?"

It smells strongly of cedar in here, which better than other things it could smell like.

Cold

[deorbiter]

Some people have internal monologues. 621 doesn't really remember doing it much before, actually. But she's recently acquired an internal dialogue.

Raven... do you think he means combat techniques, or botanical ones...?
I think it's both.
I see.
...
Hm...
...

"CQC? It's not my specialty." Well, not on foot. And even then, that's speaking relatively. She certainly knows infinitely more about it than she does about flowers.

Left to her own devices, 621 would go look for a... less abstract way to contribute, but Ayre is curious. For that matter, normally she would wait for an explicit instruction before doing something for someone else, but she's learned that Ayre gets uncomfortable asking for favors if she can't ensure 621 gets paid in some capacity.

Which doesn't make much more sense than stabbing flowers, or whatever this guy is talking about. It's not like she has anything better to do.

63 comments until we start talking about guns in the farming sim good job team

[steel_over_blood]

Bulat mouths CQC to himself kind of bemused, but he gets it quick enough. Oh, close quarters combat! As opposed to a mid-ranged weapon like a chain or a long-ranged weapon like a gun, that's an interesting way to divide them up.

"Great - I wouldn't need to teach a specialist much, after all! Now, If it's worth learning, it's worth doing well, so I won't hold back whether I'm teaching you to hold a brush or a blade!"

He had not brought up calligraphy as an option before leaning heavily onto combat as an option. This is because he doesn't like it as much and would prefer to be moving around. Now, what would 621 prefer... Bulat's been having some trouble getting a read on her, but figures he can't go wrong expanding on options.

"Hand to hand would be the easiest, but you can approximate a sword or a spear with wood without much trouble. Sword's easier to carry concealed, spear's better at keeping an enemy at bay..."

Alfyn Greengrass | Octopath Traveler

[apockatherry]

1. Pharm Boy

[Look at this big, healthy, down-to-earth lunk of a man. It's like he was made for this setting, or this setting for him. If it walks like a farm boy, talks like a farm boy, and rolls up its sleeves to till the soil like a farm boy--

Except. He's not? He left the garden hoe just beside him and he's squatting by a plot that needs clearing, but something's clearly distracted him. He holds up a hand at anyone who approaches.]

Whoa whoa whoa! Now, hold on just a tick. Mind grabbing me one of those empty planters stacked behind the shed? I'd appreciate a hand gettin' these squared away to study before we clear this patch for crops.

["These"? All that's there in the ground before him is a bunch of weeds...]

2. Path Action: Inquire

[Part of settling into a place, even temporarily, is getting the local color. One of the best ways Alfyn knows how to do that is to sit down at the nearest tavern and just. Talk to people! It's been a mixed bag so far, with some folks happy and eager to chat, and others shying away to more sheltered tables with their drinks.

Recognizing another new arrival to the farmstead, Alfyn's friendly smile brightens.]

Hey there! How's it going?

3. Bed, Bath, and Bey-ounty

[Alfyn doesn't even know about the sunsprites' quest, TBH. He's just like this. As soon as he catches sight of someone he knows, he waves them down and trots over, rummaging through his satchel without watching his steps.]

Phew! Glad I caught you. See, everyone's been workin' hard, so I thought I'd whip this up to ease our aches and pains.

[With that, he retrieves a jar filled some kind of salve from his bag. It smells herby. Old-timey. Freshly made. He hands it right off with a smile.]

Just rub it on where it hurts and you'll be right as rain in no time. You won't feel a thing tomorrow morning, or my name ain't Alfyn Greengrass!

3

[gonepostal]

[The townsfolk's (and even some of the fellow new arrivals') reactions to Lairen, the antlered winged horse thing Su Fei is frequently found on the back of (she calls it a qilin, and patiently walks people through the pronunciation), vary wildly, and not always in her favor. As a rule, Su Fei hates to make herself small, but today, Lairen waits in the stables while Su Fei runs errands in the town. She's perfectly efficient on her forearm crutches, though when Alfyn approaches, Su Fei has to adjust the bag on her shoulder before she can shift her balance to better support the space her right leg ought to be and actually reach out to take the jar.]

No kiddin'? [She looks it over, lifting it overhead to catch the light as she turns the jar before settling her crutch back against the ground.] You've always got some trick up your sleeve, huh, Alfyn?

[She's smiling still, but her expression still scrunches with thought. Built strong and tough, and always taking advantage of it as the group puts the effort in to making the farm a little more habitable, Su Fei makes an obvious candidate for something like this, but...]

You already get more of this to the others?

[apockatherry]

The others I could find, yeah! I had just enough salve base in my satchel for five of those jars, but it ain't easy to track everyone down to hand 'em over on a nice day like this.

[It's warm and sunny enough that the most labor-intensive field tasks are best taken on in the early morning or closer to sunset, making midday a good time to rest, process goods indoors, or run errands in town like Su Fei.]

I ran into Bulat on my way out-- [A hard man to miss, to be sure.] --and you're the second one I've come across so far, Su Fei. Since you two do so much of the back-breaking labor, though, I'm glad to give you first pick of the lot. I can always make more!

[He's not offering her special treatment on account of those old, shockingly grave injuries of hers, though of course he's aware of them. They've likely had at least one frank talk already about her needs and his services. But Alfyn's job is not to coddle, but to help everyone do what they want and need to the best of his and their abilities. This gift is just one way he can support the whole team.]

1

[mourneshade]

[Myrune might have taken offense, save for two things. The man had a point, and there was always an excellent chance that unfamiliar plants might have some benefit. She was no herbalist, but she'd learned enough about alchemy from Granny to see the point.]

Are you going to put the soil they are in in these 'planters', along with the plants? [Weeds they might be, but even certain weeds were good for something. Even if that something was merely animal fodder.

As for her question, mostly she's asking to know ahead of time, if she needs to find extra dirt, too. The elf is no stranger to hard work, but there's working harder, and there's working smarter, and Myrune much prefers the latter.]

Turner of Forgotten Stones | D&D OC

[mewmentomori]

[ General character pitch: Turner is a Tabaxi Rogue, with the Phantom archetype. She's a tall and lanky black catfolk, but tends to hunch and crouch a lot, making it a bit of a shock when she actually stands up straight. She has a knack for not minding her own business and digging into mysteries other people would much prefer stay forgotten - especially those that involve conferring with the dead. While she enjoys the puzzle of it all more than anything, there is some satisfaction to be had in bringing unsavory things to the light now and then. ]

--

Haunting the Ruins

While they were already rather unsettling to the locals, it seems the arrival of the new folks has made the outskirts ruins even spookier than they already were. Rumors of strange noises and potentially ghost apparitions kicked up not too long after newcomers started settling in. Are you brave enough to investigate, and see just what's going on...? i.e, get jumpscared by a silly cat,

Market Prep

It's almost time for the Night Market! So that means it's time to get ready, and there's signs and decorations to hang up. Generally, most folks get by with ladders, but that takes time. Turner, on the other hand, is putting herself to good use by just climbing up the buildings herself to help tack things up. It's something small and helpful she can do to help out, and hopefully help put some of the locals' minds at ease - even among the newcomers, she rather sticks out like a sore thumb - not especially helped by the fact that she keeps getting down from these assignments by just jumping off. Sure, she has the grace to land well, but most people aren't expecting someone to just fall down into their line of sight, or right next to them, or what have you...

Haunting

[apockatherry]

Alfyn wouldn't normally explore a potentially dangerous situation like this on his own, but the others he might ask for backup have either been working hard all day (not that he hasn't) or didn't even come with him to this strange, new world from Orsterra. At least it doesn't sound like anyone's been hurt--yet. But maybe he can at least check it out.

This is what he gets for being nosy and following every rumor floating around town.

Holding some strange, never-flickering lamp he was given and not the small hand axe at his side, Alfyn creeps carefully into the ruins.

"Hello...? Anyone there?"

Okay, maybe not that carefully.

Market Prep

[steel_over_blood]

This isn't the first cat-lady Bulat has encountered - presumably they've learned each others names during the intro phase - but it's odd to see one helping out with such a mundane task instead of sneaking around the shadows or leaping through the woods or stealing his beer... he will roll with it.

"Ah, Turner, right? How is it up there? Any loose tiles?"

haunting

[mourneshade]

If one wanted to get technical, Myrune is the wrong order of Blood Hunter to investigate ghosts. This does not stop her in the slightest, however. Besides, despite being ruined, this place does not seem to have the feeling that comes with a place being haunted. But many people can be superstitious. And thus, places like this get...a reputation.

The shadar-kai elf, however, is curious about just what this structure used to be. It isn't obvious from the looks of the place, and even though the only building left is a shambles, it still seems...cohesive enough to be explored. And really, the dark doesn't frighten her. She doesn't even bother with a light, at first, since the remnants of daylight that shine down the stairs do her well enough in the dimness.

Soon enough, though, she has to stop; at the edge of the light, where her vision wants to give way to nothing. In dim light, she can see as well as most people in broad daylight, but even she has her limits. Still, she has a small lantern--little more than a glass globe encased in bronze, a tiny candle held within that sheds some light. It's enough.

She doesn't speak. Myrune thinks it unlikely that someone else might be below. Still, she tilts her head, pointed ears straining to hear any noise--maybe an animal had holed up in the underground?