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[Aerith's Knight]

I finished my program. :O ^__^

^____________________^

I think I'll post something tonight. Can you point me at the set-up post again Kossage?

[Kossage]

Congrats!

Sure. I'll send you a PM with the details, so keep an eye out on your EoFF inbox.

[ShunNakamura]

Originally Posted by Kossage ^

You made me curious. Is this character by any chance an undead of some sort? If so, we've had our share of "undead" characters in the RP even if there were only a few of such. For example, a couple of important people in the plot have came back as sort of revenants (from both the good and bad guy camps, although such beings are in general rare), and we also have a lich as an important NPC.

Close but not quite. More of a life-sized humanoid doll that is self-aware, intelligent and possess freewill. Well actually life sized isn't accurate. He is 2.3 meters tall which is a bit taller than most men. But all the dolls of his creator are based on the same basic frame. He is the only humanoid one though(one that could be confused for an odd looking human/elf in other words).

This easily conflicts with race/lifespan/age type deal. He would be about 1 year and 9 months old and doesn't have a race or lifespan(he will continue to move until he is 'destroyed'/broken/forgotten by his 'mother'). In addition he doesn't really possess a class. He is simply a Doll.

"It took my mother 782,790 hours to give birth to me," is usually the first thing he will say about his mother, with pride. Yes this is just an extra bit for Luls. Hadn't even realized he said that until I reread one of his encounters with a young human woman who recently became pregnant. And he was acting as the local doctor at the time, in charge of giving her advice about giving birth(poor girl, imagine the shock that would give you if you heard you could be giving birth for 89 years!).

I was making a much longer reply originally. I think I'll link it when I finish it. It turned into a short story almost. Also due to the topic he has already been molded a bit to fit. He isn't a particularly powerful character to start with. But the fact that he is a doll grants him unique features that living creatures do not have; which could easily go into god mode, in a way, if I am not careful with them. I have always been bad with backgrounds. They always turn into short stories. I am a bit verbose if you hadn't been able to tell .

Anyways I must have overlooked the Lich/undead in the character list(or are they not there?)

One of the ways I approached this dilemma with one of my characters was to adapt him into the story even if it meant sacrificing parts of his "essence" in the process. I've been RPing the character and it's been useful to see how he interacts with people, which gives me a better view of his psyche and worldview.

My problem is how I write(and this is also why I never finish anything). I don't write, the story writes itself through me. As such, I have noticed that even small changes can end up with my characters/plot being radically different. Even changing a person's age in Figune's case strongly altered him. This trait of mine annoys the daylights out of my teachers and me.

It also makes it hard for me to pick up where others left off(which is why I say I am writer not an RP'er). The first time I tried to reply to an RP I ended up writing a 3 page reply where I effectively wrote my own short story involving the characters. I scrapped that. That wasn't RP . However I have since then partaken in a little 'practice' one that I did a bit better in.

Anyways the traits that are changeable differ from person to person. For example the fact that my doll is not a living thing at all is kinda of a central trait. Making him a human/elf/dwarf would end up changing a lot more than just race. After all, does a doll no matter how smart or self-aware have a 'soul'? However, the length of his birth could be changed with little effect(all it would affect is his mother, in my story she is easily over 1500 years old. So 89 years to her isn't much at all).

[Kossage]

Thanks for clearing it up. I can see how it'd be difficult to fit him into the story. However, we've had cases where people thought of something similar but pondered how they could make it work in the RP. Here's one possible solution:

Essentially they kept the characters' ideals and worldviews etc. the same. However, the key thing they changed was that they made their characters fully human/dwarf/elf and made the characters mentally unstable. Some characters thought they were reincarnated gods and whatnot even though they were just plain crazy.

Maybe in your case the solution could be that your character went crazy at the end of the war (in the RP) because of all the deaths he witnessed, and now he thinks of himself as a doll (and whatever else you described about him and his mom in your post)? It could all be just in his head, but he'd really believe that stuff and think that he has all those powers.

Also, a character's background doesn't have to be extensive, so don't worry about it. Some of us write backgrounds that are two or so paragraphs long, but there are a few players who have written very little background and prefer to flesh out their characters' backgrounds gradually in the story.

Originally Posted by ShunNakamura ^

Anyways I must have overlooked the Lich/undead in the character list(or are they not there?)

They're in the list but in the NPC section. If you want to take a closer look, search for Drishnek and Jemuel (they're both under Libaterra in the NPC section of the [Quick Character Listing] thread).

Bleys's character Leon was a Revenant like Jemuel at one point, but Leon has since gained a fully human body (it's a long story). Anyway, undead/revenant characters are really rare, so these people are more of a exception to the rule.

[ShunNakamura]

The background is long just because I can't write short stories. I really felt the pain in that section of English class. No matter how hard I tried I could not write a 4-5 page short story. I ended up turning in a 'chapter' instead. Got some serious marks off. So the background story will not be short purely because I fail at writing synopsis.

And how did I ever miss that?! I looked straight at those portraits and I still overlooked them!



Changing him from a doll to a living creature would change him to the point that it would have little benefit other than plot idea gathering for the story he is in(which I can get from just reading, no need to actually RP unless it helps open up his character). His entire concept is tied around being a doll.

A morphed version would doubtless be interesting to play. But in my case I RP for one reason and one reason only, to flesh out characters. Anything else is a secondary purpose. Anyways I will be reading and I can probably take a look around. With the number of characters I have written up I can probably find something that needs/wants fleshed out that will fit. Looking around comes up with two possible candidates. Throwaways from an RPG Mock story I thought of writing for a contest somewhere(wait... was it a contest... or maybe a short story scholarship). Well either way it never got out of the planning phase. But it did result in two orphan characters that don't have their own story(though they do have a rough plot outline and that sort of stuff done).

I'll see about them. But they were orphaned for a reason. If even after conversion I have no intention of finishing their story... well once again the point of playing for me would fall flat.

Question though. Must they have a weapon or is it fine to use that just to list what they are proficient with? They don't really have their own weapons. It was a mock story, I was originally going to make a version of it interactive where people who read my work could 'vote' on their class progression. As such they just have a list of weapons/armors they are proficient with and they would equip/de-equip as the votes lead them. As in most RPG's their class restricts/expands their use. Just curious if that system could translate at all or if I would have to hard code them. It would be interesting for them to 'class' change while going through the story .

[Aerith's Knight]

I posted. ^__^

I actually enjoyed it. Diving into an imaginary world again. I think it's time to develop my character's past.

[Kossage]

Originally Posted by ShunNakamura ^

Must they have a weapon or is it fine to use that just to list what they are proficient with? They don't really have their own weapons. It was a mock story, I was originally going to make a version of it interactive where people who read my work could 'vote' on their class progression. As such they just have a list of weapons/armors they are proficient with and they would equip/de-equip as the votes lead them. As in most RPG's their class restricts/expands their use. Just curious if that system could translate at all or if I would have to hard code them. It would be interesting for them to 'class' change while going through the story .

Yeah, a list of weapon(s) they would be proficient with is enough, and it can just be a very general outline (like daggers, spears etc.). The characters don't have to carry weapons around, but the weapon field is there so that we players know what kinds of weapons the characters could use if they were given one. To give you an example, my cleric character is proficient with daggers and staffs, but she's not carrying any weapon for the time being.

Class changes or multiclassing are definitely possible. One of my characters started out as a thief but is slowly trying to become a white mage. He's still very far from that goal, but that example just shows you that multiclassing can be done. We prefer people starting out with one class at first, though, so that they don't become overpowering, but they're free to try to multiclass gradually as the story progresses. The only limit is that characters can't be jacks of all trades: if they gain additional skills and such, they must be kept in check so that they won't be god-moded.

Originally Posted by Aerith's Knight ^

I posted. ^__^

I actually enjoyed it. Diving into an imaginary world again. I think it's time to develop my character's past.

Awesome! Good to see you back!

[ShunNakamura]

Originally Posted by Kossage ^

Yeah, a list of weapon(s) they would be proficient with is enough, and it can just be a very general outline (like daggers, spears etc.). The characters don't have to carry weapons around, but the weapon field is there so that we players know what kinds of weapons the characters could use if they were given one. To give you an example, my cleric character is proficient with daggers and staffs, but she's not carrying any weapon for the time being.

Good to hear. Yeah the list is kinda basic. But it gets complicated since I have the entire class progression mapped out(and which weapons open up when if they train as x, etc). It isn't set in stone, but it does mean I'll have to look up which ones they can use at what times.

Class changes or multiclassing are definitely possible. One of my characters started out as a thief but is slowly trying to become a white mage.

Once again good to hear and their class progression is fully mapped(I just gotta pick which way they want to go).

The only limit is that characters can't be jacks of all trades: if they gain additional skills and such, they must be kept in check so that they won't be god-moded.

That isn't so good to hear. One of the two is a JoaT(or rather eventually becomes one). Excels in nothing but is very flexible*. Hmm.. I'll check her class progression. The classes each of them have open vary greatly. All of her classes can't possibly be a JoaT of some kind, I hope.

And godmodding them shouldn't be hard to avoid. Being an RPG ripoff story I already spent ages balancing their classes/skills/techniques/what-have-you out. I just got to make sure they scale into tGA fine(shouldn't be hard, they are from a low fantasy setting). Plus the setting they were in called for them to be 'weak'(they weren't the heroes; more like victims).

I think I got one of them nearly profiled. Now I just have to write them 'into' the story. I.E. give them a 'birth' place(home kingdom) and the ilk and an appropriate back-story/reason for adventuring(this last shouldn't be too hard, they should be able to adventure for the same reason). Not sure what to do about the factions. Their 'factions' were always what initiated their class changes(i.e. you don't class change with levels but through questing). I might just have to dump them into their own factions. But I'll have to do some reading up and see if there is already something that is a rough fit(a quick scan said no, but I had missed the Lich after all!).

*I.E. there are two ways you can look at JoaT depending on your world view(sort of like a pessimist/optimist is it half empty/half full type deal). A JoaT is either equally good at every thing, or equally inept at everything. If you note JoaT's in a lot of RPG type games usually aren't the most picked character. It is usually the ones that 'focus' in one area or so(such as agility, etc). Well at least among people looking for the most power that is so. JoaT's are usually the fun classes. The Red Mage is usually a JoaT of some kind, as is the Blue Mage, etc.