Into the Darkest Woods [OOC]

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Soulserenity20

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"Greetings strangers, you seem to have stumbled into the darkest of woods... while there is much to fear, fear not. For we are of this land and while we too are lost, we at least know what the eat and when to run. Come... we've surely been brought here for a reason. I'd like to live long enough to find out what that reason is...."




Welcome, my lovelies, to the OOC Thread. An IC will be up soon enough. Please do not create your characters here, do that all in the Character Creation Thread found HERE.

I'm going to be working on the plot all day today (between classes) so I'll have a good IC placed here. Furthermore, this post will serve as Character Sheet Storage as well as a storage space for any important information you'll be wanting to reference. This is first a fantasy survival, it will develop into an epic adventure.

Now, one question for you all:

What kind of GM do you want me to be? One that throws surprises at you and adds things to the plot which will effect your character but you will not have a say in what those things are or when they happen? Or do you all want a bit of a heads up for big events. Warnings like: "You're about to take a path that's seriously going to end you all up mauled. Are you sure you want to do that?" or "You're all about to get something that will change your characters, possibly for the better, do you want it to be a randomized handout or do you want to be a part of the selection process?''


Thanks! And have fun!
~Soul

Accepted Players and Characters. Welcome, to the Darkest Woods.
​
Character Local/Outsider Player
Kyumia Soulstorm Local Soulserenity20
Graham Kakko Outsider Soulserenity20
Anya Local Kimsim12
Nicole Leinonen Outsider Boxateer
Sania Mahal Outsider Greenie
Amalthea Saburova Outsider Crescent
Octavious Bilodeau Outsider Honorific
Reserved TBA TBA
Reserved TBA TBA
Reserved TBA TBA
Reserved TBA TBA
Reserved TBA TBA
 
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I think a little of both would be fine! Like, if it's a really juicy surprise that you can't just give away, go ahead and toss it at us without warning. If it's a surprise that you don't mind giving away, or that will make interactions more interesting if you tell it to us, go ahead and tell us. I like surprises a whole lot, but I also think that warning us beforehand will also serve a good purpose, innit.
 
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Well put ^_^ I have an event that will be along these lines that'll happen very soon after we start :)
 
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I agree with Torack. :)
 
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Okay great. Now, I'd also like to discuss what you all feel is a good idea for the way magick works in this world. Truthfully, my initial plan was to give the locals magic abilities, like elves normally would have. Very druidic. Now, would you guys like to have the humans gain magical abilities? Keep in mind, this is going to be a long plot so weigh out the pros and cons of mana added to humans for the entire RP

If you say yes, do you want a shallow simple manner of mana use or do you want a more complex form of it?
 
I think that, initially, the humans wouldn't have any magick. But, perhaps the longer they spend in the world, they start finding themselves able to use it? I'd rather it be a more complex sort of magick that our characters would have to somehow learn to understand and eventually use in their favor. I see it as being a bit of a long process.
 
Gooood. Good. Complex mana is my thing lol. I'll have fun developing the mana for this world. Okay. That's exactly what I was thinking but I'l wait for opinions from some other folk too :)
 
I wouldn't mind if the humans gained magical abilities. It's inevitable that they will learn how to use magick, as they will have to adapt to survive. Like @kimsim12, I don't think that these characters should be starting out with any magick. Maybe over time, they would grow more sensitive to mana?

A complex form of mana would add depth the roleplay and a challenge to the characters. If the magick was simple and easy to learn, it wouldn't take long for them to grow powerful. ;(
 
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I like complex magic as well, but I find the thing that makes magic systems so amazing is the cost since this would add more depth and more challenges to the characters. Do they want to use the magic now, and risk whatever horrible cost that will come with it, or save it until they actually need it and have no other option? An added bonus is that it makes really powerful magic systems more balanced, and at the same time really amps up tense moments.
 
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Or you could just limit magic usage by the capabilities of the person and the will of the soul. Everyone has a physical peak, so I have a feeling everyone would have a 'spiritual' peak just the same, since one might get better with magic by using it more. The cost of using magic could easily just be fatigue, but a kind of fatigue that is more mental than physical. Just like stressing one's physical limits leads to aching muscles, stressing one's magical limits could lead to... headaches, mental fatigue, brief hallucinations, tunnel vision and lightheadedness.

So, yeah, larger exertions of magical force are more taxing than little ones, but repeated use of anything in a day is going to cause fatigue. It would be good to give it some accessibility, and make more powerful spells come at a cost of resource. Energy. Material components. Or, time and effort into doing a ritual for the spell. Any combination.

Humans are adaptive creatures. I wouldn't put it past the human characters to have some decent accessibility to these things if someone is willing to teach them and help them unlock their latent magical abilities. Not everyone may have the aptitude for it, but it doesn't mean you can't pick up a couple cantrips here and there for daily use. Or learn other things. Or maybe just use magical items to make up for your ineptitude. Although that is another interesting point, now that I think about it. Focii. Magical focii might be needed to aid others in using spells. Rituals is already one of those things, since you may need to do a ritual to do more complex spells, but I'm talking about things like staves and wands. Even amulets, rings, books, dolls, knives, orbs... all sorts of things. The symbols have power.

Wow okay I'm going a little bit ham on this. But, you know, just thought I'd weigh in about magic.



On the subject of what kinda GM. Well. When things happen, they should be largely a result of a character's actions. Even if it's not technically foreseeable, it should still somehow be avoidable if the right information is given. I've done enough campaigns where we've gone in blind with our pants around our ankles just waiting to get fist-fucked by some eldritch horror out in the desert in the middle of the night. On the one hand, that can be a good theme for the story. Venturing into the unknown, tightly clutching your gun/sword/ass cheeks and flashlight/torch can be really atmospheric, but for sword and sorcery it's inappropriate to be firmly grasping your own bum in front of the rest of the party. Or getting atomically fisted, I guess. Also there's the fact that it's a little rough for players that are playing because they want a little more say in what they're going to get into.

My suggestion is to present the events honestly. Let there be clues. Cryptic, blunt, vague, maybe even incomplete, but clues. It's good to have surprises every now and then, but also to let us figure out the riddles of the clues you leave in the exposition so we can feel even more like we accomplished something by reaching encounters that otherwise would've been left out entirely. Or, that would've gone very poorly if we didn't have the information we gathered. Or something like that.

So, basically, no handouts like, 'So hey guys this is about to happen'. I'm going to trust you enough as a GM to believe you'll do whatever is thematically and dramatically appropriate for the story. If I know going to a place or person could trigger and event that, depending on how I approach and act within it, could change my character forever, I want to be able to at least choose to dive into that. I have no fucking clue what all it will do, but I have an idea at least, and for me and the character that's enough. The world isn't going to hold my hand, so I wouldn't expect you to either, or to hold my character's hand. Or for the world to.

So yeah there you go. That's me weighing in.
 
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Bootfist said:
Or you could just limit magic usage by the capabilities of the person and the will of the soul. Everyone has a physical peak, so I have a feeling everyone would have a 'spiritual' peak just the same, since one might get better with magic by using it more. The cost of using magic could easily just be fatigue, but a kind of fatigue that is more mental than physical. Just like stressing one's physical limits leads to aching muscles, stressing one's magical limits could lead to... headaches, mental fatigue, brief hallucinations, tunnel vision and lightheadedness.

So, yeah, larger exertions of magical force are more taxing than little ones, but repeated use of anything in a day is going to cause fatigue. It would be good to give it some accessibility, and make more powerful spells come at a cost of resource. Energy. Material components. Or, time and effort into doing a ritual for the spell. Any combination.

Humans are adaptive creatures. I wouldn't put it past the human characters to have some decent accessibility to these things if someone is willing to teach them and help them unlock their latent magical abilities. Not everyone may have the aptitude for it, but it doesn't mean you can't pick up a couple cantrips here and there for daily use. Or learn other things. Or maybe just use magical items to make up for your ineptitude. Although that is another interesting point, now that I think about it. Focii. Magical focii might be needed to aid others in using spells. Rituals is already one of those things, since you may need to do a ritual to do more complex spells, but I'm talking about things like staves and wands. Even amulets, rings, books, dolls, knives, orbs... all sorts of things. The symbols have power.
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Thanks for all your input! I already have a well developed mana system I use in my other roleplay which I'll introduce here with some minor tweaks so I've already got it covered :) I more just wanted to know if you guys wanted simple or complex :3 Some great idea! But I've already got most of it covered :) Thanks dear
Torack said:
I like complex magic as well, but I find the thing that makes magic systems so amazing is the cost since this would add more depth and more challenges to the characters. Do they want to use the magic now, and risk whatever horrible cost that will come with it, or save it until they actually need it and have no other option? An added bonus is that it makes really powerful magic systems more balanced, and at the same time really amps up tense moments.
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I also have the cost of premature mana use and potential death by overexertion all mapped out in my mana system from my other RP, because I agree. It makes things much more interesting is the mana does come with a cost. I think you all will like it :)


Bootfist said:
So, basically, no handouts like, 'So hey guys this is about to happen'. I'm going to trust you enough as a GM to believe you'll do whatever is thematically and dramatically appropriate for the story. If I know going to a place or person could trigger and event that, depending on how I approach and act within it, could change my character forever, I want to be able to at least choose to dive into that. I have no fucking clue what all it will do, but I have an idea at least, and for me and the character that's enough. The world isn't going to hold my hand, so I wouldn't expect you to either, or to hold my character's hand. Or for the world to.

So yeah there you go. That's me weighing in.
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Lol! Thanks for your weigh sir :3 I love your points and I think we, or at least you and I for sure, are going to get along very well. I have a very similar opinion of RP's. There has to be a mix of unexpected/out of your control events and decision making/strategic events for the players. I'll be sure to keep a good balance between the two.


Thanks for all the input guys :3

So, one more thing about the overall plot. The way it's playing out in my mind is that the first long while is going to be in the forest, very much survival, but as they go about... surviving, things are revealed to them and a great plot unfolds under them. Their duties in the grand scheme will ultimately lead them out of the woods, but if I were to give this chapters, this chapter would be the "Something's brewing in the Darkest Woods" chapter.

I generally make long term RP's. My main is on chapter one after one full year of IC play. I already have chapters 2 and 3 planned out for it too, so. I put a LOT of effort into the development but in my opinion, a good plot can't be sped through. So I hope you all can enjoy this enough to dedicate for the long haul. We'll see how this goes!
 
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Hey guys, lets move the chat into here from the Signups thread.

Now, does anyone care about posting order? I mean, within reason?

ALSO:
Lol did anyone see that random post from that random person who wasn't at all even in the roleplay? I've NEVER had that happen before lol
 
I don't mind as long as no characters get left behind :o I'll probably try to post soon since my char is like right there lol.

I got really confused o.o
 
Lol okay. And yeah, me too. I was like "did I miss something?" And I had to run back and see if I accepted a player I forgot about??
 
Random post from random person. Saw it in my email and was like 'wait...did we forget someone? Crap!'.
 
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Lol I went to check the OOC thread but then saw @Soulserenity20 's post
 
Lol I think it was so funny becuase I've literally never had someone just pop up and so blatantly ignore common RP courtesy and just be like "BAM. Here's my post."
 
Okay, I feel stupid. I thought I watched the IC thread, so I didn't think there were any new posts yet. Turns out I forgot to watch the thread, so I've just been sitting here sucking my thumb wondering why no one was posting. -_-
I'll make a post ASAP.
 
Happens to the best of us :D
 
Lol! I was kind of wonder what was up with the silence but I figured you were busy :) Not to worry :)
 
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