there is going to be a lot of punching
also it was less 'war on god' more of a big giant NOOOOO FIGHTING happened
so now people are trying to figure out what do
this may be an excuse plot for morm to write cool fist fights
there is going to be a lot of punching
also it was less 'war on god' more of a big giant NOOOOO FIGHTING happened
so now people are trying to figure out what do
this may be an excuse plot for morm to write cool fist fights
Alera stands united and strong.
For a thousand years the people of Alera have ruled over the lands that their Roman ancestors stumbled upon by accident and have persevered against all who stood against them. The barbaric Marat that once threatened to overrun the fertile lands of the Aleran people have been pushed back to the other side of the mountains of the Calderon Valley land bridge where they traverse the plains of Maratea in their clans. The fearsome wolflike Canim have not raided the western and southern coast in quite some time. Lastly the north of Alera is secured thanks to the Shield Wall that prevents the always aggressive Icemen from destroying the great cities of Antillus and Phrygia with thier constant sieges.
While it might seem that the realm is going through a golden age of sorts, all is not what it seems. The death of the First Lord's sole son and heir, Gaius Septimus, at the hands of the Marat has caused the more ambitious members of the High Lords to consider looking into ways to overthrow the elderly First Lord even if it means tearing Alera apart in a civil war if that is necessary. The Marat may have been pushed back after the Battle of Calderon, where they tore Gaius Septimus apart, but some of the clans are gathering for reasons that can not mean anything good for the people of East Alera. The First Lord's observers and spies hiding on ships in the Mare Nostrum have noted that there is an increase in Canim activity along their coastline with fears that the raiding might resume soon or worse a full invasion by the Canim might be in the near future. The greatest threat however isn't one that the First Lord can build mountain fortresses to protect his people from or use a sea as a border but something that has been lying in wait for countless years dormant but ready to be awakened at a moment's notice.
While the future doesn't look bright for the people of Alera, these descendants of a mighty empire have stood against similar threats before and came out victorious thanks to their bonds with the furies. These furies are elementals of earth, fire, metal, water, wind, and wood that allow those bonded with them to manipulate their respective elements. All Alerans have the ability to bond with at least one element of furies though some like the Lords and High Lords have access to most if not all types of furycrafting.
So come sons and daughters of Alera, let us show those that threaten our existence that no matter what the world might throw at us, Alera will continue to stand in the end with our legions bringing us triumph alongside our noble knights and powerful furies.
So this is just me testing the waters to see if anyone would be interesting in joining a Codex Alera inspired RP (name pending) that I am currently working on trying to hammer out the rulebook for. Prior knowledge of the series isn't necessary so don't worry about it if you haven't read the books. For those who don't know what the series is or what it is about, here is some background behind it:
Jim Butcher is the author of the series and in the early 2000s he got into an argument online about whether or not a good author can use a bad idea for a story and turn it into a great story. Eventually the person that Butcher was arguing with made him a bet that he couldn't write a bestseller if given a bad idea for a story with the Codex Alera series author raising the stakes by saying that he would gladly take two bad ideas of the other person's choosing and turn it into a novel. The two "horrible" ideas that were chosen to be combined were "lost Roman legion" and "pokemon." Needless to say that the existence of the six book long series is a sign that Butcher was the victor in that debate.
So how exactly does one describe the Codex Alera series beyond just lost Roman legion meets Pokemon? Well here are a few attempts I have stumbled upon across the internet to try and describe the series:
"Magical Roman Legionaries straight out of Avatar: The Last Airbender versus [][][][][][][][], wolfmen with Blood Magic, telepathic yetis and white-haired elves riding ground sloths and terror birds. Sometimes, the Legionaries fight each other, too."
"Roman legionnaires with Elemental Powers versus wolfmen with Blood Magic and arbalests versus [][][][][][][][] versus Neanderthal-elves with Bond Creatures versus empathic yetis."
"Romans plus Game of Thrones plus Avatar: The Last Airbender"
"Think Avatar: The Last Airbender meets Lord of the Rings in Ancient Rome with a dahs of Star Wars Prequels political intrigue."
So would anyone be interested in giving this RP a shot if I ever get around to finishing the rulebook for it?
Last edited by Bylackbre; April 10th, 2019 at 06:08 PM.
Huh. I've read the Alera Codex. Nice series, though not as well known as the Dresden Files.
The system for this should be interesting, since there are some Nasuverse-like elements in the way strong furies are tied to lineages, akin to magus bloodlines, and in the emphasis on traditional elements, as well as versatile and often abstract applications of those elements. Like using an earth fury to stimulate a person's instincts and incite lust, or a metal fury to improve one's swordsmanship.
The setting has promise depending on the execution of gameplay and the rulebook, but one thing comes to mind here. It sounds like you're planning on this RP being coincidental with the books. That could create problems for you if you intend to stick to canon events since it would leave series readers with a knowledge advantage regarding background events. If you're setting this up after, you'll likely need more player options to reflect the end of the novels, and if before, how to make sure no one screws up the timeline.
Asha Records
Fuyuki - Winter Cleaning
My Shameful Fics and the Wiki to go with them. Oh, and some fossil I found.
[16:43] <Twelveseal> Phallus in wonderland sounds like some bad loli-rape KC fanfic
[16:43] <@Sei> THAT'S what i wanna see
I’m always game.
Likes attention, shiny objects, and... a ball of yarn?
F/GO Supports
I joined two years too late...
Yeah I did notice the similarities between the nasuverse mages get stronger with lineage being similar to how Lords and High Lords tend to have powerful children since power is connected to bloodlines to an extent. I actually do have it set up to where the players can improve current and learn new furycrafting as the story progresses should they choose to do so. In regards to what you said about what the different furies allow to happen depending on their type you aren't wrong and I tried to incorporate it as best as I could.Originally Posted by Twelveseal
I will admit that part of the plan was for the rp to somewhat follow some of the major events of the first book while monitoring and adjusting for changes caused within the RP. While there is a timeskip between books 1 and 2 I am unsure if I would continue on with that as players might not want to jump a few years until the next major incident so I will leave that choice on whether or not to do it up to a group decision between the players if I am feeling nice. If you remember had it not been for Tavi's very first action we ever see him do in the series, the story would have never even happened. I am unsure of how to frame the rp should it happen after the story and before sounds too risky so a "monitor and adjust" situation with the present looks like the best option to me. So let us see how far along we can go before it seems that the story of the rp has gone completely off the rails.
You brought up the concern of players that might metagame due to prior knowledge of what might come ahead but that is why while I will be using some of the canon events as a framework of sorts and not having every little detail from the book show up in the rp. Also just because I am thinking of initially following the major events of the books it doesn't mean I am not willing to make a few changes here or there to try and throw off those relying solely on the events of the books to predict what will happen next. Those that know what might be in store might be thrown off by those who have no idea about the canon and knowingly or unknowingly throw a wrench in the sequence of events. I know there is a risk here but it is one I might gamble on not being too bad of a danger potentially though I may be underestimating Beast's Lair here.
One problem with the formulating of the rulebook (first time ever doing this) is that I noticed other RPs tend to have perks that players can pick and choose to customize and I can't seem to figure any out for this rp. I have it set up where players do pick a background which does have a bonus and/or perk of sorts to allow for some customization. Where I guess most people would have perks is mixed into the powers that are given with each furycraft element with some of the other powers being restricted to only when the players might be stronger or later in the RP.
I am glad to see that there is at least one person who might be interested in seeing this RP come to fruition.
Make that 2 people who might be interested in this.
Since Earth furycrafting was brought up by you, here is what I have for it as an example so far:
Earth
Earthcrafting (formally called Knights Terra): Masters of ground and rock manipulation that can use their crafting to also be good at construction. This element of furycrafting also grant's increased strength to those who use it, and the ability to induce calm or lust in others. Additionally, manifested earth furies can be extremely useful... and dangerous if left unrestrained so earthcrafters must keep an eye on what their fury manifestations are doing.
As mentioned above, Earthcrafting can inspire feelings of calmness or excitement, including lust. It is used to either seduce someone, like ladies in a brothel will use on soldiers outside of battle, or to calm wild animals so that they can be tamed. Unlike the other emotion manipulating furycrafting, firecrafting, earthcrafting can be used to manipulate others without direct line-of-sight to the target being needed but just like with firecrafting a close proximity is needed for it to work.
Earthcrafting makes those who use it incredibly strong, but it does not increase their weight and they have to be touching the ground to use it. Should an earth fuycrafter be thrown in the air, placed onto a wood platform or any other way to make them lose their connection to the ground, then they are unable to use the power of the fury and are effectively neutralized.
Earthcrafting increases strength to the point that loads in the hundreds of pounds are no issue to experts and active earth-crafting can be used to make buildings or drag minerals up to the surface (like salt to disrupt wind furies.) Due to the ability to drag minerals up to the surface, it isn't unusual to see steadholters or miners have some earth furycrafting. As for the increased strength, it isn't uncommon to see Knights Terra wield swords and weapons that are far larger than the usual legion issued sword and rumor has it that one of the High Ladies possesses a sword that is large enough to kill Gargants or chop down trees in a single swing.
Primary ability: Ability to fully manifest your earth Fury and acquire up to S rank Strength when using earth furycrafting. Can lift and throw boulders to aid in combat. Able to erect barriers made of earth to protect oneself and can even raise buildings and structures made of rock with help from other earthcrafters increasing the speed of the process.
Secondary ability: Strength+1, can calm animals effectively, and travel faster on roads. Can strengthen yourself temporarily to soften some incoming blows but not a permanent rank up for Fortitude (last until start of next turn.)
(How Primary and Secondary ability works is that to use an element's primary ability you must have at least 2 points in that element while only having 1 point grants just the secondary ability. Everyone starts with 2 points and one free element meaning they can have two elements for furycrafting but only have access to the primary ability of one of these elements. Should someone decide to invest both points in their "starting" element then that is the only furycrafting available to them but the effects of their crafting is more potent as a result. It wouldn't surprise me if someone tries to start with three elements by using thier two points to gain access to two more elements though they would not be able to use the primary abilities of any of those elements at the start.)
Last edited by Bylackbre; April 10th, 2019 at 11:27 PM.
Sounds pretty interesting.
I have my take on the previously mentioned issues, but as someone who haven't read the books it would mostly just be speculation, since I have no idea how major the main story events are, what is the power level of the characters compared to the rest of the universe, how much the story branches out towards smaller sidestories...
But in short, I think that sticking to the book is not necessarily an advantage for those who've read it considering how it's OOC knowledge and shouldn't affect how characters play out, but on the other hand having X or Y happen no matter what the characters do (depending on the circumstances) does raise some issues in my mind.
About perks, again, it kind of depends on execution, but I feel like if you've left enough options for customization in the other aspects and can absolutely not come up with anything I think it is better to just leave that system out...Though with how they usually work (even if just for fluff and no real gameplay effects) they bring quite a bit of colour and personality to the characters, or at least that is how it is to me.
I'd definitely be interested, and up to share my opinion about any aspect...Granted I'm probably not the most experienced person in here.
It isn't so much that X or Y will happen no matter what the players do but rather players might realize or know what is coming and can try to influence what happens in the event. There might be some instances where the event is preventable and therefore some players might be able to stop it. There might be some events where the players can only influence the details before and during the event but can't prevent the entire event.
While it may seem like problematic from a certain angle I am just using these events as something the players might realize what is coming ahead like a major battle or something. These events wont really be common and the players will be able to influence them if they discover how. It is just that these events are more akin to major events that will happen but how they occur and the outcome can be influenced by the players.
I plan on changing some details and events from the canon but certain events from the story will still occur with influences from the players still taken into consideration.
Yeah I feel like character creation is a bit lacking from my own perspective thanks to my inability to come up with perks but maybe some might come to mind by the time the rulebook is complete.
Alrighty then, let's see about Perks. First rule of thumb when dealing with a derivative system is to look to the source. What individual abilities define the canon characters or the archetypes they represent and where do they excel? Things like skills earned through hard training, personal experiences, or natural talent and resourcefulness. The MC is known for his ingenuity and interest in history, for example. A certain Cursor is notable for her exceptional talent at flight. A certain female duelist is renowned for her abnormal skill and bloodthirsty nature, and a certain Lady for her ruthlessness. There are also things like how furies from the frontier are almost always more powerful than those from the heartland and cities, with the exception of those passed down through families. All of these can represent Perks and then some. It's also good to consider just real-life things that seem interesting or useful. After all, not everyone can woodcraft themselves into invisibility, for example, or metalcraft their pain away. You also need to consider just how you want the players to interact with each other and the game world. Do you want to emphasize direct combat? How about social interactions? Espionage and assassination? Do you want a character who relies on seduction and sex to sway the opinions of others or gather information, or is that not something you're comfortable roleplaying? Because you'll be the other side of that equation most of the time. Do you want a pc to be able to fabricate gear that may be better than they could buy? Or, for that matter, do you want to deal with a pc with boatloads of cash or special contacts or patrons that give them exceptional influence?
The key is figuring out how to balance these Perks. Consider how your core system operates; how do you decide the outcome of a character's actions? Perks modify this in some way, improving outcomes by making success more likely or better, or failure less likely or less problematic. Or they grant access to alternative options for characters beyond the norm. And this they do while being a reusable resource, even if there are limits on how often within a given timeframe or in what scenarios they can be employed. You'll need to determine how much impact Perks can have, how often they can be used based on the degree of impact they have, and also what situations they can be used in. And then you'll need the in-character explanation of what the Perk represents, essentially the justification for it. This can be daunting since you would need to keep in mind how each Perk interacts with its counterparts and the rules as a whole. One way to reduce the challenge is to build a system for designing Perks. Some kind of point buy guideline so that all Perks have X number of points worth of benefits. Then come up with a list of generic effects that a Perk can provide and their respective costs, and start building out from that.
Or you could turn the Perk Guide over to the players and let them design their own according to its rules. Just keep in mind how important you want Perks to be; they're great for making distinct characters, but they can break a game if you leave them too strong or don't properly check them for synergies that result in OP. If you opt to allow for player-made Perks, always make sure you understand exactly what it is, what it does, how the player intends to use it, why the character has it, why the player wants it, and that the player knows any extrapolation from it must be approved first. You should also add it to the rulebook so everyone can see it and choose it if they want to. Just don't reveal who designed it. Secrecy and all that.
Also consider if you want Perks to be improvable, and if so how, how much, and according to whose design. The time gaps in the books would be great times for character growth when it comes to this sort of thing.
Last edited by Twelveseal; April 11th, 2019 at 08:57 PM.
Asha Records
Fuyuki - Winter Cleaning
My Shameful Fics and the Wiki to go with them. Oh, and some fossil I found.
[16:43] <Twelveseal> Phallus in wonderland sounds like some bad loli-rape KC fanfic
[16:43] <@Sei> THAT'S what i wanna see
I thought I shilled my games hard enough already as it is, until Aya told me she never knew about them, so I'm here mentioning I posted a tabletop game for you to look at.
He never sleeps. He never dies.
Battle doesn't need a purpose; the battle is its own purpose. You don't ask why a plague spreads or a field burns. Don't ask why I fight.
Legit. I actually had no idea either until I happened to notice the activity there.
Asha Records
Fuyuki - Winter Cleaning
My Shameful Fics and the Wiki to go with them. Oh, and some fossil I found.
[16:43] <Twelveseal> Phallus in wonderland sounds like some bad loli-rape KC fanfic
[16:43] <@Sei> THAT'S what i wanna see
I understand; it's funny how easy it is to miss stuff going on right under your nose if it's just a little out of the way of your usual routine. It took me like two years of being on BL to even notice there was an RP subforum since I was in GD and fanfics all the time.
Feel free to participate! I've been running games like this on BL for a while now. It’s fun getting to see more players’ roleplaying.
He never sleeps. He never dies.
Battle doesn't need a purpose; the battle is its own purpose. You don't ask why a plague spreads or a field burns. Don't ask why I fight.
It doesn't help much in my case that I didn't check in on the Lair nearly as much as I used to after dropping out of Regalia. I was much more likely to show up in the chat room than here and just relied on the folks there for info about promising new RPs.
Asha Records
Fuyuki - Winter Cleaning
My Shameful Fics and the Wiki to go with them. Oh, and some fossil I found.
[16:43] <Twelveseal> Phallus in wonderland sounds like some bad loli-rape KC fanfic
[16:43] <@Sei> THAT'S what i wanna see
Well, keep an eye out because I'll probably do more.
He never sleeps. He never dies.
Battle doesn't need a purpose; the battle is its own purpose. You don't ask why a plague spreads or a field burns. Don't ask why I fight.
And results are posted! Now I can stop agonizing over it.
He never sleeps. He never dies.
Battle doesn't need a purpose; the battle is its own purpose. You don't ask why a plague spreads or a field burns. Don't ask why I fight.
Hey! For those of you interested in joining an extra style war with weekly based rounds of Masters and Servants I am running a classic extra scenario that is scheduled to start in about a week. Anyone is welcome to join!
If you wish to join please pm me or join the discord here: https://discord.gg/Qt3NvzZ
For more information you are welcome to ask questions and you can find my rulebook here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...t?usp=drivesdk
So I posted a short version of this question on the Discord and got some response. Dropping it here in a little more detail and with some explanation besides.
Basically, I'm considering making an RP using the system I've discussed and asked about in my blog, based around the concept of fighting games. I've had a few ideas and talked it out a bit with someone I want to help run the game, and we boiled it down to two options:
Urban Legends
And...
Fist 2 Fist: The School of Hard Knocks
The intention is to use my rule system for whichever, tweaked to fit the setting and replicate that fighting game flavor. Unfortunately, the system is complex, but thankfully there's not a lot of changes going on here outside of character growth.
Of note, I rarely finish anything, so don't get your hopes too high. Still, this is an interest check. Also open to suggestions, though they may not be used. Tell me if you're interested in an RP like either of these and which you prefer, as well as any thoughts on the ideas.
Oh, as an aside, if this thing does happen, it's a ways off. Still a lot of work to do on either.
Asha Records
Fuyuki - Winter Cleaning
My Shameful Fics and the Wiki to go with them. Oh, and some fossil I found.
[16:43] <Twelveseal> Phallus in wonderland sounds like some bad loli-rape KC fanfic
[16:43] <@Sei> THAT'S what i wanna see
I'm interested in both, but Urban Legends is more appealing.
RIVAL SCHOOLS 4 LYFE
I'm interested in trying out for either one since both sound neat.
As of now, I'm only thinking of doing one. I lack sufficient GM chops to think of doing two at once. The option that doesn't get chosen might become an RP later, though, so there's that.
Asha Records
Fuyuki - Winter Cleaning
My Shameful Fics and the Wiki to go with them. Oh, and some fossil I found.
[16:43] <Twelveseal> Phallus in wonderland sounds like some bad loli-rape KC fanfic
[16:43] <@Sei> THAT'S what i wanna see
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