Limiting the playground to a single area seems like a better choice. It allows you to concentrate your world building into a smaller area. It will provide the playable world more depth and detail. I also think creating smart/toned down character sheets for high profile NPCs and adding images to the monsters may appeal to some people. Perhaps one or two images of the city and its surrounding area(or a map but that might be pushing it) could also help out.

@pugbutter Yeah, that's pretty much why I'm deciding just to reboot it. Why bother continuing if nobody comes back and the situation doesn't get any better.

But yes, this next time around I'll be restricting the starting area to one location.

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@Nerdude Yeah, that's what I'll go with. I'll try to remember to throw an NPC sheet together, but if I fail to do that before the reboot goes live just remind me. I am going to focus most of my time on expanding and revitalizing the world, though I can't promise any pictures.

I had tried finding a reference picture for Cartelom to include in my first post, but didn't deem any of them sufficient. I'll give cities another go, but due to the nature of my monsters (mostly regarding those I've yet to reveal) finding reference art for some of them is probably going to be near impossible, if not entirely so - though I do want to find a reference picture to go with the header for the Monster Section. One picture is way easier than scouring the internet for all the enemies I've currently got milling around in my pocket.

And while I think a map would be cool, I just don't have the ability to make one that I feel would be presentable. A reference image for the region itself might not actually be too hard to find, but I haven't tried searching for one of those yet. I'll see how that goes. It might actually be really quick and easy.

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This could take me a while. I'm hoping no more than 2 weeks, as I've got summer classes to worry about and my schedule has changed drastically due to changes in my ride situation that leaves me with a whole lot less of the time I normally spent working on this kinda stuff. But there's a fair amount of stuff I want to cover. I threw the original interest check up when this was just a barebones concept, not expecting much to come of it, and ended up flailing around for a month or two - half of which time was spent without internet - trying to scrape this thing together with all the inspiration I could muster. Part of that's just down to how I work, but I did feel some pressure once people started showing interest.

Now I don't feel that pressure, and I've got a base to start with instead of starting from scratch. I know where I want to go and what I want to do, now, I just need the time to put it together and into words.

Will I already be accepted if I just repost Jethec, then? (Without an accomplice this time, unless one of the other players is enthusiastic to the idea again, and a little more loyal to the games he/she joins ...)

I'll be making some small/minor changes to my character. Mostly image swaps and some small detail changes.

@pugbutter Yes, unless I make any significant changes to the CS of course - but I don't think I'll be doing that. Even if I do make changes to the CS you'll still practically be guaranteed acceptance, anyways.

@Nerdude Alright, cool.

And good grief that's a good chunk of images...

Cool, cool. I knew I didn't make him only to be able to write only two posts from his perspective

@ArkmageddonCat

Tried to find things on the art side. But it's kind of limited unless it veers deep into the fantasy realm of art. Real photos yield metric tonnes of results. Here's old european city map/paintings things.

@pugbutter Yeah I hope we can get more peeps, but even if we can't we might be able to go through this with just us three in the same location.

@Nerdude I can certainly use some of these, and I've found some as well. Not sure what I'll use for Cartelom, but you've nabbed plenty of useable images.

@ArkmageddonCat
Hey, it's been two weeks and I in no means intend to sound or be pushy, but you've got a small update on the state of things?

@ArkmageddonCat
Hey, it's been two weeks and I in no means intend to sound or be pushy, but you've got a small update on the state of things?

tl;dr - I throw out some excuses, give a small update, go on and on about... I don't eve remember what, honestly... aaand I ask you guys for some feedback in the last paragraph.

I'm sensitive to schedule changes, and once my summer classes ended it really messed me up. It was also my first two weeks since the start of the summer that I had nothing to do, and no need to take my medicine. Now, I'm not sure if my medicine helps keep my inspiration flowing, or what, but my brain pretty much went dead. Didn't know what to do, couldn't think of anything. And then there was the sweet and deadly trap of video games - which is entirely my own fault. I knew my creative process was fragile, but I didn't know it was this fragile.

Nonsense aside, I still have the progress I made before my two week break, and now that my fall semester has started I'm back on my adderall and can pace around the campus instead of the confines of my home where everybody gets annoyed by it. Cartelom was getting a lot of updates, I dropped the other regions, and I've had issues trying to develop a less sandbox-y delivery of the story - specifically in the introduction phase.

I suppose the most unfortunate news, aside from... y'know... wasting a whole two weeks, is that most of my work for this RP, period, has been put into making new enemy types. So... probably have prioritization issues as well, though inspiration is pretty come and go, hit or miss, with me.

Hm... maybe I could use a co-GM or something? But I don't want to, like... end up relying on them or something... I don't know, didn't get any sleep last night so I'm struggling a little bit here. Uh...

You know what? Let's just... get some involvement back in here. Since you two are still along for the ride, are there any changes you'd like to see or anything you think could use some expanding on, specifically? I know we talked about adding images, and I am planning on doing that at this point. I was also planning on expanding the earlier monster descriptions that I came up with, as they're not as lengthy/detailed as the ones I've written up since (which are still relatively short, seeing as they're just descriptions), but any time I've tried that I just... can't think of anything to add. Doesn't mean I'll stop trying, though, now that I'm easing back into working on this stuff.

@ArkmageddonCat
Hmm gonna need a bit of thinking before I can throw you some feedback. One thing I can say though, don't force yourself to write/brainstorm if you aren't getting hit with inspiration. Sometimes you gotta go and look for inspiration in other IPs.

Actually, more so than adding and augmenting, I think some taking away is in order. I'd have been far more interested in the menagerie of monsters if it was presented in a more vague and mysterious fashion. Rather than "here's exactly what they look like and here's a comprehensive list of their strengths and weaknesses" ... a sense of danger, for me, is created through not understanding our enemy.

Plus, it makes sense on a mechanical level. The only way for us to know anything about these monsters is if people have survived encounters with them, come back, and told the tales. Which, if there are enough survivors to paint such a clear picture on how they fight, then how dangerous could they really be?

@pugbutter
I agree on this. Having the very specific details available for yourself is useful, but to keep the descriptions vague and as if told by survivors and only revealing more once encountered in character works really well.

@Nerdude Yeah, I know... I just don't want to take too long. But I can't force this stuff out, either...

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@pugbutter Alright, I suppose I could try to do that. I wanted the monster descriptions to appear more like journal entries of someone who is researching and studying them. I'll also have to rewrite a lot of my descriptions, if not all of them, but I can still use the completed descriptions for once we've had adequate exposure to each individual enemy type.

In relation to what you're asking for, I've tried to refrain from listing strengths and weaknesses in the monster descriptions in favor of rough estimates of the monsters' power levels (like the Dread Knight being able to tear through ranks of men, though that's something I'll want to tweak as it sounds... just kind of ridiculous and unreasonably powerful) and, at most, only hints as to potential weaknesses of each. Though... I'm not sure if any weaknesses are actually referenced in the descriptions, but I'm pretty sure I did mention using a mace to counter Bone Men and/or Dread Knights in the IC (using the prior knowledge that maces are effective at countering armor and crushing bones). But... if I unwittingly reveal any weaknesses in the monster descriptions, please tell me - cause I clearly didn't catch it.

Also, the starting monsters are going to be the most well documented as they've been around the longest and, especially in the case of Liches and Bone Men, are quite common. Following along with what you've said, though, I'll readdress the Ghoul and Dread Knight descriptions to remove some of the finer details and add more mystique as those two are rarer. I'll also be touching up the Lich and Bone Men descriptions to be more realistic (by which I mean Bone Men will become the first undead to rise, and the Liches will then be the second. And, in addition to touching up on and adding a couple of other monsters to the starting roster, I'll add some name-only entries to the list as well (by which I mean either utterly empty or short and vague descriptions, and only the names that people have taken to calling them), and hopefully that's more like what you're wanting?

found this an interesting video on Arrow & Armor interaction.
youtube.com/watch?v=DBxdTkddHaE

found this an interesting video on Arrow & Armor interaction.
youtube.com/watch?v=DBxdTkddHaE

I keep seeing that in my recommendeds, I need to watch it at some point.

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Update on the RP: last week my car was in the shop, so I had to get rides and of course my schedule got all messed up. Now my car's out and I'm now a permanent ride to college for my girlfriend, so it's all messed up again. Luckily we go to the same school so it's not to bad, and I'll have time before my classes that I can use to work on stuff for this or for school... so it's not all bad.

I've managed to make slight progress through all of this, but once I can adjust to this new schedule I should be able to make more.

Alright, so... I’ve blown way past both my original and the amended ETA for getting the RP revamped and rebooted. Work is being done, and it’s getting done much faster now, but I think it’s fair to say that I’ve sorely underestimated the amount of time this would take to do.

I feel like I’m stringing you guys along (not that you’re forced to stay here), and I might’ve already lost both of you, but I’m gonna be honest; I have no idea when this will be ready to go again. That’s not to say this won’t be finished, or won’t be rebooted, because I have every intention of doing just that. If you’re still interested by the time I finish refurbishing this thing then you can rest assured that it will get another run at life. Until then, I’ll try to keep posting updates here from time to time - assuming either of you are still around to participate, and maybe give some feedback on some of the changes (nothing that won’t be available at the start of the reboot, though, should spoilers concern you).

On a more positive note, I’m pretty satisfied with the progress I’ve made thus far, and I feel the RP is well on its way to becoming what I had originally envisioned. The introduction has received a facelift, and now feels more... dramatic. I’ve almost totally rewritten (and expanded) the descriptions of the Bone Men and the Liches, and so now they are presented more like stories than some kind of database entries. Rhogein has received its first wave of additions to flesh it out now that the other regions have been dropped for the time being, among other changes and reworks here and there. Every time I complete another piece of this puzzle I feel it getting closer to the original vision. The world already feels more... visceral, and I hope others will think the same.
It might’ve just been me, but this run was far more of a depression-fest than I had planned for it to be. That isn’t a bad thing, of course, because it makes sense. The world is fucked, it’s overrun by the dead and we’ve been forced to hide in the safety of what walled cities still remain, and... we just have to live with it. But none of that accounts for hope. Hope that the undead can be stopped, that the world can be returned to some semblance of normalcy, and that Cartelom is the best chance we have. This time I’m trying to make sure there’s hope shining clearly in the dark.

Then again, maybe it’s all just getting a bit too overdramatic.

I cannot promise that I'll be as active as you expect, with my very sudden and very overwhelming schedule changes come the advent of the new school year/marking period. But I promised to be there so I'll be there.

Hell, dude, I’m pretty much in the same boat. I won’t be running this with the same set of rules.

Happy to read that big update of yours. I can not ensure I'll be able to be as active as I'd like to be when the RP starts rolling again. I'm trying for a job in a different country and that might reduce the time i'll have available. But I am interested for sure.