Open Blue

A Forum Roleplay set in a Low Fantasy world similar to Earth, during a period roughly mirroring the Golden Age of Piracy. The RP is centred on a Caribbean-ish locale known as Arckenia, specifically a small if important region known as the "Allison Sector". In case you were wondering, it's about Pirates. Open Blue underwent a lot of resets during its extensive history.

After a lot of trouble best not mentioned, the RP now seems to be going back to its roots and focusing on what worked best. It is now seeking to expand its player base.

There are five playable factions in Open Blue. Three of them are naval forces, once members of a multinational entity known as the Axifloan Coalition, but seceded from it thanks to politics and general hatred for each other. This eventually resulted in a war that culminated in a massive naval battle known as the Disaster of Nations. Said battle was aptly disastrous, and left the three of them with only a fraction of their original naval strength.


 * El Reino de Avelia - Simply put, Great Britain with a distinctly Spanish character. Brute Force/Spammer Faction. Normally has a big chunk of Arckenia in its grasp like Spain, and has multiple minorities. Is beginning to enter a state of decay. Source of many a hero and villain alike. The Disaster of Nations embarrassed its unhinged king into hiding from the rest of the outside world in the safety of his chambers, allowing the de facto rulers, the Lords of Aguabajo, to step out and make their unofficial rule official. Wear blue. Their ships tend to be Mighty Glacier Galleons.
 * Das Reich Sireners - Based on Imperial Germany. Elitist/Research Faction. Normally has a smaller chunk of Arckenia in its grasp. Avelia's hated rival. Contrasts with Avelia's much larger numbers with fewer soldiers armed with Anachronism Stew weapons that are up to fifty years ahead of their real world equivalents. The Disaster of Nations triggered a revolution that ousted the monarchy and installed a Directory ala the French First Republic. Their ships tend to be Mario Frigates and Ships of the Line.
 * Het Groot Hertogdom van Remillia - A combination of the Netherlands and France. Normally controls strategic locations on trade routes in Arckenia. Ranger/Espionage Faction. Got dragged into Avelia and Sirene's rivalry, turning the war into a three-way affair. After the Disaster of Nations, their Cosmopolitan Council kicked out the incumbent head of state and replaced him with a new one. Majority of its military consists of the private forces of the country's two biggest rival Mega Corps. Relies on fast ships, imported weapons from all over the place, and its nebulous network of spies and assassins to survive. Wear white or green, depending on the company. Their ships tend to be Fragile Speedster Schooners and Race-Built Frigates.
 * Pirates - Self Explanatory. Rape, pillage, plunder, and... stuff. Divided amongst various Pirate Lords (and Ladies), who act in the interests of Captain Roberto, the Pirate King. After the Disaster of Nations, the pirates, once always on the run from the Coalition, have made a big comeback and are bringing in a new reign of terror on the waterways of Arckenia. Since pirates have no uniform, they wear whatever the heck they want, and use whatever ships they can get their dirty hands on.
 * Privateers - Essentially the mercenaries of the sea, or even more simply, Pirates for Hire. They go around plundering the colonies belonging to the enemies of their employer government, and get a commission of the loot for their services. In the wake of the Disaster of Nations, however, people are starting to hire them for colonial defence as well... and are quickly running out of money to pay for their services.

NPC Factions:
 * Imperium Iormuneae - Based on Ancient Rome, with heavy Norse references. Long-gone by the time Avelia rose to power, this ancient civilization with ancient technological and mystical wisdom was completely destroyed by barbarian hordes over twelve hundred years ago. Makes for interesting things like a Temple of Doom, Artifact of Doom, Ancient Conspiracy, and other things.
 * Coalitio Axiflonis - Based on the Holy Roman Empire. Now but a shadow of its original self, due to the Big Three seceding from it, the Coalition is nevertheless the largest multinational power in the world. Thanks to a bulk of its military forces having come from the Big Three, however, its strength has been greatly reduced, and it now relies on the West Arckenia Trading Company's security forces to fight its battles. Wear black.
 * Imperiya Plyemyon Yamana - Fusion of the Russian and Ottoman Empires. A vast nation of barbarians that at one point invaded Avelia, but were driven back by the latter's superior tactics. Have since remained contained in their present territory, falling victim to internal corruption and decay. As the biggest remaining member of the Coalition, most Yamanis can be found on the WATC's ships.

An adaptation of the previous continuities into a novel is in the works and can be found in the Darth Wiki section, along with old characters and the tropes associated with them.

The forum can be found here. Their prequel campaign, Mini-Blue, is presently on hiatus, pending the return of some players. Meanwhile, the main RP is presently running.

Open Blue contains examples of:


 * All There in the Manual - The Worldbook
 * Badass - The mysterious Remillian Engelmacht ("Angel Force").
 * Bling of War - Everybody who can afford/is assigned to wear it, justified by the time period.
 * Blog - The Powers That Be started one here.
 * The Captain - Any character who commands a ship.
 * Captain Ersatz - At present, the worst offender would have to be Jerkass Sea God "Kukulu".
 * Child Soldiers - Sirenians enrol at military academies or sign up for boot camp at the age of 12.
 * The Church - The Avelian Universal Church. Comes complete with a protestant reform, along with its own...
 * Church Militant - In the form of the three Inquisitional Orders of Saint Lennox, Saint Clara, and Saint Micaela.
 * Co-Dragons - The Nine Pirate Lords to King Roberto. Although one can argue bumping them straight up to Big Bad Ensemble, given how Roberto has been missing for the past century and a half.
 * Continuity Reboot - Five in total, with two spin-offs(in the loosest interpretation of the word). You could say Open Blue has had some activity problems.
 * Cool Ship - If your character doesn't have one, you're doing something wrong.
 * Crossover Cosmology - An in-universe example. All the deities in the verse's religions exist... and they don't really pay attention, instead of acting like a bunch of frat boys.
 * Devil in Disguise: Mr. Anon is a case where the name isn't quite obvious. Indeed, it doesn't even seem to mean anything, and isn't even shorthand for Anonymous. The clue for Genre Savvy RPers, however, are his catchphrases, tendency to ask people to guess his name, and favorite activity of making deals with people.
 * Dramatic Wind - The Powers That Be seem to oblige to this whenever the timing is right for any character wearing something that can billow.
 * Eldritch Abomination - Parodied by Kukulu, a Super Deformed Cthulhu who loves drinking parties and armwrestling... using his tentacles.
 * Elite Mooks - Sirenen Sturmtruppen. Though officially a Praetorian Guard, the Avelian Black Guard are used as special forces on occasion.
 * The Empire - Avelia, which is slowly becoming a Vestigial Empire. Sirene also counts, but it has a more prominent theme.
 * Eyepatch of Power - With the number of pirates around, it would make sense that this shows up occasionally.
 * The Federation - The Axifloan Coalition in its glory days.
 * Flynning - Naturally. This IS a pirate RP after all...
 * Good Republic Evil Empire - Averted. Avelia and Sirene have committed some of their own serious atrocities, regardless of their form of government. Though in Sirene's case, it's only been a republic for three months.
 * Gratuitous Dutch - Dutch Remillians. Particularly gratuitous with the "Engelmacht".
 * Gratuitous French - Remillian characters from the French side.
 * Gratuitous German - Sirenian characters are prone to this, for obvious reasons.
 * Gratuitous Latin - The Coalition and Iormunean Empire.
 * Gratuitous Spanish - Avelian characters are equally guilty.
 * Hegemonic Empire - The Backstory pins the Big Three as having become hegemonic empires during the era of the Coalition, during which they converted many of the smaller member countries into vassal, satellite, and puppet states.
 * The Kingdom - Avelia is a Kingdom In Name Only. A straighter (though not quite) example is Axiflos, the small but powerful neutral city-state that runs the Coalition.
 * King of All Cosmos - Zod, who spends his time drinking and arm wrestling with Kukulu.
 * Lost Technology - Similar to the real life example, a fictional version of Wootz Steel was manufactured for Avelia by the "Manusian Raj" until ore supplies ran out. A more fictional variation is the score of techniques used in forging Jormunicum, which suffered the same fate as Wootz Steel forging.
 * Lovable Rogue - Quite a few pirates tend to fall in this category, though opinions may differ.
 * Mega Corp - Remillia is divided into two of these, the Dutch-ish Machtgeld Corporation and the French-ish La Connaissance Trinite. The Coalition has the West Arckenia Trading Company, which continues to exist in the Coalition Remnant.
 * Mythology Gag - The "An-Kuram" Tribe, who worship the "Mad God Eh'lyy" refer to two names used by a now-inactive member of the RP who liked thinking of Crazy Awesome ideas.
 * Naughty Tentacles - Parodied with references to "Bantacle Rape" that Kukulu dishes out to rule breakers.
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse - Sirene, relatively speaking, compared to Avelia. A more objective example would be Axiflos.
 * Pirates Uh... duh?
 * The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything - King Roberto is more or less Orcus On His Throne.
 * Powers That Be - Zod, Kukulu, Iormuna, etc. They're all a silly bunch who love to drink and arm-wrestle and fart hurricanes (ok, that one's Zod).
 * The administration refers to itself as this.
 * Praetorian Guard - The Avelian Guardia Nero Real, and the Sirenian Regiment der Gardes du Corps.
 * Proud Warrior Race - Sirene. Everybody (save the people who become scientists) undergoes military training and is required to serve a minimum of four years. Princes and Princesses are required to be able to effectively lead armies and/or fleets into battle by the age of twenty. Ironically, many of them also have a penchant for learning. The ones who like that better are sent to become part of the Proud Scholar Caste instead. Needless to say, whatever research they come up with ends up being used for war.
 * Running Gag - The guides repeatedly use "Street Urchin" as a hypothetical character class (and occasionally "Farm Boy"). As icing on the cake, if you choose 'Other' as your character type, your starting rank will be "Street Urchin".
 * Series Mascot - Kukulu is the forum favicon, and can be seen on any promotional pictures they have.
 * Shout Out - Many a reference to Pirates of the Caribbean (which the whole RP was originally based off of), Halo, Horatio Hornblower, Warhammer 40 K, and others.
 * The Port Allison Fact Page refers to a nearby island allegedly haunted by a devil that leaves "blood found drawn on the nearest wall in a ⊗ shape above a bowl of animal organs arranged in a similar pattern".
 * Spot of Tea - Quite a few characters enjoy it, actually.
 * Those Wacky Sirenians - Sirene is basically Nazi Germany, using British uniforms and technology.
 * Unobtainium - Jormunicum, weapons made of which are capable of piercing the best plate armour even at the thickest points. It's also so corrosion proof that it's possible to smelt down Jormunicum weapons over 12 centuries old and forge them into new ones. Also, almost none of it is left. Wootz Steel, of course.
 * Vestigial Empire - Yaman, the Coalition
 * Wooden Ships and Iron Men - Uh, yeah? Pirate RP?
 * World Building - is heavily encouraged.
 * Wretched Hive - Cofressa.
 * You Know the One -, They Who Must Not Be Named, banned by the administration for being such... odd... Game Breakers. One of the rules explicitly states that they should not be named while in-character (or out of it, for the matter). This is parodied in-universe by turning their name into a Scottish Trope. They've recently been added to the Worldbook as a Mythology Gag, which states they are extinct in the wild, with the only known surviving specimens being kept in an aquarium at the University of Axiflos.