mickilennial

Starlight Cove: Oceanside Memories

Yep.

Adventurer's Guild Hopeful

A N D E R S
A N D E R S

^{“Cute girls shouldn’t get lost in mines, you know. It’s dangerous.”}

C H A R A C T E R P O R T R A I T C H A R A C T E R P O R T R A I T _________________________________________________________ C H A R A C T E R S U M M A R Y C H A R A C T E R S U M M A R Y _________________________________________________________ Anderson Louris is a twenty-five year old adventurer, explorer and forager. He is new to Starlight Cove but hopes to find purpose in exploring and rediscovering the secrets hidden underneath.

C H A R A C T E R B I O G R A P H Y C H A R A C T E R B I O G R A P H Y ________________________________________________________________________________________ Starlight Cove’s Adventurers Guild is… not in a good state. Anders is more than aware of that fact, but the red-haired young man cares little for things like sense and logic. Or at least, not on the surface. Anderson Louris was born on the mainland and grew up longing to be like the legendary heroes of old, the ones cemented as half fairytales and half historical figures, the type of people who looked at the world they lived in and thought “no, this isn’t good enough”. The modern day world’s adventurers guild is not what it once was, even in the expansive depths of the mainland continent, relegated to down-on-their-luck gofers with delusions of grandeur. But exploring the lost caves in the more rural parts of the world at least has a sense of adventure. It has been years since he started his training in the essentials of an adventurer. He’s even dabbled in mining and foraging! He’s still looking for that breakthrough and he hopes Starlight Cove could be just that. If he’s wrong, well, there’s always the next job.

---

Wardens of the Glade: A Light Fantasy RP

I think I'll wait a few more days for @webboysurf to do their introduction/opening post before I start figuring out the next GM post in this cycle.

Wardens of the Glade: A Light Fantasy RP

Really enjoying reading this, but like... How long does it take you to write each response? It takes me over an hour to hit 300 words, including my drafting, proofreading, cross-referencing, revising...

These are long, long posts. How do you manage to do so much without manipulating other characters, or stifling their players? Whenever I write more than 4 paragraphs I feel like I'm doing too much in one post and I need to cut it back to let others respond.

@shallow grave

It depends, but generally a 300-600 word post from me is drafted anywhere between 30 minutes and two hours depending on inspiration and time management. If I am depressed it could be me staring at a blank page for days at a time, however...

I need to cut it back to let others respond.

@shallow grave

When I am a player sometimes this is exactly what you need to do, but sometimes quick snappy small paragraphs is all you need. Sometimes you want to get more introspective and give others more material to digest.

Do you send your responses accepting that large parts of your post simply won't be addressed as other players perform their characters in incongruent ways? Do you just trust each other to read everything multiple times and look for stepping stones to your next posts?

@shallow grave

I expect at minimum other players to grasp the dialogue and principal actions done in a post whether I am player or GM.

Death of the genre

I agree, good points: what makes you optimistic for the medium though? The idea that people will come back 'as they always do' or that after this wave of IM/Discord RP people will return to 'retro' roleplaying?

@Dion

Nothing concrete in terms of metrics, more of a gut instinct due to how trends fluctuate. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd like not to be.

Wardens of the Glade: A Light Fantasy RP

Huh, so was there a Discord server made for this?

@ERode

I typically only use a personal server these days, I'll throw you an invite.

Wardens of the Glade: A Light Fantasy RP

Certainly not my best opening post, but I think it gets across what I want to do. I wasn't going to bed with it unfinished. I will have more info for various lore soon and respond to inquiries (and posts) in a timely fashion. I hope y'all enjoy. There are still some considerations I need to get into with a few players, but otherwise I think its pretty easy to plug and play here. I recommend either starting at entering the proving grounds, or if you like the sound of your own voice as you enter the city. I will advance the scene in due time as I don't want us to linger in the opening act for too long.

Please ask me questions on discord or here as needed!

Wardens of the Glade: A Light Fantasy RP

G M P O S T
G M P O S T

_{Location: The Grand City of Atutania}

Prologue: To Be A Knight!

---

The first day of the second season¹ of the calendar year was always a cherished one in the Grand City of Atutania. A celebration of the Order of the Glade, the great hero it devoted its purpose to, and its service to the nations before it. The first day of trials and tests for those who sought to become known as a warden. The Day of Heroes².

But the Lord-Commander was not really thinking about another year of promising new recruits nor was she thinking of the festival that the city put on. She had other things on her mind.

“The world is teetering, isn’t it?”

Alicia Welrae sat blankly in her private chambers, arms crossed as she looked over various parchments in front of her. There was nobody else in the room.

“We haven’t been this unprepared in centuries,” she murmured in contemplation, “and it has happened under my watch.”

She sighed and looked upward.

“Seleistia watch over us all.”

◈ ◈ ◈

◈ ◈ ◈

Dreańe Priihdontas was bored.

Granted, Dreańe was always bored. As a veteran warden she was used to being in the field, not that she was particularly unenthused about her position as one of the few training prospective recruits into the order. The seven days ahead, as per the trials³, were going to be grueling and a test of character. Dreańe remembered her days as an aspiring warden with eyes as big as the sun. She passed the trials on her first try, of course, but very rarely were people truly ready for the fight before them.

Sometimes, initiatehood hopefuls even died on the seventh trial. How many would do so in the days ahead?

“Lady Priihdontas.”

And suddenly the green-haired warden was no longer bored. The appearance of the former child prodigy and newly humbled warden, Maxell Tolecht, was at the very least a curiosity. She wasn’t particularly surprised given the circumstances, though; she had heard the rumors about his previous assignment⁴. Those of their qualifications were only assigned to oversee warden prospects if they personally asked for the duty or if they needed to be reminded of their place in the order. She was the former and he the latter.

“Didn’t expect you to be here,” Maxell commented nonchalantly, “last I heard you were in that wretched desert.”

“Oh. Maxell,” the green-haired girl tilted her head, “suppose I was. But no longer.”

“Lord Tolecht.” the blonde corrected with disdain.

Maxell was the son of an undernoble, not particularly powerful nobility, but despite that and his particular reputation for having the impulse of a wild wolf, he did care much about formalities and manners. She didn’t, but she found it quite entertaining to push his buttons. Of course, this was known about her. It was sort of common knowledge among her fellows in the order that she was a bit of a devious one, after all, controlling people’s impulses was a lot easier than controlling hers.

“Lord Toilet,” she smiled wryly, “I cannot wait to see what initiates come to the proving grounds this year. That is, if they don’t get lost in the city among the celebrations. Quite unfair that we never get to participate, don’t you agree?”

He shot her a glare and rolled his eyes, he knew what she was about.

“Games are for others. Not I.”

“But I like games!”

“I know,” he sighed, “worry not, you’ll get your fun soon enough.”

As they quarreled, initiates began to enter the proving grounds, hoping to become wardens. When they arrived they would then be met by someone who would take their name and information before allowing them entrance into the area. It was here that they would find themselves directed to practice their skills as wardens observed their skills. The options to showcase were up to them: archery targets had been lined up on the west end overlooking the rolling hills that sprawled throughout the glade, melee dummies had been set on the east end, and in the center a large practice circle stood.

A prelude to a great beginning.

---

<sub>1. The second season is called Harvest by humans and Niwlen (bloom) by elves.
2. The Day of Heroes is a holiday that most of the great nations celebrate in honor of Itena and her legend.
3. The wardens of the Order of the Glade are notoriously strict and their trials dangerous. “If one fails, so do the other four.” is a known adage for a reason.
4. Warden Tolecht caused an incident in Roengaar with dire consequences. As a result Roengaar has isolated itself from aid for disputes.</sub>

Death of the genre

I'm kind of curious how others have sought to cement themselves in PbP forum roleplaying? Or maybe some of you have given up and just hang out here for nostalgia's sake, and you do your Roleplaying on discord? Or is my vision just wrong and are RP forums doing better than ever?

@Dion

Play-By-Post Role-Playing Message Boards have been on the downcline since the late 2010s due to a shift in how young writers engage with the internet.

We are in a sort of fanfiction boom, but play-by-post in itself (as in collaborative writing) has shifted to other mediums. This is not to say message boards as a whole are dying but they are not trending upwards at the moment. Chat/IM RP is likely "king" right now, or non-forum based websites. Message Boards as a whole have always had ehbs and flows when it came to usage, but they were dominant due to their ability to be more long form than chatrooms and instant messaging software in the early post-Y2K environment. I do not think they will ever be as big as they were during the 2001-2011 window, though I am optimistic for the medium.

Video Games: The General Discussion & Community Thread Number Two

I like Manor Lords.

Wannabe Writer Needs Help

I think I only ever found myself overcoming this when I started writing for me and not trying to write "the next great american novel" or write for hypothetical other people. If you are confident about your work, the audience will come, however small. Mind you, I have since given up on the goal of publishing as my goal in life and changed it to "finish a solo work" (see: novel, webnovel, etc.) but doing so has taken a great weight off my shoulders.

The first step is confidence, initiative and self-assurance.