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Tormented Soles - The Original Thread.
- Thread starter cassandra1
- Start date
Ticklish_shorty
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so many great characters....but everyone seems to be a loner for the most part....not many people taking sides here...
Kalamos
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-> Ticktort
I suppose it is unavoidable: details about the gaming world are still hazy, so everything rests upon the shoulders of the players. They should come up with relationships, friends and relatives - and that is a big additional task, considering they are already making up a char.
Even choosing a faction is hard, since we don't know anything about them yet.
I wonder how all the chars will mingle together: some are more traditionally themed, while others seem taken from japanese videogames, others from action comics.
Setting the action in some mercantile city will probably help. Border forts might also do.
We need a good reason why the chars all gathered in a single place - and a common objective to prevent them from killing each others within the first few turns.
Reg's.
I suppose it is unavoidable: details about the gaming world are still hazy, so everything rests upon the shoulders of the players. They should come up with relationships, friends and relatives - and that is a big additional task, considering they are already making up a char.
Even choosing a faction is hard, since we don't know anything about them yet.
I wonder how all the chars will mingle together: some are more traditionally themed, while others seem taken from japanese videogames, others from action comics.
Setting the action in some mercantile city will probably help. Border forts might also do.
We need a good reason why the chars all gathered in a single place - and a common objective to prevent them from killing each others within the first few turns.
Reg's.
BigNorm
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thanks, tukano, btw, huge fan of your artwork, maybe you can draw a pic of Meg, lol. well, to get together into factions, i had an idea. Maybe they can form Clans. If anyone knows of the Mechwarrior series that have Blood Eagle or Phoenix Clans or whatnot. maybe they can be started my some of the characters running into each other on their quests and tag along with each other (sorta like Farscape) and as they grow in power and trust, can form Clans and appoint a trusted clan leader. clans can war each other for claim of the land. hope this helps and i'm not getting too carried away.
Kalamos
Level of Lemon Feather
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Forming clans is a fascinating idea [I want to be a Roughrider! 😉 ], but I have some doubts: clans work well with MMORPGs and mail-based RPGs.
Opposing clans require secret moves, and that is not easily feasible on a forum-based RPG - where most moves are posted in the public.
That's why we should connect the chars together - before starting the game, or at the very beginning.
I would suggest that most players checked their chars and maybe revised them in order to make them more "party-friendly".
Ticktort has a point: most chars posted so far are lone wolves - they'd be great in a single-player campaign, but I wonder how they'd mingle together and why.
Again, that's why factions are not feasible: it'd be great to split the chars up - it is easier to keep track of fewer chars at one time.
Sure: joining parallel time-lines is a hassle, but it is really a matter of good time-keeping. And it is possible for the Master to make travel quicker or slower to make sure different teams meet up in a given time and place.
But... even considering several parties on the same faction - where there is no need to keep actions secret - we'd need different threads to avoid confusion.
I would recommend you started playing soon: adding features can be done later, once you know your tastes and what kind of gaming party developed.
To casual observers this is not an RPG yet. Just a collection of un-related chars with no story going on.
Reg's.
Opposing clans require secret moves, and that is not easily feasible on a forum-based RPG - where most moves are posted in the public.
That's why we should connect the chars together - before starting the game, or at the very beginning.
I would suggest that most players checked their chars and maybe revised them in order to make them more "party-friendly".
Ticktort has a point: most chars posted so far are lone wolves - they'd be great in a single-player campaign, but I wonder how they'd mingle together and why.
Again, that's why factions are not feasible: it'd be great to split the chars up - it is easier to keep track of fewer chars at one time.
Sure: joining parallel time-lines is a hassle, but it is really a matter of good time-keeping. And it is possible for the Master to make travel quicker or slower to make sure different teams meet up in a given time and place.
But... even considering several parties on the same faction - where there is no need to keep actions secret - we'd need different threads to avoid confusion.
I would recommend you started playing soon: adding features can be done later, once you know your tastes and what kind of gaming party developed.
To casual observers this is not an RPG yet. Just a collection of un-related chars with no story going on.
Reg's.
Kleptomaniac1
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Hehe 😀 I know how it is, everyone wants to be the lone hero or the center of attention...
My character is just a mercenary/freelancer...he's a perfect party guy, he can work with anyone as long as he gets hired (or persuaded) or work with them.
My character is just a mercenary/freelancer...he's a perfect party guy, he can work with anyone as long as he gets hired (or persuaded) or work with them.
His Divine Shadow
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Hmmm.....Well, while I did make my character to be more of a loner, I prefer a background role to anything from-running. I don't see why I couldn't be a background chara in a party or something of the like.
Kalamos
Level of Lemon Feather
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-> HDS
Ticktort said he notices no one sided with a faction.
Simple answer is: we don't know who the factions are.
Complex opinion is: most chars come have different stories and backgrounds, and they need a unifying factor to work together.
You are right, but we'd need a party before having background chars. 🙂
Without, we have only a few loners with no reason to be there for.
Either we make up one now, or it is up to cassandra to make it up soon, so future players can join in with a sense of purpose.
This is not a MMORPG, where chars are compatible with each others because of the rules. This is a free-form, so we need a core-party other chars can be built around.
The faction themselves might be less relevant if, for example, action took place in a "zona franca" city. A border fort, a merchant colony, a huge port.
Think Bisanthium in IX century, still strong enough to be reckoned with, yet threatened by Franks and Arabs.
Or think Deep Space 9, just without advanced technology.
Keep in mind free-form has some *hard* limits, especially on action: our chars have NO stats. So we can't resolve combat in the usual way. We can't even *have* combat, since we don't know how effective the chars are - in relation with each others.
I'm not saying lonesome warriors are bad chars. 🙂
But players should be advised that *without* combat rules, fights are bound to be different from table-top or console games.
And it would be useful to remember the chars presented so far have huge differences in scope and powers. We have both immortal fighters and plump bards.
It is clear campaign should be fine-tuned so as to avoid combat-heavy chars getting a lion's share.
It was true with table-top rules; it is doubly so without, since we don't know just *how* powerful those fighting chars are.
Free-form games usually revolve around mysteries, intrigue and exploration - that is, role-playing and personality developement.
Fighting encounters are possible, but IMHO they are less satisfying in a *fantasy* free-form. 🙂
Reg's.
Ticktort said he notices no one sided with a faction.
Simple answer is: we don't know who the factions are.
Complex opinion is: most chars come have different stories and backgrounds, and they need a unifying factor to work together.
You are right, but we'd need a party before having background chars. 🙂
Without, we have only a few loners with no reason to be there for.
Either we make up one now, or it is up to cassandra to make it up soon, so future players can join in with a sense of purpose.
This is not a MMORPG, where chars are compatible with each others because of the rules. This is a free-form, so we need a core-party other chars can be built around.
The faction themselves might be less relevant if, for example, action took place in a "zona franca" city. A border fort, a merchant colony, a huge port.
Think Bisanthium in IX century, still strong enough to be reckoned with, yet threatened by Franks and Arabs.
Or think Deep Space 9, just without advanced technology.
Keep in mind free-form has some *hard* limits, especially on action: our chars have NO stats. So we can't resolve combat in the usual way. We can't even *have* combat, since we don't know how effective the chars are - in relation with each others.
I'm not saying lonesome warriors are bad chars. 🙂
But players should be advised that *without* combat rules, fights are bound to be different from table-top or console games.
And it would be useful to remember the chars presented so far have huge differences in scope and powers. We have both immortal fighters and plump bards.
It is clear campaign should be fine-tuned so as to avoid combat-heavy chars getting a lion's share.
It was true with table-top rules; it is doubly so without, since we don't know just *how* powerful those fighting chars are.
Free-form games usually revolve around mysteries, intrigue and exploration - that is, role-playing and personality developement.
Fighting encounters are possible, but IMHO they are less satisfying in a *fantasy* free-form. 🙂
Reg's.
Hue
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Am I accepted as well cassandra? If not, please give me some suggestions to improve my latter characters prior to posting them and so I can change my "entered into the scene" characters for the better. Thanks and great thread, hope the game turns out as well as you expect it to. Peace.
cassandra1
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Hue said:
I was waiting for you to finish posting all your characters. Yes you are accepted.
Concerning factions... I agree with Kalamos. I haven't introduced any factions or clans yet, and the loners will need a reason to form alliances. One way is to have a Thieves Guild-type clan, where members do jobs for a boss and get paid. Money is always a credible incentive to work with other people, even for loners. The boss can be an NPC whom anyone can control, thus the roleplayers decide what tasks their characters are assigned with. He can also be a one-shot character who may appear more than once.
Another way to unite characters is to use the "evil king" cliche. One or two characters have a plan to liberate the kingdom they live in from its tyrannical ruler, and they recruit other characters for this cause. Or to rescue someone from the king's heavily guarded dungeons. Or steal some magical item from his treasury.
In the beginning, every character should be gathered in one big city so that anyone can interact with anyone before they start spreading out to other parts of the country. I like one of those crowded, bustling cities with lots of shops and is also a port.
Kalamos
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As far as you'd like to: just keep in mind the more powerful is your char going to be, the more powerful other players are going to make theirs. 😉
Suggestions about fighting could apply to magic/sorcery as well - I was just wondering why nobody asked that yet. 😀
Free-form is about playing a role, so most sorcery, fighting abilities, jedi powers, psionics and so on are going to be next to useless - since you have no rules telling what you can do, and what other people can do to you. 😀
Besides, this started off as a *tickling* rpg: so... yeah, that Wand of Fireballs is sure nice, but how is it going to help you when they are tickling you to death?
😀 😀 😀
Hey, I don't want to be bad and blow the collective bubble [and I'm in myself].
I'm just saying that most "super-human" powers we usually get in table-top or console RPGs are less likely to be useful [let alone necessary] over a free-form.
Think a text-based adventure - they now call them interactive fiction: that is how free-forms work.
If I may keep ranting on [you might try shooting my kneecaps... 😀 ] don't think in level terms. Rather, try and think *how* your char would react in most of the situations he/she/it will likely encounter in actual game.
Develop the mannerism, the likes/dislikes. Knowing he/she/it could slay ten scores of orcs with just one swipe of that twinkling sword/wand/gem-encrusted-prosthetic-penis is less of an issue. 😀
Maybe your char can shatter the whole multiverse with a mere thought - but if he/she/it can't even buy sliced bread without blurting or stuttering, then that's a serious disadvantage. 😉
Oh, btw, before anybody loses heart and goes back to the drawing board... you don't have to ditch your chars just because a loony foreigner - that would be me - said so.
Just keep in mind you *can* just develop them further [even in-game!] and let them gain depth and become more "alive", later. 🙂
Kalamos dixit.
Just don't take me too seriously - it's a game, have fun. 😉
Reg's.
Suggestions about fighting could apply to magic/sorcery as well - I was just wondering why nobody asked that yet. 😀
Free-form is about playing a role, so most sorcery, fighting abilities, jedi powers, psionics and so on are going to be next to useless - since you have no rules telling what you can do, and what other people can do to you. 😀
Besides, this started off as a *tickling* rpg: so... yeah, that Wand of Fireballs is sure nice, but how is it going to help you when they are tickling you to death?
😀 😀 😀
Hey, I don't want to be bad and blow the collective bubble [and I'm in myself].
I'm just saying that most "super-human" powers we usually get in table-top or console RPGs are less likely to be useful [let alone necessary] over a free-form.
Think a text-based adventure - they now call them interactive fiction: that is how free-forms work.
If I may keep ranting on [you might try shooting my kneecaps... 😀 ] don't think in level terms. Rather, try and think *how* your char would react in most of the situations he/she/it will likely encounter in actual game.
Develop the mannerism, the likes/dislikes. Knowing he/she/it could slay ten scores of orcs with just one swipe of that twinkling sword/wand/gem-encrusted-prosthetic-penis is less of an issue. 😀
Maybe your char can shatter the whole multiverse with a mere thought - but if he/she/it can't even buy sliced bread without blurting or stuttering, then that's a serious disadvantage. 😉
Oh, btw, before anybody loses heart and goes back to the drawing board... you don't have to ditch your chars just because a loony foreigner - that would be me - said so.
Just keep in mind you *can* just develop them further [even in-game!] and let them gain depth and become more "alive", later. 🙂
Kalamos dixit.
Just don't take me too seriously - it's a game, have fun. 😉
Reg's.
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tukano_2
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Kalamos said:
Amen 🙂
From a ultra personal point of view, fighting is very far from what I expect from this game.
I think of it more like the extemporaneous and mutual creation of a plot for our characters to get in situations in which they can tickle each other...
I think Cassandra put it right when she said:
Obviously the more the situations are believable and intriguing, the more fun 🙂, but I think everything should be left on the "light" side.
I love D&D, Middle Earth Role Playing, Mage and other similar "dark and serious" RPG, but this should be something different, I think, and that something that is different is probably the most funny part of it.
Just my humble opinion 🙂
Kleptomaniac1
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Kalamos... ROFL...
Yes yes, I do agree, the Dark Side is much more appealing. Plus you get to wear black leather everyday and not get strange looks.
Hopefully the fighting will be small tiny stuff...we don't expect to actually get into huge fights or wars. There may be a war off to the side, but we won't really be IN it...
P.S: Gem-encrusted-penis.....that...gives so many interesting images...
Yes yes, I do agree, the Dark Side is much more appealing. Plus you get to wear black leather everyday and not get strange looks.
Hopefully the fighting will be small tiny stuff...we don't expect to actually get into huge fights or wars. There may be a war off to the side, but we won't really be IN it...
P.S: Gem-encrusted-penis.....that...gives so many interesting images...
cassandra1
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ElFewja said:
There are some limits on the use of magic.
- You cannot destroy the world/city/town/army with a snap of your fingers.
- You cannot teleport another person from one place to another without having that person in your sights. (ie. You're sitting in your castle, and you want to meet a friend who lives on the other side of the country. You can't just magically yank him from his house to your castle out of the blue.)
- No permanent invincibility. Even though we cannot kill another person's character without permission, it still wouldn't be fair to know that one character is immune to getting killed.
And yes, the more powerful you make your char, the more powerful other people will make theirs so that they can match up to you. Just don't go overboard and turn your char into a god. 🙂
Ticklekiller1
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Okay. I've read the intire thread. So, now that I'm up to speed on what's going on I'm almost ready to establish a character but, first I have a few questions/suggestions... Since it looks like there may indeed be some fighting, sorcery, special abilities and so on shouldn't we have HP, MP, STR, DEF/Endurance and such. Such player status could be determined by the DM or a mod rolling a set of dice to determine each players personal stats. Also the DM or a mod could decide the amount of EXP points NPCs (hoping this means non player characters as I'm assuming it does) are worth if defeated as well as deciding what standard equipment each NPC carries that could serve as spoils if defeated. As for PCs, our EXP values could also be determined by the DM's or mod's roll of dice or your EXP value could consist of your total status points cobined. For instance a character's status is
STR:12
DEF:10
SPD:04
I.Q.:08
HP: 24/27
MP:13/22
EXP Value: 83 points.
Also level ups stats could be determined by the DM or mod to determine the number of what attributes increase with each new level gained and so on. I'll start a character later tonight or tomorrow. First I want to know what everyone thinks of these ideas.
-TK
STR:12
DEF:10
SPD:04
I.Q.:08
HP: 24/27
MP:13/22
EXP Value: 83 points.
Also level ups stats could be determined by the DM or mod to determine the number of what attributes increase with each new level gained and so on. I'll start a character later tonight or tomorrow. First I want to know what everyone thinks of these ideas.
-TK
Last edited:
GEORGIATKLER
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If I Could Walk That Way I Wouldn't Need....
With All The Leather Being Worn Maybe I Should Be The Earl Of Talc! Lol! Ka-ching! When You Need Your Occasional Tickle Torturer Let Me Know. I Guess Pm's Are Best, But I,m Not Online Every Day.
With All The Leather Being Worn Maybe I Should Be The Earl Of Talc! Lol! Ka-ching! When You Need Your Occasional Tickle Torturer Let Me Know. I Guess Pm's Are Best, But I,m Not Online Every Day.
cassandra1
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Ticklekiller said:
I'm not very keen on having stats for a free-form RPG played on a forum. And no dice rolls either, because you can never be sure if the person rolling the dice is being honest about what number comes up, unlike in tabletop RPGs where you can see for yourself. A player may not believe the DM when the DM's dice rolls give him very low stats...
Player: What? How can my stats be 1,1,2,1?
DM: That's what I got on the dice.
Player: This is just great. Now that guy with 18 strength who is my character's enemy can slap me around. Or maybe you just don't like me and you made up the low scores because of something I said.
Believe me, I've seen similar incidents over at GameFAQs, and most of the roleplayers there were in fact adults in their 20s. Actually I have seen lots of things happen at GameFAQs' roleplaying board and I don't mind sharing them with you, in case you don't happen to go there as well.
With that said, stats would be pretty useless. You can have a strength of 1 and still be able to punch down a concrete wall. And then there are the average attribute scores; how will we decide whether a person succeeds at a test of strength if his strength is 12 out of 18, without using dice rolls? Since there are no stats, there shouldn't be EXP either.
Kalamos
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There *are* a couple of ways to incorporate stats without dice rolling - but none of them are quick, easy and straightforward for the players and the master.
Point-buy is a way. Like in Gurps, you build your char up from a given allotment of points. You buy stats, talents, skills and so on.
It is time-consuming, it bogs play down and... well... it is taxing on brain power.
Another is: realism over stats. You state the height, weight, age and training of your char. The master will then calculate your effective health - using tables easily found on any diet site - and effective QI.
You char is 6', 200? He's been known to spend his life guarding carovans? Fine, tables say he is strong, reasonably fast, but he might be prone to heart ploblems due to stress. He might also have an aching limb or two from exertion or old battle wounds.
Also, since you stated he's been training during his whole youth to keep his shape up, his effective QI might be low - he had no time for books and he's barely literate.
Reasoning in real-world terms - health age and QI - helps a bit. Nobody can cheat with dice, since the chat's history determines Health and QI. Nobody can cheat during game-play, since the master decides the outcome of any action comparing real stats, and strategy.
In battle, a well played average char should win over a blundering uber char. "So... your sword will slice through the hardest metal? Let's see what you can do when I douse you in flaming oil...".
No amount of "magic" will save against overwhelming odds, unpassable terrain or plain old real-world physics. Even an immortal char will be blocked by an avalanche. Maybe the char won't die, but tons of rocks to pin him/her/it down, no matter what.
If Musashi faced Julius Ceasar, old M. wouldn't have never kept that bridge: they would have built another bridge and just for the spite of it, they would have peppered the samurai with ballista-bolts. 😀
Reg's.
Point-buy is a way. Like in Gurps, you build your char up from a given allotment of points. You buy stats, talents, skills and so on.
It is time-consuming, it bogs play down and... well... it is taxing on brain power.
Another is: realism over stats. You state the height, weight, age and training of your char. The master will then calculate your effective health - using tables easily found on any diet site - and effective QI.
You char is 6', 200? He's been known to spend his life guarding carovans? Fine, tables say he is strong, reasonably fast, but he might be prone to heart ploblems due to stress. He might also have an aching limb or two from exertion or old battle wounds.
Also, since you stated he's been training during his whole youth to keep his shape up, his effective QI might be low - he had no time for books and he's barely literate.
Reasoning in real-world terms - health age and QI - helps a bit. Nobody can cheat with dice, since the chat's history determines Health and QI. Nobody can cheat during game-play, since the master decides the outcome of any action comparing real stats, and strategy.
In battle, a well played average char should win over a blundering uber char. "So... your sword will slice through the hardest metal? Let's see what you can do when I douse you in flaming oil...".
No amount of "magic" will save against overwhelming odds, unpassable terrain or plain old real-world physics. Even an immortal char will be blocked by an avalanche. Maybe the char won't die, but tons of rocks to pin him/her/it down, no matter what.
If Musashi faced Julius Ceasar, old M. wouldn't have never kept that bridge: they would have built another bridge and just for the spite of it, they would have peppered the samurai with ballista-bolts. 😀
Reg's.
BigNorm
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so is everyone gonna name their own stats?
don't know if this will work, but why not start everyone off evenly in stats. everyone gets EXP points for stuff like winning battles, after EXP stacks up to let's say 50 or 100, they can spend those points in different ares for their character, i. e. speed, HP MP (magic power) ammo, agility, strength and so on.
so everyone starts at level 1, and takes 20 EXP to level up to lvl 2, then which each level increase, it takes 5 more EXP points to lvl up. i. e. lvl 1 = 20 EXP, lvl 2 = 25, lvl 3 = 30, etc. make it to where people can play 24/7, like if i'm up late and so is, lets say, Nightmare, we can battle to earn extra EXP to spend sorta like extra credit. so the more you play, the better you'll become.
i never played an RPG like this, mostly video games. but let's not make up crap on the top of our heads, like attacking someone with projectile weapon and the person says "ooh wait, i'm immune to prejectiles" like the crap we'd say playing as kids to where no one could win or lose.
also have set items we can purchase, healing potions, etc. and also have a currency, maybe to buy the potions, so each time someone loses, he has to give up maybe 10% of what he has in his wallet.
also, maybe can buy special powerups and attacks with EXP points.
don't know if this will work, but why not start everyone off evenly in stats. everyone gets EXP points for stuff like winning battles, after EXP stacks up to let's say 50 or 100, they can spend those points in different ares for their character, i. e. speed, HP MP (magic power) ammo, agility, strength and so on.
so everyone starts at level 1, and takes 20 EXP to level up to lvl 2, then which each level increase, it takes 5 more EXP points to lvl up. i. e. lvl 1 = 20 EXP, lvl 2 = 25, lvl 3 = 30, etc. make it to where people can play 24/7, like if i'm up late and so is, lets say, Nightmare, we can battle to earn extra EXP to spend sorta like extra credit. so the more you play, the better you'll become.
i never played an RPG like this, mostly video games. but let's not make up crap on the top of our heads, like attacking someone with projectile weapon and the person says "ooh wait, i'm immune to prejectiles" like the crap we'd say playing as kids to where no one could win or lose.
also have set items we can purchase, healing potions, etc. and also have a currency, maybe to buy the potions, so each time someone loses, he has to give up maybe 10% of what he has in his wallet.
also, maybe can buy special powerups and attacks with EXP points.
