Hey guys, sorry for the inactivity in this thread. Yesterday was my birthday, and the day before that just involved a lot of sleep. I'd rather not get into it.
Regardless, it's time to answer a few questions.
Too Old 4 This said
@Dylan What I'm talking about is metaphysics, mood and culture. How does magic work in the world. What is the mood or general tone, grimdark, noblebright, etc? What are the cultural universals? If this is a single continent then cultures are going to be similar, do they have a more European or a more Eastern flair or are they something more unique. If these three elements are not defined, people's creations won't look like they belong in the same setting together. Cowriting is more than just a bunch of people coming up with ideas. You need that shared skeleton to make sure the ideas mesh with one another and the end product is a believable and immersive setting. I'm sorry for my skepticism, but the last one of these I got involved with began with the GM posting a picture of his centaur character which was some erotic, equine abomination straight out of the darkside of furcadia. Defining the theme doesn't restrict creativity, it just makes sure your players are interested in designing a world together and not just in shoehorning or magical realming.
1) I'm in the process of creating a logical and (at least slightly) unique magic system, as well as a format in which other roleplayers will be able to put fourth contributions to that magic system. To put it in it's simplest terms, the driving force behind magic in this world is consistent, but the way different races and cultures have learned to manipulate it are different. For example, one group of people discovered that using certain incantations in conjunction with specific bodily movements can create a fireball. However, another group of people (which have no contact with the first group) discovered how to create a fireball by using their concentration to force the essence of their spirit outward into the form of fire.
TL;DR: Magic itself is an omnipotent force of nature, but there are different methods of manipulating it's energy to achieve a similar end.
2) The tone of this particular roleplay will be dark, though lighthearted. In the geographical area our characters will begin within, tension is high, and rising to a breaking point. There's a huge political war going on in between the nations I've created, but life is still going on as it normally would within the walls of the city. One could say that the citizens are almost blissfully ignorant in regards to the severity of their current situation. I'm sorry if this one isn't really explained that well, I'm trying to put fourth as much information as possible without spoiling what's in the OOC thread.
3) There are a mix of cultures in this particular world, but for the most part they resemble that of medieval Europe, as well as Feudal Japan and even bits and pieces of the Middle East thrown in. It varies by species, mostly. I have one nation per race in this roleplay, so the easiest way to structure things was to base each nation's culture off of one that already exists. Though each has slight variations for the sake of creativity.
4) That character sounds scary.
Now, I know I originally said that I had only created a single city, but as Too Old For This so graciously pointed out, there needs to be a bit of a shared skeleton for this kind of roleplay to inevitably be successful and fun. So I'm taking a bit of extra time on the OOC thread to make sure that I have the proper amount of detail added to this world to get us started. As things look right now, I should be able to have the OOC thread ready later tonight, or tomorrow afternoon. (if not earlier) Sorry again for the inactivity, just know I'm working hard on this, and I deeply appreciate the interest which has been put fourth.