NationStates Jolt Archive

I finally figured out how to post new threads! (That link was so tiny!) Remember, NO ELVES. I hate those things, wiht their weird pointy ears. No elves. Dwarfs, sure. Centaurs, sure. But NO ELVES! I was thinking of a talisman hunt, you know, either a The-villian(s)-is-searching-for-a-talisman -that-will-allow-him/her/them/it-to take-over-the-world-or- get-a-wish-granted,-and-the-hero/heroin (es)-must-stop-him/her/it/them. or a One-of-the-hero/heroine (es)-is-in-posession-of-a-powerful-talisman-that- the-villian(s)-is/are-searching-for-to- take-over-the-world-or-get-a-wish- granted,-but-the-hero/heroine(es)- can't,-won't-or-do-not-know-how-to -use-the- talisman. You know, that sort of thing.

Any ideas?

Sounds like it could be good.
Why not set it up so there is a villian, hero/ine with amulet, couple other heros and townspeople/monsters/goverment person.

hey why not have the villian/bad guy dude look for the talisman thing with the help of the government just to have a big consipiracy going on. i like conspiracies they're fun

How about dark elves?

Could you please fix that post?

Suggestion for the Amulet.
It is the key to unlocking the 'prison' of either a demon/monster army, or opening the gateway to a source of incredibly powerful chaos/dark magick.

Okay, or, the villian is the government, or part of it. S/He could be the emperor, or a power-hungry advisor or assistant or speaker for the emperor.

How about dark elves?
Dark elves are still elves. Okay, though, I guess if it is sufficently uniuqe and non-boring. NOTE:Being telepathic or having magical abilities or seeing the future do not make elves uniuqe. There have been planty of stories that have had these things before.

I'm interested once the details are fleshed out.

I have several characters that might fit into this.

No elves.

This sounds fun.
I’ve been wanting to introduce a party of talking animals to my RP:s for some time now, but maybe that’s too strange for this one…

Anyway, I’m interested.

This sounds fun.
I’ve been wanting to introduce a party of talking animals to my RP:s for some time now, but maybe that’s too strange for this one…

Anyway, I’m interested.
Okay, talking animals are fine.

We've decided teh basic nature of the amulet, but it needs more detail. It could draw its pwoer from celestial bodies, such as the Sun or the Moon, but then it would only work at certain times of the day and year...

How about it generates near/god-like power during the conjunction of every moon/planet and the sun, which would happen in a month or some unit of time.

The good guy/s have it as a heirloom, and the villian had learnt of the power/time limits on it, and wanted to get it.

Sounds very good.

No elves? :( ! Oh well, I'll think of something.

Perhaps when a certain planet is nearest earth in 7,000 years, the amulet is strongest, and thus the villain is on a race against time?

I think Thao's planetary alignment idea sounds better.

Eh, now that i think of it, an elf just wouldn't be right for this kind of RP.


Talking Animals? I could work with that.....

I'm interested, so long as my Psychic dude and his accompanying Psychic\posessed\reincarnated dude in a horses body Companion aren't an issue.

Well, that's ok too. I was just throwing out an idea.

That's cool but the talisman can only be activated once every thousand years and the enemy is ploting the demise of the hero/heroin to capture the object,but the he/heroin has no idea that the family talisman has such awsome power.

In order to use it, maybe the villain has to go to some special place (when the planets are in their right positions, of course).
Perhaps the ruins of the temple of whatever strange cult once crafted the amulet; such abandoned places of worship are generally full of bad things…

...what about....Goblins?

I can do Goblins...I like Goblins...

I'm interested, so long as my Psychic dude and his accompanying Psychic\posessed\reincarnated dude in a horses body Companion aren't an issue.
Will this person be dressed in a white uniform? (*thinks he recognizes the source*)

<TAG> for possibly joining. I have any number of possible fantasy characters, none of them elves.

Will this person be dressed in a white uniform? (*thinks he recognizes the source*)

<TAG> for possibly joining. I have any number of possible fantasy characters, none of them elves.

Yes. He is a Herald.

Doesn't Vanyel just kick so much ass(you know, except for the whole being gay thing...)?

Not actually gonna be Vanyel mind you, just loosely based on him...

Actually, I think I'll go with the Alberich or Kerowyn style uniform for this one.

In order to use it, maybe the villain has to go to some special place (when the planets are in their right positions, of course).
Perhaps the ruins of the temple of whatever strange cult once crafted the amulet; such abandoned places of worship are generally full of bad things…
That sounds like an exellent idea.

Well, I don't know when the talisman was decided to be an amulet, but all right. And yes, goblins are fine.

Well, I don't know when the talisman was decided to be an amulet, but all right. And yes, goblins are fine.
Did i write "amulet"? That wasn't my intention, but it's fine by me ;) .

Bump it up...

So:

The hero/ine has inherited an amulet, but s/he soes not realise that it has magical powers to summon demons. The villian, who is a polititian of some sort, wants the amulet so that s/he can take over the world. The amulet will only work when all the moons, all the planets, and the Sun are aligned, and only at some ancient temple of some dead cult.

But this brings up a problem: all the action will focus on two characters. So whoever plays those characters will be very important to the continuation of the story, therefore, we need two people who do not plan to be away from the internet for an extended period of time any time soon...

I've got an idea for the starting: the hero/ine and several other characters start the RP at the funeral of an elderly ancestor of the hero/ine. Because his/her grandma or something is dead, s/he inherits the evil amulet.

If everyone approves of what we have so far, I think we should begin posting characters. REMEMBER: NO ELVES!!!

Sounds good.
Two things, One, could we have a character template?
Two, if the main/good guy has to go away for any length of time, they could either fall sick, and be left in an inn(or something).

Sounds good.
Two things, One, could we have a character template?
Two, if the main/good guy has to go away for any length of time, they could either fall sick, and be left in an inn(or something).

I think this would be a great RP but for people to play it mayb there can b stand ins if one of the main players needs to leave for awhile. Also the hero/heroin should meet others along the way (yes I know it is a little old but still an essential fantacy thing) maybe add some romance plot in there somewere

Hello,

Balances of powers

On the subject of one of the good guys, for lack of better word, playing a more pivotal part of the story than the others due to ownership of the amulet/talisman/blahblahblah, consider that this character could be the person of least innate power so that the other good guys, still lacking better word, will need to provide backup for this character. This convention balances "plot" value with "power" value, but it does have other consequences (such as making the main character feel like "t3h g1mp"... ow, typing that hurt my brain...). Consider the following, hobbits, who are in and of themselves not overly powerful as adventurers go, bearing a talisman of awesome power, let's say a ring, might require the backup of a wizard, some human adventurers, a snooty elf, and a stout dwarven warrior. Not that they had the good sense to stick together...

Me = Smart***

It's funny, because I was thinking of making a smart*** remark along the lines of "Can I play a human commoner? I want the amazing ability to be largely ignored by guards, villians, and other more dangerous foes due to the lack of perceived threat. A perception that is largely true..." But of course, I don't wouldn't want to play such a character anymore, as this is the type of character who would likely be the bearer of the big bad accursed amulet... which of course would void his special ability (i.e. that he is not a threat).

With great power...

Also on the subject of the amulet bearer, why is this the main character? Is it some ancient bloodline, and does that mean that he is related to the villian? Is it a matter of courage where no other would take up the mantle of responsibility? Is it an act of pure chance? Can the amulet pass hands freely among the other characters? Can it be destroyed once and for all? Does it grant the bearer any powers?

...comes the ability to rule the world!

So seriously, would it be all that bad if the "villian" had it. Maybe "Father knows best." Most villians don't spend their time tenting their fingers and laughing evilly. They have real lives, real goals, and often believe the world would be a better place if only people would just get it through their thick heads that I'M RIGHT... er, I mean that those villians are right... yeah... uh... moving on.

Why does it all have to be about race? Can't we all just get along?

Which brings up another point, race does not a character make. I've noticed that many times people use it as a crutch instead of coming up with a solid concept. ("Oh yeah, well I'm a half dragon/half angel/half demon/quarter vampire that happens to look like a catgirl... so there!") A "generic" human has the potential to have as deep and as empathetic a character as any, uh, let's just call them fugly stat monsters (see paranthesized quote from above) if note more so (yeah, probably more so...). But hey, I'm from the old school of thought. Whatever floats yer boat.

8 bit theatre and what not to do

And speaking of old school, let me just add party dynamics help! Working out characters as a group has the big plus of having a cohesive party. Failing to do this can result in a poor dynamic where one character keeps stealing the other party members money, while another character blathers on about swordchucks, and another is just there to min/max and in general power game, while the last just wants to nuke the others... cause he hates them so much... If on the other hand, Adam and Bob are brothers who care greatly about each other then Adam and Bob are going to end up caring a whole lot more about each other than two random people who met in a pub fight wailing on local drunkards together... Well, one can hope anyway.

Absent again, huh? Prepare to face 1001 tentacles!

If the main needs a reason to be excused for any length of period, the Honkin' Evil Amulet of Badness (tm) around said character's neck provides all sorts of good excuses for how to make a character disappear. For example, character gets knocked unconscious as the amulet attempts to overcome their weak mind in order to fulfill its dark prophecy (Character goes to sleep mode until the player returns). Character does get mind controlled (Player is gone too long, so the game master takes control). The chosen bearer is laterally reincarnated since he was killed in an effort to prevent the possessed body from plunging the world into eternal darkness. (A new player is selected to be the main after the other characters brutally maim the main character who was under GM control). Character gets warped to parallel universe where the Squid Lord of 1001 Tentacles has tea and cookies with character (...)


We are watching...

What was the point of all this? Oh yes, it was to *tag* this post while being somewhat relevant, but mostly I was avoiding doing real work for a little while. Just tossing in my two bone chips. Hopefully I will be reading something interesting and insightful in this thread as time progresses.

Good luck,
Egnuol (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_nation/nation=egnuol)

Sounds good.
Two things, One, could we have a character template?
Two, if the main/good guy has to go away for any length of time, they could either fall sick, and be left in an inn(or something).
Okay, the two idea sounds good, and so does the one idea, so here's the one: Characters are introduced on this thread, not the RP thread, and should roughly follow this format:

[CHARCTER'S NAME]
Age:[AGE OF CHARACTER IF IT IS KNOWN]
Race:[RACE OF CHARACTER*]
Gender:[GENDER OF CHARACTER IF THERE IS ONE]
Appearence:[DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTER'S PHYSICAL FEATURES]
Birthplace:[NAME OF WHERE THE CHARACTER IS FROM*]
Other:[POWERS, HISTORY, PERSONALITY, AND/OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT DOES NOT FALL INTO ANY OTHER CATEGORY]

*If you think we will not be able to figure out what you are talking about in these categories, please explain it to us. If your character is a Kamtakartgo from Jak`Kartarn, please say what that means.

You can have about...four characters or so.

"Which brings up another point, race does not a character make. I've noticed that many times people use it as a crutch instead of coming up with a solid concept. ("Oh yeah, well I'm a half dragon/half angel/half demon/quarter vampire that happens to look like a catgirl... so there!") A "generic" human has the potential to have as deep and as empathetic a character as any, uh, let's just call them fugly stat monsters (see paranthesized quote from above) if note more so (yeah, probably more so...). But hey, I'm from the old school of thought. Whatever floats yer boat."

True that races are over used sometimes overused, and that regular humans can be very interesting(veeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrry interesting), but freaky cross-bread animal people with psionic powers is part of what makes fantasy fantasy. How about we just limit the number of races that can be used in this RP, like, once ten races have been detirmined, you cannot introduce anymore. The previously mentioned talking animals, however, should probebly count as just one race, even if they are snakes, dogs, and ostriches.

Eskil Sturdyaxe
Age: 164
Race: Dwarf
Gender: Male
Appearance: Short but broad, red hair and blue eyes.
Birthplace: Fief Durnhelm in the Dwarven Kingdom of Uthgard
Other: Eskil is a descendant of the ancient Sturdyaxe clan, who have served the Lords of Durnhelm for generations. However, lately the gold routes have been changing, and Durnhelm is not the thriving Dwarven city it once was. Therefore, Eskil has set out to make a name for himself. He has little to offer but his axe and his fiery temper, but he uses them well.

Jerod Brightfire
Age: 42
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Appearance: A tall, tanned man in red trobes, with black hair and green eyes.
Birthplace: Lightsbridge, Ciria
Other: Jerod is a powerful wizard of the Lightsbridge Mage Academy, who after teaching at the Academy for ten years has decided he needs to get out adventuring once again. After meeting Eskil on the border of Ciria and Uthgard, they decided to team up and use their skills together. Jerod is a skilled practitioner of the Art, although he does occasionally mix himself up with teleportation spells.

Name: Unknown, goes by Kieran
Age:Unknown, min 18 years
Race: Unknown
Gender:Female
Appearence: Three known forms:
Human:
Eyes: Silver(left), Yellow(right)
Hair: Black with red streaks
Build: Lean
Form one:
Eyes: Yellow
Hair: Red
Build: Almost cat-like, similar to the pic http://www.planetadnd.com/interactive_books/mm00199.php
Form two:
Eyes: Silver
Hair: Black
Build: Essentially a winged human with a prehensile tail
Birthplace:Unknown
Other: She was found in her human form at the sight of a powerful magickal battle between two mages. She had no knowladge of who she was, where she was or anything more than the most rudimentary (child of 3-5) of skill. Her only known abnormalities were that she occasionally shifted forms/personalities, and that each form was completely oblivious of the others.

Rolgard Thain
Age:63
Race: Danor-Slightly shorter than an average man with hightened scenes, less strength, and a slightly longer life-span than humans (63 would be about 29 to a human)
Gender:Male
Apperence:Short and lanky with arms and legs that almost look too long. Sholder length jet black hair.
Birthplace:The Desert Oasis
Other:Rolgard is an exellent scout useing his sharper than normal scenes to find danger. Has recently been expelled from The Desert Oasis after being framed for a crime. His lack of emotions makes it harder for the more passionate races to understand him.

H'ok...the mighty, grand and all-powerful overlord representatives of the incredibly strong and influential Combined Goblin Collective (Fantasy division).
Well, perhaps not, but anyway...

First of all, general notes on the Goblins:
1. Energy absorbtion: eating (as normal), photosynthetic (why do you think they're green?), direct alcohol synthesis (convert alcohol into chemical energy).
2. Da Powa: Emotion based magical power, latent in all goblins. Unpredictable, unreliable and untrustworthy. Backfires occassionally.
3. Purpose: Earning surnames. CGC Goblins are not born with surnames, they have to be earned - thus, the reason for the Goblins turning up.
4. Mind Control: Has unpredictable results on Goblins, as the combination of weak minds but obsession with alcohol, shiny things, and the general chaos of a Goblin's mind causes interesting results.
5. Posions: Don't bother. Goblins consider arsenic and deadly nightshade as good flavourings. Similarly, don't trust any food a Goblin gives you. A rap on the head would be far more efficient.

Name: Huizdat
Age: Unknown, but very old
Gender: Male
Appearence: Four feet short, dark green skin, long nose, pointy ears. Lots of piercings and tattoos. Noticeable lack of dress sense (purple overrobes, fluorescent yellow underrobes, bright red sash for a belt). Long white Fu Man Chu beard, bald.
Birthplace: Goblin Sitay (Goblin City, main city of the Goblins)
Other:
Intelligent, for a Goblin
Has reasonable control over Da Powa, for a Goblin.
The brains of the trio
Possesses the Staff of Shiny Kapow, believed to be a Goblin relic of great power. Is actually a stick covered in glitter with a sharpened (but quite powerful) magnet strapped to the top.


Name: Doorlatch
Age: Unknown.
Gender: Male
Appearence: Two feet short. Pale green skin, bright blue mohawk, red tattoos on face which look mysterious (actually intended to be a rabbit, but both Doorlatch and tattoist were extremely drunk, and possibly high). Wears fur trousers. Has a tentacle extending from left armpit.
Birthplace: Goblin Sitay Slums
Other:
Mostly Harmless: Doorlatch does not like fighting as he is afraid of loud noises. Will very happily fight with ears plugged.
Minion: Huizdat's own personal minion, fetches and carries, does other odd-jobs - includes magical experimentation (hence tentacle).


Name: Flawbored
Age: Unknown, believed to be quite young
Gender: Male
Appearence: Seven feet tall (Goblin Big'un), heavily muscled, wears chain and leather cobbled together from various sources. Carries a very large hammer.
Birthplace: Da Hot Playz (desert)
Other:
Good Natured: Generally friendly, considers fighting a "grate big fun gaym!". Does not realise that people die, assumes they lie still to complete the game.
Not very bright, even for a Goblin.
Generally quite innocent and naive, for a Goblin (i.e. a cynical bastard concerning alcohol and shiny things, but otherwise quite gullible).
Big'un: Large, strong subspecies of Goblin normally used for heavy labour.

Herald Chaldriss
Age: 32
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Appearence: Scarred by fire and battle, about 5' 11" tall, well muscled.
Birthplace: Karse Province
Other: Rides a very large, white, shining(especially to mage sight), sentient Companion, said Companion looks like a horse, but most certainly is not. Wears dark gray leathers, and chainmail. Farsight, Mindspeech, and Foresight

Okay, I have to use the name, because I can't come up with anything better

Herald Mage Vanyel Ashkevron
Age: 32
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Appearence: Tall, thin, but well muscled, wears a sword and pure white leathers and armor.
Birthplace: Valdemar Province
Other: Mage-Gift, Mage-Sight, Fetching, Bardic Gift, Farsight, Foresight, Firestarting, Empathy, Animal Mindspeech, Mindspeech.

Queche Von Jamison
Age:24
Race: Human
Gender:Male
Appearence:Short, Skinny but looks fit
Birthplace:Tagemal, Kingland- Kingland currently is called Krocheland because the the King's name is Kroche although if he dies it will change names and take the name of the new king. The two names are used interchangably by foreigners but only as Krocheland to citizens and people living there.
Other: Came from the slums of Tagenal. Has magic powers but is untrained with the use of a wand. Has old wand from a dumpster. Very fast near impossible to catch in a foot race. Good with swords, axes and spears. Just left the elite fighting force of Kingland the Grand Rangers as a one star general.

I think one idea here should be to cut down on the magic users. It seems that half the people suggested are magic users. Instead try to focus on natural abilities, EX: incredably strong, Fast, Can jump high ect.

I think one idea here should be to cut down on the magic users. It seems that half the people suggested are magic users. Instead try to focus on natural abilities, EX: incredably strong, Fast, Can jump high ect.

Why would we want to avoid magic use, we're working with a MAGICAL artefact, we want as many magic-users as possible on this one.

Plus, my one mage can still fight in melee pretty well.

The breakdown so far:

2 Fighters with innate magic (Queche Von Jamison, Herald Chaldriss)
1 Jack of all Trades (Herald Mage Vanyel Ashkevron)
2 Mages (Huizdat, Jerod Brightfire)
1 Thief (Doorlatch)
2 Fighters (Flawbored, Eskil Sturdyaxe)
1 Ranger (Rolgard Thain)
1 er... Yeah, I dunno what that is... as no information was given about actual abilities other than uh... shapeshifting... but I will probably count you as an innate magic user with combat ability, because I see where this is probably going to go (Kieran)

My interpretation:
Can use magic (includes Psi/Innate which in some campaigns is not considered magic)
8/10 (at all) - Not Eskil or Rolgard
4/10 (focus of character) - Mages + Kieran
Can fight (more than flailing around like a nerd)
7/10 - Not Huizdat, Jerod, Doorlatch
While there is a majority of Magic users (80%), there is also a majority of Fighters (70%). The fact that those numbers add up to 150% should not bother me as it can be easily rectified by the addition of 5 red shirts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshirt_(science_fiction)). Of course if we were just going to count the primary magic oriented characters (40%), then we'd only need one red shirt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshirt_(science_fiction)) to rectify the balance...


Races accounted for so far:
Human - Queche Von Jamison, Herald Chaldriss, Herald Mage Vanyel Ashkevron, Jerod Brightfire
Dwarf - Eskil Sturdyaxe
Danor (Sounds suspiciously elven to me :p ) - Rolgard Thain
Goblin - Huizdat, Doorlatch, Flawbored
Magic Gone Awry... - Kieran
Based upon the 10 race rule we got five more that can fill in here...

Magical Types accounted for:
Da Powa - Goblins
Standard Hermetic - Jerod
Psi - Heralds
Innate - Kieran

One again I'm avoiding work. Plus I liking keeping a score card. This is mine.

And my characters are...

Name: Sophia Riversend
Age: Around 16
Race: human
Gender: female
Appearance: Average height, rather skinny, shoulder long black hair and green eyes. Dressed in simple peasant’s clothes.
Birthplace: Unknown.
Other: Parents unknown, was adopted by an old childless couple living on a farm in the middle of nowhere special. Not remarkably strong or clever or anything, just a Good Person.

Name: the raven (might get a better name later on)
Age: who cares?
Race: raven
Gender: probably female
Appearance: mostly black
Birthplace: Somewhere in the middle of the deep ancient forests at the heart of Elkwood.
Other: A talking raven, dislikes being associated with anything that is even vaguely dark or gothic, at which she merely says “prejudice” in a very hurt voice.

Name: the dove (might get a better name later on)
Age: who cares?
Race: dove or pigeon or whatever
Gender: probably male
Appearance: mostly white
Birthplace: Somewhere in the middle of the deep ancient forests at the heart of Elkwood.
Other: A talking dove, the lethal bird of prey from your worst nightmares. Delivers a massage of peace in pretty much the same way as a nuclear bomb does. Is terribly afraid of dragonflies for reasons unknown.

Name: Jeff
Age: a millennium, give or take
Race: dragon
Gender: male
Appearance: Covered in thick blue scales, about 20 feet from the head to the tip of the tail, huge bat-like wings, rather handsome for a dragon.
Birthplace: Some other dimension where the dragons dwell, love never dies and you can get candy bars for two pence each.
Other: Rather young and naïve by dragon standards, has been secretly chosen by Higher Authority to take care of Sophia who is of some great but at the moment not very clearly defined importance.


Just one last question. What is the overall tech level of this scenario, is it standard fantasy tech or something else?

name: Veru L'oueruk
Age: 43 Taslukian years(roughly 16 earth years, Taslukians have shorter life spans than most races)
Race:Tasluk(Human/Demon mix, basically)
Gender:Male
Appearence:6'4, tall, muscular build, black skin(not african oriented, i mean BLACK skin) spines growing out of wrists, large white tatoo in the shape of an eye on his forehead.
Birthplace:Vurus
Other: Born into a noble family in the country of Vurus, he was raised as a warrior from the age of 4.

Veru has quick reflexes,an awesome fighting drive, and powerful strength. His only semi-magical use are the spines the grow from his wrists, which have a drug in them that disorients the enemy.

He makes up for his limited knowledge of the way the world is (hes technically only 16) with his fighting prowess and strength, plus his loyalty.

Danor (Sounds suspiciously elven to me :p ) - Rolgard Thain


No elves are just like humans exept they are immortal, have the ability to never run out of ammo, and can use some sort of nature magic. My gut is quite mortal and is more of a differently evolved human than anything else. sorry if he sounded like an elf, that was never my intention.

A race of gnolls (dog/humans) would make for a good villian.

Allow me to make a suggestion?

The real villain always works behind the scenes, so everyone thinks say the king is evil, when it's really his manipulating advisor. The villain seeks to destroy the world/kingdom/whatever, so that he can rebuild it, get acclaimed as a hero, and become the ruler. To destroy it he needs the talisman. Will that work?

~The Concordance~

Hmm... sounds like a good idea. Perhaps one of the characters could be secretly evil?

Sure my character could be secretly evil. Too much personal ambition how does that sound? he starts off good but gets manipulated to become evil

Sure my character could be secretly evil. Too much personal ambition how does that sound? he starts off good but gets manipulated to become evil
By the villain I suggested? Or is he/she the villain? Or what?

An evil main character is always a good idea for any story, and RPs are no exception.

~The Libertarian Concordance of Czardas~
Semi-Unofficial RP Villain Advisor

By the villain I suggested? Or is he/she the villain? Or what?

An evil main character is always a good idea for any story, and RPs are no exception.

No I don't he would be the main villain at first because he starts off good but then he gets manipulated by whoever the main villain is and starts slowly becoming bad because he thinks that if he can get the talisman/amulet thingy he will be the most powerful person in the world. too much personal ambition as i said earlier.

Maybe the real villain should be in some kind of mentor/patron position towards the characters, claiming he (or she) is helping them fight the figurehead villain.
That way he (she) could easily manipulate the characters in a desirable direction.

Maybe the real villain should be in some kind of mentor/patron position towards the characters, claiming he (or she) is helping them fight the figurehead villain.
That way he (she) could easily manipulate the characters in a desirable direction.
That sounds like a good idea.

T'zark T'kahndir
Age: About 25
Race: Crimsonscale (a lizard-like race found in the caves below Dar-Kavryn. See appearance and powers for more information.)
Gender: Male
Appearence: About 5'5", with a slender build. His scales vary from brighly glowing yellow or red to black, depending on the situation and his mood. He wears a leather tunic and a black cloak.
Birthplace: Unknown. Somewhere in the caves below Dar-Kavryn, in a Crimsonscale town.
Other: Like most Crimsonscales, T'zark has a bit of skill with fire and stone related magic. He is capable of surviving - and, for that matter, enjoying - incradible amounts of heat. He can survive cold, but only by using large quantities of energy to keep warm. He carries a sharp-pointed, slightly curved sword, and a set of Ebonsteel (see explanation at end of post) throwing knives. His greatest treasure by far is the complicated and heavily enchanted shield/weapon he wears on his left arm. This object looks like little more than a strange piece of jewelry, encasing his arm in a frame a black steel and a delicate-looking network of some glimmering silver metal, but this network is Shimmersteel (see explanation below), and two powerful weapons are also concealed within it by magic. First is a long, double-ended Shimmersteel blade that runs below his arm, from about 8 inches in front of his hand to about 5 behind his elbow. The other his a small but effective crossbow, located near his wrist when in use. He owns three Shimmersteel darts enchanted to return to thier sheath a short time after being fired and a set of more ordinary Ebonsteel darts.

Boliad
Age: About 39
Race: Donari (Dar-Kavryn varient of human, with an inherent magical shield) with some Kalteer blood, which makes him somewhat faster and stronger than most humans, and also more resistant to poison and mind control.
Gender: Male
Appearence: About 6'2". Muscular, with dark hair. He wears dark leather brigandine (www.museumreplicas.com/imagelib/0100402_L_000.jpg) and chainmail, and carries more weapons than many people have seen.
Birthplace: A small town in Dar-Kavryn, about a day's travel from the Capital.
Other: A skilled and experienced warrior, he likes to go adventuring once in a while to keep in practice. Most of his weaponry is either Ebonsteel or regular steel enchanted for greater strength.

Verton Dijaal
Age: About 19
Race: Donari.
Gender: Male
Appearence: About 5'10". He keeps his long, brown hair tied back, wears a loose-fitting gray robe, and generally carries a staff.
Birthplace: A small town in Dar-Kavryn.
Other: Apprentice to Kaldor, foremost Battle-Mage in the kingdom. Although he is still just a student, his magical abilities are not inconsequential. He is also a good fighter with staff or shortspear. His teacher often sends him on small quests and adventures to get real-world experience.

What do you think - will they do?

Ebonsteel: The black metal forged by Shadowdancers. It is much stronger and somewhat heavier than ordinary steel; this makes it very good for chopping and smashing instruments, and for small knives, but not so good for larger weapons that depend on speed.
Shimmersteel: A very rare, very magical metal, which can only be produced by someone who is skilled at both smithing and magic, or by a team that works incredibly well together. It is very light and virtually indestructible. Its most remarkable property is that its inertia is much less for its wielder than for his/her enemies - it is very quick to change direction, but strikes with a great deal of force. It is hard to enchant it with additional magical properties, but it holds such spells very well. The metal is recognizable by the colorful glimmer that surrounds it in bright light.

I think one idea here should be to cut down on the magic users. It seems that half the people suggested are magic users. Instead try to focus on natural abilities, EX: incredably strong, Fast, Can jump high ect.
Definately. So, unless we want to start the story off in Hogwarts, we must have no more spell-casters than have already been posted.

And my characters are...

Name: Sophia Riversend
Age: Around 16
Race: human
Gender: female
Appearance: Average height, rather skinny, shoulder long black hair and green eyes. Dressed in simple peasant’s clothes.
Birthplace: Unknown.
Other: Parents unknown, was adopted by an old childless couple living on a farm in the middle of nowhere special. Not remarkably strong or clever or anything, just a Good Person.

Name: the raven (might get a better name later on)
Age: who cares?
Race: raven
Gender: probably female
Appearance: mostly black
Birthplace: Somewhere in the middle of the deep ancient forests at the heart of Elkwood.
Other: A talking raven, dislikes being associated with anything that is even vaguely dark or gothic, at which she merely says “prejudice” in a very hurt voice.

Name: the dove (might get a better name later on)
Age: who cares?
Race: dove or pigeon or whatever
Gender: probably male
Appearance: mostly white
Birthplace: Somewhere in the middle of the deep ancient forests at the heart of Elkwood.
Other: A talking dove, the lethal bird of prey from your worst nightmares. Delivers a massage of peace in pretty much the same way as a nuclear bomb does. Is terribly afraid of dragonflies for reasons unknown.

Name: Jeff
Age: a millennium, give or take
Race: dragon
Gender: male
Appearance: Covered in thick blue scales, about 20 feet from the head to the tip of the tail, huge bat-like wings, rather handsome for a dragon.
Birthplace: Some other dimension where the dragons dwell, love never dies and you can get candy bars for two pence each.
Other: Rather young and naïve by dragon standards, has been secretly chosen by Higher Authority to take care of Sophia who is of some great but at the moment not very clearly defined importance.


Just one last question. What is the overall tech level of this scenario, is it standard fantasy tech or something else?
Tech level? Well, I suppose around the Crusades. We are not fighting the Crusades, of course, because we are in a mak-believe world, but that is the level of technology we have to work with. Midevil or less.

A dog-person villian? No, the villian must SEEM good, so that the other characters won't know that it is realy him/her making all of the bad things happen. Actually, the villian might be quite good-looking.

A dog-person villian? No, the villian must SEEM good, so that the other characters won't know that it is realy him/her making all of the bad things happen. Actually, the villian might be quite good-looking.
Yes. The villain can be human or some similar race (because most people tend to view humanoid races as somewhat more 'friendly'), or of the same type as the majority of the other characters.

I'd like to be involved in some way

my idea is that my caracter will be the agent of some third party who's role is to make sure that the amulet is not used/destroyed in some way (he doesn't want the bad guys to get it but that doesn't mean he's nice) and his job (aided by various disposible minions) is to forefill the role set by his masters.

to do this he will do almost anything.

Thadious
Age:53
Race:human
Gender:male
Appearence:sprightly man greying with some facial hair (he changes his aperance when he needs to) he has a freaky tatoo on the back of his head but its under hair so only if you shave him will you notice
Birthplace:Balnor (a small island with some fishing and farming and an old monestary/temple that the locals revere)
Other:no paticular powers except that he is vaguely non descript in a way that makes describing him difficult, the tatoo is magical and allows him to talk to base, he has almost unlimited resources (almost means he can always get hired goons when he needs them).

I'd like to be involved in some way

my idea is that my caracter will be the agent of some third party who's role is to make sure that the amulet is not used/destroyed in some way (he doesn't want the bad guys to get it but that doesn't mean he's nice) and his job (aided by various disposible minions) is to forefill the role set by his masters.

Sounds good to me.

Hmm, if there's still space, and because I feel like playing the obviously evil character who isn't the protagonist...

Name: Taevin na'Vodorr
Age: Unknown (even he himself has forgotten, as days blur into months, years, decades)
Race: Manipulated Human (originally human, now something more)
Gender: Male
Appearance: Tall, very pale skin with veins easily apparent. Eyes glow red in the dark. Looks evil. Generally wears ornate plate. Taevin (http://www.deviantart.com/view/23444194/)
Birthplace: Mirroroak, a small rural town that was destroyed decades ago by follows of the god Vodorr, led by Taevin, Exalted of Vodorr.

Other:

Taevin is a human who swore a blood oath to the deity Vodorr, a rather unpleasant god by all accounts, and sealed his oath with the blood of his family. Since then he has embarked on a brutal crusade in the name of Vodorr and acted seemingly at random - sometimes gently telling someone to head down a certain path with seeming kindness, only to later turn that person to the worship of Vodorr, and at other times committing wholesale slaughter. As you might have noticed, he is not a nice person.

The Exalted of Vodorr's favorite weapon is named the Loath Mar and is a greatsword heavily ensorcelled with the black magic of his god. His ornate plate armour, named the Loath Khazan, is similarly imbued. Both items were gifted by Vodorr.

His magical abilities are insignificant from an offensive point of view, and mostly revolve around personal advancement - to all intents and purposes he is significantly faster and stronger than a normal human being (or many other species...) and said magical ability should not affect the RP in any significant way (it is one of three reasons for his physical abilities - natural training, magical ability and the Manipulation of Vodorr). However, Taevin can bestow the Manipulations of Vodorr upon others, to a limited extent, if they convert to the worship of Vodorr (but these will not work unless they were to truly convert).

The Voice of Manipulation: The ways of darkness can be very persuasive, and Vodorr's Chosen is no exception. His voice holds a power that can make a person believe more firmly in their current thought patterns, and make them sink to depths of depravity previously unthought of. (/fluffy stuff). Basically this allows his to, over time, persuade someone to follow a path they could take anyway, but to further levels - for example, persuade an adulterer to turn to murder his spouse, and from there into human sacrifice. Note that this will not work upon someone who is pure of heart, or strong morally toward the light. For example, he could not persuade a family man to go on a rampant killing spree, although Taevin could persuade him to take up theft if his family were running low on food.

So, a summary:
He's evil, generally unpleasant, and not the sort of person you invite to a family reunion.
He probably wants the relic for his God, or at least wants to manipulate the person who has it - although he has not made any overt move to obtain the item.
He has a very nice sword and suit of armour.
His "magical" abilities are all turned inward, excepting Vodorr's Manipulations, and the Voice of Manipulation, both of which are bestowed by Vodorr. Both of these have limitations.
He like sacrificing or converting people.
He is very dedicated to his God, and will sink to any levels to obey Vodorr.

Fame/Notoreity
There is a pretty good chance that others in the party would have heard of the Exalted of Vodorr (he's not a very subtle chap when out a-slaughtering), but it is unlikely that any (although it is possible) would have seen him in person. His true name (Taevin) is not associated with who he is now, and no evidence remains to link Taevin of Mirriroak to the na'Vodorr.
(i.e. It is unlikely that people would recognise him as the na'Vodorr)


Thoughts? I've been trying to avoid the standard blasting magic, but this type of character normally has some, so I channelled it back into him.

EDITs for clarification/expansion:
The Voice of Manipulation:
This will work on the pure of heart/positive-morally strong but not toward evil (for example, Taevin could persuade Mr Happy-High-Priest of the Doodad religion [or whatever] that Taevin is in fact a nice person, who means no harm and thus persuade him to trust the na'Vodorr, but the VoM could not likewise be used to persuade Mr Happy-High-Priest to start killing his congregation).

The Loath Khazan:
Has various cool and funky properties. The vambraces are shaped in the form of various evil creatures, which can leave the vambraces to watch for the na'Vodorr (but they can't do anything other than that).

The Loath Mar:
It's just...scary. Normally too heavy to wield properly in the hands of one of Vodorr's Chosen (the succession of na'Vodorr) it becomes light as a feather his hands, but in actuality retains its weight (so it can be moved stupidly fast, but goes crunch-crunch-crunch). It is quite impressively enchanted, and can be made to flame along its edges (why carry a torch when your sword will do the work for you?) and other cool but not especially useful things.

Notables:
Except for the whole red-eye thing he has going on, and the veins, Taevin looks reasonably normal and not particularly evil (although maybe a bit ill).
Taevin has no ranged weaponry on him, although his own various minions (all Vodorr's disciples, who will turn up to get slaughtered at various points) may carry a bow or two.
He can see in the dark (glowy red eyes do useful things in addition to looking creepy!).

Yes, Taevin is hard but then, he is the chosen of a very unpleasant God, and there is only one of him.

Well, we seem to have got a lot of good characters.

I guess Taevin would not add another race onto the 10-Race Count, because he is technicaly human.I'm still confused about the hero and the villian.

I guess Taevin would not add another race onto the 10-Race Count, because he is technicaly human.I'm still confused about the hero and the villian.

While we do not have one great hero yet. Taevin is the villain who later joins the hero while corrupting the government and gets a few of the hero's old friends to join him in his wicked ways. at least that seems right

Milchama is closest. Taevin would join the Hero & Co. to further his own ends, which at present happen to co-incide with the Hero's. So, kind of an heroic villain (who will probably go into a backstab frenzy at some point).

But the corruption bit is spot on.

Maybe the real villain should be in some kind of mentor/patron position towards the characters, claiming he (or she) is helping them fight the figurehead villain.
That way he (she) could easily manipulate the characters in a desirable direction.
Of course, what’s then stopping the villain from asking the heroes to give him the amulet, and the heroes from doing so?
Either the heroes aren’t in possession of the amulet in the beginning of the adventure, and the villain is simply using them to acquire it, or maybe the villain only has the confidence of a few heroes. I think we need to work on the exact nature of the villain a bit.

So how about the scenario starts off at the funeral of the Hero's grandma or something, and then the reading of her will? The Hero inherets the amulet then, and some of the other characters could be introduced at the same time, you know, as guests or potential heirs.

Sounds fine by me - I can probably even work out a way to have Taevin present (debt the family owes or somesuch).

A funeral tends to be a good setting, gives the hero reason to actually start the quest (inheritence, giving someone's life meaning).

Now we really need someone to carry the amulet.
Probably Sophia (my character) could do it, only problem is, she’s an orphan. Of course Jeff (my other character), or some none player character, could introduce her to her lineage shortly before the funeral. That’d give her an excellent reason to be involved in the whole mess, too.

Of course, if anyone else feels like shouldering the responsibility, that’s fine by me.

If the hero is Sophia, that wouldn't be a problem. You said an elderly couple took her in, so we could say that it was one of them who died.

Idea: My char could be a bounty hunter sent after them instead of one of the companions. It would send the story down another path, because they wouldnt only be followed by the Taevin, but Veru could be (hired by him?) I dunno, my char. just seems more like an evil stalking after the heroes type, instead of a companion.

Well, my characters are willing to help out, but of course Dwarves love gold, and Jerod has ties to several magical societies, particularly the Lightsbridge Academy, that would do quite a bit to get their hands on an object of magical value...

But also, even if your characters an orphan it could be someone they didn't even know they were related to or something. I think it's good to have the hero(ine) be a person of not too great personal power, it balances things out and creates a reason for others to help out as protectors/mentors etc. That rules out both my characters, but I don't really mind playing a slightly minor role.

Well, my characters are willing to help out, but of course Dwarves love gold, and Jerod has ties to several magical societies, particularly the Lightsbridge Academy, that would do quite a bit to get their hands on an object of magical value...

But also, even if your characters an orphan it could be someone they didn't even know they were related to or something. I think it's good to have the hero(ine) be a person of not too great personal power, it balances things out and creates a reason for others to help out as protectors/mentors etc. That rules out both my characters, but I don't really mind playing a slightly minor role.

I could swear ive read a book with a place called Lightsbridge Acadamy....anyhow thats not important, and maybe its just me.

I pictured Sophia’s adoptive parents to be rather poor, so I don’t really think they could’ve owned the amulet (unless they lived a really interesting life in their long-lost youth, which of course is a possibility), but otherwise I think it would make more sense if she was discovered to be the daughter of some legendary arch wizard or dragon slayer (who probably sent her away to protect her from all the bad guys who inevitably starts looking for her as soon as her lineage is discovered).

And to the questions: could Sophia use the amulet in some way (other than unleashing hell, spreading panic all over the world and ruining the adventure)?
Who is the arch enemy? If Sophia really got the amulet from some powerful relative of hers, the enemy could be one of the relative’s old rivals, or maybe a larger group of them (since the enemy clearly knows a lot about the amulet, at least one of them should probably be a mage). On the other hand, the villain could be some powerful demon (probably on the level of an average god), manipulating the mortals to make somebody free him.
Or something completely different…?

Oh, sure, the Amulet can have all kinds of other uses, but she doesn't know how to use them.

If you want, Vodorr could be the enemy.

It would amuse Taevin deeply to be considered one of the accompanying heroes while orchestrating the downfall of the group. Although he would have good "normal" reasons for coming along, his real reason for travelling with them would be in order to learn more of the amulet.

Not to mention that Vodorr has put plenty of minions at his Exalted's command.

Good. Vodorr, I think, will make a great villian. But we are going to have to have him trapped in some sort of otherworld, because it just wouldn't be fair for the heroes to be fighting a god. I guess we'll have to go back to that idea of the amulet being the key to unlock demons, but with the demon now being Vodorr.

So to summarize: Taevin is the loyal servant of the fallen god Vodorr who wants to use a mysterious amulet to unlock the spirit of his deity, allowing the demon-god to rule the world once more, and the hero(es) have to stop him. The heroine Sophia is the daughter/grand-daughter/grand-niece/whatever of a powerful wizard/fighter/king, and she inherits the amulet. Of course, no-one knows where it is, or its location is known but far away and she joins forces with the other characters to find it.

Did I summarize accurately?

No, no. Sophia already has the Amulet, which from now on should be capitalized.

No, no. Sophia already has the Amulet, which from now on should be capitalized.
Ah, ok. Thanks, that wasn't clear. So then why are they forming a group?

They are not all forming a group, but those that are all have their own independent reasons for joining. That one will be left up to the induvidual posters.

Seems good, just another annoying question;
Is there some chance of destroying the amulet (dropping it in the fires of Mount Doom, throwing it over the edge of the world, putting it in the microwave oven?).
Or maybe there’s no need to answer all my annoying questions, maybe it’s better just to start playing and see how it goes?
Other than that, I think the funeral of Sophia’s presently undefined relative is an excellent way to start the scenario, giving all the characters (at least an apparent) reason to be there, and an opportunity to introduce themselves under fairly civilized circumstances.

All right, the story's started. I'll telegram y'all for the web adress. The title "Amulet Legacy" is all right, isn't it?

I don't think I posted a character on here. However, I seem to have been invited to join anyway. Is it a big deal if I invent a character on the spot? Even if I can't really add something to it, I'll anyway stay to read it...

I did post characters (see post (forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=9710272&postcount=55)), but I haven't gotten a telegram. Am I in?

I also posted a character, so am I still in?
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=9694266&postcount=36

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=449483

Sorry, some of the people I couldn't contact. Here's the adress.