[Retry] Magic, fantasy, or transformtion? [Player looking for a game]

[Cessali]

If we want more than the three or four who've expressed interest thus far, a new thread would be merited.

[AribethAmkiir]

Got something developing on my end that might mean I gotta drop this and I'll update this evening hopefully.

False alarm. Death to phonetag.

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

      Sorry Vanny but I think it's going to be a bit more serious than that.

      Unless that is humor, in which case I have failed to recognize that.


      Jatick...

      I think the girl's only club option is out at this point.

      Mobility isn't such a big deal. Think of it like islands. The alternative of just walking along the world below is like saying you're going to commute using back roads where bum raping banjo savants dwell. At least that's my guess.

      My guess about why there wouldn't be much Imperialism is two things: One, no new world means no explosion in resources to fuel the take over, two, city states are just smaller and less effective at it than... what, nation states, just states? I never took a lot of poli sci classes so whatevs dawg. (yeah, all the advancements make less sense without those resources but... I'm dumb?)

      That said, I'm not exactly sure what you mean by orientalism. If it's that whole "they're wise yet inferior" attitude... not exactly against that. Especially because it ought to be true to a degree. Foreign traders from a China analog where hot air ballooning is supported by a greek fire formula, that korean rocket salvo machines and so on might be a neat sideways lurch at some point.

      I think Wars have been going on just fine. The idea of a total war, A Great War, is a theme I think would be cool to hint at, but should be a generation (or four) away. The last thirty or forty years would be the exception, which means if a war comes again (something the powers that be believe to be normal) it could be that much worse because of the jump in technology, in availible resources and optimism.

      I expect maps are fairly good, even knowledge of other lands in a vague sense. The World Below isn't all mist covered badness around the city states. It's probably a bit more mysterious behind the mist, a mix of humans left behind, of the deep dark woods with monsters, of industrial projects the city states maintain and the wreckage of the castles and kings past. It might be interesting for them not to know how long it has been since that world fell apart, especially since the greater threat is supposed to be the supernatural and creatures made (or made stronger) by the mist.

      Anachronisms / Tech: One of the reasons it's more appealing to set it in more of an 1800-1900 feel is sanitation and more recognizable ways of living. Hygiene. Theme of Progress. Suits with vests.

      Steam Flavored Robots: Uhh I have no idea. We've got two people on board with that so far. Strange, giant clockwork machines pulling water up to the city or brass, steam spewing crane arms being used to load cargo probably isn't a game changer, but full blown robots... I dunno. It'll probably go on the big list of things to work when it comes to technology. If nothing else they can be a wonder: One of the cities has a clockwork guard force left to it by the inventor genius Blanky Blankerson a hundred-something years ago. We'll see where the group feels they be on dis.

      Insanity or inhumanity shouldn't be a problem. I think looking monstrous and having far bigger effects than they realize might be enough without any players becoming unrelatable.

      The Mist turns up because people "burned" magic stone for reasons, though what that means has been lost it probably means they were trying to turn lead into gold or make winter look like summer. It's fallout. It's wacky cause it's spread out inconsistantly: a low cloud layer here, a hazy mound over the plains there, ignores this valley but encircles that mountain top. There might be revelations about how people burned magic stone or what really lurks in the abandoned places, but there won't be an "aha" moment. It's a plot device thingy, like zombies.

      Likewise, Supernatural Evil is never going to articulate it's demands or have single parent issues. It doesn't have a name. It doesn't have a real agenda. The Grand Duke of YoMommasBurg might be trying to write himself large in history, but the thousand-hands demon that pretends to be a unspeaking man in a big coat is just exists to bring wreck and ruin. It's good at it too, just like a spider is spooky good at making webs, but it ain't anything like a person.

      Aaand I can't think of anything else just now.

      Do we want a new thread for the big game proposal?

Yay!   I was kind of worried.

New thread works.  I think one of Zefie's conditions for a group game, though, is only like 4-5 players.  No more than 7, iirc.

[Roxy Rocket]

Yay!   I was kind of worried.

New thread works.  I think one of Zefie's conditions for a group game, though, is only like 4-5 players.  No more than 7, iirc.

I'd be thinking no more than three or four per group, because bystander syndrome.

[Kaedia]

Long weekend finally over! So where were we?

Yeah. I'd like to keep it small if possible. Since I'm not GMing I'm not going to be super picky about how big it gets but I like what Roxy said; three to four per group.

[AribethAmkiir]

sounds good to me

[Cessali]

Then based on the people responding in the thread, we've got enough for one group; if we open a new thread, we'd be doing so to create the core of a new group.

If we're good with we three/four ourselves, then we probably can go with the thread as-is.

[Roxy Rocket]

      Sorry for tuning out the last few days, been molesting the books (or whatever the expression is.)

      Will post something like an ad either here or as a thread soonish, cause tired and need eye-rest.

      Eye rest and foot warmth.

      Murr.

[AribethAmkiir]

No problem, Roxy.  Get some rest and whatever else you need.

Also, be careful with those books... they may get you back.

[Roxy Rocket]

snip

[AribethAmkiir]

So just 2 threads?  A story thread and a character thread?  I think I may miss an OOC thread.... but I guess we don't need it.

Got confused, the characters are or are not going to turn into monsters?  Or are they just going to turn into "sexy" monsters?

I think I played a FATE game last year, but how familiar are we going to need to be with it?  Fudge dice and phrases seems pretty simple.  Will you be willing to walk us through character creation?

What do you need from us, besides pictures?

[Roxy Rocket]

snip

[Vercile]

Hello yes, ahem, is it too late to put in my interest?
I've a Fantasy Character's journey I wish to begin and this sounds quite fun.

[Roxy Rocket]

      I'd say just throw it out there. I'll start moving my cheeks to fix up the game concept.

[Kaedia]

You've blown me away. Great job on fleshing the idea out. It makes my last attempt to build up a game look like child's play... with less creepy killer dolls.

Okay! So I'm full on board. I'll be honest and say I know absolutely nothing about the FATE system at all. I've heard the name a couple times and that is my entire experience with the system. Not inspiring I know.

The only problem I've come into is trying to nail down what kind of character I want to play. Oh I'll get something figured out. Might go quizzing a few individuals for inspiration. Never know when the right phrase will trigger a grand idea. At the moment I'm thinking something rogue-ish. Subject to change when I start plotting her out.

[AribethAmkiir]

I think I'll be playing a "rock opera" star.   We have that, right?

[Roxy Rocket]

snip

[Cessali]

Everybody loves character sheets!  I give you Alvero Carretero Portocarrero, daydreaming coal-driving engine laborer.

Before the Terrible Accident... (Background)

Alvero is a good kid, they say.  He works a dirty, dangerous job keeping the steam engines running with a strong back and a tolerance for hard work.  Most of his money goes to support his little siblings, supplementing the meager wages they draw working in the factories with his father long dead and his mother wasting away in a sanitarium of black tar lung.  And he only drinks and gambles when he's got a surplus, which is not that often.

This is not the life Alvero wanted.  When he has idle moments, he reads.  He dreams of being a different person, of having the money to take the tests that would certify him in the Engineering Guilds as a proper machinist and designer.  Maybe someday, he thinks, he'll find the right man to take him up as a protegé.  Maybe someday, his mother will be well and can work to care for the family again.  Maybe someday, he'll find a girl who won't look through him, someone worth caring for who'll care for him back.  Maybe someday, the Divine will work a miracle and surprise him with something even beyond what he'd dreamed.

Maybe someday.  It helps distract him from the toils of living, and so, he continues to dream, regardless of what other people think of it.

Character Sheetz

Skillz
+3: Endurance
+2: Athletics, Might
+1: Engineering, Fists, Gambling

Aspects
Right Now:
...
Character:
Big as an ox!
Not a Fool, Just Looks the Part
Beware the Wrath of a Patient Man
Equipment:
Heavy leather work clothes
Large blunted coal shovel
Book of fairy tales

[Roxy Rocket]

snip

[Cessali]

A request for revision that goes for more than "This isn't what I'm looking for"?  Be still, my beating heart!  It's always easier for me to make it bigger, so:

You're right, the Aspects could a rejiggering.  The getup serves two purposes: one, it's there to keep him protected from the heat and the work of the job, and two, it pinpoints him as Lower Class Laborer, but the name could be more expressive to suggest that.

Why Socially Downtrodden?  Because it forces him into a certain sort of position and role that he's not comfortable with, but hasn't of yet been uncomfortable enough because he still believes he can get everything he wants from where he is without giving anything up.  The movie audience is likely to see him as a supporting cast member or Quirky Sidekick there to help move things along-- wry, resigned sense of humor, quietly confident, helps other people bridge the gap between themselves and their desires, and that's what he does because that's what you're supposed to do.  That's the way you're supposed to live that's gets you everything you want and love and need, so he does it.  It's very rational, despite the groundless nature of the premises on which he is basing it.

He's put a lot of years into believing that story.  It's been hard work.  When that story finally fails him-- not if, but when-- is the crisis and explosion point where the audience gets to see the wrath of a gentle man and re-evaluate what has come before.  He's not there yet, but he can see the edge in the corner of his eye when he forgets to be busy.

Why the Divine?  In his words: "Oh, come on.  The Pantheons aren't anything more a bunch of children's fables and fairy stories for a people who didn't know any better about the world.  If the gods were real, wouldn't we have actual evidence about their existence?  And the things of the Mist don't count either. The Nameless Divine Maker, who set the Clockwork World in motion and let us do what we will to reach them again?  That's a mature faith for grown folks."

(why yes he does have contradictory beliefs about how the world works, why do you ask)

He's ready to start falling.  He just needs a push, which will begin with an airship crash in dangerous territory.  The main question is the one as to how he falls-- the revelation that what he thinks he wants is not what he truly desires, the realization that he can be a doormat all day and people will never think of him otherwise, the betrayal of his skill set being completely incompatible with the pursuit of his desires, the adoption of a cause and a passion beyond his half-thought-through desires of 'be the jolly folktale hero, win the kingdom'.

He's there to break, and be remade anew.

[Roxy Rocket]

snip

[Roxy Rocket]

      Oh, and don't forget to scream at me about the lack of setting information.

      grumble grumble getting to that

[AribethAmkiir]

Can we move that discussion to an OOC thread instead?

[Roxy Rocket]

      I kinda wanna have the game figured out before we start putting up threads in another section.

[AribethAmkiir]

Okay.  I just feel slightly uncomfortable brainstorming when people not involved in the game can come by, analyze, criticize, and comment about it.

That said, here's my idea:

[No name yet], a young, up-and-coming jazz and Cabaret singer.  She's young, but not naive.  She's a talent that's being exploited and she knows it.  She just doesn't know what to do about it.  Who is she being exploited by?  Some big named company who recently decided to branch into entertainment.  Ms. Imasinger is one of a small handful of rising stars this company has created.  According to the company, she's nothing special, "a pretty face with a powerful voice", and "there are a dozen girls just like her just waiting for her to do something stupid so they can take her place". 

Seen that?  Done that?  Why would the audience be interested?

She's smart.  Not the smart you'd associate with inventors or mad scientists.  The smart where she's slowly learned the inner workings of showbiz.  She knows what it takes to put on a show from advertizing to managing the lights.  How's she done that?  By being nice to the "little people", befriending them, and being genuinely interested in what they do.  What else?  Well, she's genuinely talented.  Not just a singer but capable of acting and playing several instruments and she has a vision - Rock Opera! (a bridging of jazz and rock)  "The next big thing" in musical entertainment.  Think loud awesome music, with flashing lights, and clockwork backup dancers.  Chicago Cabaret meets Las Vegas, or something.

[schnookums]

Umm...I know I'm coming late to the game, but this actually is looking like a fantastic game idea. Is there space for one more?