History of the Digital Heaven RPG
by Yasuragi Hotarubi, the GM
The Digital Heaven RPG began in September 2001 as an outlet for the various ideas I had in mind. At that point, I had been in the Forgotten Crests RPG
for about four months playing the child of peace Yasuragi Hotarubi. FC was my first RPG ever, and I loved every moment of being a part of it. Towards the end of the summer, I started imagining other ideas for Hotarubi, none of which I could really use in Forgotten Crests since I didn't feel that they really fit in with the character of the RPG. It wasn't that I didn't appreciate the RPG. I just did not feel that some the ideas I had in mind were really going to work in it. As I talked these over with a close friend, she encouraged me to start up my own RPG, and I, being the good friend I was, begged her be my co-GM. And, so, we began the first season of the Digital Heaven RPG in September 2001.Actually, at that point, I had no intent of doing a whole lot with the RPG. Most of my ideas focused on romance, mostly a Romeo and Juliet romance between Hotarubi and Shinka, my co-GM's character. For the most part, I didn't know what else to do, and I looked to FC for my inspiration. Much of what happened in FC inspired what happened in DH, and there were some clear parallels between the two RPGs. So, to the GM of FC Yume Ryuu, thank you for being such a wonderful GM and for inspiring me during my first year as a GM.
The first season started slow, gaining each new member slowly. I submitted the website for the RPG to various anime websites, such as anipike
and animenation. It wasn't until February 2002 that we had a good number of players and were really moving along. By the end of the RPG, it was clear that the little fledgling RPG was breathing its own life and would not be stopping for some time.I continued to run the RPG through the end of summer 2005, at the end of the fourth season. I had begun running out of ideas to further the overarching storyline that had emerged over the course of the RPG. During seasons 2 and 3, a new generation of characters emerged, and I began using ideas that I had created during season 1. With some inspiration from the anime series Utena (and begging from a good number of the players), season 4 began to take shape along with a way to bring the entire RPG to a close.
I brought the RPG to its end in August 2005. College and life was taking up more of my time, and the players were becoming more busy. I also was running low on new ideas to inspire anymore seasons of the RPG.
DH has been an amazing experience all on its own. I miss every moment of writing and creating with the players of the RPG, and maybe one of these days, I will be inspired to bring back DH in a new incarnation of some sort. Thank you to all the players and readers for their support.