Valucre
is a unique roleplay forum originally created in 2004. It boasts a global setting which has been added to, and modified, by the direct action of hundreds of players over a period spanning more than a decade. Valucre is freeform, meaning that it has no complex stat system in place to regulate the growth of your character, instead relying on an emphasis on character development and plot arcs to provide an engaging setting for the community.
The Valucre planet is made up of different continents, which house different kingdoms, and appeal to different genres of play. This allows someone that likes traditional fantasy to focus on one geographical location, while also allowing that same character to get on a ship and travel to another continent so as to explore the differences in setting and culture.
Valucre has a central timekeeping system that puts everyone on the same page, a central magic system that is kept broad so that players can use whatever type of magic they like while maintaining a common theme across the site, and provides members with a nearly endless amount of opportunity to directly influence the canon, including: large-scale events, quests of different classes and complexity, and artifacts.
Rather than having a review and approval process that provides a barrier to entry for players looking to start writing right away, Valucre does not require character sheets and does not review characters. Instead Valucre has a canon review process, where thread events need to be reviewed and approved by board leaders, and actions must fit inside of the scope of Valucre's Mild Powers, which prevents people from using over-powered characters or abilities. This gives players a lot of flexibility while still respecting the established lore.
It has since shut down since April 2021.
Valucre provides examples of:
- Academy of Adventure: There are several academies that can be found across Valucre to appeal to players who like to roleplay their characters maturing. Most notable is the Gaian Academy.
- Cosmic Horror Story: The land of Yh'mi setting induces psychological strain and paranoia on the characters that play there.
- Genius Loci: One of the in-character explanations for wildly different settings in Valucre (or at least, the continent of Terrenus) is the existence of Genius Loci.The post-Zengi age, during the Oligarchic reign, sees the genius loci understood as the basic foundation from which an area's magical rules spring, thus defining the basic means of arcane operation. Genius Loci can "onion", meaning one can exist within another and alter the rules inside of a localized area. This explains why ritual magic works better in Blairville, magitech is more functional in Hell's Gate, and neither are fully functional in the Dead Peaks. The influence is uniform from core to edge rather than attenuating at the periphery. It is not uncommon to come across references to the loci in ancient texts as "the gods of magic"
- Magitek: First created in Terrenus, this fusion of magic and technology can be found in the major continents. The presence and complexity of magitek diminishes as you go away from the major cities, and towards the smaller towns and villages
- Mechanical Lifeforms: The island of Amalia is populated by creatures that have evolved to integrate themselves with the technology that sustained the once-underwater island. Examples include quartz trees that emit light and silicon millipedes that can transfer data and transmit technological viruses.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Several types of vampires exist in Valucre. The island nation Orisia is ruled by a human-like vampire queen, the Carmine Empire considers its vampire ruler as a god, and the Terran city of Tia has a "precarious dichotomy of order and chaos between humans and vampires"
- Puppeteer Parasite: The Enrele are a jellyfish-like species of aliens parasites who came to Valucre centuries ago via a meteor. The continent of Terrenus is currently facing an epidemic
- Science Fantasy: Through shenanigans like obscuring barriers for some, and isolated but constant wars for others, the different continents on Valucre appeal to different types of play. Some areas are traditional fantasy, others are skew sci-fi; most allow cross-contamination and others have means to keep the theme of their area consistent.
