Re: OOC Discussion

by K Wed Apr 06, 2016 11:34 am

It certainly sounds interesting. Do i still get to play the character i mentioned?

by Essoje Wed Apr 06, 2016 12:02 pm

It sounds great, yeah. I'm quite interested in it (and would have the actual time for it from this weekend on, so great timing), and wouldn't mind it being D&D... except it could be a great time to introduce everyone to the awesomeness that is Pathfinder aka D&D 3.75 at this point.

I don't have much to add to his, maybe that I'd expect, in such a chaotic and seemly malleable setting, a few people to try and attempt to take claim to their own piece of land in order to further their own agenda, and both try to do it by force or playing the 'game' (which I'd expect being even more over the top).

by Archengeia Wed Apr 06, 2016 5:59 pm

Just a random thought that zoomed through my brain. Rather than making it a dream realm they're fighting over, why not make there be no cohesive dream realm right now? Either it isn't anymore, or it isn't yet, and the major factions are 'fighting' (loosely defined) to craft it how THEY think it should be. Which would add several possibilities.

by Zeiss Wed Apr 06, 2016 7:25 pm

I would like to make suggestions, but I suck when it comes to near-meta levels of narration. Not that I don't get it, but simply because it's not my strong suit.

by Kolson Thu Apr 07, 2016 6:48 am

Gwydo wrote:Sounds awesome.
Since I'm running a World of Darkness game, the dreams and horror aspect brings to mind something Cthulhu-esque.
Also, happy (belated) birthday!

Thank you.

K wrote:It certainly sounds interesting. Do i still get to play the character i mentioned?

We may have to adapt it a little bit but I don't see why not. That said I'd still like to run that other game idea I told you about someday so if you only want to use your character once you'll need to decide which game to use him in.

Essoje wrote:It sounds great, yeah. I'm quite interested in it (and would have the actual time for it from this weekend on, so great timing), and wouldn't mind it being D&D... except it could be a great time to introduce everyone to the awesomeness that is Pathfinder aka D&D 3.75 at this point.

I don't have much to add to his, maybe that I'd expect, in such a chaotic and seemly malleable setting, a few people to try and attempt to take claim to their own piece of land in order to further their own agenda, and both try to do it by force or playing the 'game' (which I'd expect being even more over the top).

I was thinking of using 5th but Pathfinder would definitely work and it's free. Can't beat that.

@Rory, Gwydo, and Arch Thank you. You guys have given me great ideas and I promise I'll do my best to use them.

Before we go any further lets start with the basics. If any of this sounds like too much then this isn't the game for you.

9 Things Every Player Should Know About the Place of Unreason:

by Gwydo Thu Apr 07, 2016 9:03 am

Two quick comments in the spoilery section. Smile

Kolson Wezrae wrote:

9 Things Every Player Should Know About the Place of Unreason:

by Kolson Thu Apr 07, 2016 6:46 pm

Gwydo:

by Essoje Fri Apr 08, 2016 10:18 pm

Well, now I'm a free-man and totally in. I hope this becomes a thing because it's hard to find a pathfinder class and archetype that won't satisfy you, so I'm hoping people are going after some of the more interesting types of classes for this.

Also, I finally got to play on my vintage laptop...

Album and Video aka TL;WR visual version of the following:

Wall of Text aka Ravings of a Hardware Madman About His New Toy:

by Kolson Sat Apr 09, 2016 3:19 am

Oh, I'll make it a thing all right. I just need some time to work on it though. The book is a great toolbox but it isn't a complete Module so it needs some work before I can run it. In the mean time I want to finish up the battle in the Star Wars game first before starting this because K, Rory, and Zeiss have waited forever for me to feel like playing it again and I hate leaving things undone. If solid progress is made, I think we could finish it up in 3-4 sessions. 5 tops. Just need to get the party back together...

by Kolson Wed Apr 20, 2016 4:01 pm

"Wizards of quality don't smoke meth, Trishtog. Now get the hell out of here!" -A Wizard of Quality

by Essoje Wed Apr 20, 2016 4:08 pm

What did I just watch and why is my faith in humanity suddenly restored?!
I'll let you know that I very worked hard to become apathetic to the world around me! D:
Oh wait... that's SexualLobster stuff. Ok, nevermind.

by Gwydo Wed Apr 20, 2016 4:09 pm

O_o
What the.... What the Hell??
Sometimes I wonder about you guys. I really do.

by Kolson Thu Apr 21, 2016 4:35 am

I like how Trishtog never connects the fact that meth usage can lead to strokes. Also, I feel like its the modern internet version of those anti-drug PSAs they did back in the 80s and 90s.

by Essoje Thu Apr 21, 2016 9:48 am

I never understood why they thought the "fried egg metaphor" was a good idea, since people can take it many ways. I always loved how Jontron questions it too.

by Rory Thu Apr 21, 2016 8:27 pm

I'm beginning to wonder, if the bad guys win, what do you live for after that in the land of Voivodja? What can be considered achievable goals in the realm of possibility for the player? What do the peoples' everyday lives look like? When you find yourself there, are you there forever, or is leaving a plausible goal?

Coming back to the points you made about the Place of Unreason, I hear what you're saying, I see what it's supposed to be, but it's the silliness that drives me away from the basics of what a campaign there is like. Vampires being soulless and evil: revival of a traditional view of the monster(and even superstition), the good old "one of them" fear mentality and I can dig that. Madness: makes for a scary place where your only refuge outside of the Once Palace are PCs or NPCs who join you. Quiet Side: wouldn't necessarily call that mad or silly, just different, and a little intriguing. Objects that are supposed to be inanimate can talk: that has a D&D equivalent, living weapons and intelligent items and such. Red King and Heart Queen: they're mad and they're super serious, if you wanna live through whatever meeting with them you find yourself in, you play along out of sheer dread if nothing else.

Not every game has to take itself deadly serious, but for me there is a limit to the wacky elements that I will endure. A game in Wonderland as-is? Not my flavor. If you want to stick with the detail of silliness of A Red and Pleasant Land, That is your prerogative.

This is all coming from what you revealed about the ritual for curing vampirism, so I imagined that the same flavor applies to almost everything else. If I were to propose a variant setting of this to you, it probably wouldn't look the same coming through me, it wouldn't come out looking the same if you catch my meaning.

by Gwydo Thu Apr 21, 2016 9:31 pm

Totally agree Rory. Unless you're playing some kind of Looney Toons game where a Disney style Alice in Wonderland would be appropriate, this kind of setting really needs to be darker. Something like the classic D&D Ravenloft, Valve's Half-Life or even Cthulhu-esque.

Of course, that's just my

opinion:

by Rory Thu Apr 21, 2016 10:17 pm

Lighter note: I gotta say, I've just watched the best episode of Table Flip I've seen in a long time. Barry and Suzy play a game of Bang! with guests ProJared, Jirard the Completionist, and some guys I've never heard of, Nate and Criken. Nate is in character for most of the game and I gotta say, I really loved the cut of his jib.

First video embedded so you know I'm not playing you and to save space on the page

Bang! Part 2

by Essoje Fri Apr 22, 2016 1:46 am

Saw it earlier today, adored the ending. The rage at the end was so genuine too, it was priceless.

Oh, and I'm really confused with at least Gwydo's point, because this setting as it is described is dark as hell, at least a whole half of it. We have classic vampires led by freaking Vlad The Impaler with Dracula abilities as one of the two major factions. I fail to see how a Toon character would work better in this setting.

But I digress. Before we put try to pick on the setting, let's first wait for the GM to actually make the damn thing first, as that book is more of a 'do-it-yourself suggestion manual' than an actual setting book: It gives you the tools and a good idea on where to start, as well as detailed information if you want to replicate stuff, but it's the GM that has to craft the final product.

Hmm... Hey Rory, what are your actual limits for the wacky elements in a setting? It's a great bit of information that Kolson could use to change it so you could play too.

by Rory Fri Apr 22, 2016 2:23 am

Uh, I don't know. It's not something I've tried to analyze before. As it relates to what I've been told about the setting in A Red and Pleasant Land, I feel like I've done as well as I can to get as close as I can describing that limit. Convoluted I don't mind, but the downright silly, no. Not necessarily that people can't be silly, players and npcs are going to act silly if they want, cuz they're not sour dour dough bread all the time! Or if they just don't know any better.

by Kolson Fri Apr 22, 2016 3:31 am

I really don't know what to tell you Rory. The silliness of the setting is there to reinforce the banal and often contradictory nature of life in Voivodja. It isn't a place you are supposed to want to live in that's why I'm framing it as a Domain of Dread like Ravenloft.

I foresee the beginning being about survival in a strange and hostile land as the players get their bearings and try to find some allies and better equipment. More like the Saint's Row of tabletop really except the whacky elements are supposed to make you uncomfortable and challenge you in ways you normally wouldn't be.

For example the Heart Queen's castle exists in more than three dimensions and could potentially alter your personal gravity forever if you enter the wrong door (or right door if you are using it to overcome a puzzle).

If that doesn't sound interesting to you then there isn't much I can do about it because it isn't A Red and Pleasant Land anymore and that's what I want to run.

Also I think the place is dark enough as is. They make bloody sculptures using barbed wire and naked half-turned people for Christ's sake! Did I mention how much I personally hate vampires?

by Gwydo Fri Apr 22, 2016 9:04 am

Essoje wrote:

Oh, and I'm really confused with at least Gwydo's point, because this setting as it is described is dark as hell, at least a whole half of it. We have classic vampires led by freaking Vlad The Impaler with Dracula abilities as one of the two major factions. I fail to see how a Toon character would work better in this setting.

Rory was saying that the "Alice in Wonderland" setting was too "silly". I was responding with an agreement of a "silly" setting would not be appropriate for a group of... D&D style adventurers, whereas a silly setting would be fun for Loony Toons characters. (Marvin the Martian meets the Queen of Hearts... OOC Discussion - Page 28 Tumblr_mzbchnz83J1r2ad2vo1_500

OOC Discussion - Page 28 Tumblr_mzbchnz83J1r2ad2vo1_500

)
The description that Kolson has given of this setting is NOT the "silly" Wonderland, however (I think) Rory was complaining about some of the lighthearted aspects Kolson mentioned that are present to alleviate some of the oppressive darkness.

by Essoje Fri Apr 22, 2016 11:10 am

Alright, gotcha. Well, from day 1 Kolson has been described to me something akin to this:

Edit: Except for the classic vampires. Classic vampires are no joke.

by Kolson Fri Apr 22, 2016 6:11 pm

I was actually describing the whimsical Heart vampires that time, with their "fun" attempts at being artists at the forefront of artistic innovation. The Red vampires push uniformity and rigidity as strength couching their caste system in terms of chess pieces. This is much different than those loose and carefree Heart vampires, who couch their caste system in terms of playing cards. Damn those Bohemian hippies and their bucking of good and proper governmental traditions!

by Rory Sat Apr 23, 2016 1:37 am

Well I suppose with the whole land gone to heck in a hand basket, madness-stricken people would try to come up with the unimaginable and unconventional to lighten the load of living under their equally insane tyrants. For me, it's silliness in the people versus silliness in how the world works, the science(or lack) behind their laws and how they interact with the physical world.

I prefer silliness in the inhabitants, as long as there is some explanation or a source that drove them to it, even if it's not readily apparent and they just seem quirky. Maybe you think you know what it is, but you're wrong, and you never hit close but you can go on thinking that you're right or that it's a brilliant explanation because in turn, you're going just a little insane trying to rationalize the behavior of a person or group who lives in Voivodja.

by Rory Sat Apr 23, 2016 3:19 am

I just watched a behind the scenes sneak peek at The Killing Joke, a Batman comic story I didn't know about that is apparently both famous and infamous, for being an inspiration for future iterations of the Joker and for being a shocking read. What they seem to be saying is that they are emulating the visual style of the comic to a tee, and playing completely straight and by-the-book contentwise, with a tentative R rating - probably in advance before running it by the people in charge of rating visual media, saying that they'll take a PG-13 if they can, but they'll stick with an R if that's how it has to be.

The Killing Joke will be playing this summer.

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