doingtheuglycry | CAN CRY: FIRST TEST DRIVE

CAN CRY: FIRST TEST DRIVE

CAN CRY: INITIAL TDM
Welcome one and all to the very first test drive meme for Can Cry! If you're unfamiliar with the game, then you can check out the interest check, FAQ, world & setting info page and the powers and abilities page to get up to speed! Since the game is still very much under construction, this is just an initial test drive for people to dip their toes into the water and see which characters they'd like to consider for the game. In order to not spoil the opening of the game for players, the TDM is not canon to Can Cry and will take place in a slightly wonky little AU just over to the left. Characters have awoken in Purgatory after their deaths and been conscripted as Executors by Rei, the sole other Executor in Purgatory. The population of dangerous spirits has gotten out of control and she needs some allies to help her keep things under control. Characters on the TDM will have access to all of their starter powers as outlined on the powers page as well as two unique abiliites to play around with as you please. Some prompts and location details have been provided below for you to play around with but please feel free to go hog wild and have fun!
LIMBO
Limbo is the Executor's main base of operations as it is the top level of Purgatory and the one most populated by non-violent spirits. Distorted by the cognition of all the human souls here, Limbo has taken on the form of a hazy, dream-like recollection of a town. It's full of winding paths that go up, down and all around and the geometries of the town and its surroundings don't always make much sense. Stairs might lead loop back around on themselves or a door to the outside might end up leading right back indoors. It's a bit of a headache, so it's usually best not to think about it too hard. The town is mostly functional, mostly thanks to all the human souls here. Players are free to invent any additions to the town that they would like for their threads, but here are some to get you started: ⚝ Conbini: A seemingly normal Japanese convenience store, full of the sort of fare you'd expect from a cheap 24-7 convenience store. There's only four aisles and everything's a bit clustered together, but it's not overly claustrophobic. Things start getting a bit weird when you try and go to the back of the store, though – no matter how long you look, there is always just one more aisle for you to browse and the further back you go, the stranger and more abstract the items on the shelf will look. If you walk too far or turn around you will suddenly find yourself back at the first aisle in the blink of an eye as if you were rubberbanded back there. ⚝ Hotel: A so-called luxury hotel that towers over the rest of the buildings in the area. Even if you don't have a reservation, all you have to do is approach the desk and the Spectre there will apparently recognize you and hand over a key to one of the rooms. Except... you can't quite read the number? It seems to fluctuate whenever you try. Not that it matters, because the key will open any of the hundreds of doors in the building, though no one door will ever open onto the same room twice. The layout of each room is subtly off in a number of ways, with the dimensions of the room not seeming quite right no matter how you try to work it out. The decor is luxurious through and the extravagant room service is free, so it's a nice place to relax. Be warned, though – if you misplace your key, you'll find yourself lost in the mazelike halls until you eventually stumble out into the reception with no way of knowing how you got there. ⚝ Bathhouse: An enormous Grecio-Roman styled bathhouse for you to relax in after a hard day's work of dealing with Revenants. There don't seem to be any workers here that you can see, so feel free to let yourself in and make yourself at home. Interestingly, even without anyone around, you'll find the water is always adjusted to a temperature and a fragrance that's most appealing to you and drinks, towels and anything else you need will appear within reach by the side of the baths whenever it occurs to you that you might need it. When in doubt: Just get weird with it!
QUESTS
Since it's up to Executors to maintain order in Purgatory, this also means they need to resolve any issues that crop up for the Spectres occupying it. You can come up with any sort of quest you like, but here are some ideas to get you started: ⚝ A lost child will request your help in reuniting with their mother. It's a bit of a struggle for them to communicate with you as they are a freshly-awakened Spectre and it's also not entirely clear if their mother is, in fact, in Purgatory with them. Eventually, careful questioning of the child Spectre and some of the other Spectres around Limbo will lead you to a bookshop where mother and child will be reunited. Happy end! ⚝ Two Spectres are causing a ruckus in town with a screaming-in-each-other's-face tier argument. Calming them both down is going to be a task all on its own, but if you manage to, it turns out the first Spectre is missing a precious object and has accused the other of stealing it. The second Spectre insists the precious object never existed in the first place. Uh... good luck with this. ⚝ A uncommunicative and kind of creepy Spectre is accused by others in the town of being a Revenant in disguise after some of their neighbors disappear in the night. Investigate and uncover the truth! Feel free to NPC Spectres as you need for this TDM!
THE UNDERSIDE OF LIMBO
Though it's the most peaceful level of Purgatory, Limbo is not without its dangers. Directly below Limbo is what's known as the Underside, a darkness cast by the city above where Revenants and malicious spirits linger. It appears as a dark, mirror-reversed version of Limbo, though the geography is much more twisted and confusing. If left unchecked, Revenents from the Underside would attack the town and consume any number of Spectres. It's up to the Executors to head down there and see to them! This is a general prompt for combat-oriented testing, to allow characters to experiment with their new powers as Executors! Because of that, and because combat will function slightly differently in-game, this section is pretty loosey goosey. Like previous posts, you are free to invent locations and NPC Revenants to make things more fun and exciting! Because Revenants will function in a unique way in-game, players are encouraged to invent their own Revenants to fight for this TDM. If you would like some ideas for what sort of Revenants to battle, you can check out this video to see what sort of enemies exist in the original game, but beware that it does contain spoilers for Crystar.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I don't see why not! As long as you do well and don't get in the way.

[Says the angry teenager. She looks around the expanse and starts down the closest road.]

From what I've seen so far, they'll hunt whatever they can get. Of course, with this place being such a maze, it's hard to see which way would lead them to the town.

Yup! So just gotta shoot or cut and stab all the revethingies down!

Or at least enough. There's probably too many to just get them all down, huh?

...

Also, we should probably make sure we know how to get back to town, because I'm kinda lost!

[THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN GOOD TO BRING UP EARLIER, PASCAL]

Are you serious? Come on, this way. You look like you need supervision anyway.

Eh, it's not that bad. My weapon lets me break stuff before it gets close to me, you know?

It's definitely better to run in a group, but I've practiced solo before!

And how exactly did you make it back to town?

[She starts walking up to a distorted version of the town library, eyes rolling.

Then a giant neon green and blue snake bursts out the door. She turns to attack, but her swing barely connects and it sends her flying across the street.]

Oh, I just kinda lucked on it! And noticed some markings I'd blasted into one wall early on-

[And then the door opens, and then the snake goes on the attack - Anna launched back...

... Followed by the snake getting no chance to capitalize, being launched into a different wall by a blast of energy.]

[As Anna recovers, it's obvious where the blast come from, given which end of Pascal's staff is pointed right at it, hands readied to fire again or swing the entire piece if it goes for her.]

Ya okay?!

[Anna shoots her a glare as she drags herself to her feet. Picking up her halberd again, she swings and slices into the snake, which thrashes around at the wall.]

Don't think you can win this!

[As the halberd swings into the snake, Pascal dashes in, then quickly slides to one side - giving Anna open space to keep swinging as she spins her staff and fires another blast, this one from much closer range, into the creature.]

I feel like I should know more stuff for this, but for now this is enough!

[The snake brings its head around and strikes forward. Anna jumps over it, inwardly thanking her Executor powers, and comes crashing down on it.]

That's your second mistake. Don't settle for anything!

Au, who said anything about me settling? I was going to spend a few more hours studying this when I was told to go down here, yanno!

[And as the snake missed Anna, Pascal swung the heavy end of her staff around into its back - hitting it just as Anna crashed down on it, with enough force to stun it.]

I work with what I've got, then I work to make sure I've got more later! I was going to do research into mechanized combat platforms, actually...

[No, she hasn't gotten to why they'd be a bad idea yet.]

Edited 2020-02-27 15:43 (UTC)

You should be preparing these things as early as you can!

[She smashes her axe into the snake and then holds on for dear life as it starts to jerk awake.]

Everything you set up in advance is something you can cash in on later.

You get it! I worked on this for, like, a week!

... When I wasn't doing related readings. I even set up a tent in the library, actually.

[That might be a bit too far.

On the other hand, with Anna now on the snake, Pascal can scoot around, and take a heavy swing at its head.]

Sheesh, this one's actually taking some effort!

[That hits, the snake thrashing and jittering. Anna gets thrown off but lands on her feet, and she shoots fire from her hands at it.]

It can't be long now, anyway!

Yup! Just gotta get a shot lined up aaaand-

[Boom goes the wave of energy from her staff, directly into the creature's face.]

... Yeah I think we can make this work.

[Anna shields her eyes from the blast. As the snake cries out, she plunges her axe into it again.]

It won't be long now! Let's hope the little ones haven't started gathering too.

[And as the axe goes in, Pascal swings at the creature's back, opposite the blade, to cut in deeper...

... And, apparently, finish it off.]

That one's not getting up for a few weeks.

[... A few THOUSAND weeks, but understatements are a thing.]

Good. It'll break apart soon.

[She pulls out her halberd with a scoff.]

I know it's supposedly better to learn who they are and cure them, but how are we expected to do that? We don't even know who we are.

... My first solution to not remembering who I am is, honestly? Not thinking about it too much.

[Pascal sighs.]

And you're not wrong, but when they're trying to kill us, it's sort of really hard not to fight.

Exactly. They're basically asking for it. Besides, how would we even find who they used to be?

I mean, I guess we could try to calm and ask them... If there weren't others around en masse.

Which there are.

And it isn't like we actually could. Monsters are monsters, aren't they?

Eh. Worth a shot sometime, if we're in the right position, maybe!

At this point, that's an "eventually." Come on, let's just get back to town before you get yourself lost.

... Or we could go beat up more things!

Or not.

Sure.

[She has no reason NOT to go along with this.]

You're very happy with this Executor business, aren't you?

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