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Quite possibly the largest and most important mechanic in Raise the Earth, Echoes are the way characters regain abilities, items, and memories from their past selves. There are some limitations to how Echoes work, and some game information that might be handy to have, so this page will be all about Echoes and how they work. If you are requesting Echoes for a character, you’re in the wrong place - look here instead.
There are two main ways characters gain Echoes: recurrence and plot. The former is easier to explain, and always available: something happens to a character that calls back to their past life. It can be as mundane or as complicated as the situation warrants: seeing a particular sword the character’s past self was familiar with, or happening to be shot in exactly the right place, or even getting in a particular argument. These Echoes will always return something related to the trigger: the sword might return its brother blade, being shot might return some kind of regeneration ability, the argument might make a character spontaneously respond with a line from their past life.
The more complex and specific the recurrence is, the stronger the Echo. Echoes currently come in two tiers. Tier 1 Echoes turn loose a single memory, item, or power, and there’s a certain limit on how much can be returned. A short conversation, a signature phrase, a mundane object (or a magical one stripped of its power), an artifact unknown by anyone in the present age, a minor defiance of physics or reality. Tier 2 Echoes have more power, and can return something bigger, or can return two things. A passionate speech, many voices raised together, a significant object, a notable amount of power. If a Tier 1 Echo isn’t big enough to give something back, a Tier 2 might be enough. A given character can only have one Tier 2 Echo per month, unless a free Tier 2 Echo is given by the plot.
Plot Echoes are given by things with connections to the Earth Entity that gives characters their power. Many of these are beings or circumstances that are direct manifestations of the Earth’s collective will: the doppelgangers of Numbered created by Silent Swan, the mysterious wolpertinger, vermini and their larger cousins, and so on. But there may be other, less-obvious conditions that also grant Echoes. As a general rule, you'll be kept aware of what Echo opportunities will be available through plot posts at regular intervals. We'll let you know what chances and events are coming up, what kinds of characters will be affected, and what the rewards are.
Echoes are meant to give a character a connection to their past self, which means they can't give information about reincarnates themselves - a character won't just see the reincarnation of their original's best friend and immediately know who they are. But clues, like names and appearances, can help with that part. Items and powers can also go a long way. This can even allow characters that knew each other in their past lives to trigger Echoes repeatedly as they exchange knowledge.
Echoes a character already has can't trigger new Echoes by themselves. A character looking at his Echoed sword won't suddenly know its name out of nowhere - that has to come from some other place. Fur exception to this rule is if another character is familiar with an item someone else has, they can get Echoes to recognize it. However, in general, a given thing can only trigger a single Echo.
Certain Echoes are too large for this system to truly apply. One is special forms a character can take (or things that work similarly, like giant mecha) that might have multiple effects or sets of equipment. As a general rule, a Tier 2 Echo is needed for something complex like that, and only the base set of powers is returned. Special properties of the form, or things like spells and weapons, need to come in future Echoes, though the order is up to you, so long as all prerequisites are met for everything given.
And some specific Echoes are even larger. This category is reserved for huge, setting-establishing things that may not even necessarily belong to a single character. The first game included things like an Orbital Elevator (Mobile Suit Gundam 00) and the Heart Tree (Heartcatch Precure), massive objects that are important to how the setting works, and may have powers or additional useful items inside of their own (the Orbital Elevator, for example, had working mobile suits stationed). These items will need to be run past us before you even put in for them; they might need a particularly powerful plot Echo, or an annoyingly specific recurrence. However, we can help provide ways to make sure you get where you’re trying to go, so if you’ve got an idea, let us know!
Some Echoes can create secondary characters; examples are familiars in magical canons, or beloved pets. These characters will always start mundane, if they have special powers at all, and will recover additional powers by sharing their owner’s Echoes - that is, if the reincarnate would gain Echoes, they can shunt those Echoes over to give their secondary character an Echo instead. The reincarnate will still feel the sensation of an Echo, though. Note that characters made in this way are reincarnates in their own right; they need Echoes to get back the memories and powers of their old forms, and will only start with whatever memories (and properties) their mundane form had before it became special. Secondary characters with sentience can access the network; they share the Number of their owner. If a secondary character gains a fair amount of personality from Echoes and starts to take on a life of their own, we might ask you to submit a retroactive combo app, or consider splitting the second character off for someone else to play. Please detail pets and other secondary characters in your character’s info post!
Comments are disabled on this post - if you have questions, ask on the FAQ so we can make sure everyone sees them.
There are two main ways characters gain Echoes: recurrence and plot. The former is easier to explain, and always available: something happens to a character that calls back to their past life. It can be as mundane or as complicated as the situation warrants: seeing a particular sword the character’s past self was familiar with, or happening to be shot in exactly the right place, or even getting in a particular argument. These Echoes will always return something related to the trigger: the sword might return its brother blade, being shot might return some kind of regeneration ability, the argument might make a character spontaneously respond with a line from their past life.
The more complex and specific the recurrence is, the stronger the Echo. Echoes currently come in two tiers. Tier 1 Echoes turn loose a single memory, item, or power, and there’s a certain limit on how much can be returned. A short conversation, a signature phrase, a mundane object (or a magical one stripped of its power), an artifact unknown by anyone in the present age, a minor defiance of physics or reality. Tier 2 Echoes have more power, and can return something bigger, or can return two things. A passionate speech, many voices raised together, a significant object, a notable amount of power. If a Tier 1 Echo isn’t big enough to give something back, a Tier 2 might be enough. A given character can only have one Tier 2 Echo per month, unless a free Tier 2 Echo is given by the plot.
Plot Echoes are given by things with connections to the Earth Entity that gives characters their power. Many of these are beings or circumstances that are direct manifestations of the Earth’s collective will: the doppelgangers of Numbered created by Silent Swan, the mysterious wolpertinger, vermini and their larger cousins, and so on. But there may be other, less-obvious conditions that also grant Echoes. As a general rule, you'll be kept aware of what Echo opportunities will be available through plot posts at regular intervals. We'll let you know what chances and events are coming up, what kinds of characters will be affected, and what the rewards are.
Echoes are meant to give a character a connection to their past self, which means they can't give information about reincarnates themselves - a character won't just see the reincarnation of their original's best friend and immediately know who they are. But clues, like names and appearances, can help with that part. Items and powers can also go a long way. This can even allow characters that knew each other in their past lives to trigger Echoes repeatedly as they exchange knowledge.
Echoes a character already has can't trigger new Echoes by themselves. A character looking at his Echoed sword won't suddenly know its name out of nowhere - that has to come from some other place. Fur exception to this rule is if another character is familiar with an item someone else has, they can get Echoes to recognize it. However, in general, a given thing can only trigger a single Echo.
Certain Echoes are too large for this system to truly apply. One is special forms a character can take (or things that work similarly, like giant mecha) that might have multiple effects or sets of equipment. As a general rule, a Tier 2 Echo is needed for something complex like that, and only the base set of powers is returned. Special properties of the form, or things like spells and weapons, need to come in future Echoes, though the order is up to you, so long as all prerequisites are met for everything given.
And some specific Echoes are even larger. This category is reserved for huge, setting-establishing things that may not even necessarily belong to a single character. The first game included things like an Orbital Elevator (Mobile Suit Gundam 00) and the Heart Tree (Heartcatch Precure), massive objects that are important to how the setting works, and may have powers or additional useful items inside of their own (the Orbital Elevator, for example, had working mobile suits stationed). These items will need to be run past us before you even put in for them; they might need a particularly powerful plot Echo, or an annoyingly specific recurrence. However, we can help provide ways to make sure you get where you’re trying to go, so if you’ve got an idea, let us know!
Some Echoes can create secondary characters; examples are familiars in magical canons, or beloved pets. These characters will always start mundane, if they have special powers at all, and will recover additional powers by sharing their owner’s Echoes - that is, if the reincarnate would gain Echoes, they can shunt those Echoes over to give their secondary character an Echo instead. The reincarnate will still feel the sensation of an Echo, though. Note that characters made in this way are reincarnates in their own right; they need Echoes to get back the memories and powers of their old forms, and will only start with whatever memories (and properties) their mundane form had before it became special. Secondary characters with sentience can access the network; they share the Number of their owner. If a secondary character gains a fair amount of personality from Echoes and starts to take on a life of their own, we might ask you to submit a retroactive combo app, or consider splitting the second character off for someone else to play. Please detail pets and other secondary characters in your character’s info post!
Comments are disabled on this post - if you have questions, ask on the FAQ so we can make sure everyone sees them.