Idea Info Name: Nightmares Index: Primary Category: RPG Submitted: 1/28/2003 3:44:22 AM Written By: arkainjalex Game Architecture and Design: A New Edition Book Highly Recommended !

STORY:

There is a boy who lives a tortured life, suffering at the hands of others. His nights are spent with little sleep, as he is haunted by constant nightmares. He is small and weak, he has no friends or people who truly love him. Each day he must deal with the school bullies and indifferent teachers, his physically and verbally abusive family members, and all the strangers that couldn’t care less if he existed or not. The only thing that makes him truly happy is his hobby, the only thing he lives for: comic books and scary movies. He reads each book over and over, letting it all sink in. He watches the same movie until he has memorized every line, every scream. This boy is well acquainted with the creatures of darkness, because he feels he is treated as a monster himself.

One day after school finished, and he had acquired an entirely new set of bruises and scratches, he rode his beat up old bicycle to his favorite bookstore. There he said “hello” to the man behind the counter, the only person he might be able to call friend, and proceeded to look at the selection of comics. But something drew him further to the back of the store, where he had never been before. The store was deceptively small on the outside, as the rows of books reached farther than one would first assume. He slowly made his way to the dark corner in the back, as if drawn by some unseen force. There he glimpsed a thick black book, old but not worn, gathering no dust whatsoever. The book beckoned to him, and he did not resist. He picked the great tome up, it was almost weightless in his hands. Browsing through it he could not truly understand the strange incantations and scripts within, but the pictures were something else. For such an ancient-looking book, the graphic drawings within were amazingly detailed. He soon realized these were the same things he had seen in his dreams, the scenes and creatures depicted in this book. Flipping back to the cover, he could see the book had no name, just a strange symbol.

With little hesitation, the boy carried the book to the front desk to buy it, asking “how much?” The man behind the desk eyed the book oddly, “I don’t remember getting this one in…but I guess I could sell it to you anyway if you really want it.” The boy stared at the man and replied, “I do.” The man decided on the reasonable amount of 5 dollars. The boy was lucky, the only money his parents allowed him to have was school lunch money, but he hadn’t eaten all week (as usual) in order to prepare for his trip to the bookstore. All he had was 5 dollars, but in his heart he was sure it would be worth it. He thanked the man and left with a smile on his face. When he reached home it was the same old routine, his mother screaming at him because he was late, his older brother pushing him around and saying “dad is gonna punish you tonight”. He knew what that meant. Nevertheless, he went to his room and proceeded to do his homework…but as the day grew long and the sky darkened, he could almost hear the book calling to him. Heeding its call, he removed it from his backpack and set it on the bed, the symbol was glowing with an eerie light. Not knowing what else to do, he touched the red symbol.

With some form of sentience, the book gripped onto him with its power. The energy surged through his body, the pain was tremendous but with it came some kind of relief. As the book let go of him, the boy felt rejuvenated and empowered. Looking in the mirror, he could see the tome’s symbol engraved on his forehead. Flipping through the book, he could now understand what was written inside. He could understand that the book had been looking for one such as him, one with the power to awaken it, one with true nightmares. This book had revealed to him its secrets, and in turn he found he could do what he always wished…he could bring his nightmares to life. But no longer would they torment him, it was time for others to pay for what they had done. A voice from the book began whispering to him, “My lord, I am yours to command. We have much work to do.” The book told him that he must unleash his nightmares upon the world…and the boy was glad to do so. In the silence, he could hear a car drive up to the house, and the car door open and close. Then the front door…his father was home. He knew it was a matter of time before his father came in to “teach him a lesson”, so he would be ready. He listened intently, at the same time concentrating on his dark visions. At last he heard heavy steps heading toward his door, each step full of malicious intent. It was time to make his nightmares a reality. He is Eric Darcstrom, he is the Nightmare Scion. It is his turn now.

GAMEPLAY:

This is an adventure/rpg style game in which you would control the young 13 year-old boy Eric Darcstrom, the Nightmare Scion. In some ways this game would seem like mindless violence, but there would be more story behind it as the game unfolds. Eric is able to summon creatures from his nightmares, at least 20 in total, and they will fight for him. You would probably be able to summon about 3 at a time, to effectively control them. Eric himself would also have many powers when transformed into his nightmare form. This game will control kind of like Kingdom Hearts or Summoner 2. You will be able to switch between Eric and his nightmares at any time. As you gain XP, you would purchase new dream projections (spells) and upgrade existing abilities. Eric’s XP would also be used to upgrade his nightmares, while they would get stronger from use, they could only gain new abilities if they are purchased (ie. As Eric uses his mind to imagine new powers for them). Also, having fewer nightmares out at a time effectively strengthens them, so having only one in use would make him much stronger than he would normally be. This would be important in certain situations. If u have only one out at a time, his appearance will also dramatically change. Each nightmare would have a custom AI setting, but you can set them to auto-cast or protect Eric etc.

Since the controls are real-time, except when choosing a spell to cast etc., there would be a button to jump, one to attack, one to open the action menu (for spells, summoning, items, etc.), one for special abilities, and one to defend. Buttons would be allocated for switching between guys, and one button would be a lock on button.

Nightmares: here are some examples of summonable creatures

Kytarac- a creature covered with tons of barbed and serrated chains that he controls like tentacles. He would be able to launch his chains out to strike surrounding enemies, reel them in, or simply impale them. Advanced moves would include piercing a chain through multiple enemies in a row or lifting an enemy in the air and ripping him to pieces with the chains.

Avazoc- one of the most powerful nightmares. He is a large black construct, somewhat mechanical in appearance, with six skeletal arms and an enormous scythe. Twisted shards of metal cover his body and he may rotate his arms very fast to move the scythe like a helicopter blade. He is impervious to most damage, but somewhat slow. He would have moves like leaping onto enemies and crushing them or spinning around like a whirlwind decapitating all victims.

Mimir- a faceless shadowy figure that can assume the form of any other creature. In essence a doppleganger or shapeshifter. He would be able to morph his body into weaponry: turn his fingers into 3 foot blades and extend his arm like a whip, letting him strike at enemies from long range. Some advanced abilities would be melding himself into an enemy’s body and exploding outward, or becoming a duplicate of any enemy.

Zakhara- a female nightmare, she has four hideous arms and a great scorpion tail. She would be able to expel acid that disintegrates enemies, and her tail would be very deadly in combat. She would be able to consume enemies and replenish her own health.

Athtalot- a winged monstrosity, part human/part scrap metal monster. His wings would be enormous collections of metal sheets, blades, spikes, you name it, and he would be very gruesome looking, metal rods and fragments jutting out of him. He would have air-based moves and lunge down to snatch enemies and rip them apart in the air.

Baalroc- a beast composed of black smoke, crimson flames, and molten bones that resemble those of a great reptile. Two great stones are chained to his arms that he swings as weapons, and he possess a huge tail. He generates so much heat he would be able to reduce foes to ashes. He could also immolate his body and charge through groups of enemies, incinerating them all. Of course he’d breathe fire too

Vidicus- a fearsome death knight character. He would wield a gigantic great sword charged with negative energy (sparks of black electricity) and wear black armor covered with large inhuman bones. His helmet would look like a great dragon skull with a red central eye in the middle. His powers would include firing streams of dark lightning, absorbing the life force of enemies, stabbing his sword into the ground and calling down hellfire, etc.

Necrocanthus- a undead looking zombie-like nightmare. He dresses in ragged ancient robes and is surrounded by insects. His powers would include conjuring pestilence and insect swarms, being able to flay enemies or boil their blood, and resurrecting fallen enemies as zombies.

Nightmare Scion- Eric’s nightmare form. It would take the shape of a demonic being of darkness, complete with bat-like wings, curving horns, and hellish armor. He would wield the Abyssal, a sword composed of the dark thoughts that lay in the corner of everyone's mind.

Those are only some of the nightmares at his disposal. I bet you’re wondering how humans could contend with such things? The answer is they can’t, not at first. Eventually you’d be facing police squads, the military, and later on Vatican knights and others who are convinced you are some sort of antichrist. Some may even exhibit spiritual powers that they will use to combat you, others may be sorcerers out to claim the book or prevent you from usurping their power. Later on the book would turn on you and send its own nightmares against you. Eric would at last destroy the book and have an important choice to make. He can either undo what he has done and restore all destruction the book has wrought, or he can become the Lord of Nightmares and rule the dreams of everyone. It is a tempting offer, but not one to be taken lightly. I’ll try to update this and elaborate on the storyline, I know it needs work. I know I could’ve pushed this game farther, I still can, but I don’t want it to be too disturbing, just dark enough to give the right atmosphere and all.

As for party members…I don’t think they are necessary. There would be plenty of different nightmares at your disposal, all with varied abilities. So it should stay interesting. Anyway, each nightmare would be able to speak (or at least try) so they wouldn’t be mindless drones. Also, Eric will have magical spells (dream projections) with various effects. Some would enhance his nightmares or offer them protection. Some would attack enemies: energy beam, pain wrack, dark vortex, insanity, implosion, conflagration, etc. And obviously there would be healing spells. As for weapons, I hardly think it’s logical to buy weapons for your creatures, or your own guy for that matter, so you’d simply add points to improve your attacks and upgrade them. Kind of like in Onimusha when you level up a weapon and it looks different and gets stronger.

INSPIRATIONS:

Sources I payed attention to were American McGee’s Alice and McFarlen toys (did I spell it right?). McFarlene toys is responsible for Spawn, Tortured Souls, and all that kind of stuff. Even though I don’t own any, I’ve seen plenty of them. But I wasn’t going for such an extreme and macabre approach. I wanted it to be more supernatural than merely blood and gore. I’d appreciate all comments and advice from people on how to improve this. Let me know what you think, and if you’re interested in knowing more, I’m always willing to post requested updates etc. if you want more details.