Free-Form RPG Discussion Thread

[tamrend]

I'm blocked on both of my writing projects and finding myself spending far too much of my time playing Starcraft instead of writing. Also, given the general unliveliness of this forum following the last two crashes (except for Neoplatonic--damn man, you rock!), it'd be nice to have something in here people might actually want to check on a daily basis.

The "RPG" has been tried on many occasions here, with varied results. I have witnessed two common outcomes to these endeavors. One is that two or more players will have a heated disagreement and fracture the party. The other is that time or interest begins to wane for the GM. Players hang on for a time, hopeful, but the game never recovers its momentum.

I propose something simpler, based upon my experiences at another online community. There, it was called "talking in character", the main divergence from classic RPGs being that there is no such thing as a game master and that the emphasis is even more on style and character interaction than forum RPGs. This has elements of a "round robin" story, but writers are generally limited to posting the actions only of characters they create.

Writers are not restricted to posting a single character and can even have basically adversarial characters. This works because other writers get to interact and intervene with those characters, becoming threads in a greater overall story. This also tends to be self-limiting, because a writer with too many characters will begin to tire of updating them.

There are a few rules to keep in mind:

Rule #1 Death of a character can only come with the consent of the controlling player.
This is not a contest of skill. Characters can and will die (and might be resurrected), but only if both attacker and victim have agreed upon it. This can be tacit, or planned out via PM. Good writers will use a character's death to add drama and advance the plot. If you aren't comfortable with that, don't bother posting. Boot up Diablo II instead.

Rule #2 You cannot control the actions of another player's character.
There are exceptions to this, but as for the rule on death, consent must be given. I've known players to loan their character to another writer for a time, or submit to mind-control.

Rule #3 Your writing must be intelligible and formatted.
No l33t speak. A few errors are to be expected, but use spell-check if people start to complain. Hit Enter twice to indicate paragraph breaks.

Rule #4 Writing compentency determines your character's allowable power and influence on the world.
The last point is a little harder to define. Basically it amounts to the fact that experienced writers are better suited for guiding plotlines. If you are a mediocre writer, this is your chance to learn, but kindly keep to the sidelines where the major story arcs are concerned. Don't bull in and screw up someone else's meticulous work with a few lines of text. You will be rebuffed and/or ignored.

Rule #5 NPCs are fair game--within reason.
An NPC is a character created but not specifically controlled by a player/writer. One common NPC type is a guard or sentry. Another is a military force under the command of a single player character. NPCs can be killed off singly with virtual impunity, in small groups if warranted, in the hundreds or thousands if the originating player is in agreement.

I know it sounds a little strange and unmanageable, but it worked, and it was often a joy to behold what would come of the collected effort of dozens of authors. Battles were fought. Characters lived and died. Nations fell. It got me writing at a time when I thought I had no ideas worthy of sharing. My screen name, by the way, was one of my characters, a powerful water elementalist whose growth was frozen at the age of twelve by a curse.

In any case, I thought it might be fun to give it a try here. There would be no signups, but I'd want a few people to agree on a setting and a premise. It doesn't have to be epic. It doesn't even have to be Diablo-related. Literally anything will do.

If no one likes the idea, no big deal. I'm sure I'll be writing again in a few days.

[Snowglare]

I like it. It's an excellent idea.

[Ian4602]

I like it. It's an excellent idea.

Me too - I think it could be really good...
And hopefully it might help unblock the Key, too, for you ;)
-Ian

[Mercenary]

Sounds fantastic. Lets get the ball rolling immediately so it doesn't lose momentum. The setting is a standard world in the medieval time period. All is fair game except time-travel to other eras/anything to do with space. If there is consensus among the players that a writer should cease to be a part of the collective then it will be so. Start writing immediately and post it in this thread. Talk on aim as well. Oh yeah and no IC/OOC bullshlt. If you can't tell the difference from context and tone you don't belong here anyways. Try to keep chatter in this thread to a minimum, though.

[tamrend]

There's something else I just remembered. We should decide whether we prefer first person or third person and present tense or past tense. I prefer third person past tense.

[SomeCanadianGuy]

There's something else I just remembered. We should decide whether we prefer first person or third person and present tense or past tense. I prefer third person past tense.
I second that. Third person past tense is somewhat of a standard in fantasy writing, from what I've seen in most books. That, and I find it to be much easier to write than the first person present. It allows a much better flow to the story and keeps one from getting muttled up trying to decide how to bounce around time. There's present, past and future in the present tense, whereas the past deals mainly in the past (meaning, in this case, the present would be past and the past would also be past...).

Who else thinks third person past tense is the way to go?

[Mercenary]

First person past tense.

[kidonfire]

Sounds like a great idea. I was thinking that this was sort of like a RPG, until I read the character tamrend, the "powerful water elementalist whose growth was frozen at the age of twelve by a curse." Then I saw the potential for tons of characters and storylines and read the thread again. Sounds good. Good luck.

[tamrend]

Alright, someone else cast a vote via chat for first person. I suppose either one is fine. Just make it clear which character it is if you're writing first person. Maybe put the name at the top of the post, like a title.

[proudfoot]

I'll do it. Third person past tense. I see you made a thread, so that's good.

I think someone should back up all the text every once in a while. I could do it and host it on my (writing) website if you want. Whadday'all think?

Edit: Is it ok if I make up a fantasy creature/character for it? Like one that is only semi-humanish? :)

[Snowglare]

Humanoids are fine with me, though right now I don't plan on using them. Just going to make human characters, I think.

[tamrend]

I'll do it. Third person past tense. I see you made a thread, so that's good.
Right. Go ahead and post into that thread. What you write doesn't have to relate directly to my post. It just has to be in the same world. The world will be created more or less as we go. Merc has posited, and I agree, that technology should be limited to medieval, 14th century, no gunpowder.

I think someone should back up all the text every once in a while. I could do it and host it on my (writing) website if you want. Whadday'all think?
Good idea. Make sure to send me a PM with the URL for your website.

Edit: Is it ok if I make up a fantasy creature/character for it? Like one that is only semi-humanish? :)
I don't have a problem with that. Just no elves, please.

[proudfoot]

Good idea. Make sure to send me a PM with the URL for your website.

I don't have a problem with that. Just no elves, please.
It won't be an elf, for sure. Elves will never be as cool as LotR made them.
PM sent shortly.

Edit: Your inbow is full. Maybe you need to clear Sent Messages or something. We're only allowed to store 5 now. :(

[tamrend]

All clear now. Sheesh, only five messages. That's almost as stingy as I am! When I get some money, I better donate something to the site.

Edit: Or not. My PM box is empty but I'm still getting emails telling me your messages won't go through. Maybe try again tomorrow?

And how the HELL did you get over 5,000 posts so quickly?

[Jazzmosis]

I'm in - I love that kind of stuff.

Also tamrend - check your "sent messages" folder - they fill up inbox space as well.. just clear that out and you should have the space needed.

[proudfoot]

Um, Druid Forum? Yeah, I post a ton there. :innocent:

I think I'm going to introduce two characters, but don't worry, one won't last long.

[Mercenary]

We should use this thread as the "Free form RPG Discussion thread" Snow plz change the title :D.

Surreal aim me bro we should do some char coordination.

[Snowglare]

"Snow plz change the title"

If it's ok with Tamrend, I'd be happy to make the change. Good idea.

[Unvision]

...Long story short, it turned out that all the cupcakes had to be sent back to be sorted by flavor.

Hey kids.

I propose we change the title to "The Best Damn Idea For an RPG on These Forums Ever."

[tamrend]

"Snow plz change the title"

If it's ok with Tamrend, I'd be happy to make the change. Good idea.

Autobots...transform!

The title, that is.

And I meant Snowglare, though it would be kinda cool if he turned out to be an autobot.

[proudfoot]

Just thought I'd mention that if anyone wants to join the brewing Sanglorian Ascension Tournament that's fine, but they won't make the finals, because I have an important plot key to turn at that point between Tristan and Uharo.

:) Ok?


Edit: Great reading so far everyone! :)

[Snowglare]

"Rule #2 You cannot control the actions of another player's character.
There are exceptions to this, but as for the rule on death, consent must be given. I've known players to loan their character to another writer for a time, or submit to mind-control."

That means you, Jazzmosis. You may not include any of my characters in your posts without consulting me first. Our characters are not in the same forest. Even if they were, your character would not happen upon my character right after the end of my last post. You may PM me a revised post and I will replace the old post with it. Otherwise, I will simply remove it.

On another note, Doran will not be visiting Sangloria. He's allergic. Trust me. Ya'll have fun.

[tamrend]

Good point, Snow, but for one caveat.

If you really need to be left alone for another post or two, you should probably post it here. Interaction is part of the game, and unless stated otherwise, you should not be averse to someone happening upon you at any time.

On the other hand, try to be sensitive to a building plot point. And, most importantly of all, don't post another character's reaction. Jazz, your post would have been acceptable if he had seen Snow's character, walked up, said "Hello?" and ended there. I know you were trying to establish WHO was there by giving his name, but you'll just have to make that clear some other way. Either describe the character or simply write it out out of character. I would suggest putting OOC notes in bold text to separate them.

[Mercenary]

Tamrend: I would suggest putting OOC notes in bold text to separate them.

-.-...

[tamrend]

What?

The message you entered is too short. Please lengthen it to at least ten characters.

[tamrend]

Oh, I see. *reads Merc's post above*

Well, try to keep the OOC BS to a minimum at any rate. Maybe post your explanation in here. Good?

[Snowglare]

"Interaction is part of the game, and unless stated otherwise, you should not be averse to someone happening upon you at any time."

Well, I have now stated otherwise. I don't think it's an unreasonable request. I'm easy to get in touch with, via PM, aim, this thread, or some other avenue. If you're going to run into one of my characters, let me know ahead of time, and try to have a good excuse.

Zul and I discussed tying our characters together before he posted. I'm not averse to interacting. I'm averse to people ripping off my character concept, then trying to interact with my character because he "has something in common with him". There's coincidence, and then there's contrivance. I hate contrivance. Daron has but one shadow that will ever be near him.

[Jazzmosis]

Okay, it's not a big deal - I'll rewrite it.

In my own defense, I never intended for Frailyn to hang around or even have something in common - my character was just a loner who lost everything - hated man but at the same time yearned for human contact after being alone for so long - he heard a noise he identified as human (you'll notice I never specifically said what noise he heard, he just heard a familiar noise that wasn't an animal)

As for the "in common" aspect, that was purely meant to be coincidence - after all, all he knew was that he was weeping, which my character had done earlier. He doesn't know why, nor does he care. He doesn't intend to stay long.

Either way, I'll rewrite the post so Doran and Frailyn never meet.

My writing is very dialogue driven, so I have to have interactions between characters to go places. On the other forum I frequent, which is dedicated to this stuff, we're more accustomed to putting another member's character in a place without reacting for them. (Ie: physically pushing them into a situation, or addressing them with an introduction - which is what I did with Doran) I guess that's just a small difference in these boards - no big deal, I'll adjust.

Also, I find it extremely difficult to interact without knowing a bio of a used character or at least some background information - Ie age, physical appearance. How can my character describe how another character looks when I don't know myself?

Finally, Frailyn isn't anywhere near Sangloria.. he may be at one point, but for now he's just lost in the forest. (And the villians Mercenary described - are they the thugs I pointed out earlier?) I fail to see how this entire story will work if there's not a central theme that we all know, or at the least a plotline we can generally follow. From what I've gathered so far, there's a scattering of characters and only a few of them have any knowledge or what's going on - did I miss something, or am I correct that so far nobody knows where (if anywhere) this story is going? Because, and no offense intended, this will be a very bad story if everyone goes off and does their own thing - something's got to link them together, otherwise it'll fall apart. Something we should all know from the beginning (Ie: the tournament maybe? I don't know, but I'd like to know where I can go from without straying off).

I'm done my rant for now.

[Snowglare]

"Also, I find it extremely difficult to interact without knowing a bio of a used character or at least some background information - Ie age, physical appearance. How can my character describe how another character looks when I don't know myself?"

That's an excellent point. Udorim is working on a guide to the RPG, which will contain information on characters, cities, and so on. Everyone is welcome to post a description of their character, as well as any other pertinent information, in this thread. Once the guide is ready, they'll be added to it.

"I fail to see how this entire story will work if there's not a central theme that we all know, or at the least a plotline we can generally follow."

As I understand it, the plot will be shaped as we go. That doesn't mean we can't discuss it, but the last thing we want to do is stop to let the plot catch up with us. There have been hints already, and more will be revealed in time.

Edit: Character Description

Doran is lanky, has a scruffy beard and mussed-up black hair cut short of his neck. The only other distinguishing marks he has are assorted scars on his body. Nothing major, and nothing you're likely to notice while he's clothed. Just your typical battle scarring. He's not particularly handsome, but his face isn't offputting either. He's in his twenties, so no gray is yet creeping into his mane. If anything's going to make him memorable, it'll be his personality and his deeds.

Doran has no magical aptitude whatsoever. He wields a long sword, which he carries with him at all times. He is currently dressed in traveling clothes; breeches, tunic, cloak, boots, and undergarments. He has only boiled leather armor, being deathly afraid of drowning under the weight of mail. His skin is a healthy color, a sign that he spends much time outdoors, and he appears to be of Anglo-Saxon descent (read: white, but not pale).

It may not be necessary to say this, but please don't just copy my words when describing my character. Tell me how your character sees Doran, not how I see him. I'll see if I can't make that easier with future posts.

[tamrend]

Hope you didn't take offense, Snow. I just didn't want people to get the impression that spontaneity is forbidden. When possible, try to write your way into and out of situations. When not possible, or when another's writing would greatly detract from your story, an upfront post to the point is appropriate. Too many vetos, though, will quickly kill this endeavor. Best to communicate. If you can't get on AIM (*points to self as shining example of this*), use that built-in PM feature!

And yes, the story is going to develop as we go, but communication is key to formulating the ideas to make it happen.

[Unvision]

And yes, the story is going to develop as we go, but communication is key to formulating the ideas to make it happen.
Which reminds me, not all of you know me anymore. You can get my AIM from Snowglare, Mercenary or Zulehan, among others. I'd rather not post it here.

Just to explain what Merc and I are doing a bit: he'll be continuously writing his character, and I'll be writing for various characters that will debut as NPCs in his posts. We'll go from there. In case anyone hadn't figured it out, we're in Sangloria where the Seccession Tournament is happening.

[Zulehan]

Okay, character description, fair enough.

Samuval is somewhat tall, youthful looking, even charismatic. Looks somewhere in mid 20's. Good weight, not too thin; somewhat athletic, but not a warrior. Short-cropped blonde hair. Dresses fairly well and keeps himself looking clean and fresh, for business' sake. Right now, he's at the church, being taken care of by nurses, after a fight with quite a few guards; thus, he is still wearing his now dusty breeches, but otherwise, his ribcage is wrapped in some bandages, as well as some around his head.

Sam doesn't have too much direction yet. He's at the church in Heighton, a town no one else is anywhere near yet, except Doran. If anyone wants to interact with him, or maybe work with me on some kind of future interactions, I'm easy to get ahold of and talk to. I'm always on AIM, my screenname being Zulehan of course, or you can PM me here.

Besides his ties with Doran, I only have one thing planned, and that likely won't interfere with anything anyone wants to plan with me. No problem there. I wouldn't mind trying to work out some kind of interaction.

EDIT: Also, I would like to get together with Udorim, on the cities and characters. I would like to draw a map and get it up soon; it'd be a mighty helpful clarification tool. Plus, I love fantasy cartography.

[Khalic]

My project is officially delayed, and I'll be posting something here sometime.

[Unvision]

My project is officially delayed, and I'll be posting something here sometime.

Which brings me to my next point, MEETING AT 12:00 PM Eastern, or 9:00 Pacific. If you aren't there, you're kicked out.

No, not really.

[Zulehan]

THAT'S NOW, FLOWER CHILDREN. Please come to AIM land.

[tamrend]

Curses! Bill Gates, you are a soul-sucking demon.

Three and a half frigging hours trying to get Windows 98 working again for a client made me miss the AIM meeting. At least I have the satisfaction of knowing that Windows will be wiped clean from the hard drive until I return to their house tomorrow to reinstall the damn thing.

I'll be on this morning, 8 am Pacific.

[Snowglare]

"I'll be on this morning, 8 am Pacific."

I'll be asleep then, sorry.

[tamrend]

And here's my character description.

Ariana looks to be in her mid to late twenties. She has very long golden-blond hair that she customarily wears in a long, thick braid. She has a wiry, athletic build and very pretty, delicate facial features. Her eye color is cobalt blue. Her height is just over average for a woman.

People who have met her often describe Ariana as intense and focused one moment and distant the next. She generally keeps to herself and makes few if any friends. You get the sense of a keen intellect when she speaks, which is quite rare. She doesn't laugh at jokes and just shrugs her shoulders at threats or insults.

[Jazzmosis]

Which brings me to my next point, MEETING AT 12:00 PM Eastern, or 9:00 Pacific. If you aren't there, you're kicked out.

No, not really.

Next time, say 12:00AM if it's midnight - I was up then, but because you said PM (Noon) I assumed it was in an hour or so.

Hopefully we'll have more meetings? Ones I can actually attend?

[Unvision]

Next time, say 12:00AM if it's midnight - I was up then, but because you said PM (Noon) I assumed it was in an hour or so.

Hopefully we'll have more meetings? Ones I can actually attend?

First, yeah, sorry about that. I get confused sometimes with that whole AM/PM thing. More importantly... I was just trying to help because SOMEONE *cough Tamrend cough* seems incapable of meeting at a sane time or even communicating when that time would be, sane or not.

Oh wait... I'm awake... it's 8:00 and no one's on anyway.

Sorry about that though.

[tamrend]

Sane? Sanity is the one thing that's almost as sorely lacking as time for me.

[Unvision]

Sane? Sanity is the one thing that's almost as sorely lacking as time for me.

Yeah. Don't take it too harshly. But I think you knew that.

Anyway... for the rest of you (who are apparently veritably swimming in time) there seem to be a large number of us on, by coincidence, between 6 and 9 Pacific. If you're on then, you'll probably find at least a couple others. Then you can make a chat and waste time talking about totally unrelated subjects. Deal? Good.

[Üdorim]

Yeah. Don't take it too harshly. But I think you knew that.

Anyway... for the rest of you (who are apparently veritably swimming in time) there seem to be a large number of us on, by coincidence, between 6 and 9 Pacific. If you're on then, you'll probably find at least a couple others. Then you can make a chat and waste time talking about totally unrelated subjects. Deal? Good.

Oh no, I'm definitely not timely swimming in veritable. Except for today. I guess.

Anyway, my point is, I'd like to summarize the background of our world and everyone's characters, and I am in fact going to, however there's a few things that need to be worked out first. Before I can write up a synopsis for each city and before Zulehan can put that city on the map, we need to know its name. I may not be looking hard enough, but I didn't see a single city or town name when I was looking through the posts for one. Which leads me to the bigger picture.

What is our world called?

I mean, it might not matter; I'm not entirely sure. But it's probably not earth. Or middle-earth, or ravenloft, or the alpha-quadrant. We may just want to leave it as earth, or we may not even want to deal with it at the moment. However if it's going to be called Free-Form (as it currently is) we may as well make the name formal with a vote.

So I'm not sure of the best way to do this, but we'll collect ideas/nomations before we do any voting or anything. Either PM me or post your suggestion here for a world name. And then PM/AIM the name of your city/current location (this includes the name of forests, if they have one) to Zulehan and myself.

I expect I should have somewhat of a working background thread posted by the end of the day.

p.s. oh, and this is all assuming Tamrend gives the thumbs up.
p.p.s. my vote is alpha-quadrant.

oh, and thankyou for the character synopses..sis...synpos...plural... for those of you who wrote them. Every character will have their own section in the background guide for just that sort of thing. It's not required and doesn't have to be done anytime soon, but it's useful for all the other writers.

[Mercenary]

The world should just be called Earth. We don't have to imply that it is the same Earth on which we are living, but I like to be able to use phrases such as "the trembling earth" so I want the name to remain the same.

[Jazzmosis]

Frailyn bio:

At 29 years old, Frailyn has become a lost wanderer, tortured by loniliness and the memory of his murdered wife. He's an average height, with an average build, albeit slightly muscular. He would like to be clean shaven, although currently he has a scruff of a goatee and chinstraps. His head hair is a long, thick brown, which match his eyes. Frailyn wears typical clothes, although after nearly a year of wearing them, they are tattered from catching branches. He carries an old sword that he found, and is skilled with a bow and arrow although he doesn't carry one. His skin colour is a deeply tanned white (a result of a year in the open).

[Zulehan]

Okay, we're getting a bit confused right now.


Originally posted by Merc
The sky seemed to grow darker with each passing day even though the season was tending more toward Spring than Fall.

Originally posted by Markle a couple posts later
Another short summer was coming to an end, evidenced by the abrupt blast of icy wind that drove Fe Sera yet closer to her fire.

Please tell me we're not going to be on different hemispheres, and that this was just a little seasonal muckup.

Also, if you feel pressured to come up with a name for wherever you're at or wherever you come from, I've got plenty in my head. And, let me know if you need the city you're in to be part of another region, or if you need it to be in its own, or something.

It would be preferable, when discussing mappage, to reach me on AIM--again, my screenname is Zulehan. This way, if there are any conflicts with your location, we can sort it out. Speaking of conflicts, please be accomidating, but give me at least a few details. This map stuff is pretty crazy.

[proudfoot]

Sangloria is a country, at least, named after the family name of its rulers. Not sure what the capital city is, but several people seem to be heading to it, so...

I don't think I'll synopsize my characters. I prefer to reveal them through their actions and my writing. I'll try to describe them both soon.

Tournament info:

The Prince gets a bye to the final. The rest of the matches go by head-to-head eliminations until only one remains, then he fights the Prince.
Victory does not require the death of a participant, but killing is not against the rules. Submission results in a loss as well, so they can give up without dying.

The top 4 winners, not including the Prince, get positions of nobility, forgiveness of past debts, etc etc, maybe a cash prize.


Maybe that will make it all clear and organized.

[Unvision]

Tournament info:

The Prince gets a bye to the final. The rest of the matches go by head-to-head eliminations until only one remains, then he fights the Prince.
Victory does not require the death of a participant, but killing is not against the rules. Submission results in a loss as well, so they can give up without dying.

The top 4 winners, not including the Prince, get positions of nobility, forgiveness of past debts, etc etc, maybe a cash prize.


Maybe that will make it all clear and organized.

Glad my stuff lines up with yours. I'll be in the tournament, by the way.

[Zulehan]

Finally, here is the RPG map.

High quality version - 322kb (http://mywebpage.netscape.com/Zulehan/truerpgmaphigh.jpg)
Low quality version - 50kb (http://mywebpage.netscape.com/Zulehan/truerpgmaplow.jpg)

I can edit the names of things, but any other modification will probably be too much trouble. If you're unhappy with it, I've given ample time for suggestions, so deal with it, please.

Any questions, just ask.

[Mercenary]

vicious small map. -.-0 Good design, though. word, word, word

[proudfoot]

Mercenary, I don't want to hold you back or anything, but you're setting up your characters to be insanely powerful. Either reveal some pretty significant weaknesses sometime soon, or do something else to hold them back.

The Tournament storyline will culminate in Uharo achieving the final against the Prince; that is predetermined, and I apologize. But look at him. Without some kind of magic how is he supposed to defeat a seasoned warrior that is "damn near invincible" and imbued with the power of "one of the mightiest sorcerors in the land"?

I'm sure I'll develop a secret power of some kind or another for Uharo soon, but I don't want to be a copout and have him rely on a magical weapon or a sorceror's power as well.




Oh, Zulehan: You rock!!! I think we should develop some way to have a running record of where all the different characters are, if possible. Maybe host a listing somewhere, along with the map and a compendium of world knowledge and lore.

[Mercenary]

A few things. First of all, yes my characters are powerful, but consider also that they are diametrically opposed to each other and are specifically after each other. Consider also that tamrend (whose character is also insanely powerful) will be fighting with one of my characters. Uharo doesn't have to fight William. What if the tournament brackets were set up in such a fashion that Uharo got to the final without ever facing William and William faced the prince in the semi's (and was thusly paid off and left with a smile).

Powergaming is thx.

[Unvision]

Map is teh thanx Zool.

[tamrend]

Consider also that tamrend (whose character is also insanely powerful) will be fighting with one of my characters.

Speaking of which, I'm finally free from the curse of the computer from hell. I tracked it to a bad power supply, a problem that is often armed with a cloaking device. This means I have time to write again.

Ariana is insanely powerful, and the reason for that will be made apparent soon. Keep in mind, Proudfoot, that we're not going after ownage. Merc is a good writer. I trust he has something very interesting in mind for the tourney.

[Zulehan]

How do you mean that it's small, Merc?

If you mean the size of the map itself, that's just cause it's a pain to make a huge map.

If you mean the size of the continent (it's about the size of Europe if anyone is wondering), and how the nations seem "cramped" onto this continent, that's for a number of reasons.
Real nations--at least, those of the Old World style we're going for--are like that. Look at Europe.
I wanted people to be able to get where they're going without a week at sea, or a month on horseback. As it is, it'll still take days.
This leaves room for lands not yet explored, or determined by us. We have a vast ocean of resource, literally, to pull from, if we need a character or item to be from "a far away land" or something.

By the way, I'll make a list of where everyone is soon. I have to go.

[proudfoot]

The Prince gets a bye to the final, didn't I post that somewhere? I'll make it more clear somehow in his next segment. I don't want to post much for him, since he doesn't have much to do until he fights, to be honest.

So we'll have to talk out some other way for it all to work out.

[Zulehan]

Here we go.

Tamrend's character Ariana is in Runath, the capital of Votennagrad.
Mercenary's character Victor is in Tellur, the capital of Sangloria.
Mercenary's other character Duncan is in Tyrran, the capital of Tyrran.
Proudfoot's character Tristan Sangloria is also in Tellur.
Proudfoot's other character Uharo is also in Tellur.
Snowglare's character Doran is a bit north of Heighton, a city in Sylvenia
Zulehan's character Samuval is in Breymond, a city in Sylvenia.
Udorim's character Mayanna Twelvetree is also in Tellur.
Unvision's bartender guy is also in Tellur.
Unvision's character William is ALSO in Tellur. Damn, that city's packed.
Markle's character Fe Sera is near Ohol Peak, a city in Votennagrad.

[Jazzmosis]

Here we go.

Tamrend's character Ariana is in Runath, the capital of Votennagrad.
Mercenary's character Victor is in Tellur, the capital of Sangloria.
Mercenary's other character Duncan is in Tyrran, the capital of Tyrran.
Proudfoot's character Tristan Sangloria is also in Tellur.
Proudfoot's other character Uharo is also in Tellur.
Snowglare's character Doran is a bit north of Heighton, a city in Sylvenia
Zulehan's character Samuval is in Breymond, a city in Sylvenia.
Udorim's character Mayanna Twelvetree is also in Tellur.
Unvision's bartender guy is also in Tellur.
Unvision's character William is ALSO in Tellur. Damn, that city's packed.
Markle's character Fe Sera is near Ohol Peak, a city in Votennagrad.

So what, my character Frailyn doesn't exist anymore?

[Zulehan]

Sorry about that. But now I've talked to you on AIM and gotten it sorted out.

I think I'll post this list again and again every once in a while, and then mark the changes in red. That should be enough.


Tamrend's character Ariana is in Runath, the capital of Votennagrad.
Mercenary's character Victor is in Tellur, the capital of Sangloria.
Mercenary's other character Duncan is in Tyrran, the capital of Tyrran.
Jazzmosis' character Frailyn is in a forest north of Kalagost, a city in Votennagrad.
Proudfoot's character Tristan Sangloria is in Tellur.
Proudfoot's other character Uharo is in Tellur.
Snowglare's character Doran is a bit north of Heighton, a city in Sylvenia
Zulehan's character Samuval is in Breymond, a city in Sylvenia.
Udorim's character Mayanna Twelvetree is in Tellur.
Unvision's bartender guy is in Tellur.
Unvision's character William is in Tellur.
Markle's character Fe Sera is near Ohol Peak, a city in Votennagrad.

[Zulehan]

Made some changes to the map: changed the name of Sylvane (formerly Sylvenia), and changed the name of its capital, Silverhold (formerly Sylven City). Also, made the mountains more mountainy, made the city markers less lumpy, and made places of interest markers as squares to differentiate them from city markers, which are circles.

High quality version - 322kb (http://mywebpage.netscape.com/Zulehan/truerpgmaphigh1.jpg)
Low quality version - 50kb (http://mywebpage.netscape.com/Zulehan/truerpgmaplow1.jpg)

I have also updated the character location list to reflect this, and other recent developments.

Tamrend's character Ariana is north of Kalagost, a city in Votennagrad.
Mercenary's character Victor is in Tellur, the capital of Sangloria.
Mercenary's other character Duncan is in Tyrran, the capital of Tyrran.
Jazzmosis' character Frailyn is north of Kalagost.
Proudfoot's character Tristan Sangloria is in Tellur.
Proudfoot's other character Uharo is in Tellur.
Snowglare's character Doran is a bit north of Heighton, a city in Sylvane.
Zulehan's character Samuval is in Breymond, a city in Sylvane.
Udorim's character Mayanna Twelvetree is in Tellur.
Unvision's bartender guy is in Tellur.
Unvision's character William is in Tellur.
Markle's character Fe Sera is near Ohol Peak, in Votennagrad.

EDIT: I think I'll use green. Red looks like links.

[Zulehan]

Wait a minute. I have an issue or two with this most recent post of Merc's.

This is a few years after some vaguely alluded Religious Wars, right? This soon after a war, how would such a group of archers march all the way across Sangloria and that far into Votennagrad without any obstacles or diplomatic damage?

And I'm sure that long of a march through probably still hostile lands would be pretty risky. So why did the usurper king Duncan go? And what the hell is he doing so far away from a throne that was just recently acquired through hostilities? That's a dumb move.

Powergaming = nothxplzkkbai.

[Mercenary]

Prepare to be gg'ed and tt'ed zule.

1) Ariana had been travelling inexorably west, towards Tyrran. It is then established that Frailyn was the one doing the longest distance of traveling in order to meet with her.

2) The Religious Wars were between the Determinists and the Universalists...in Tyrran. The warfare spread to other countries as well as those nation's churches polarized along Deteriminist or Universalist lines, but there was never any country to country conflict. They were more civil war style than anything else.

3) Duncan holds absolute power over the throne of Tyrran. The nobles are loyal to him, if you will recall Victor's first post I made it clear that he had a huge amount of support in terms of troops and public opinion. People just don't like dark wizards or their fathers who try to put them on the throne. They DO like instruments of god in the form of a Religious War Hero.

4) Why would Duncan go and capture this woman? Because God told him to. Capturing her and using her against Victor is the only way to secure his throne--as Victor is still the legitimate King of Tyrran.

5) These troops are the best of the best, they could very easily travel unseen through the countryside of any nation. Consider also that they have God aiding them and speeding their way.

Powergaming is kthxggbai.

[Zulehan]

We started talking on AIM about this, but blah, I gotta go.

But there's still the issue of your having too much power in the RPG.

Someone else take this discussion up?

[proudfoot]

Um, my objection to this would be controlling other player's characters. Filling them with arrows, tying them up, and defining their history all in one post, without allowing them room to respond very freely, not to mention making them speak, is just going too far in my opinion. And controlling an entire squad of men is a huge power trip.

I think you should back off, sorry.

And also back down on the God storyline. I'm probably the only one, but dictating God, even in fiction, is very narrowly offensive. Whether you intend it or not, you are writing about modern-day religions and worldviews when you bring God into it. Maybe you could invent your own god? Make up a custom name? The god of XXX?

Just my opinion on that, thanks.

[Mercenary]

Its a fkn story mate don't take religious offense to the use of God in a story. And for all you know it could be a figment of Duncan's imagination. But anyways, on it being offensive, you are ridiculous and a hypocrite. Christianity acknowledges in many instances God having spoken to people. You have the writers of the bible (or is that just with the Q'uran?), Moses, Joan of Arc (They cannonized her did they not? So they must believe her story), and many others I am sure.

Tamrend and I discussed this beforehand, not the specifics but he said I should have Duncan and Ariana in collusion somehow, maybe by his knowing how to destroy the knife, and using that to blackmail her. Or something along those lines. And about Frailyn I don't particularly care, he can escape from prison or whatever he chooses to do. its not as if I'm stealing him from anything hideously important he was doing. He's probably glad for the player interaction, judging by his previous posts.

[Zulehan]

Proudfoot, Merc talked to Tamrend, Ariana's controller, before posting that, so his controlling of the character is not an issue.

The God thing isn't an issue because it's offensive. I don't find it offensive, and if someone does, it's kinda silly. This is fantasy.

But I think this is the kind of world that would fit best as being polytheistic. For one thing, I think the personification of God as someone who speaks rather ungodly, who actually has an opinion, and who believes in "punishing heretics" and "blessing" and such, is just stupid. This has nothing to do with my or anyone else's religion, and everything to do with this story. The way you have portrayed God just sucks, fantasy literature wise, Merc.

And if there is just one God, and he's going to be an NPC, let's consider how powerful and important this NPC is. His influence is so great, and his potential so vast, that his actions should be checked with the other participants before anyone actually posts using him as an NPC. Merc has taken God's reins already in this story, and basically made him his character.

I think this world's theology and pantheon should have been discussed in a chat early on, when we determined other things like the level of tech, or whether or not the world would be ours or another. But since we didn't do it then, I say we start now.

And Merc, I don't think it would hurt your posts in any way if the God you've posted about was actually just one of many gods, perhaps a god of chaos or trickery or war, who is manipulating Duncan and the rest of Tyrran into an all out global crusade/genocide.

EDIT: I wrote this before seeing the reply Merc gave just above this.

[Mercenary]

Sounds good to me.

[Snowglare]

Merc, you can't just grab people's characters like that. This RPG should be fun for everyone, not your private stomping grounds.

And it would be so easy to do it better. You could wait a while, let Ariana and Frailyn get acquainted before teleporting on top of them. And it makes perfect sense for Duncan to 1) have a large host 2) overwhelm Ariana and Frailyn with said host. But it doesn't make sense for Jazz's character to sit there while you insult him, beat him senseless, and haul him away to a dungeon. We both know why you did that. It was immature, heavyhanded, and just plain bad writing.

I can't speak for everyone, but I don't want to read about gods and demons. At least not as pivotal characters. I want to read about people. A powerful wizard is one thing. A seemingly invincible warrior: Okay, as long as he isn't really invincible. But he is, isn't he? Because God makes him so. Because you make him so. It's contrived. You can do better than this. Come on :(

[Mercenary]

Agreed, I'll tone it down. As for Jazz's character, from what I've seen of FRAILyn so far how I portrayed him was dead on. Is he not a weakling who has trouble expressing himself? Hell he could barely work up the nerve to talk to a solitary figure wandering alone in the forest, how could he POSSIBLY have the nerve to talk back to the King of Bloody Tyrran with a hundred heavy infantry and forty archers all around him? And while he was working up the nerve to say something I conked him on the head, thus all further conversation from him was impossible, and I didn't as so many people allege, put words in his mouth. I put words in tamrend's char's mouth and if he wants to alter them hes more than welcome.

[Markle]

The all of you are now to go over here (http://24.9.79.87/mapframes.html) immediately. Test this, find bugs, throw a fit about them if you like, but make sure I hear about them. I'll be hosting this on my box for testing and development, but it can't stay there forever, so if you know of a free web service that allows python cgi scripts, or already have a web service with a few k extra space that allows python cgi scripts, let me know. Also, somebody bug Anyee, perhaps TDL host-age is feasible. Bug Anyee anyway, but also ask her about that.

[Zulehan]

That is some king stuff, Markle. Woo. Thanks.

[Jazzmosis]

You're only partially right about Frailyn. He's not a weakling, but he has becoome socially inept.

Although it would have been nice to actually react to what was happening - Frailyn is not a fool - he can defend himself and he will attempt.

Not saying that he'd get away from that army, but he wouldn't be the pushover you made him out to be. All I ask is that perhaps to rewrite it so he puts up some kind of fight. He wouldn't tremble uncontrollably - he'd be scared, but the worse that would happen is he'd get flashbacks of the thugs that took his wife.

If you haven't noticed, that's his biggest mental struggle - he relives his wife's death over and over. And since Ariana looks similiar to his wife (at least to Frailyn in his diluted state of mind) he'd try and defend the girl. He's completely unaware of her powers so he'd do the honourable thing in defense (although learning quickly that she doesn't need his help...)

I can write with this since it was seemingly inevitable to happen, though.

[tamrend]

Merc and I did discuss this on AIM, though not the actual mechanics of how and when it would happen. I thought the idea for capturing her was pretty cool, but the rule against posting actions was violated. I'd be willing to let it slide for my own character, but the timing was more than a little abrupt and another player was involved. I'd say we should roll it back.

EDIT: If Jazz is okay with it, can I just insert something before Merc's post? Snow?

[Jazzmosis]

I'm fine with anything posted beforehand. If you want to contact me and talk about it, I'm on AIM right now so feel free to message me.

[neoplatonic]

The map is neat. Colorful and the like.

Just remember (for the sake of storytelling and possible future plot threads):

Zoom in a little and you'll find

a) in-between the larger countries a number of smaller states. These will be recognized buffer kingdoms and countries filled with fiercely independent people,

b) inside the larger countries any number of free cities, independent principalities, and semi-sovereign "church" or "temple" lands (centralized control over these should be, at best, nominal),

c) that at least one of the larger countries might in fact be made up of highly independent duchies, earldoms, whatever, each fighting for dominance over the country entire (the threat of civil war wouldn't be out of the question).

Remember, it takes a long time to achieve centralized control. Also, if your map really is as large as Europe, it's still pretty big (the distance from Madrid to Moscow is over 2000 miles).

Just my two historically-minded cents...

[Mercenary]

Proudfoot, use more anachronistic colloqialisms please? I mean, they're really cool, please try and include more...

On the God thing I might further add that a God who is for the persecution of heretics and for one religious sect or another is very much the God people of the 14th century believed in. Zule, by trying to state that these ideas are ridiculous you are forcing new age non-denominational Christianity down the throats of 14th century Christians.

And snow, God makes him so? No, God is on Duncan's side not William's (and I assume William is the seemingly invincible fighter of which you spoke).

[Zulehan]

Merc, both of your fighters are "seemingly invincible". And now, your mage is, too.

And I don't know where you got this "new age non-denominational Christianity". Who said anything about that? Hell, who said anything about Christianity at all? Isn't this a fictional world? Leave Jesus out of it. What we're dealing with here is monotheism. Christianity is monotheistic; monotheism is not Christian. Don't confuse the two.

Just because 14th century Europeans believed in a dumb God doesn't mean we have to put him in this RPG.

[proudfoot]

More anachawhatas? If I didn't know better, I'd think you were stating a negative opinion of some aspect of my writing. Very sportsmanlike, thank you.

Zulehan got the God thing right. This is a fictional world, not a historical one. I'd really appreciate you changing God to some fictional, polytheistic god of something or another. It doesn't mean your character will have less power, necessarily, but it would avoid any issues that might arise from your current use of the deity.

Thank you.

[Snowglare]

"EDIT: If Jazz is okay with it, can I just insert something before Merc's post? Snow?"

Well, I can't move posts out of chronological order (by date of posting), but I could edit Merc's post to include your stuff. I'd need to remove the conflicting bits anyways.

[Mercenary]

For one thing, I think the personification of God as someone who actually has an opinion, and who believes in "punishing heretics" and "blessing" and such, is just stupid.


=Non denominational Christianity. It may seem stupid to your modern belief system but to people of this period those types of characteristics in God were far from stupid. I actually have no problem with Duncan taking a power hit, I do have a problem with him suddenly converting from Christianity to some ridiculous polytheistic religion, as that destroys his character. Ill just have God stop speaking to Duncan.

My characters seem invincible because they can kill NPC Guards? Please, when they fight each other they won't seem nearly as invincible. They seem to never fail because thus far I have only had them attempt those things they can do rather easily.

[tamrend]

I'm inclined to give Merc an edge on this one, being the first to address religion in any way. I think the main implications of Zule's and Proudfoot's arguments, taken together, is that monotheism precludes the existence of other gods. And, since Duncan is able to talk to his god and this god can affect the world, this would seem to indicate that no other gods exist.

I propose a different way of thinking. If religion on this world has real effects as Merc is indicating, then one way to limit those effects is to make dieties more of an abstraction. The basic premise is this: dieties do not exist, but the power of faith does. The power that gods seem to exert is actually the focused power of the faith of its believers. That way, monotheism can coexist with other polytheistic systems. The believers in monotheism would consider followers of the other systems to be pagans and dismiss their gods' works as wizardry, sleight-of-hand, or coincidence. In this way, a monotheistic god is not all-powerful except in the minds of its followers.

I propose we begin treating religion this way at once. Any objections?

[Zulehan]

Sounds good to me, Donald.

[Zulehan]

Christianity is about Christ. Jesus. Jesus Christ. In fact, the word Christianity has the word "Christ" in it. Maybe non denominational Christianity has what you've quited of my post in it, but it has a hell of a lot more, such as some guy that got crucified, and some other dudes, and a book, and a lot of other stuff.

I'm not talking about that. So there is no reason whatsoever for you to keep accusing me of forcing non denominational Christianity on anyone, nor is there any justification for you to call Duncan Christian.

[Khalic]

I say we leave the actual workings of the universe, who is actually right, who is actually in charge, and where things are going in the master plan, a mystery.

Obviously, Duncan thinks god talks to him. So do quite a few wacked out people here. Yet there is not one dominant religion that all bow down to because god is standing on their backs. Sometimes things happen that people can't explain easily. Sometimes they're called miracles and sometimes they're called coincidence.

I say, we let whatever people want to think be thought and leave the actual god or gods entirely ambiguous.

[Snowglare]

I'm for gods being ambiguous, too. Duncan can be mono, Doran can be poly, and everyone else can believe whatever they like. By all means, flesh out belief systems. Religions are fun to hear about when someone's not trying to convert you or something. And it's nice to have the possibility that god(s) exist, without them actually coming down on stomping on things or whatever.

I propose that we keep angels and demons out of this as well. Or am I the only one bothered by that? I don't mean to force Rend out of the rpg, but I'd rather he wrote a human character. Or at least something that isn't from a fiery pit that kind of sort of... doesn't exist.

[tamrend]

Please Read, All

In chatting with most of you here and there and reading the comments in this thread, I've come to the conclusion that an executive decision is in order regarding recent events in the RPG and in this thread in general. First let me state what I believe everyone wants: for the RPG to continue. Some pretty deep differences of opinion have surfaced in a very short time and I think it is telltale that many players haven't posted since the middle of last week.

My first order of business concerns the demon Asmodeus. Many players have professed a disliking for this turn of events. I see Snowglare has posted in agreement as I write this. As I see it, there are three main problems to address here:

#1 Asmodeus possesses greater potential to influence the world than probably all other characters combined. I was serious about rule #4. I don't see this demon having such a compelling story to impart on the world that it will warrant this kind of power (ie. influence) in the hands of a single player. If the other characters supported it, that would be one thing, but it doesn't appear to be very popular. To see what I mean, just think of the implications of a 30-foot tall demon walking around. You can't hide that. Just its existence would be heard about and repurcussions felt in all corners of the continent. Even Ariana, powerful as she is, would have no chance against Asmodeus as he has been portrayed. It's like Jet Li fighting a T-Rex bare-handed. Doran could defeat Ariana if he knew enough about her and got to plan a bit before hand.

#2 Suddenly, we're all part of the peanut gallery. Were the players here any less intelligent and imaginative than the likes of Zulehan and other veterans, I'd say a good kick in the pants would be necessary and legitimate to give them direction. However, there are actually a few different plotlines going on now involving some quite ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. As it stands, events like the tournament could not reasonably avoid being affected by the appearance of Asmodeus.

#3 This storyline has suddenly becoming uninteresting, at least to me. Victor seemed like a fairly complex character until he summoned Asmodeus. I wasn't sure whether he would end up being good, evil or neutral, hero or antihero. Now I just think he's a bastard who must die. I realize I'm being brutally honest here, but you should know that's how at least a few of us feel.

Victor, we could accept, at least until the last post. He has a book of powerful magic, but there are some drawbacks to using it. Asmodeus, and Victor's ability to summon the like at this time, has to go. Rend can still play, but in a different capacity.

Merc, I'd prefer we just expunge this whole event from the story and let's continue on a more low-key tone. Build up to it slowly. I'd like you to know that I really want you to stay in this. In fact, that's how everyone feels. We never intended to be at odds. We just want to have choices and leave room to explore the development of this world further. Can you give Snow a rewrite and we'll continue on?

The second issue is religion. It was pointed out to me that what I proposed above is too indecisive and doesn't address the real point. The real point is that religion should always leave room for doubt to account for unbelievers. This means that there should never be incontrovertible proof of a god's existence. This also allows the possibility for other religions, other gods, to exist. I think Merc has already conceded this point and we can move on, but I wanted to officially put it to rest. Proudfoot, Zule probably would like you to know that you actually missed his point, by the way, but I think the end result should please everyone.

Finally, I'd like to see an extra helping of respect between players. I've mostly stayed silent on this until now, but it makes me very uncomfortable to see insults thrown about, in public view here or in chat--and no single person is guilty in this regard. It wasn't too many years ago that my own writing would have been considered laughable on this board, so making fun of other players is not my idea of a good time, especially when those writers are definitely making an effort and doing reasonably well. I've definitely not seen the level of asinine behavior that would warrant such divisiveness (ie. the kind that Badass Werewolf warranted). So if you must, please just do it in private and don't include me. If people start acting like BAWW, though, all bets are off and you will feel the bite of my razor sharp whip... uh, I mean wit.

Thank you, and good night.

[Unvision]

This is why I should never consider slacking off. I was out of communications for a bit, expecting someone to start the tournament so I would have something to write about. Well, Merc did it for me but I really wish I had written a post before that... as things are, I'll write one after it.

First, William is my character, Mercenary just interacts with him and introduced him - as we had planned. Second, despite the fact that he is nearly invulnerable (physically) it's only going to last this tournament, we all know his intention is to get paid off by the prince, and that he doesn't have much upstairs. His hopes, dreams and aspirations are about as deep and clear as a muddy puddle. Don't worry about him playing a dominant role in the dynamics of this thing as a whole: he is here to enjoy the tournament and to lend depth to Victor's character. In the bartender's inner monologue in my second post, I mentioned something: he's always coming into the bar with some stranger or another, having an adventure, and then a month later he's back in the bar again.

The bartender won't be doing a lot of moving... he might be done for a while, but I don't want to leave out the possibility of revisiting his rather unique perspective on Sangloria's political climate.

[Mercenary]

Ok. Sorry about the insult Proudfoot, just try and keep it a little more believable in a 14th century context.

Duncan is a Christian, the cross on his shield isn't there because of the geometrical attractiveness. No other religion works well in this type of medieval context, and I don't care to invent one that would sound instantly fantastic and ridiculous, and distract readers from the point of my tale, when one that suits perfectly is already in existance.

Tamrend's idea seems to me to be one both immediately usable and undeniably genius. So far as Duncan is concerned, God has not made one move that anyone else can see. He has imparted knowledge on Duncan, which one might say is the extent of the belief-power of the gods. If we can keep it in that context then Duncan's character doesn't have to be rewritten extensively.

As for Asmodeus, I had planned to have him maim victor and stalk off to do his own thing, not killing him as that would break the link that kept him in this world, but I had certainly not entertained the vision of him becoming one of Victor's pets. I would hardly call my mage invincible either, was it not stated that the knights could easily destroy him? His own lack of confidence in his magical abilities should be telling enough. If he was so invincible why would he not have just laid them furiously to waste immediately? I intend for him to become powerful enough to do that sort of thing but he is not yet.

Perhaps Rend would write another char.

Additionally, a lot of the reason I seem to hold so much power in this RPG is that I post ridiculously more than anyone else. On my last count 8 of the 24 total story posts were mine and my posts were of longer length, and hence it would follow that the influence of my characters would be more strongly felt than those of someone who has put forth a total of about 3 paragraphs.

Ok for the rewrite, keep the post exactly as it was, but when victor first confronts the knights, have this inserted:

The nine knights formed a semicircle and pressed me towards the castle. “Halt! You are hereby under arrest.” The leader said to me as two others dismounted to escort me into the dungeon. A third took my things and spirited them off. Magical constitution and stamina enhancements or no, I was too exhausted to put up anything resembling a fight. I surrendered.

And remove the rest about the Demon and whatnot

[Rend]

I was afraid of this happening from the beginning. Asmodeus, as I portrayed him, was indeed overpowered. In my defense however, I had planned a declining power structure for the Demon. Allow me to explain: the longer a Demon resides outside of the Astral plane of Hell, his power will slowly ebb away. Thusly, his first few encounters would have been overwhelmingly powerful, but subsequent encounters would have revealed his flaws.

Notice that in the fight with the Knights Asmodeus' skin was broken by nothing more than a worldly spear. While it could be argued that based on the context of the story that this spear had been blessed by God (whatever that may be worth, now that such a controversy has been kicked up about Him in this story), it would appear to me that Tamrend has made a mountain out of a molehill.

I don't expect you all to trust my abilities to write into this story effectively since none of you have seen what I can do, but I ask that you at least take my explanation into account before you disregard Asmodeus entirely.

[Mercenary]

Sorry but the undeniable existance of a demon would alter other people's storylines too much for it to be allowed, even I now concede this (And the appearance of such a demon in a major city WOULD constitute its existance being undeniable).

Surreal break me out of prison plz and lets hit the road, kthx gogogogo.

[tamrend]

While it could be argued that based on the context of the story that this spear had been blessed by God... it would appear to me that Tamrend has made a mountain out of a molehill.

Not just me. It was bugging just about everyone, as evidenced by the posts above. In fact, I don't want to have to play the GM and set limits on anyone, but having a Diablo-like demon really skewed the whole conception of the world. One of the players told me that he no longer felt inspired to roleplay in the world as it was being portrayed. That tells me that it was a serious imbalance.

[proudfoot]

This all works for me, I think.

And once again, we have to figure out another way for William to be out of the tournament, rather than going head-to-head with the Prince, since the Prince only fights in the final, and I have something fairly important to write into the final, between Uharo and Tristan. Maybe Uharo can pay William off? Maybe the Prince can pay William off before he fights Uharo, because he doesn't want to have to face William at all? We should chat about it.

Merc are you referring to the advertising poster? If so, I guess I see your point.

[Mercenary]

No. Please get out a dictionary and look up the following two words: Anachronistic, and colloqialism.

What the advertising poster was, was a transparent and utterly contrived plot device, but that's another matter.

[Unvision]

And once again, we have to figure out another way for William to be out of the tournament, rather than going head-to-head with the Prince, since the Prince only fights in the final, and I have something fairly important to write into the final, between Uharo and Tristan. Maybe Uharo can pay William off? Maybe the Prince can pay William off before he fights Uharo, because he doesn't want to have to face William at all? We should chat about it.
Someone has to pay William off. I don't much care who, because once he's out of the tournament, he's back at the bar (retired, you might say) and I'll be writing for another character. I'm making as much as I possibly can out of this free form idea. And enjoying it.

EDIT: I can write the post wherein William is bribed, but I've already written most of my next post. If I have to write William's thing, it'll only delay the RPG because Merc is waiting for my next move, which comes from the guy in the cell next to him, not William. As you said, we'll chat.

[proudfoot]

You being hostile to me isn't going to make me want to follow your advice, sorry.

If you had said, "I would rather you use more time period appropriate speaking conventions, if you please," I would have said, "Oh thank you Mercenary, I'll try to do so from now on." As it is, now I just have less respect for you as a person.

But regardless, I'll do my best not to sound like I'm writing from the 20th century.

[Üdorim]

Version 1.0 of the deathsta--Easy Reference Guide™ (http://www.rpgforums.net/showthread.php?t=175639) is fully operational.

Except for the parts that aren't.

Hope you like it and stuff.

[proudfoot]

All authors participating in the tournament:

We should organize everything a bit more, maybe in a chat session or something. I realize Merc posted something kind of about all that, with the palace invasion thingy, but the tournament still needs to happen. If everyone agrees, I can post Tristan announcing the start of the tournament or something, and we can have individual combat posts, get to the matches between each other, discuss endings and whatnot, and work towards the final and the twist I have been saving up since the beginning.

My AIM is tehphatbunny
My MSN is aint_dutch_aint_much@hotmail.com
My YahooIM is thephatbunny

We have to get it all worked out,a nd I hope everything comes together.

Edit: On a clearer read-through, it's apparent that Mercenary wrote his post as if the tournament had already started, which it quite obviously hasn't, since no one else has become prepared to participate and the prince has made no address to the crowd, etc etc. Since Snowglare can't edit the chronological order of the posts, we need to either get him to edit a bunch of pretournament posts into other posts before Merc's, or find out some other way to work around the apparent inconsistency. Maybe editing Merc's post to a barfight type scene, with William showing off to a "crowd" of aweful onlookers or something.

I think the best way to work this out is to just take Merc's posts out until tournament-starting posts have been inserted, and then re-post them afterward. What does everyone else think?

[Mercenary]

No, Proudfoot. You were dilly dallying around when you should have been posting about the tournament. I posted for you and started it. We'll say those rounds William fought were early rounds of the tournament. You can now post later rounds. Maybe if you'd been on the ball we wouldn't have this little conflict. In any event im sure you can forgo the prince's speech; I daresay there wasn't anything in it so eloquent that the whole of human literary experience will tremble at its loss. And could your "surprise" be more bloody self-evident? Hmm, a prince who sucks at fighting and doesn't want to become King, a fighter with nothing to lose and everything to prove, meeting in the final match of the tournament to see who becomes King? Am I the only one laughing at how transparent this all is? All hail King Uharo. ~_~

On a different note, to Tamrend:

I recognize and appreciate that I was rough--very rough--with Ariana, and you may not have liked that. But please understand that without that kind of barrage and subsequent catharsis, nothing could bring her to a realization of her faith in God, and thus God would not be able to speak to her, and we wouldn't be able to work out our little plot such as it is. I'm sure you understand the neccessity of that post being the way it was, inquisitional style rhetoric and whatnot. If there is anything in there you'd desperately like to change you and I should talk about it on AIM.

Im considering starting new char(s), some may wonder how I manage to post so much. Well its very simple, I write my posts in about a half an hour (no matter the length). This time I divide up into sections of alternatively writing for 5-10 minutes and then leaning back in my chair throwing a nerf football up in the air brainstorming for 3 minutes until I have so many damn ideas that my fingers can't get them out fast enough. I hope this or similar techniques help those writers still nursing their second posts.

[Üdorim]

I hope this or similar techniques help those writers still nursing their second posts.

Yeah okay, I think I get the picture already. :uhhuh:

[Unvision]

For those concerned in this whole tournament thing, here's how it is going down (Proudfoot came up with what I think will be a good resolution for all of us):

William, who has won every match and become quite a crowd favorite in the proccess (he shows off a lot), is not the kind of guy (invulnerability and all that) that the royalty wants in the championships. So, they bribe him to lose to Uharo before he can get that far. It works because that way none of the characters have to bribe anyone and pretend they suddenly have huge gold reserves. Also, it means I get to write about the royalty, which I think will be fun from William's point of view.

Finally, I suggest you all go read the character descriptions. Some of them (and by that I mean mine) are actually worth reading.

Finally #2, Snowglare/whoever needs to know this: the bartender and William are both OPEN CHARACTERS now. At this point, I think all my "discarded" characters will be left as open NPCs. I'm not sure if I made this clear, but I am writing (so far exclusively) characters that accompany Mercenary. When he moves on from someone, I will stop writing them and they are open-season to be used by anyone. Don't kill them off in case they need to be revisted for a plot device and try to keep them in character. I'll keep you all updated.

Anyway, my next post is going up. Everyone, meet the loveable Vincent.

[Markle]

Im considering starting new char(s), some may wonder how I manage to post so much. Well its very simple, I write my posts in about a half an hour (no matter the length). This time I divide up into sections of alternatively writing for 5-10 minutes and then leaning back in my chair throwing a nerf football up in the air brainstorming for 3 minutes until I have so many damn ideas that my fingers can't get them out fast enough. I hope this or similar techniques help those writers still nursing their second posts.

I knew there was a reason all your posts seemed as if they were written in half an hour.

Feel the burn.

[Üdorim]

Finally #2, Snowglare/whoever needs to know this: the bartender and William are both OPEN CHARACTERS now.

I defaulted everyone but my own to Closed, just in case that was the writer's preference (as I know it is for some people).

But good job on actually notifying Snow about it; this is what is good. So everyone, either make a post here, or PM Snowglare.

[proudfoot]

I'm not so blatantly obvious as that, Mercenary.

But since everyone has moved on without me:

Snowglare, would you be able to stick my "Uharo signing up for the tourney" and "being told it's in two days" posts before Merc's "William Fighting" post somehow? :(

[tamrend]

I'm not so blatantly obvious as that, Mercenary.

But since everyone has moved on without me:

Snowglare, would you be able to stick my "Uharo signing up for the tourney" and "being told it's in two days" posts before Merc's "William Fighting" post somehow? :(

Snow can append or insert your posting to another post that's already there. I was thinking of doing that, but later decided it wasn't worth the effort. That's the answer I got at the time.

[proudfoot]

I'll let the chronology slip if everyone else doesn't mind. If this goes to a website hosting or something sometime, though, rearranging may be in order

[Mercenary]

Not so blatantly obvious while you still have time to fix it up since I called you on it. Eh? Then whats the little surprise.

[tamrend]

Let's drop this line right now before it gets out of hand, eh?

[Mercenary]

Hey Surreal. please write the prison escape post. I'll be at work until 10 tonight. Feel free to have victor make use of his magic. Remember, his disciplines are enhancements, fire, and some light creature charming. Thx.

[Disco-neck Ted]

All right. Pretty neat. Complements to Udorim for great storytelling in his tournament piece. Other segments were very enjoyable, but incomplete. A crumb of the larger story. That bit was a finished "mini tale" within the bigger picture and really well told. I sank right into what was going on, and the background of her journey through the desert heightened the suspense of the fight rather than detracting from it.

As for other details, it was a little weird to see god become someone's NPC, but you've hammered on that matter quite thoroughly by now.

Also, I'm a bit confused on one of the major story lines. Seems Uharo was being trained for the tournament (first post), but later it's as if he learns about it from the handbill.

Lastly, more details about the safeguards surrounding the conflict would be nice. Despite the "formality" of the challenge, major power is changing hands here. People, agencies, forces from all over would be interested. There needs to be a mechanism in place to keep some foreigner from walking in and taking the crown despite threats/bribes, or just killing the prince to prove a point. People do stupid things in the name of glory (or in the name of stupidity) and, unfortunately, many of them have the power to pull off some amazing idiocy. If it is bruited about that the prince is the man to beat, for whatever reason, some living weapon will not fear to die if he or she can take him out in the process.

That's mostly it. Keep it going, all.

Edit: re-reading, it was a little unfair to say all the other segments were disappointingly incomplete. That's not what I was going after, if anyone took it that way. Good stuff, Maynard.

[proudfoot]

The tournament definitely has/had a lot to be fleshed out and worked together, but it unfortunately was not given the time to mature, as it was prematurely begun with absolutely zero fanfare or building time, which is too bad.

My bad on the flyer; I admit I haven't put tons of time into making my posts very high quality; maybe only half an hour each. If I post more, I'll do my best to up the quality a bit.

You'll notice I said "if" by the way. I think I'm going to make my characters Open for NPC-style interaction, because I'm honestly not getting much out of this RPG right now. Maybe I'll come back in a little while and jump in with a new character again, but as it is, I don't have the time or patience for this one. Sorry for leaving some threads left untied. :(

So you can mark Tristan and Uharo Open now.

[Khalic]

I call the prince!

Dear Diary,

Jackpot.

[Zulehan]

Small stuff.

Markle, I put the capitals in all caps on the map. Meroraj is the capital of Morania. Also, Udorim already named th river the Meror.

[Üdorim]

“The Tournament of Succession, and Sanglorian king’s son. Let me explain. In Sangloria, when the king dies, there is a tournament to determine the next king. Everyone who wants a bit of money from the royal treasury signs up, gets bribed into losing, and then the prince becomes the next king, everyone goes home happy. Foolproof.”

The king stood facing William from across the room, his features and robe woven into a tapestry of colors by the stain glass window and the sunlight that poured through it.

I vote that the tournament be held when the prince reaches the age of majority, whenever that is.

I also vote that (in regards to DnT's observation that the tourney might attract foreign attention) nobility will only be given to landholders, with a minor treasure or something to anyone else. The tournament should basically just be sham; something that commoners look forward to (and might profit from) and something that real nobles and foreign people might make snide comments about. For example, Victor already thought the whole affair was rather silly, when told of it.

Aside from that, the people who have already entered the tournament are Uharo and William who are both legitimately Sanglorian, the prince (well ... obviously) and Mayanna, disguised as a sort of immigrant Sanglorian. She actually doesn't really know what she's doing. Neither do I. In any case, that kindof means that there hasn't actually been any foreign attention, at least not that anyone organizing the tourney is aware of. As far as player characters go.

Unless I missed someone.

[Unvision]

I'd like to explain my seemingly contradictory posts, if I may:
Oops.

Honestly, that was dumb. However, we REALLY got rushed into this tournament - I was writing a post that had to lead up to William's entrance into the tournament despite the fact that there was NO backstory for how the tournament worked.

When I wrote that first post I wasn't expecting it to become part of the backstory, the detail about the king dying first was completely automatic and unconscious - at the time my mind went through this thought process: "Well, the king wouldn't just leave the throne, so I guess he's dead." In retrospect, armed with our newfound definition of the Tournament of Succession, this doesn't make sense and I look like a total idiot, but if you think back and think about the traditional way a monarchy works, I had no reason to portray things differently. So really, I'm only SORT OF a total idiot.

The truth needs to be that the king is alive, so Udorim's solution regarding the prince succeeding once he reaches a certain age is the only thing that makes sense. We'll just pretend that the king in Sangloria, unlike those of older European empires, gets "retired" before he becomes old and senile.

More importantly, I'm done with William for a while. I'm glad he went out with a really, really, stupid bang.

[Mercenary]

Udorim, please for the love of god stop using the term tourney in your story posts. It is not a shortening dating back to the 14th century, of that I assure you.

I'd hardly call a gestation period of 2+ weeks getting "REALLY" rushed into the tournament, whiners.

[Disco-neck Ted]

The Tournament storyline will culminate in Uharo achieving the final against the Prince; that is predetermined, and I apologize. But look at him. Without some kind of magic how is he supposed to defeat a seasoned warrior that is "damn near invincible" and imbued with the power of "one of the mightiest sorcerors in the land"?
Sure, Udorim, it's supposed to be a sham. However, as the above strongly suggests, things can turn out otherwise. Connivance is second nature for some, and perhaps a medieval warrior-attorney-mage (feared throughout the land, natch) would seek to really defeat the prince, and bellowing mighty spells (post hoc, ergo propter hoc!) he becomes the new king. Or his long lost brother makes the final round and custom dictates that "the prince must be the victor", so with two princes we have a dark horse triumph. Any illegitimate by-blow or distant relative might want to get in on that reasoning, and they might find someone powerful to back their claim. So, really, it seems there should be some kind of checks and balances to prevent this. And if, in the end, someone manages to bypass these stringent measures, that would make the develpopment that much sweeter.

Also, the fact that Victor, for example, had not previously heard of the tournament makes me view him as a foreign power (came from another kingdom, yes?). So, what if his intent had been to back William all the way? What if he erased Will's fear or common sense or something and drove him to the finale? (and if not him, why would not some other wizard back a champion?)

In fact, not to pick on Mercenary, but it seems to me that William, one contestant in a field of many, would provide no more of a distraction to the tournament wizard/proctors/whoever than any other candidate. Surely augmented warriors have shown up before, even if only to pursue a lesser prize than the kingdom? So it only makes sense that he is a distraction if "steps" need to be taken to block him from the finale. Like, if he turned down their bribes or something (they are expecting to have to bribe someone, so that still isn't a distraction).

Moving on:

the tournament was not developed before people leaped in to participate. That makes it a little harder to develop, and to provide appropriate backstory, but as Udorim demonstrated, leaving the current time to provide flashbacks can actually make the story a lot stronger. For someone seeking to introduce a character and move them into tournament position, simply starting (and clearly indicating the time period) a few months ahead of time will do the trick, and subsequent info is always available in flashback form.

In the larger story, the tournament is not that important. Details of succession in a ingle kingdom, when some larger strife may be on the horizon. But it is the happening place for now, and should be making a widespread splash. At the very least bookies from afar would be interested, and noising it around.

Udorim, please for the love of god stop using the term tourney in your story posts. It is not a shortening dating back to the 14th century, of that I assure you.

I'd hardly call a gestation period of 2+ weeks getting "REALLY" rushed into the tournament, whiners.
That's about the most asinine complaint I've heard so far. You toss about phrases like "counter-intuitive" and employ many other modern usages. Are you really trying to say that the rpg should be in 14th century prose? I agree that contemporary terminology should be shunned, but "for the love of god" stop being an ***. Unclench that sphincter a trifle.

[Mercenary]

Tourney is a shortening that was developed in Brood War--may even have been Warcraft III--and it was specifically stated that netspeak wasn't allowed. I would hardly call counter-intuitive (anachronistic though it is) netspeak.

Victor, despite being a foreigner, did know of the tournament beforehand, and I stated as much, but he feigned ignorance so as to not give away the fact that he was a well-educated foreigner.

Fending off attack after attack is getting old.

[proudfoot]

Tourney developed in Brood War? Oh my goodness gracious, no it wasn't. The abbreviation "tourney" for "tournament" us waaaaay older than that.

[Disco-neck Ted]

Tourney is a shortening that was developed in Brood War--may even have been Warcraft III--and it was specifically stated that netspeak wasn't allowed. I would hardly call counter-intuitive (anachronistic though it is) netspeak.

Victor, despite being a foreigner, did know of the tournament beforehand, and I stated as much, but he feigned ignorance so as to not give away the fact that he was a well-educated foreigner.

Fending off attack after attack is getting old.
Hey, no attack intended regarding Victor. Just trying to settle a few details about the tournament. I've read the thing about three times but still cannot keep everything straight. Still, the point might be valid even if the specifics are wrong.

As for word usage, a quick peek at dictionary.com shows "tourney" was used by people like Edmund Spenser in the 16th century. It seems like posturing to get all incensed about its usage not being 14th century (about which I know not much). Unfortunately, my good dictionary is at home, so can't look up the origin and earliest usage. But it sounds like it fits to me.

Now that I know the reason for you being disturbed, it is more understandable. Still wrong, though.

Spenser did not, however, use "hassle".

Victor: "“I could have, but it is rather a hassle..."

According to dictionary.com, that one came into existence around 1945. If you felt attacked, keep in mind that any time you flame off with a "for the love of god" type comment, it will inspire people to feel free to do the same, especially if you are guilty of the very thing you are birching about.

My point was that it is impossible to keep modern idiom out of your story, so that people should do their best but not be held up to censure afterwards. Sorry if you are offended/annoyed. Methinks you really only have yourself to blame, however.

[Markle]

Tourney is a shortening that was developed in Brood War--may even have been Warcraft III--and it was specifically stated that netspeak wasn't allowed. I would hardly call counter-intuitive (anachronistic though it is) netspeak.

SYLLABICATION: tour·ney
INTRANSITIVE VERB: Inflected forms: tour·neyed, tour·ney·ing, tour·neys
To compete in a tournament.
NOUN: Inflected forms: pl. tour·neys
A tournament.
ETYMOLOGY: Middle English torneien, from Old French torneier, from Vulgar Latin *tornizre, to turn around, from Latin tornre, to turn in a lathe. See turn.

Oddly, its battle.net heritage is not mentioned here.
Even more astounding, 'legit (http://www.rpgforums.net/showpost.php?p=1795220&postcount=36)' shows only as recent American English slang.

[Unvision]

I'd hardly call a gestation period of 2+ weeks getting "REALLY" rushed into the tournament, whiners.
2 weeks? My first post was made the same day that I returned to these forums, the next was only a day or two later. I had no idea there was any semblance of a plot already planned. I talked to Proudfoot for the first time yesterday and I don't think I've ever talked to Udorim, so this gestation period means little. I hate to argue with you Merc, but your actions were what forced the start of the tournament. I know this is a free form RPG and that people are supposed to jump into each other's worlds, but this lack of communication is killing us.

EDIT: On the other hand though...

Obviously this is just my opinion, but I feel, Disco, that your contributions are insignificant and in context (this being a free form RPG without pre-planning and such) I find the majority of them totally irrelevent.

A post within an RPG such as this is not a self-containing "mini tale", as you put it, I might even go so far as to say it shouldn't be. This is not a series of chapters or even a group of short stories, it is a way for people to enjoy writing in a way that they couldn't on their own.

By writing in this way (especially in a free form RPG) the different styles and characters are woven together in a way that they can't be when you write on your own. The price we pay for this is less freedom of direction and less time to write. These, and other negative factors, combine to limit the depth of the story and some loss of continuity is a part of that. Unless great care is taken not only in the writing of each post, but in the communication between affected characters and their authors within each post, I don't see us avoiding these pitfalls. The easiest way to kill an RPG is to stop writing, and I see the disinterest as a side effect of how slow things are going. My brother, who reads this forum occasionally, said that he wanted "something to happen." Consciously or subconsciously, I think a lot of us want that. Conflict drives us. I'm not willing to sacrifice this RPG in order to add a bit of continuity.

Fortunately, we have good writers, and thus it is that only the depth suffers, not the technical aspects of our writing (and I don't just mean capitalization.)

Your suggestions are welcome, but keep in mind that your probing regarding the function and operation of the tournament within this world, for example, cannot really be remedied once it has begun, let alone once it is almost over and a key player in it is retired into "open character" land. Flashbacks or no, we can't change the recent past by talking about things that happened a long time ago. Adding paint and detail to a wall doesn't cover up the fact that the other side of the house is missing.

[Mercenary]

You've got me on tourney and legit.

[proudfoot]

By the way, for whoever writes Uharo, when he kills someone with his knife he takes their soul into his, which is why Hikana's voice talked to him suddenly at night. I was going to have him get to the final, willing to be bribed, but then the prince, who doesn't want to win, explains that he would rather die, quotes those words from the very beginning of my first post, and makes Uharo kill him. And then he becomes another part of Uharo, and Uharo has two other people living inside him; one an expert in personal combat, and one incredibly intelligent and well-learned.

Do me justice. -_-

[Mercenary]

Well Proudfoot I must say your ideas are a considerable sight better than I had suspected.

[Markle]

Valdur, former advisor to Queen Aledara of Morania, is making a beeline for anywhere but Morania, and is up for grabs. Anyone wanting a cheap source of information about Morania and its Queen should scoop him up.

[Mercenary]

Duncan steeples fingers.


word, word, word, word, word, word, word.

[Markle]

moderate revampage at http://rpgmap.dyndns.org . Go find bugs, and update your characters, for christ's sake.

[Snowglare]

Tamrend sent me some character interaction to add to one of Jazz's old posts. Go check it out (http://www.rpgforums.net/showthread.php?p=1776429#post1776429).

On a related note, I'd really appreciate it if you all made sure to get rid of the funky symbols MS Word uses before posting. For some reason, the forum no longer minds them when you post, but if you try to edit the post it turns quotation marks, apostrophes, dashes, ellipses, and maybe a couple others I'm forgetting - all into question marks. Aside from not using MS Word, I'm unsure what the best way to get rid of them is. Copy+pasting to notepad or wordpad may work, or you can manually change them before posting. Easiest way to tell the difference is by looking at the quotation marks and apostrophes. They look all curvy instead of " and '.

[Jazzmosis]

The more I think about it, the more I'm turing Frailyn into a raving psychopath. (what with the stabbing of the hands and all..) ah well.. adds to the interest of the story.

And this lack of Ariana knowing his name could play into my hands... or not.

[Khalic]

Here is what I have of a post. Mark me for the rest of the weekend as open, since I'm going to be very busy.

And if any of you are near St Louis, with baseball bats or knuckles, PM me.


I dropped my hand and slipped it into the pouch at my hip. I rummaged for a moment and then closed my hand around a flat piece of metal. Drawing the gold piece and holding it on my palm open palm dramatically, I began to recite a litany, just for concentration. Nothing spectacular happened, or would happen, to the coin in my hand. It just sat for a few minutes, dead queen looking highly inanimate.

The coin began to warm my hand, and I closed my fingers around it. I then drew another coin, this time a piece from Sylvane, minted in Silverhold, bearing the defunct crest of a few rulers ago.

Like dreamning I watched the crown pass to me, a tip from a dealer for a deal, and to him, from a fiend for a fix. Then, where the fiend took the purse, and from the purse a hundred golden strings erupted, each shooting off toward another horizon. Cause effect, cause effect.

I crossed the sea twice before the coins began heading in the right direction. A noble, a fence, but thieves only hold the money for an instant of its lifetime. Easy come, easy go. And quick.

However, there I found the goal, the money, attached to a person. Perhaps to an alias, perhaps to a clean-shaven, tall-standing version of the pitiful person sulking next to you, but it's the thought that counts in soothsaying. There was the breadcrumb trail to his doorstep, and the little halo on his head. The bounty on this man was a tidy total.

Too bad the authorities wouldn't cash it for an assassin. They rarely even pay to the legals.


There he is, sitting sulking like he's not worth the damn only Sam gives about him. And my damn, since Sam knew I was going to Anseldam. I'm not sure if that makes them allies or competition, but if it wasn't for that, then I wouldn't be for this sap.

[neoplatonic]

EDIT: On the other hand though...

Obviously this is just my opinion, but I feel, Disco, that your contributions are insignificant and in context (this being a free form RPG without pre-planning and such) I find the majority of them totally irrelevent.

I find that I share many of Ted's concerns. Continuity problems are aggravating for the writers, but worse for the readers, who will actually turn away from ill-conceived and illogical events. Ted's comments on the geopoltical aspects of the tournament are especially valuable, as they can both describe the event in more realistic terms and offer rich veins for further narrative possibilities.

[Jazzmosis]

I more think of Ted as an "oversee..er" of the whol story since he's not a writer but a straight reader, so I value what he says... it's quite helpful since an external reader SHOULD understand the storyline so far.. and if he doesn't, who's to say anyone else will?

[Mercenary]

Neo, I think surreal was referring to Ted's remarks regarding the fact that each post wasn't a "mini-story, encapsulated for a moment's read" (paraphrase), like Udorim's desert flashback. Surreal contended that because it is a longer term rpg each post doesn't need to be a mini-story but can instead function as a component of the whole.

Of course we value Ted's opinion, and on the political ramifications of the tournament I completely agree, but that one really wasn't anyone's call but proudfoot's. I've gotten in enough trouble already for overstepping my bounds ~_~.

[tamrend]

Speaking of overstepping bounds, you can consider Ariana to be in Duncan's pocket for your next post. A couple of things:

Her separation from the dagger has caused many repressed emotions to surface, making her more vulnerable to manipulation. Returning it should cause a noticeable shift in her personality, burying her emotions again.

Her belief in Duncan's God is fanatic and unwavering, but based upon fear and self-deprecation. This is looking to be in ways to be the flipside of the coin from Duncan's belief.

[Disco-neck Ted]

"...aspects of the tournament... can both describe the event in more realistic terms and offer rich veins for further narrative possibilities."
Well said. I was hoping to clarify details about the tourney as a possible starting point to contribute a post (nothing specific right now). Further narrative possibilities indeed, but only if the whole event was not being abandoned by everyone else.

As for whether a post "should" serve as a mini-story... don't believe I ever said that. So, really, I'd agree to disagree with Univision, except that we agree, see?

Dang, but I thought maybe the "edit" included at the end of that original post made it pretty clear that while Udorim's tale was highly enjoyable, in part because it was a complete little story, that other posts were not necessarily less-than-great because of their incompleteness.

Gotta go read all the updates to the story. Woefully behind now, doncha know.

Oh, and for all who said they appreciate my opinions... thanks! I try to contribute rationally, and hopfully no one feels too torn down by such comments.

[Unvision]

Well said. I was hoping to clarify details about the tourney as a possible starting point to contribute a post (nothing specific right now). Further narrative possibilities indeed, but only if the whole event was not being abandoned by everyone else.

As for whether a post "should" serve as a mini-story... don't believe I ever said that. So, really, I'd agree to disagree with Univision, except that we agree, see?

Dang, but I thought maybe the "edit" included at the end of that original post made it pretty clear that while Udorim's tale was highly enjoyable, in part because it was a complete little story, that other posts were not necessarily less-than-great because of their incompleteness.

Gotta go read all the updates to the story. Woefully behind now, doncha know.

Oh, and for all who said they appreciate my opinions... thanks! I try to contribute rationally, and hopfully no one feels too torn down by such comments.

I think I oughta clarify. First of all, my post was a bit harsh. Second, I was referring to both the "mini story" thing and the whole "tournament doesn't really make sense" thing, but different parts of my post referred to those two themes.

I missed the edit.

Finally, the rest of my post referred to the fact that it's a bit late to change what we've already written. Clarification works up to the point of contradiction.

[tamrend]

The forums seem to have restabilized. Hopefully they stay that way.

[Markle]

Worried somewhat by the recent downtime and the track record of the forum server admins whose competence I would never question, ever, I've written a charming little script that backs up the rpg thread twice a day. And there was much rejoicing. Even more exciting, the dumping of the entire thread into a single file allows for collection of the following fun facts!

Words: 37,262
Paragraphs: 892
Pages: 76 (Courier New, 10pt)

And, knowing I'd be interested, Word listed the following for me:

Non-Asian words: 37,262

Shame on all of you.

[tamrend]

Sugoi desu. Arigato gozaimasu, Markle-san.