Halvtand

Heroically heroic heroes on an adventurous adventure!

@Fetzen That was pretty much exactly what I was looking for, great work.

Heroically heroic heroes on an adventurous adventure!

@Shoryu Magami Cheers on most of that, and thank you for pointing out my mistake in the mentions. I could've sword I pressed the right button but I guess life's a bitch like that.

Oh, don't worry, I wasn't going to spoil anything about these characters (the number of them in my head is growing) until they were introduced, but should I perhaps create a post in the "Characters" tab for them after they start being introduced? I was more concerned about where information would be stored after their reveal. Also, should I use the exact same character template for them, or can they afford to have, for example, more/less special items or more/less pros and cons?

Shoryu Magami

I think the best place for storing such things will be the opening post of the OOC. You could use the same character sheet as far as it's applicable, but people we face in the game will not be restricted by the same rules as our characters, some may have lots of "special" items while some have none for example.

I was actually worried about the same thing as you were, and would've probably suggested the three paragraphs as well, honestly. I think you've got the perfect format for the ordering of posts as well, so I'd say update the rules with that. Would that number of paragraphs be the cap, or what? I'm asking because, well, notorious wall of text guy here.

Shoryu Magami

Nice to know I'm not the only one.
Three should just be the regular amount. This number of paragraphs is not set in stone, no one is getting a flogging for going above or below that limit. When we are introduced to new things in the game the description of them may take up more than one paragraph, so don't worry about it. The rule is mostly there to keep the game in a relaxed state, no pressure to pump out posts 15 pages long every day, reacting to everything that happens in the kingdom and meticulously describing every medal on the general's chest.

Heroically heroic heroes on an adventurous adventure!

@Ailyn Evensen Looks like you have a good base there.

Heroically heroic heroes on an adventurous adventure!

@knighthawk
I don't know how you did it, but somehow the picture you found... I've never seen a guy fulfil the spirit of the insult "wanker" more than he.
I will tip my hat to you for relating "DM guide" to an in-game term. However, I am worried about the tome. The way you've described it makes it sound like a tome of infinite knowledge about everything. Kind of takes the discovery-part out of the game, don't you think?

Heroically heroic heroes on an adventurous adventure!

@Shoryu Magami
Well, the joke with the paladin in "the gamers" is that he is a lawful good "babysitter" in a rather chaotic evil group. A paladin cannot sit idly by while evil takes place (and since he's the GMs character he can probably kill the party), so whenever they have to do something evil like an interrogation one will go to the door, look out and shout "Hey, is that an evildoer doing evil out there?" When the paladin is outside looking for the evildoer the group will do whatever they do...

I like the idea you have going with your Arcane Tower. It makes sense in a world where magic and a gathering like that exists that they have some respect and reputation. However, I do hope we'll get some kind of "evil/corruption within"-story with them as well.

I didn't realise you were talking about your own project there, good thing it worked out both ways. The race creator-thing actually works for everything, the creator has first dibs on everything. If you step into the tavern first you get to decide what's in there, you get to describe the cave, the dragon and the treasure if you're the first to see it. The others can then add things to that description as long as it doesn't collide with what has been said before.
The treasure cave in Disney's Aladdin is a good example. It is filled to the brim with treasure, which the player of Abu has described in detail and so starts to fill his pockets. The player of Aladdin is next and describes the room with the lamp, ignoring the treasure, instead reaching for the lamp. Third is the player of the carpet, who speaks for the cave as Aladdin takes the lamp and reveals that the treasure really is just an illusion and initiates the collapse, rushing to Aladdin to pick him up.
The treasure was real and an element in the story all the way up to the point where it was revealed to be an illusion and started to melt. It would not have worked if one player saw the treasure and the next said that the room was completely empty.

I see more and more games, at least in the advanced section, use wikis to keep track of what's going on. Fandom-games have been doing it for ages to try to stay relevant to the canon. Some games just have an enormous amount of lore and backstory that needs to be available to the players, and I agree that the current format doesn't really support that kind of game. I do welcome your help if/when we take the step to a wiki, as it will require some work with moving text and arranging it all properly.
To be fair, not that long ago we had to make do with just the IC/OOC, so things are a lot more organised now.

On one more note, you've put in an interesting character yourself. I'm guessing you hadn't originally planned a goblin but after you realized we're all basically not popular with the authorities you rolled with it? It works, at any rate, but with such an unconventional bunch for this sort of story it really does make me wonder about the plot direction.

Shoryu Magami

That is exactly right. I was planning to do a sneaky character all along, but I wanted one or two players to post their character concepts first and show me what they thought was a good character for this kind of game. Once I saw that we were going for unconventional characters the choice of goblin was given. Sneaky, kind of bad but not necessarily evil and of course the beard-thing. I've lifted that from an old RPG I used to play with my friends years ago where the goblins actually thought that if they just put a fake beard on they'd look like dwarves and could walk the streets unharmed.

I wanted some player characters as a base because that way I wouldn't limit the other players to my decision. Instead it would allow them to start co-creating the game with their characters as first contribution. I supplied the basic structure of the game, they supply the direction.

Plot will be what we make of it, we can follow whatever path we choose and do what we want at the end of it. If we stumble upon the great castle Camelot we can either feast and dance with the king or say "On second thought, let's not go to Camelot, it is a silly place".
One thing that I find really interesting is that we don't even have to stick together as a group. If one of us feels that their character has something more important to do than whatever the party is doing, they can go off on their own private adventure and (maybe) rejoin the group later. If the good characters suddenly find the evil ones repulsive the game may evolve into a "good vs evil"-game. Or maybe we develop a meta-plot and follow it like in the classic RPGs. It's all in the hands of our future selves instead of our past selves.

Another thought's come to my mind, so I'll run it by you, especially since this might end up applying to other people too. Are we thinking about having a place to store or keep tabs on any antagonists or other recurring NPCs that people end up creating for this thing? I've already got a few of these characters brewing around in my head and I wasn't sure where you'd want information about them posted up, if at all. This is technically something I'm wondering how the site in general handles too, not just this one RP.

Shoryu Magami

Generally I think most games would like to have that kind of info written up like proper characters and either posted in the OOC for everyone to see or only to the GM via PM. For this game I would prefer if you hold on to the info until we actually meet whatever it is you have planned, and then present them as people in-game.
I'll do my best to search the IC and grab important info and collect it in the OOC opening post, at least to start with. Of course, you can all help with this by copy-pasting important stuff you write and posting it here in the OOC.

@Shoryu Magami@Ailyn Evensen@Fetzen@FickleSickle
Important info for everyone.

I've had a thought about posting length and arrived at the conclusion that it is suboptimal. The rules states two paragraphs of text per post, I believe that three paragraphs will be better suited for this game, and it will make things a lot clearer.
In each post we will not only have to react to whatever has happened since our last post and write out what we want to do next, we also have to resolve whatever actions the guy before us wants to do, in two paragraphs it will get messy.
With three paragraphs to work with a post may look like this:

§1: Results of previous poster's actions. This way the player won't have to read the entire post to figure out what happened or if it is irrelevant to their own character.
§2: Reaction to what has happened, new info, actions, thoughts, feelings... You get the drill.
§3: Declaration of next course of action. This is what the next poster will need to resolve.

Does that seem fair?

The Dresden Files RPG (Calling All Dresden Experts!)

I would throw my hat at this.

Heroically heroic heroes on an adventurous adventure!

Here's my guy:

Name: Baxxink Hagglepocket.
Title/Nickname: Often known as “That bastard who stole my money”, but it’s a bit long for a nickname.
Age: 36.
Gender: Male.
Race: Goblin.
Profession: Thief.
Trope/Archetype: The sneaky guy
Appearance:

pic

Equipment:
Clothes - for wearing.
Dagger - for stabbing.
Short bow + quiver of arrows - for long distance stabbing.
Fake beard - (special item) for camouflage.

Background: Baxxink was born into a goblin community like most goblins, and like most goblin communities it was violently destroyed by a troupe of adventurers that passed by looking for treasure. As one of few survivors Baxxink had to use his natural gifts of stealth and agility to fill his stomach and set out on the path he’s been on until now.

Pros:
Stealthy - can move silently and stick to the shadows very well.
Quick and agile - clawed fingers (and toes), low weight, long limbs and a greater range of movement compared to humans means that Baxxink has a lot of options for movement.
Cunning - not clever, smart or intelligent, Baxxink’s mind is focused on finding and exploiting weaknesses.

Cons:
Soft - doesn’t wear a lot of padding, things will hurt.
Hated race - have you ever heard someone say “Oh, please come in mister Goblin, how nice to meet you, would you like some pie?” Didn’t think so.
Remember, no magic - goblins are magically retarded.

Other: Things will go missing around Baxxink.

On Goblins, by Sir Geoffrey Snivelbottom, excerpt from The Complete Compendium of Threats

Goblins are by far the most unimportant so called “threat” to the kingdom that I could ever imagine. They are far beneath humans on all accounts and to even classify them as sentient is an insult to the higher species.
Mentally they are easier to compare with rats than humans. No intelligence, most can’t read or write and their language capabilities are almost zero if you don’t count the screeching noises they make when they’re hungry.
Physically they can be compared to a child. Standing fully erect they may reach a grown man somewhere between the navel and chest, but with not even half of the girth. Indeed one has many times wondered if they are not only skin and bone. Their limbs are elongated as are their ears and noses and their skin is green much like orchs. Their fingers and toes end in claws, but much like the goblins themselves these are small and insignificant, their only use seems to be in aiding the goblin when climbing.
Wild goblins gather in communities, either out in the wilderness or inside ruins and other abandoned structures. They gather valuable (revise) items which is why groups of adventurous people willingly keep the goblin count down.
The goblin society is hundreds, if not thousands of years behind our own, they have only barely mastered the art of farming, no craftsmanship to speak of and no written language.
Even the goblins that have managed to sneak into our cities prefer to live in the sewers like rats, which is why most larger cities have elimination crews that goes below once a month to clear them out.

How are they a threat?
As mentioned, they really are not. Not to the civilised world at least.
Their fragile bodies cannot stand up to punishment or exert great force. They don’t wear armour and tend to prefer smaller weapons like daggers instead of more capable weaponry.
Indeed, the only area where they surpass humanity lies in their animalistic instincts and movements, they are quick and can squeeze through a hole as tiny as their head. But as long as they are cornered or trapped even a group of goblins should not be a threat to human soldiers.
Goblins are really only a threat to unprepared travellers and small farming communities that are based too far from the outposts. As soon as armed and trained people are around the goblins are no longer a threat.

Beards:
Goblins are incapable of growing beards, which makes it odd that we tend to find false beards made of straw, fur or actual stolen facial hair around their communities. Perhaps it has some form of ritual importance.
According to my researchers many of the beards are well worn, like they’ve been used almost daily for some time, yet no one has ever seen a goblin wearing one of these fur masks. Perhaps they wear them to make fun of dwarves.

Heroically heroic heroes on an adventurous adventure!

@Shoryu MagamiI didn't stay worried for that long, with bad health and luck you've got a pair of nasty disadvantages left even if the curse is lifted. I mean, if you get too confident in your fireball-slinging we can always have you sneeze in the face of a dragon and watch the show from afar.

@FetzenAah, there you are. Yeah, I've looked at the guy before and find him quite fitting for our small gathering. You may get his arse into the char-tab. Also, please describe the demon race as you see it a bit more.

So, we've got a "Death Knight", a "Wizard" who is considered a traitor, and a "Demon". We're not exactly looking like the most orthodox heroic bunch, are we? To be fair, none of us seem to be legitimately evil (most of us are either good with bad publicity, or neutral, it seems), but for a role-play that's supposed to be based off of classical tropes, I find it a little ironic that there's not a single conventionally straightforward heroic character among us. Emmanuel seems to be the closest we've got.

@Shoryu Magami

Yeah, it's funny how things work out once the characters starts coming in. I was expecting the usual round of heroes as well, but this could be a lot of fun. I actually don't think that a regular "good guy" would suit the party as it looks now. I don't know if you've seen the "the gamers"-films, but we'd have to send the paladin away a lot I reckon.

@Ailyn Evensen Aah, so this is the one I've heard the legends about. Welcome to the pit of bottomless despair and agony.
With diversity in the group as motivation we already have a mage, if you go elf/archer the step from there to druid/witch is not a big leap which would allow you to do healing stuff as well as other nature-based... stuff, and things. However, no one said we can't double up on things, so go ahead and do what you do. If you decide that you don't want to heal then throw it out the window.

@Shoryu Magami Yes, we are lacking both dwarves and elves as it looks right now. About them using magic, I feel that it is up to the creator of the race (in this game). If we stumble upon a dwarf squatting in a dusty corner of a tavern and the guy's pissed about being the only dwarf that can't do magic then the canon is that all dwarves (present company excluded) can do magic.
I think we'll need some place to store and define the canon as the game goes on. I'll start with the first OOC-post, but if this takes off I might create a wiki.

Heroically heroic heroes on an adventurous adventure!

@Shoryu Magami
That looks great. I was a bit worried about the curse, as it can potentially be lifted during the game, but I think you've balanced it well. It'll be fun to see what kind of trouble we can get this one into.
You may move Emmanuel to the characters-tab.

Heroically heroic heroes on an adventurous adventure!

@Halvtand
It's an interesting concept, that's for sure. With my project I try to focus heavily on both the characters and the story, but admittedly one usually does take priority over the other in all forms of narrative, no matter what type of work it is. Of course, when you imply we have that much impact on the story, you do realize that just makes me want to introduce some type of trope-based villain somewhere down the line, right?

Quick question, since I'm about to see if I can get this CS going (I came up with the basics already); I never saw anything resembling a mention to character appearance in the CS, so does that mean we're not supposed to put up a picture or write what the character looks like?

@Shoryu Magami

Realize? I'm expecting scores of trope-based opponents for us to face.
Picture / physical description seems to be an oversight. I'll edit the CS to fix this.

@FickleSickle
Excellent character. I would pose the question if you really want to start with dragondeath, instead of finding it on our wild adventure? But if you want it, you got it. You can add that guy to the character-tab.

Honestly I just thought about the most stereotypical "Dark Knight" character I could and it basically just wrote itself. =P

@FickleSickle

That's the spirit!

@Shoryu Magami
Well, both the youngling with fresh ideas and the old fart are well-used stereotypes. So either one works fine, I would ask, which one do you think will lead to a more interesting adventure?

As characters are starting to come in I'll get started on my own. I'll be doing the sneaking for the group, probably some kind of thief by the looks of the group. Just like that we're heading for an anti-hero-game instead. Love it.

EDIT: Fixed CS!