[OOC] Seekers of the First Flame

[Unraveller]

Oh don't you worry little buddy. But you BETTER POST RIGHT NOW! can post whenever you feel like it.

[Cello]

I'm probably going to write a post tomorrow where Delwyn joins the group. Maybe even write in the first hollow encounter.

There'll also be a few more NPC's to communicate with in the burg.

[IndianGiver]

Leslie's approved having someone rp bosses, at least for the upcoming Hellkite rumble in the Burg. I think it's worth trying. I've started making a little template for boss posts, but is there anyone else who'd be interested in assuming the role? Could also throw the Taurus Demon in there.

VVVV This VVVV

[Nobodyman123]

I had an idea that a hollowed King Rendal might be fun to fight.

[Stella]

If I may make a suggestion about boss fights, This is how it worked in a Sword Art Online-based RP I was in (where boss battles are central to the RP), with about 5-6 players, and this worked out just great.

Each participant in the boss fight decides their own character's actions and the boss's reactions, including the severity of the damage inflicted. The GM or chosen RPer decides when the boss is finally killed, and concludes the boss battle in a post that wraps up everything done by all characters, including their own.

This removes the need for a player dedicated to controlling the boss and the hassle involved with responding to every character's actions as they are posted. Just one player (or the GM) would be needed to summarize player actions during each posting cycle until the battle ends.

[Unraveller]

I may just be too stupid or inept, I'm not sure I completely understand Stella. Could someone try and explain for a brain dead monkey like myself?

[Stella]

My idea is basically nobody takes ownership of the boss during the battle, only either the GM or the chosen RPer is in "charge" of deciding when the boss dies, and writes it out as part of their character's IC post.

A simple example of how it works:

Person A is the GM or player in charge of the boss
Person B is a normal player
Person C is a normal player

Person A roleplays their character normally, but also includes the boss's arrival to the scene, initial attacks or other actions
Person B roleplays their character normally, including any needed responses to Person A's character's actions, as well as the actions of the boss.
Person C roleplays their character normally, including any needed responses to Person A/B's characters' actions, as well as actions of the boss.
From this point onward, A/B/C each take turns posting their characters' actions and the boss's actions, until it's time for the boss to die, then Person A roleplays their character normally, and includes details on how all characters' actions play a part in ending the boss battle.

It's really a simple idea, and explaining it out just makes it look more complicated. Basically, just RP normally and include actions of other characters in your post if needed, without anyone RPing the boss specifically.

[Cello]

Well I think Stella's idea is quite good, but I'll leave it up to all of you to decide. I still need to find time to post.

[IndianGiver]

I'm fine with that. I just want this thing to get moving.

[Unraveller]

Yeah, though it would probably be courteous to wait for others to post, rather than having just a few people posting most of the time.

[Cello]

I also wanted to point out that a lot of the bosses for the roleplay are different from the game as a result of the original games lore being distorted for this attempt at creating a somewhat original story from the game.

For bosses such as those, it might be hard for you guys to act on them; because you probably have no idea how they're supposed to look (I wish I could confirm that I'm amazing at descriptions but if you've seen my writing then I won't kid myself) or how they'd act.

I mean there are standouts. The Hellkite Drake remains as a sort of boss fight in this roleplay ofcoarse. And even Knight King Rendall will probably replace the Iron Golem; but I'd assume Nobodyman would be more suited to how that character would act and fight.

Some might consider changing the iconic boss fights we all know and love like this somewhat pointless. But thinking on it, if this roleplay is literally just a written rehash of the game, then what was the point of even starting it? Isn't the point of fandom roleplays to bend the lore and canon of the original universe to create something new and interesting? At least that's what I've decided to do, so apologies if that isn't what you were expecting.

It's hardly relevant to the discussion, but I just wanted people to know to not expect the exact same bosses from the game. In fact it's probably a good idea to keep your thought process pretty distant from how things are done from the original. I want the direction of this roleplay to be decided by our characters, but that being said I suppose I do have to step in and have a say with certain events.

On that note, as a little heads up, the first boss we'll encounter before the Drake will not be the Taurus Demon. In it's place will be a new fight with a being called 'Theophilus, The Enshrined'. If we decide to have one person act as the boss then I'll probably PM that person with more intricate details on how the boss fits into the lore and discuss with them how the boss would fight. At least that way it keeps it a surprise for everyone else.

However if we decide to go with Stella's option then I'll just write a little description of Theophilus for everyone to get an idea on what he is and then decide for themselves what types of attacks he'd use. I'm cool with either.

[Nobodyman123]

That sounds good to me. I'm sure I can figure out something on how King Rendal would fight.

[Unraveller]

-Gasp- we are on PAGE 2!

[Stella]

Indeed we are. Also, will be getting in an IC post ASAP sometime tomorrow.

[Cello]

-Gasp- we are on PAGE 2!

@Unraveller

[Nobodyman123]

Great post. I'll post tomorrow.

[Cello]

Seeing as we are steadily progressing towards the burg, i think we should talk about our first boss encounter. If its all right with everyone, i would very much like to try stella's method. We can decide after this boss whether we like it or not. I always love trying new things, and i genuinely think its a good idea. But, after this fight, if the majority find it too confusing or awkward then we can try another way. Any objections?

[Nobodyman123]

None from me

[Stella]

If I may add onto the boss fight plan, we could try a combination of the suggested ideas, so that everyone has minor control over the boss like starting simple attacks or responding to their player character's own attacks. The GM/chosen player will have full control to do more significant actions, for example, actions that completely change the surrounding environment, or anything that brings the boss fight to a new "level" (a sudden powerful self-buff, or a wide area of effect magic spell, for example).

Example of what a regular player can do: Launch attack against the boss, boss is hit by the attack, possibly retaliates (focus is on the player's character).

Example of what the GM/chosen player does (in addition to the above): Destroys surrounding buildings and towers with an AOE attack, forcing player characters to take evasive actions in the next round of posts (focus on own character, and significant events that affect all players).

This way, each player has the flexibility to launch attacks with their own characters and have the boss respond within a single post, so waiting for the boss player isn't necessary. Having a GM/player with full control over the boss will allow more significant events to happen to keep players on their toes, such as changing the difficulty or pace of the battle if needed.

All in all, this should be a good way to keep things simple and moving smoothly.

[Cello]

Hopefully that clears things up for everyone then. If not, then we still have time to ask questions since the encounter won't happen for a decent amount of time I'm assuming.

A little information about Theophilus and "Powerful Souls" to clear things up. I would very much, in a perfect world, like for Lore to be discovered In-character with as little exposition as possible. Unfortunately we don't have the benefit of item descriptions to help us with this. So I guess we'll have to rely on some NPC exposition to help explain things. Keeping true to the nature of choices, it is going to be up to our characters whether we're interested in hearing these tales.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that, we could quite possibly go through the roleplay literally just wandering around until we run into bosses and not really question why they are there. Every boss will leave behind it's powerful soul. We can't really read the item description of a soul, since it won't have one. However, we can do many other things with the soul. For instance, the Soul of Theophilus. We could consume the soul to gain extra power for ourselves, or perhaps we might come across a certain NPC who will offer us powerful weapons/trinkets in exchange for powerful souls. Maybe there will be an NPC like Ciaran, who requested Artorias' soul, that will kindly ask us for his Soul and in exchange for our charity offer us something of value.

I want there to be many options, and I kind of want there to be this weird uneasy feeling amongst our characters when we make decisions like this of "Did I just do the right thing?" or "Was there perhaps a better use for this Soul/item?". You know, that feeling you get when you decide to do something in-game and it kinda just turns around and bites you later because of it.

Without spoiling too much, let's just say that there will be a specific NPC that can be found after the first boss fight and before the Hellkite drake that offers us insightful knowledge on rare souls/items provided we pay them humanity. This will probably lead to gaps in knowledge amongst our group. For instance, Aghast, a Darkwraith has no trouble scrounging up humanity to offer in exchange for valuable information. However someone like Delwyn, whose humanity is fading slowly, might be more reluctant and choose to hold onto his humanity. Of coarse if someone in the group does pay the price, they can always share their knowledge with the others.

Idk I hope I'm making sense. If it doesn't feel like a good idea then please let me know. I'm just trying to re-create this feeling of choices that the game somewhat had. I'm a little reluctant to have an NPC act as an "Exposition Vendor" of sorts. Perhaps instead of one specific NPC, each Soul can only be explained by a certain NPC that already exists; making it our job to find them ourselves.