Imperfectionist

A Wizard's Pilgrimage

Sure, she can just be in Toulouse with Ronnie until she's needed (i.e. until I can give the game the attention it deserves).

Why fight the inevitable?

A pointless argument

I have a problem with your argument there, Nevis. You seem to be insulting KirinLemon over her/his use of the word paladin to mean "the thing that nearly every member of RPG has heard of", rather than "what the word meant in the 1200s". The simple fact of the matter is that all word meanings change over time, and the only thing that is correct in language is consensus. You can have an appreciation for history, and for the etymology of words, but that doesn't make the definition of paladin that arose in the 70's any more or less correct, and it definitely doesn't make it a "bastardization"... It's just another, more modern meaning, based on the legacy of the people the original word honored. I mean, really, I doubt Roland would be offended that his title is being used for a group of literal holy knights with God-given power.

Think about this: the Matter of France, one of the most important collections of legends in Europe, is just that. A collection of stories, legends loosely based on the exploits of rather mundane historical figures. It's only because those legends were read, and retold and loved by so many people that we even have the word in the first place! The wide adoption of the word paladin to refer to first the Twelve Peers, and then to other famous paragons of chivalry in the intervening centuries led directly to its use as a character class in D&D, and in turn, to the new meaning it has gained. Through association, calling anyone a paladin evokes the legends of the Matter of France, and D&D paladins are based almost entirely on those and the other medieval legends of chivalrous, God-loving knights.

What I'm saying is, I understand that you believe the title should be reserved for those legendary figures, but the new meaning is no great insult to them or the history of the word, and still carries all of the gravitas that it once did.

And again, with barbarian: the original Greek word (barbaros) means "not a citizen", or "not a Greek", someone (in their eyes) uncivilized and wild, who lives on the fringes of civilization, or has none at all. D&D barbarians... are just that. They're illiterate, they are supposed to come from mostly tribal backgrounds rather than growing up in cities among more civilized folk, and thus completely fulfill the original meaning of the word. There's nothing wrong with that. Really, in English, in 2014, the word barbarian means "guy with a broadsword screaming in rage and chopping heads", ala Conan, WAY more than it means "foreigner who talks funny," making it entirely justified as a neutral title rather than a negative insult. Besides, "someone who doesn't speak Greek" is just as much an observation as "someone who has darker skin than me", so your view of the word as an incorrigible insult in the first place is shaky at best.

Also... Yeah, the above paragraphs are argumentative, but on this note I'm just puzzled: what's so bad about the work of Dante? I mean, I've never really thought of any reasons why the Divine Comedy would be a bad thing. It helped to establish the Italian vernacular, its imagery is the basis for nearly every cultural interpretation of Hell and Heaven from the 14th century to today... I'm interested why you seem to have some offense against it. Maybe you can teach me something I don't know?

A Wizard's Pilgrimage

Yeah, I'm sorry, everyone. I'm not going to be RPing much at all in the foreseeable future (and haven't been for several weeks, anyway).

:) I had some good plots in store, I think, but I'm sure you'll get on without me. Good luck.

(EDIT: Happy birthday, Zordon.)

A Wizard's Pilgrimage

Damn it, I always do this... I have a good idea for an intro post, I just haven't put in the effort to write it out yet. I have a friend coming over tomorrow, and hopefully she'll motivate me to get it done. If not, I'm going to back out of the game for good.

A Wizard's Pilgrimage

3 is described in the OP as a mastery, Betelgeuse, and thus having more twos and fewer threes is best (for just-out-of-school characters, at least). And, approaching mastery of the Dark Arts requires live practice... Meaning having that as a credential necessitates evil. With a two, it's more iffy/gray, but a three, there's no question.

This is what I'd recommend: move Duelling (or Transfig) down to two, move Dark Arts down to two, and use the two new points for Alchemy. He would need to be good at Alchemy to do the things he seems to do.

If you go for the other character concepts, though, the credentials could be entirely different (you'd need to add wandlore, for instance).

A Wizard's Pilgrimage

Namaste.

A Wizard's Pilgrimage

:) Very zen.

A Wizard's Pilgrimage

The sage wisdom of Primez. Yeah, whatever works.

And I really wish I had the capacity to argue about things the way I used to, but I think I've lost brain cells or something. Everything takes so long for me to analyze... Ugh. Belasco, at some point I want to have a good discussion about things with you (HP or otherwise).

:) You seem to be very smart, and I'm sure we could have long, friendly arguments about any number of things, if you'd be willing to indulge me. Maybe I could regrow that part of my brain, if it had a little stimulation.

Against the gods, Against the world! Open-World Fantasy Adventure

-Impy retreats further into the pit of shame-

A Wizard's Pilgrimage

:) I'm here, with things to say!

So, Belasco, it seems we continue to have very different views on what the politics and people of wizarding Europe should be like... But I'm not going to argue until I think my ideas are better-defined (which they aren't). All I'll say is that if there need to be riots in France, they shouldn't be leftist worker's riots.

Damn, I have to get back to work, I can't explain myself. Um, to be edited.

EDIT: My interpretation, I guess, is that the wizarding economy is wildly different to ours, due to having a much smaller population, much more plentiful resources (i.e. magic) and an almost complete lack of destitution (among wizards and witches, at least; hags and some other creatures are a different story). So, the necessary conditions for early-20th century-style workers riots just don't exist... Wait... x.x goddamn it, ignore me. Leftist riots perpetrated by hags and vampires would make SO much sense. I'm horrible at this.

EDIT 2: :) I like Leck. She could be a good addition to the crew.