Codex Alera anyone?

[FateWeaver]

I'm a big fan of Jim Butcher's writing, and love the Codex Alera series in particular. I want to do an RP in this world, so I figured I'd test the waters, see how many people knew what the hell I'm talking about here. I don't have a plot as of yet but would love to chat and develop one if anyone's interested. I just want to be sure I'm not the only one with knowledge of the world before we get into it, both so I know someone will be there to check my knowledge and to avoid explaining the basis of a several book series. Drop a post if you're interested or have some ideas. If you have no idea what Codex Alera is, the books are a great swords-and-sorcery fantasy series I highly recommend.

[FateWeaver]

This will most likely end up in Casual, by the way.

[TheObsidianWolf]

I love those books!! I read all of them in less than a week. Though not really interested in that type of Rp right now. But I'll keep an eye on this one.

[Mistress Dizzy]

OOH! I like you already, Fateweaver!

I've been reading the Dresden Files for years now, but decided to pick up Furies of Calderon on a whim when I was at the library. I sped through it, and loved it, and quickly checked out the second book.

The problem is- I have yet to finish the series. I'm only on book 3...

Would it still be viable for me to play? (While avoiding spoilers?)

[FateWeaver]

It shouldn't be a problem, I'm just now rereading the third book. I wouldn't want to do anything too close to the story in the books anyway.

[Mistress Dizzy]

Oh, okay. That works for me!

*thinks about the sort of character I want*

[FateWeaver]

If it ends up just being the three of us, we could work something out. I'm going to give it a little more time and see what happens though. If nobody else shows interest in the next couple days (which I need to figure out a plot anyway) I'll start the OOC.

[FateWeaver]

Still looking for more people.

[FateWeaver]

One more bump on this for now, still deciding if I want to put up the OOC tomorrow or some time this weekend. If someone else shows up I'll leave it until Monday. In the mean time, for those who have already expressed interest, if there is anything you'd like to go over plot-wise, this would be the time to discuss it.

[Shinichi-san]

from what I've read it's a fantasy RP with sword and magic, sounds interesting

[Gareth]

FateWeaver said
One more bump on this for now, still deciding if I want to put up the OOC tomorrow or some time this weekend. If someone else shows up I'll leave it until Monday. In the mean time, for those who have already expressed interest, if there is anything you'd like to go over plot-wise, this would be the time to discuss it.

Love to join in on this. I've read all the books and can you give me an idea for a c.s. just so I can have mine down early, so that I don't miss out?

[FateWeaver]

I've put the CS on hold until I figure out exactly what the plot is going to be. This won't really have a limited number of spaces, so the plot is higher priority right now.

[Gareth]

Can I suggest ideas for the plot?

[FateWeaver]

Please do. Just be careful not to include spoilers for those here who haven't finished the series.

[Mistress Dizzy]

Yeah, like me. I haven't even read the third book yet.

The problem I'm having is that... I kinda want to... expand Alera a little bit. It seems it's like... I dunno, everyone who isn't white is a monster. Literally. I'm not saying it's deliberate or that Butcher's a racist or something- it's just sort of limiting my ability to come up with a character I like.

[Gareth]

Mistress Dizzy said
Yeah, like me. I haven't even read the third book yet.The problem I'm having is that... I kinda want to... expand Alera a little bit.

Well is this the beginning of a brainstorming session?

Either way, I'll put in my input. :P

To prevent spoilers, I think at least half of the world should be non-canon. That way it should at least 'help' prevent characters from exploring locations that people who haven't finished the series would not know anything about.

Also I think it would be kind of cool if there were some places in the world that no one knows anything about. (As to its location, it would probably be part of an empty space on all maps.) Well, except perhaps a few non player characters that are not likely to be met in the story.

Mistress Dizzy said
It seems it's like... I dunno, everyone who isn't white is a monster. Literally. I'm not saying it's deliberate or that Butcher's a racist or something- it's just sort of limiting my ability to come up with a character I like.

I recently read a guide on creating characters and it had five steps to it. One of the sentences in the guide was about keeping the idea of the character simple, because the complicated stuff about the character comes from how they interact with the world and make relationships with other characters.

So, back to your trouble. I would suggest forgetting about how other people see characters in the world/book and just worry about who your character is and what they are about.

Also, I'd like to mention that the guide was written by Brovo on this site and I found it to be very helpful.

[FateWeaver]

My general idea for preventing spoilers as far as location goes was an incursion into a foreign and previously unknown land, or set this in a time before the settling of Calderon Valley. It's entirely likely that everyone will be playing a Cursor, or someone otherwise useful to a Cursor mission.

At the moment, I'm favoring the new land idea. None of the PCs would have the advantage of local furies, and it would be somewhat of a gritty, survival oriented experience. Perhaps this is even a land devoid of furies, leaving the PCs with only their own to use in a hostile environment.

[Gareth]

FateWeaver said
My general idea for preventing spoilers as far as location goes was an incursion into a foreign and previously unknown land, or set this in a time before the settling of Calderon Valley.

Is it possible to have both happen?

FateWeaver said
It's entirely likely that everyone will be playing a Cursor, or someone otherwise useful to a Cursor mission.

Hmmm. Would that mean that we are all good or all bad? Like our characters are all on a single side with a single goal?

FateWeaver said
At the moment, I'm favoring the new land idea. None of the PCs would have the advantage of local furies, and it would be somewhat of a gritty, survival oriented experience. Perhaps this is even a land devoid of furies, leaving the PCs with only their own to use in a hostile environment.

With an area like that I wonder what would inhabit it. The most challenging scenario for a new explorer of such a land-might be for example:
player vs. a foreign race and/or culture and/or lifestyle and/or language + hostile environment.

A few plot ideas: Someone has found a way to absorb furies. How they have done this is unknown. They have increased powers, but this as well they have kept in secret. What is known is that an army is taking over or destroying land. The destroyed land happens when the residents of the land resist being taken over. Why land is being taken over is fairly obvious-because of the greedy idea of 'world domination'. One thing is for sure, the land is dying without the environment's furies to help protect it, or perhaps even nourish it. If nothing is changed then everyone and everything could become extinct.

Another plot idea:
There is a council of for example six major powers of the world. There is eight major powers in total and for some reason two of the eight choose to deal with their own affairs independently of any of the others. Everything seems swell and there is not much conflict between the eight major powers until something new came along. Nobody knew anything about it, but then all of a sudden people and other things died. Each of the major powers of the council had a different idea about how to solve this situation. It seemed that none of them could change their minds to agree with another major power. As they discussed the solution though, this new threat grew and grew and grew. Now it is much stronger and if nothing is done then this threat will likely be the only major power in the world.

[Mistress Dizzy]

Gareth said
I recently read a guide on creating characters and it had five steps to it. One of the sentences in the guide was about keeping the idea of the character simple, because the complicated stuff about the character comes from how they interact with the world and make relationships with other characters. So, back to your trouble. I would suggest forgetting about how other people see characters in the world/book and just worry about who your character is and what they are about. Also, I'd like to mention that the guide was written by Brovo on this site and I found it to be very helpful.

Hmm. That is a good point- is there a link so I can read this guide?

Also- I rather like the first idea of someone absorbing furies. It just makes me think of so many awesome ideas. But could we limit it to saying that they can only absorb one kind of fury? Otherwise we might have something unbeatable on our hands.

[Mistress Dizzy]

Gareth said
I recently read a guide on creating characters and it had five steps to it. One of the sentences in the guide was about keeping the idea of the character simple, because the complicated stuff about the character comes from how they interact with the world and make relationships with other characters. So, back to your trouble. I would suggest forgetting about how other people see characters in the world/book and just worry about who your character is and what they are about. Also, I'd like to mention that the guide was written by Brovo on this site and I found it to be very helpful.

Hmm. That is a good point- is there a link so I can read this guide?

Also- I rather like the first idea of someone absorbing furies. It just makes me think of so many awesome ideas. But could we limit it to saying that they can only absorb one kind of fury? Otherwise we might have something unbeatable on our hands.