Forbidden Arts Discussion And Interest

Steerpike · June 05, 2013, 03:43:50 PM

My advice is to cap it. If the game shapes up anything like Underdeep, even with 2 GMs 9 players would be a pretty full plate.

Ghostman · June 05, 2013, 03:51:17 PM

I've added my PC fluff to the character creation thread, although not any starting information.

Xathan · June 05, 2013, 05:09:24 PM

I am going to agree that we should cap it where it is; if you wanted to play but didn't get in right now, please PM me (I know of at least one person who had expressed interest early on but hadn't posted, so I'm not sure if they lost interest or if they were interested but weren't logged in.) If you are interested in playing a monster, as Ghostman is doing, I think we can accomidate you, as well as if you want to play a "Wandering Mage" that doesn't have summons, lairs or minions, just so many spells.

I just want to say, seeing it all laid out like this, I am delightfully excited in how much interest this game is generating! If you're interested, don't want to play a monster or a wandering mage, but didn't make the cap, again, please let me know, I'll try to get you in once a couple turns have passed and we have a better idea of the kind of workload the game will require.

Now, I have heard people tell me that they are completely stuck on what to play - Superbright mentioned in IRC that the problem FA has is too many choices. If you need help figuring that out, feel free to shoot me a PM to bounce ideas off me or let me know what you're thinking. However, keep in mind that the flexibility, while it can be intimidating, is also going to be a blessing - if you don't like the way your stuff is playing out, feel free to hole up and fortify for a few turns, research new stuff, and then try that on for size.

Raelfin is hard at work on unit stats right now while I'm hammering out the map - I'm hoping to have the Map in a postable, if not fully finished, form by tonight. Thank you all for your support!

By the way, for anyone who is loving the mechanics, total thanks to Raelfin there, since mechanical development has so far pretty much been: rael: would you like this? me: yes, OF how about we do this? Rael: yes, or what about that? Me: sounds good. Raelfin: alright, BAM, here it is. Me: that is awesome. Forbidden arts would not been anywhere near as interesting or sound mechanically without him, and wanted to make sure he was properly credited for all his amazing work, which has also freed me up to focus on fluff/event planning, which I think everyone will benefit from. :)

Also, if anyone knows of a good fantasy name generator, please let me know, because I'm going to have dozens of towns and NPCs to name since I intend on making each town/village an actual place, not just a thing you can milk for wealth (because the latter would be the sane, rational option, and this way ensures I'll get to drive myself pleasantly mad).

Raelifin · June 05, 2013, 05:44:38 PM

http://www.rinkworks.com/namegen/

Humabout · June 05, 2013, 09:43:17 PM

Quote from: Xathan
I'm hammering out the map - I'm hoping to have the Map in a postable, if not fully finished, form by tonight. Thank you all for your support!

I will mash my F5 key in further support!

Rhamnousia · June 05, 2013, 10:23:22 PM

I've added my character to the creation thread. The name is definitely subject to change between now and whenever the game starts.

Xathan · June 06, 2013, 02:07:00 AM

Love the character, Superbright!

Preliminary, roadless, riverless map is up! Also, for your viewing pleasure, here are some sample towns:

[spoiler=Sample towns]Kaltas (XX, YY) Large town, Mayor is Mosor Endelmen (M). Notable features include the Headquarters of the Falcon Knights, run by High Lady Commander Andraea Longwoods (F), who is rumored to hide a dark secret in the nearby town of [NEARBYSVILLE]

Aughust (XX, YY) Port, Mayor is Adrhin Skydes (F). Rumors hold that a particular family with a strangely fishy look, the Grobuns (Mixed), are more than the drunken louts they appear to be.

Greenold (XX, YY) Trading town, no Mayor, run by village council. Rumors holds a longstand fued exists between a pair of hedge wizards, Mirandae Redfield (F) and Edwith DeCoi (M).

Oror Field (XX, YY) Farming town, Mayor Jozef Balzell (M). Rumors spread by Cerith Mosowor (F), cleric of the Lumiferous Seven, claim Jozef Balzell is keeping the Lumiferous Chapel closed deliberately for the past 50 years.

Runwall (XX, YY) Military Fort, Commander Ejun Worir (M). Rumors hold that Grol Kapaa (M), a popular figure in Runwall, is the most powerful battlecaster in the empire; no one can claim to have faced him and live.

Calek Hollow (XX, YY) Small town, Lady Zardi Synsell (F). Rumors hold that Xyn Synsell (M), father of the Lady Synsell, has been governing the town in his daughter's place - she has not been seen in public in 10 years.

Erh Falor (XX, YY) Trade City, run by merchants guild. Rumors hold that a mysterious figured named only Bix (?) runs the thieves' guild - known as the Sewage Stewards - here and in in the nearby cities of [CLOSETOWN, NEARWOODS, PROXITOWN, and ADJACENTBURG] - among others.

The Naleche Morass (XX, YY) Swamp town, Mayor Dursilla Lindraen (F). Mayor Lindraen is rumored to be over two hundred years old, despite looking barely twenty, and it is rumored that the secret to her immortality is hidden in her home.

Welthon's Folly (XX, YY) Large City but sparsely populated. No official government, city is in a constant state of gang warfare. Rumors hold that Welthon Naleche's (M) death curse haunts the town, and that the wealth he loved more than his daughter can still be found here.

Dancing Dragon (XX, YY) Small layover, dominated by Inn overlooking the lake. Rumor holds that the matron of the Dancing Dragon Inn, Rebeki Black (F), is a madam and mother of half the prostitutes in the Empire.

Goldsbane Reach (XX, YY) Fortress built over old gold mine, Commanded by Radold the Grim. Rumors surrounding the place is that the Fortress is less intended to keep intruders out and more intended to keep whatever what was unearthed from the delving for gold trapped within the depths.

Shaeksville (XX, YY) Small ranching town, led by Goodman Cheon Darmnal (M). Rumor has begun to spread that two-headed cattle have been born here that quickly die and decompose explosively, leading to imperial investigation.

Oughalt (XX, YY) Coal mining town, lead by Lady Ranene Desuka (F). Lady Desuka is from a family of mages and, while she has no aptitude herself, she is rumored to have a vast cache of magic items her family horded in their hayday.

Ildpolenth (XX, YY) Trade town, Led by Rarabo Endoz (M). Rumors hold that despite the lucrative buisness the town does, the Endozes are constantly broke, in part due to a curse that hangs over the family well.

Shywore (XX, YY) Militarized town, led by Commander Phyran Adcer-Warvtur (M) of the Lumiferous Battle Clerics. Noted for housing the Grand Ossiary, a mockery of the Chapels of the Luminferous Seven made entirely of human bones. It is rumored the town's non-military population has not changed in number in over sixty years.

Athwor's Reach (XX, YY) Layover on trade routes, led by Captain Anorm Peurr (F). It is rumored that Captain Peurr takes something that every caravan that passes through, or that someone in his employ does, but no merchant has ever been able to produce proof of any missing goods, and carvan's rumored to be "robbed" by the Captain are never waylaid by bandits.

Ildskelor (XX, YY) Impoverished town, led by Snal Chasanoff (M). The inhabitants of Ildskelor rarely see trade, and are rumored to having resorted to a unique form of cannibalism to remain fed. The town is protected by a wall of thick, queerly pale leather, lending credence to this theory.

Bloiaver's Grasp (XX, YY) Small town sprung up on the site of the final battle of the Unification War, led by former Sargent Ingem Oughalt (M). Bloiaver's Grasp is rumored to be filled with loot pilfered from the dead, but none of that wealth has ever left the town in trade.[/spoiler]

These will all be expanded upon later, typos will be fixed, and details will be added, but I thought I'd show some of what I was thinking along these lines.

EDIT: ALSO! Added stats for some basic mercenaries that people can hire.

From here on out, whenever I make a change to a post, there will be in the bottom of the post a "Changelog" to show what changed so those who are wondering what rules were altered will be able to find it. The PbP main gamethread will be reorganized at some point soon to make it an easier read, once we're further along in development.

Nomadic · June 06, 2013, 02:42:09 AM

Added my monster to the thread. May need to talk to Xathan/Raelifin about how to run him. It's inspired by a mixture of the langoliers and the snarl from OotS and the idea is that an alienist tried to summon it and end the world but only half managed it so all it can do is poke through the fabric of reality, sending tentacles into the material realm to spread chaos and destruction.

Xathan · June 06, 2013, 02:59:13 AM

Nomadic: I love it. I also haven't the foggiest how to work that mechanically: will have to talk to Raelfin after I've taken time to ponder.

Also, why'd you change the crazy text to something I can pronounce?

Nomadic · June 06, 2013, 03:02:24 AM

Quote from: Xathan
Nomadic: I love it. I also haven't the foggiest how to work that mechanically: will have to talk to Raelfin after I've taken time to ponder.

Also, why'd you change the crazy text to something I can pronounce?

The crazy text was screwing up a few people's displays so I removed it.

Raelifin · June 06, 2013, 01:28:12 PM

I changed the city icon because they were too hard for me to distinguish from towns. Rivers are either medium (which can be forded) or major (which require a ferry). The black lines are roads. When a road crosses a river there is assumed to be a bridge. If a bridge is destroyed the entire road section will be removed.

Latitude is broken down into three major sections: North, Middle, and South. Within each latitude section there are roughly 17 rows (South is smaller). Every other row is shaded to help determine coordinate. Longitude is similarly broken down into West, Center, and East. Columns within a longitude section are denoted by letter. Some spaces are marked with their coordinates for convenience.

West and East to from A to Q, while Center only goes to P. To denote the coordinates of a hex please list latitude and then longitude (with or without a space).
The capital is at S7WM, for instance.

[spoiler=Map]

[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Smaller Version]

[/spoiler]

Xathan · June 06, 2013, 02:23:15 PM

Thanks a ton Rael! And now, everyone, feel free to start picking starting locations! I'll move those over to the main thread ASAP.

Humabout · June 06, 2013, 09:24:32 PM

Where's the snowy wintery bits? And the map key? I need more info before picking my remote layer!

Raelifin · June 06, 2013, 09:46:00 PM

I don't know exactly where there's snow, but we had talked about having snow modify existing terrain rather than be a terrain type in itself. IIRC heavy snow increases the movement cost of all land terrain types by 1. Then there are blizzards which can further increase move costs, cause unit loss due to attrition and exposure, limit visibility, and leave a trail of heavy snow in their wake. Again, you'll have to talk to Xathan about what climates are present in what parts of the map. I'm guessing that seasons will impact things further.

There's a map key (at least regarding terrain) in the PbP thread.

Additionally, I believe there are portals which connect distant parts of the map. I don't know where they are, but I suspect that one is in the city at N12WQ.

Xathan · June 06, 2013, 10:36:36 PM

Quote from: Raelifin
I don't know exactly where there's snow, but we had talked about having snow modify existing terrain rather than be a terrain type in itself. IIRC heavy snow increases the movement cost of all land terrain types by 1. Then there are blizzards which can further increase move costs, cause unit loss due to attrition and exposure, limit visibility, and leave a trail of heavy snow in their wake. Again, you'll have to talk to Xathan about what climates are present in what parts of the map. I'm guessing that seasons will impact things further.

That's exactly right. Climate is fairly evenly temperate across the board, slightly warmer in the south than the north, but weather will happen naturally over the course of the game, not be static. The area for the entire map is small enough where there isn't a huge difference depending on where you are. If the game expands to the points where new maps across the sea emerge, then new climates will arise.

QuoteAdditionally, I believe there are portals which connect distant parts of the map. I don't know where they are, but I suspect that one is in the city at N12WQ.

Portals exist within cities, towns, and ruins and are not labeled on the map - they are found through exploration (as are ruins as a whole, which also do not appear on the map, but will be common enough to be found through exploration). The good news here is the Empire knows only slightly more about portal locations than you all do, so you don't have to worry about armies teleporting halfway across the map early on - they only know of one pair, part of which is, in fact, at N12WQ. :)

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Forbidden Arts Discussion And Interest

Steerpike

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Raelifin

Humabout

Rhamnousia

Xathan

Nomadic

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Nomadic

Raelifin

Xathan

Humabout

Raelifin

Xathan