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Post by HorizonsDream on Sept 10, 2021 2:15:29 GMT -8
I haven't seen anything about a deadline, which is good because I only have some vague ideas. I probably won't get to work on it until my next weekend.
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Post by Zero Prime on Sept 10, 2021 2:34:22 GMT -8
I don't have the specifics as of yet, but I am thinking my Wizard was a noble in a magiocratic society, and that kingdom was targeted by the Mad Wyrm due to the arcane nature of the throne, and it's noble blood line. The Magus, perhaps the only surviving member of the small kingdom's nobility, would assume the throne, once his task was complete and the Wyrm banished. This weighed heavily upon him, so when he sacrificed, he gave up his future, his realms future ... his intelligence was cast into the astral plane, his body destroyed, and with it his entire bloodline. However, given his nature as a wizard, a keen mind and forceful personality, he was able to contact his betrothed, and with her help, created a vessel for his intelligence, a body built of steel, sorcery, and stone, but one that did not allow for human contact, or the continuance of his blood line. Forced to watch his kingdom crumble into civil war, forced to hold his kingdom together through arcane strength and iron will, brooking no argument from fractious noble families, he rules with an iron fist ... literally ... So I have had this idea of an arch wizard in a golem for a while ... now golems are OP as all get out, so I was hoping to use the Warforged as a stand in for a construct made, with his betrothed's help, to house his intellect, his spirit, and his arcane power ... and of course the following image is my inspiration:
Let me know if the Warforged Wizard works for you ...
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FortunatePilgrim
Apprentice
I just walked in to see what condition my condition was in.
Posts: 48
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Post by FortunatePilgrim on Sept 10, 2021 5:39:01 GMT -8
It makes sense, yes. But unfortunately it doesn't help. I was asking about parameters to help narrow down possibilities, but no parameters means infinite possibilities, so I'm back to square one. Well, I'll try and brainstorm and see if I can come up with something over the weekend. Some random ideas: Someone who seems to be a Real Hero, but whose sacrifice winds up being something petty or shallow (like a Paladin who loses their good looks) and because everyone knows the story of the Fall of the Mad Wyrm, everyone knows it. And so there's fallout. Someone whose sacrifice seems minor or miniscule, but is a big deal to them. Like maybe their dagger vanished. But the dagger was all the had left from their beloved parent who died too young, etc. And like the above, everyone knows they must have given up SOMETHING, and maybe there's odd stories about what it was. Someone who sacrificed their good name or their popularity. And when the Mad Wyrm fell and they got back out into the world, everyone thought that they had refused to offer anything. And so they're widely disliked as the "Selfish Hero." Other way around, lean all the way into the standard genre convention and make their loss very public and very visible and very clearly a Noble Sacrifice. Like, maybe they're rich and powerful and beloved, but it was their youngest daughter that got sacrificed (and, again, since in theory everyone knows this story, everyone knows they loved their daughter more than all their wealth and power). And so they're known across the whole world as the Noblest of the Noble Heroes. Which would also then be a lot to live up to. Someone who tried to put one over on Tiamat by, say, offering their spouse (when it was really their spouse's money they wanted), and when they got home their spouse knew what they had done. And divorced them or whatever. Someone who was a super evil person (warmongering conqueror, etc) but their sacrifice really took the wind out of their sails and they've been hiding for the last 15 years hoping their old life has been forgotten. Someone who had achieved enlightenment and peace and only answered the call because the whole world was suffering. And they sacrificed their Inner Peace and now they seem fine outwardly, but are angry and frustrated inside. Lean all the way into your question about failsafes. You (Daos) decide whether or not undoing the sacrifice undoes the bargain. Just pick one and build a character around that. A story about someone spending all their time and energy trying to undo a cosmic bargain (without undoing the consequence of it) is a great story, and would work well with a wide variety of character types. Lean all the way into your question about changing the world. Maybe your sacrifice did have some kind of large-scale world-altering effect. Maybe an entire benevolent church was corrupted. Or some kind of social movement disrupted. Or an entire race or nation altered. Make your character live, not just with a personal loss, but with the guilt of having cost the whole world something beautiful. I hope I didn't miss this information somewhere but.. is there a deadline for when to submit our characters? I'm really inspired by all of this but I'll be quite busy these few next days. There's no deadline posted. This is still officially a Interest Check Thread. I figured I'd see how many people are interested, and then we could work it out from there. I have had this idea of an arch wizard in a golem for a while ... now golems are OP as all get out, so I was hoping to use the Warforged as a stand in for a construct made, with his betrothed's help, to house his intellect, his spirit, and his arcane power ... Yeah, that sounds really great. I've already got lots of ideas for messing with them in-game. You could even use one or more of your Aspects to be more Golem like in whatever ways are fun. So, in for a penny, in for a pound. The setting of the game, by design, is arbitrarily large and arbitrarily diverse. I did, however, cobble together a bunch of quick-sketch random things that could be true about the setting. Have a look if you like. Anything you like, feel free to use, but none of it is canon until someone makes it so. So feel free to change or amend any of it. {Spoiler} The Land, or the Continent, or the Continent of the Speaking People: a single vast landmass that contains the Known World. It is very large, very diverse, and quite widely traveled but very poorly mapped. It as infinite or as local as we need it to be. If you want to be from somewhere in the Forgotten Realms, maybe all of Faerun is 'up north someplace.' Maybe Eberron is 'over those mountains' or the deserts of Dark Sun are 'out past Godfall.'
The Speaking People: the collective term for the many sentient races that live on the Continent, all of them winding the complex, delicate path between self-determination and community. They say if you walk far enough, you can find people doing just about anything. Maybe there are arboreal halflings who believe that touching the ground condemns their souls to torment. Or dwarves who master maths instead of crafts and build casinos instead of forges. Intelligent firebreathing lizards who worship volcanoes. Anything.
Humans: there are two common stories about the origin of humans. The first is that they were the original inhabitants of the Continent and all the other Speaking People came from 'somewhere else' much later. The second is that everyone else was here first and they came last, as an invasive or conquering species. Both stories lean heavily on the fact that humans are by far the most numerous race, and live in a far wider variety of ways in a far wider variety of environments than most of the other Speaking People; and that they are more likely to see the world and land in terms its resources rather than as something with value in its own right.
Elves: you can find all the kinds of elves on the Continent. The xenophobic isolationist kind, the happy-go-lucky forest-dancing kind, the tall stern every-word-I-say-sounds-like poetry kind, and a bunch in between. A few things are mostly true about most elves most of the time: they don't mix well with other nations, and even when they live other places, they tend to see themselves as elves first, and anything else second (if at all); they value independence and self-sufficiency and freedom from possessions more than most races, so they tend away from technology and toward magic, away from weapons and toward monastic tradition and away from large complex urban societies and toward smaller agrarian communities with little formal leadership, and their economy tends toward abstract concentrated wealth (like gems or small expensive art objects) rather than coins or barter. Some legends have elves inventing arcane magic, some have them made by magic, some have them made OF magic. Elven sorcerors tend to feel one way, and elven wizards another (and both can be VERY intense about it). They have little distinction between their divine and magical traditions and their divine and arcane schools, organizations and cosmology mix and combine in strange and complex ways.
Dwarves: there are three Great Ancient Dwarfholds: the Dwimmerluk to the north, the Fortress Lands of Khartuum to the East, and the Dungeons of Godspire right in the middle of the Continent. Dwarves leave their homelands rarely, and almost always in very small groups (individuals or small tight-knit groups, often in non-dwarf parties). Their economy is based around powerful trade guilds and their currency is a coin called a 'bhat' which represents one day of unskilled labour. Every trade has a complex set of contracts detailing precisely how many bhat their labour is worth to every other trade, and vice versa. Once every six years the entire dwarven economy shuts down for a month as every trade aggressively re-negotiates their contracts. Because dwarven money is almost literally 'unclaimed labour vouchers' wealth is seen as 'labour that's been given to society and not taken back out' and so hoarding wealth is seen as a worthwhile, almost noble pursuit. Their gods are most often seen as the enforcers of universal rules and principles (rather than their creators or originators).
Halflings: they have few lands of their own. It's more common for them to exist within larger realms, sometimes in separated, defined communities, sometimes not. Their story about themselves speaks of a utopian agrarian society they once had, quite and serene and far from the cares of the 'Big Folk' that was taken from them due to the fallout of a divine war. They say the deity responsible felt terrible about it and has taken care of them ever since. Prayer for them is more like cashing in a voucher than supplication, and their theology leans heavily on the idea of gods as basically just bigger, stronger versions of mortals. Halflings don't believe in (or claim they don't believe in) truth in the absolute sense (in their language, the word for 'lying' and 'interesting' are the same). The halfling's view of the 'self' is an endless progression of performances with no 'core' beneath. One Halfing philosopher used to say, "Who am I? Another mask, please." Halflings have a lot of stories about themselves that gleefully contradict each other and they don't see that as a problem. It's hard to pin down how much of they say is what they 'really' believe and how much is symbolic or deliberately provocative (or if they even see any difference). They frequently present as nonbinary and pansexual and non-monogamous. Scandalous stories about their 'fertility festivals' are whispered in hushed tones and clutched pearls everywhere on the Continent. Their internal economy is based entirely on favours and status among internal clan divisions that halflings take very seriously but never seem to agree on and that no outsider has ever managed to understand (there might be three, or nine, or seventeen clans, or maybe none, it depends who you ask and how you ask). In many places their lack of a cohesive national or racial identity does a weird backflip and makes them seen as politically neutral and valued as diplomats and mediators for hire. In places with a lot of halflings short people are often vaguely assumed to be smarter than tall people. Anywhere you go, "Three foot fair" is a common way to compliment someone on their objectivity, fairness, or tact and "Too tall for thinking" to condemn the opposite.
Gnomes: almost all the stories gnomes tell about themselves feature them coming to the Continent from Across the Sea, on highly advanced seagoing vessels. Their stories always feature a Golden Age of sorts where the whole world was a model of rational, logical, order and gnomes (being the smartest and the most rational) were in chanrge of everything, and wonders were produced the likes of which the world has never seen again. A lot of their frantic learning and building and inventing is fueled by the desire to recapture or reclaim this age and their place within it. There are a number of gnomish lands and they are also commonly found in other lands. Their own governments are often highly complex, highly legalistic hybrids of hereditary, elected and appointed offices. They're big on double-checks and forcing various bodies to cooperate into to get anything done. This causes endless bureaucratic gridlock in peacetime, but whenever a gnome nation is roused and united by a common enemy, the results can be terrifying. "Sleeping Gnome" or "Quiet Gnome" is a byword for a nearby lurking threat almost everywhere. And 'The gnomes were fighting" is a common way to express just barely avoiding some misfortune.
Dragonborn: gregarious, charismatic, well-liked, known for their fierce morals, and cursed/blessed with endless wanderlust, the dragonborn were once welcomed everywhere they went. But then a dragon almost destroyed the whole world. Always rare, dragonborn sightings are almost unheard of. And they are now often hated and driven out of civilized lands. The only Speaking People that treat them well are the halflings and the orcs.
Orcs (and/or Half-Orcs): Orcs are quite numerous on the Continent, and live both in their own nations, and within other nations as well. They tell two main stories about themselves: either they once ruled all the land and it was taken from them OR they once ruled all the land and they gave it all up to be free. Most places you go, orcs live two kinds of ways: out in the wilds in loosely organized nomadic groups ('Plains Orcs'); or in highly regimented militaristic communities ('War Orcs'). A lot places will have both kinds of orcs in close proximity, and they develop complex and nuanced traditions that support moving from one way to life to the other (and retaining status and position in both). Orcs often develop one specialized skill for use on the plains and then another for life in town and they tend to be talented at picking up languages. It is common to describe polymaths and polyglots all around the world as being 'Orcish' or having 'Orc Sense.'
The Donshen Empire: an expansionist people who absorb other, smaller realms (often through diplomacy) and then tax them and improve them and mostly leave them be. They've been expanding and contracting all across the 'centre' of the Continent for as long as anyone can remember and are seen as a bit of a force of nature. It was them that Khresh was fighting with when the Mad Wyrm was summoned. Pre-Wyrm they actually had a very good reputation (aside from the rampant imperialism). They tried to give their states as much self-rule as they could, and tried to improve living conditions anywhere they ruled. Post-Wrym, they kind of ran out of goodwill and their story has changed from 'benevolent overlords' to 'tyrannical conquerors' and the whole empire is a mess now of states in some phase of revolt.
Khresh: a feudal magocracy. The realm is divided into fiefs, but lordship of those fiefs is decided by performance on standardized tests rather than heredity. The High Senate of the Grand College runs the tests. "Human" in Khresh is defined by 'speech, reason, and memory' and every person in the nation, from the richest to the poorest, takes a test at five years old to determine if they are 'human' or not. Non-humans are shuffled into what amounts to lifelong slavery. They have no Sorcerous tradition. Even the tiniest hint of Sorcerous ability is ruthlessly rooted out and eliminated.
Lhune: a large thickly forested region that, for reasons unknown, has a whole lot of ghosts and a whole lot of ancient ruins. There was once some kind of very advanced society that lived here, but it has long faded from memory. There are a few small communities of Speaking People living in Lhune (elves, humans and gnolls mostly), and a few larger communities around the border, all of whom have very strong divine traditions and a lot of culutral capital spend on dealing with spirits. It is believed that one can contact any spirit in Lhune if you know the right ritual, so it is a bit of a mecca for the kind of person who would want to talk to a ghost.
New Haarin: tucked into a very fertile delta surrounded on three sides by mountains, they've had centuries of good relations with the Dwarves of Khartuum. They have all kinds of magitech and their craft goods fetch high prices everywhere. "Haarin-sound" or "Safe as Haarin" are common expressions when describing craftsmanship or fortifications.
Old Sumarra: the oldest realm of the Continent. Even the oldest surviving records talk about Sumarra as an ancient realm with thousands of years of history. The nobility are all a little crazy from inbreeding, and just looking at a noble is punishable by blinding a lot of places. By ancient tradition, every word the Emperor of Sumarra speaks is immediately law, so there's a whole ton of rules surrounding how to deal with that. The Emperor is surrounded by an order of Clerics who gain their power by the reverence for the Emperor as an Ideal. The Emperor sits on the Throne of Thorns an wears the Rose Crown. It is common to swear oaths 'By Thorn and Rose' almost anywhere on the Continent.
Gran: a perilous mountainous region far to the north and west. Ruled over by powerful, oppressive, warring Sorceror Kings for millennia, they have little contact with the rest of the world. The Kings are often served by the Witches of Myr as advisors and seers. The Myrians are a politically savvy, magically talented group of druids and warlocks. They rarely leave Gran but are highly valued for their skills when they do.
Far Miraas: a kingdom nestled against the mountains of Khartuum and the Clean Sea. Aside from a few trading ports, it is a mostly closed society. Miraas is divided into a dizzying array of iron-clad castes that are assigned by birth and control almost every trade and activity. One of the odd offshoots of this system is that people who can talk a good game can travel a few miles and do very well for themselves. There's a small but thriving black market in various ways to cheat the caste system (fake caste-tattoos, accent lessons, secret travel routes). The main exports of Far Miraas are tapestries, a highly prized wood that makes excellent boats called Blosswood, and liars.
Godfall Valley: said to have been formed by the corpse of a god falling from the sky, this is a long, deep, wide valley containing a vast desert. Home to a large number of desert societies with rich traditions of sorcerors and warlocks, as well as the Twin Nations of Mercadia - one of the largest and most complex orcish societies.
World's End: a loose confederation of city states in the far north, beyond the Dwimmerluk. Originally composed of political exiles from Donshen, self-exiled Dwarves from the Dwimmerluk, and native clans of gnolls, it has become a powerful hub of trade due to sea routes along its coast. They call everything sounth 'The Summerlands.' Home to one of the very, very few dwarven nations outside the Dwarfhlolds.
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Post by Igordragonian on Sept 10, 2021 6:27:53 GMT -8
It look very exciting! I hope I will be allowed to join! So many options!
for epic levels I imagine a cleric, a "saint", maybe the sacrfaice was.. all of his followers?
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FortunatePilgrim
Apprentice
I just walked in to see what condition my condition was in.
Posts: 48
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Post by FortunatePilgrim on Sept 10, 2021 8:24:55 GMT -8
for epic levels I imagine a cleric, a "saint", maybe the sacrfaice was.. all of his followers? Yeah that could work. Think about what, exactly, the character loves about their followers? Is it the power? The prestige? The change to help others? The feeling of doing good in the world? Try to drill down exactly what it is that they 'love most' and then think what it would look like if that were taken away.
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Post by Daos on Sept 10, 2021 13:05:33 GMT -8
All I have so far are the beginnings of a couple of ideas:
A person who founded and built up a nation that is a great place to live--virtually no crime, everyone is happy and healthy, no inequality or systemic injustice--basically an utopia. But he's utterly miserable because of his sacrifice (not sure what it is yet, though). So you have this irony of having the guy in charge of heaven on earth being the one person who is unhappy.
The other idea was a cult leader who started with a handful of fervent followers, and now runs a full blown religion that spans the globe. But he doesn't actually believe any of the stuff he preaches, he's a con-artist and a hypocrite who just wanted to manipulate others, and now he finds himself the head of a massive faith and doesn't want that level of responsibility.
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Post by HorizonsDream on Sept 10, 2021 20:51:14 GMT -8
So I narrowed it down to playing a human barbarian. Um, you said we can pick out stats from 3 to 18, so what is stopping us from giving our characters 18s down the line?
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Post by Igordragonian on Sept 11, 2021 15:06:55 GMT -8
Two ideas have popped in my head-not entirly original, I guess,but I think it can be intresting-
A Dwarf cleric inspired by Thorin of Tolkien: His tribe/nation were banished from their kingdom by a dragon/something big and scary.
With faith in god and his people, he has defeated the evil, and revived the kingdom, maybe as their High Priest, or even king. He love his people. On famililal scale. The IDEA of the nation/tribe.
Maybe more cruel fate, would be that only the people he has loved personaly have sacrificed, few have remained, who is either disliked for some reason, or simply didn't knew well enough.
A patriarch of a revived nation.. losing this nation for loving it.
---- Second idea, he, or maybe she, inspired by Drizzt but take the redemption to the next level and become a missionary,a drow redeeming his(or her? Not sure) city. Maybe the redemption is what taken away?
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Matt4
Paragon
Posts: 3,540
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Post by Matt4 on Sept 11, 2021 18:16:14 GMT -8
Holy High Priestess of the Order of the Newborn Light Monk of the Way of Mercy / Way of the Open Hand - lvl 20 | Elevator Pitch: 15 years ago, Sister Mary was the second in command of a newly formed monastic Order. She and her partner, the great Paladin Alpheus de Villeneuve, founded the order after Mary gave birth to their son, Selvathor, since the previous order she was a part of didn't allow its member to beget progeny. When the couple was faced with Tiamat request, they had to sacrifice their most precious possesion: their child and their love. After the mission, Alpheus disappeared, while Mary returned to the Monastery, where she became known as Mother Magdala. If Sister Mary was known for her warm smile and her words pleasant enough to persuade a God, Mother Magdala got the reputation of a bitter woman, whose heart grew heavier and colder the more time passed. Consumed by envy and regret, a small sparkle lightened when once again she was summoned in the presence of the Mad Wyrm. Someone had found the body. Maybe this time she would have had the chance of doing what she failed to do 15 years prior: protecting her child. |
So, I can't sleep tonight so I thought I could as well start putting down some of the ideas that are twirling in my mind. 1a.) Sister Mary was a powerful fighter and a renowed healer, but she wasn't called for those abilities alone. The main selling point behind her calling were her diplomatic skills. Many nobles had used her services before, in fact the word was that no lie could be pronounced in her presence, no language was unknown to her, and no hear or heart was too hard to resist her pleads. Her duty was to mediate with Tiamat, if the Company was to be successful in summoning her. 1b.) "Your child for my child" was the request of the Queens of Dragons. A seemingly simple, if very much cruel, request, it actually had many ramifications. Tiamat made in fact clear that she had no intention of killing the child, but she wanted to foster him and let him grow to be one of her own lieutenant, as reparation for the loss of the Wyrm. Eventually, this also caused Mary and Alpheus not to be able to stand to look at each other anymore. They both saw in their lover face traits that reminded them of their lost child. - 2) Not only that, but her newly found duty as High Priestess of the Order also became a curse for her. After she was banished by her former order, both her and her partner decided to found another one that specifically allowed religious people to have children and build their own families, in addition of being an orphanage for lost children. This meant that Mary had to endure years of witnessing parents having the chance to nurture their own children and love each other, while her own family was shattered forever. 3) As I already said, Alpheus, the former partner of Mary, didn't answer to the summon. She hadn't heard a word about him since the day they returned home. He was a Paladin of renowed strenght and devotion, but he seemed to have disappeared since that cursed negotiation. Other than the pain she felt every time she looked at his face, Mary also felt anger toward him for his inability to stand at her side and help her deal with their loss, and guilt because she was also unable to tend to his pain as well. She is as much relieved not seeing him there, as sorrowful that she didn't get a chance of seeing him again now that she thought there was a chance of redeeming what they had done. 4) Now that world knew the fact the she was the one that convinced Tiamat to even agree to have that kind of negotiation (*if the others are okay with this), her monastery had many benefactors that tried to gain her alliance through their large donations. She traveled the world, trying to run from the pain, dealing with almost every community on the Continent, meeting new people and forging partnerships. All this fame, renown, and founds that allowed her monastery to prosper, were rendered bitter by the fact that Mary had no one close anymore to share this joy with.
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Matt4
Paragon
Posts: 3,540
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Post by Matt4 on Sept 11, 2021 18:23:07 GMT -8
For now I focused on the narrative part. As you can see there are no reference to race, ability scores, or other stuff, and even the subclasses may change. Before going forward I wanted to know if these magic items are okay with you (hoping that I understood correctly how the trading mechanism worked), they should all be from official material: Legendary: Gloves of Soul CatchingVery Rare: Tome of Understanding -> can I keep it or I have to trade it if I want the +2 to be effective? Rare: Bracers of DefenseUncommon: Winged BootsUncommon: Insigna of Claws
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FortunatePilgrim
Apprentice
I just walked in to see what condition my condition was in.
Posts: 48
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Post by FortunatePilgrim on Sept 11, 2021 18:36:58 GMT -8
All I have so far are the beginnings of a couple of ideas: A person who founded and built up a nation that is a great place to live--virtually no crime, everyone is happy and healthy, no inequality or systemic injustice--basically an utopia. But he's utterly miserable because of his sacrifice (not sure what it is yet, though). So you have this irony of having the guy in charge of heaven on earth being the one person who is unhappy. I like the irony of everyone being happy and him being sad, for sure. Let's put aside the utopia for a moment, and what if maybe the Mad Wyrm was headed to his realm when he got the call, and when the Company lured her away it was his realm she was just about to destroy? And maybe his sacrifice is something that seems small and unimportant to everyone else (even invisible) but is super important to him? And so, when he gets back, his realm is intact and operational (unlike the rest of the world) and becomes super rich and powerful in the 15 years that follow because they survived the Scourge? And everyone is happy about it, and thinks he is too, but he's just imploding and completely dead inside? He doesn't even need to have founded or built this place for this to work. He could be like the Hand of the King or similar. And it doesn't need to be a utopia for it work, either, just a good place run by good people. A place that was worth preserving. The other idea was a cult leader who started with a handful of fervent followers, and now runs a full blown religion that spans the globe. But he doesn't actually believe any of the stuff he preaches, he's a con-artist and a hypocrite who just wanted to manipulate others, and now he finds himself the head of a massive faith and doesn't want that level of responsibility. Hm. I'd need to hear some more about this one before I have any commentary on it. So I narrowed it down to playing a human barbarian. Um, you said we can pick out stats from 3 to 18, so what is stopping us from giving our characters 18s down the line? Nothing at all, in theory. The intention is that you decide what sort of character you want to play and then choose attributes that match the concept. But if you want to tell me a story about someone who is the best there is at everything (and what impact that has had on their life), I'll listen. From a metagame perspective, multiple high attributes doesn't really mess with the underlying math of the game. So I'd rather everyone have numbers they enjoy. Two ideas have popped in my head-not entirly original, I guess,but I think it can be intresting- A Dwarf cleric inspired by Thorin of Tolkien: His tribe/nation were banished from their kingdom by a dragon/something big and scary. With faith in god and his people, he has defeated the evil, and revived the kingdom, maybe as their High Priest, or even king. He love his people. On famililal scale. The IDEA of the nation/tribe. Maybe more cruel fate, would be that only the people he has loved personaly have sacrificed, few have remained, who is either disliked for some reason, or simply didn't knew well enough. A patriarch of a revived nation.. losing this nation for loving it. ---- Second idea, he, or maybe she, inspired by Drizzt but take the redemption to the next level and become a missionary,a drow redeeming his(or her? Not sure) city. Maybe the redemption is what taken away? Originality us highly overrated in my opinion. Sometimes a classic is a classic for a reason! I like the idea of someone re-founding or reviving an ancient homeland, only to have it taken from them after they did everything they could to save it. Do you think they came back to their homeland and it was gone? Or they came back and it wasn't theirs anymore? What if the thing they loved most was how the people in their homeland were "Real Dwarves" (whatever that means for them). It wasn't so much they revived a place, but revived a way of life? And then they come back and the people are different, the Culture they loved and were so proud of was gone? Second one is good too. And you could even combine them a little, thematically. If your character was dismayed at how their people/race/clan/family was perceived in an area, and worked hard to revive a land where the people there were the best versions of themselves. And in so doing saved the reputation/image of their people. And then that's what gets taken away. So everyone thinks dwarves are just cranky greedy wealth hoarders but your character proves they're hard working and honourable. Or the Drow shows people that the Dark Elves aren't dark, just misunderstood, and rebuilds an ancient Drow stronghold and starts doing good. Then Wyrm. Then sacrifice. And then it's all just poo.
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Post by HorizonsDream on Sept 11, 2021 19:48:23 GMT -8
I think I'll focus on the narrative of my character first. I want to flesh her out as much as possible so that when I start playing her I really have a firm grasp on her.
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Post by Igordragonian on Sept 11, 2021 22:46:01 GMT -8
Oh! It does inspiring.
Fot dwarf king guy, it does give me... somber tolkenist pain of nostalgia:
He remember the dwarf kingdom in it's former glory and culture as a child. As a refuge he always lunged for it to get back. And he did with a sheer power of faith in god and his people! But the wyrm took the "soul" of his people away. Dwarves forge every art with perfectioniat ideals, materials. Dwarves used to MOURN if for example their hammer has been broken
But he return home, to see that greed and all the dwarven vices he tried to subdue are possesing them- doing craft cheaply and quickly, just to do more, and to sell more. friendly bickering have turned into bloody feuds.Now he is truly the lone surviver of the dwarf kingdom... by the way, are nordic gods allowed, or are we using the "standard" pantheon only?
---
Similiar story for the drow missionary. Not the people themselves have been hurt.. but their souls. Ideals. everything the hero stood for.
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FortunatePilgrim
Apprentice
I just walked in to see what condition my condition was in.
Posts: 48
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Post by FortunatePilgrim on Sept 13, 2021 4:44:25 GMT -8
Mother Mary Magdala, Holy High Priestess of the Order of the Newborn Light I like Mother Mary a lot. I think it's a great concept. I had/have a whole thing in the backstory about the person who's job it was to actually negotiate with Tiamat, so if you want to be that person, that's excellent and dovetails well with the story. The Gloves of Soul Catching are fine. I'm not sure whether they should be able to be activated more than once a turn. It depends a little bit on how strong the rest of the party is. So, as long as you're okay if I decide they're once per turn, it's fine. You know, I completely forgot that the Tomes increase the max of the attribute as well? So, I'm going to delete that option from the game ad, and you can just take a Tome, and it works the way it normally would. Everything else is good so far. I think I'll focus on the narrative of my character first. I want to flesh her out as much as possible so that when I start playing her I really have a firm grasp on her. My very strong recommendation is to start with the questions in the Application, and very little else (if anything else). We're going to talk about your character quite a bit before we start. I like to workshop them and discuss them in some detail, so I guarantee you will know them very well before we write a single IC post. And I've found that the workshopping process goes better if the player hasn't already made all the decisions for their character before we start (because then we're filling a blank canvas rather than painting over something). Does that make sense? Oh! It does inspiring. [...] But he return home, to see that greed and all the dwarven vices he tried to subdue are possesing them- doing craft cheaply and quickly, just to do more, and to sell more. friendly bickering have turned into bloody feuds.Now he is truly the lone surviver of the dwarf kingdom... If you wanted to dial the conflict and misery up another notch, maybe he came home and everyone was the same but all the people around them had changed their opinions. So the dwarves are still doing the work, but all they get in return is scorn and hatred. Which might make your character feel even worse. by the way, are nordic gods allowed, or are we using the "standard" pantheon only? You're welcome to use any pantheon you like. If you read the 'Token' system rules, the game rewards you for adding things from your background to the world.
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Matt4
Paragon
Posts: 3,540
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Post by Matt4 on Sept 13, 2021 17:18:12 GMT -8
Mother Mary Magdala, Holy High Priestess of the Order of the Newborn Light I like Mother Mary a lot. I think it's a great concept. I had/have a whole thing in the backstory about the person who's job it was to actually negotiate with Tiamat, so if you want to be that person, that's excellent and dovetails well with the story. The Gloves of Soul Catching are fine. I'm not sure whether they should be able to be activated more than once a turn. It depends a little bit on how strong the rest of the party is. So, as long as you're okay if I decide they're once per turn, it's fine. You know, I completely forgot that the Tomes increase the max of the attribute as well? So, I'm going to delete that option from the game ad, and you can just take a Tome, and it works the way it normally would. Everything else is good so far. I'm really glad you like her! Obviously, it's still a work in progress concept, so if you have any suggestion of your own, especially since you already had ideas for the role of the negotiator...Feel free to pitch them in! And I'd be fine with the modification to the Gloves, if you were to rule that way.
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