The Wizard of Oz CyberPunk Redesign
Storyline
Dorothy is an orphan who is sent to live with her Aunty “Em” and her husband. However, her Aunt has fallen on hard times and their farm is taken by the bank, forcing them to move into impoverished conditions. Dorothy wants to help her family get a new home and gets the idea to compete in a gaming championship in the city, Emerald City Championships (ECC). Players compete in an intense multi-level pvp game; solving riddles, gathering clues and finding key items to move onto the next level before other players. First to beat the game wins. The winner meets the mysterious “TheWizard-of-0Z”, creator of the game and championships, who will grant you one “wish”. After creating her own persona “Kansas_Gale”, or as she is soon nicknamed “The Hurricane” for her chaos and speed in game, Dorothy first meets “Sc4recr0w”; a gamer with a reputation for his calm and deadpan nature while playing pvp horror games who wants to win to get enough money to pay tuition for his dream college. Next comes “tiNm4n”, who is competing in order to ask for the heart surgery he desperately needs. The three players finally meet a talented but clearly nervous player named simply as “theLi0n” who is known for never revealing their face on stream and has attended the championships with a large lion mask. They have a lot of self doubt about their ability to win but simply wants to be well known and beloved enough by fans that they might gain the courage needed to finally reveal their face without feeling like they would be letting people down. Despite players being discouraged from making friends with each other, the four stick together and watch each other’s backs both in game and during real life events. During a level they discover by accident that the game doesn’t need to be played as pvp and all four of them can work together in the game to win as a group.
Dorothy Gale
@Kansas_Gale
Following her Aunt and Uncle’s eviction from their farm, Dorothy runs away to enter the “Emerald City Championships” (ECC) determined to win and ask for a new home for her family. Dorothy meets several other gamers whom she befriends and together they discover that the levels, or “quests”, in the tournament doesn’t have to be played as player vs player (pvp) as they had initially been told. They band together so that all of them can win and get what their heart desires. Dorothy excels in speed and being able to catch weak points in levels or other players.
Scarecrow
@sc4recr0w
From a similar farming background as Dorothy, the only reason sc4recr0w escaped eviction was his skill in mechanics - inventing new machines to quickly plant, grow and harvest crops. His dream is to attend university but his financial situation prevents him. Skilled in problem solving and building mechanics games, he attends ECC hoping his ability to be overlooked as unskilled will help him win so he can ask the mysterious organiser “TheWizard-of-0Z” for tuition money for his dream university. He is so shocked when he discovers the skill and young age of Dorothy that he quickly takes her under his wing and protects her from other players.
Tinman
@tiNm4N
Born in the outskirts of the gaming capital, tiNm4N grew up sickly and weak and more often than not confined to bed where he spent hours playing and replaying games until he had perfected every level and found every easter egg. With the looming threat of his complex heart condition, he finally feels skilled enough to enter ECC with his desired prize being costly heart surgery. His skills lie in exp harvesting and weapons upgrades, unable to run or engage in pvp he takes the role of sniper. The oldest of his new friend group, he easily falls into the role of “the dad”; comforting Dorothy, listening to sc4recr0w’s rambles and with every task becoming closer to theLi0n.
Cowardly Lion
@theli0n
No one knows the exact identity of the new mysteriously masked player. Incially intimidating with their tall form and empty staring eyes, no one is willing to go near them until the first quest reveals the easily spooked nature of the player. Saved by Dorothy, sc4recr0w and tiNm4N from a gang of players intent on removing the player from the games, Li0n quickly falls into the group and helps them with the following quests. Despite being loyal to the group, they stubbornly refuse to answer personal questions or remove their mask. After a particularly hard quest they finally reveal that they didn’t expect to get this far in the championship, expecting that they would lose much earlier on in the game. When they are asked by 0Z what they want as their prize, they reveal their newfound courage to reveal their face to their new fanbase and ask for a sponsorship to run a platform where they can play games and talk about their experiences as a non-binary person. Despite their aversion to horror, Li0n is extremely good at pvp due to brute strength and a knowledge of strategy and potions. Is easily flustered and shy around tiNm4N.
The Wicked Witch
@w1kD_W1cH
The longest reigning champion of ECC. Well known for their vicious skills in the games and their merciless slaying of other players. In their first game they tricked other players with a soft girly voice and seemingly naive demeanor until a group took her under their wing and protected her, until the end where she betrayed them all by ruthlessly taking them out of the game. No one knows what they asked for their prize all these years. The heros are understandably nervous when they find out their last quest is to defeat her in pvp until Dorothy finds out about her past and reveals to her that all this time the game could be played in teams and didn’t need to be pvp. Shook by the revelation, W1cH has to decide whether to join Dorothy’s plan or continue her reign as ECC champion. Cynical and sarcastic, W1cH has a particular distaste for the championship’s bright pink commentator...
Henchmen
"The Coven"
Loyal followers or fans of w1kD_W1cH, named collectively as “The Coven” after the player’s gamer tag. Wear similar, if not matching, “uniforms” following the gothic witch aesthetic w1kD_W1cH often wears.
The Wizard of OZ
@TheWizard-of-0Z
The long rumoured creator of ECC, the Wizard of Oz is known only by sparse social media accounts and the floating image seen during the games to announce winners and trials. No one knows who the wizard is or what they look like. In reality, the Wizard isn’t actually a person but a carefully put together persona made by a team of workers who control everything from the social media to the carefully constructed VR “wizard”. Created specifically to push the idea of ECC being made by a mysterious but relatable everyday person with the ability to get what people want most. The wizard of Oz is the best kept secret in Emerald City, even the workers are unaware of the identity of the intern who came up with the idea who was quickly promoted to the top of the company.