I like plots which are server wide but cater to individual factions. Something like: there is a magic orb of magicness we all need. Instead of addressing the entire server, like kreswell asking for it, each faction head or NPC in contact with the player factions offers the plot to them with a unique twist. Bad guys want it for power, good guys want it to help the poor, and everyone is after it which brings everyone together. Would be cool if you also coordinated dm quests for two or more rival factions that would somehow come into contact, not necessarily all out brawling, but somehow competing against eachother.
Latest posts made by GnomishInventor
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RE: Great Server Numbers – Faces, Old & New
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RE: Spreading Known Information
A DM faction.
I really liked the player initiatives throughout the years maintaining newspapers but they never kept it up. And who is to blame them? It's tedious work that can lose its charm quick. That is why I think this would be suited to a DM faction and not a player faction. As an example it can be some sort of monastery of Oghman scribes situated in Arabel.
Firstly, it would provide some motivation:
-uniforms
-official status
-storageSecondly, it would provide them with something else to do to keep them interested:
-a major plotline/story arc where individual scribes can pursue personal goals (battling sources of misinformation and hoarding of knowledge)
-they would be in some ways similar to the mage's guild, but their interests encompass many things: city statistics, histories of war, noble families and their past, knowledge about an array of non-magical crafts, geography- unlike the library forum, they would have a dedicated DM(s) who would offer a bit more than a tidbit of information- and when the DM does not want to divulge something so easily, they use the opportunity to send the scribe on a quest for the information (or even a long term plot)
- in the end, the information trickles down through the scribes' work for the public's enjoyment or important use
- you could even scrap the monastery idea and make this simply an extension of the city library
In the end, what you have is a bunch of motivated, involved characters who are more than willing to increase and update the available knowledge and general lore available to the playerbase. Perhaps you can even allow them to do this IG rather than through a forum. Just like the posters on the floor that we used to be able to edit, the scholar faction's base (monastery, library) can have items that can be changed in game (books, newspapers, inscriptions) for characters to peruse. It would be a common destination for players to drop by every next day to see what the scribes are up to, and to gather a good understanding of current events.
Edit: Ranks could be very important too. At first everyone is a simple scribe tasked with recording all the mundane information happening around town (Jim's cat ran up the tree again, an increase of muggings in the south, Kreswell slipped on a banana peel), maintaining a newspaper and dealing with the simple inquiries adventurers have.
Then they could be promoted and all of a sudden the NPC superiors are more forthcoming with lore and information which the character is now privy to. The higher scholar could even specialize in certain knowledge like smithing, or history of some far away realm, etc etc and as a result many DM factions and player factions would be drawn to a scholar of a higher ranking as an authority on whatever it is they're after…anyways you get the gist of it
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RE: Arabel Builds
I don't like such rigid interpretations of the classes. You don't just "unlearn" things like that in real life when your direction changes. For example, I am a trained engineer, but recently I started architecture graduate school, which requires a very different skill set, engineering being technical and architecture being much more about creative problem solving and visual design. With a rigid interpretation of how skills are applied, I'd be about as advanced as a kid in their first year of undergrad, but with the help of previous training I am far more rounded and knowledgeable. I rarely have to apply that engineering knowledge directly, but it doesn't mean that I can't use those strengths to my advantage to hold my own in classes that mostly consist of students with a 4 year degree in architecture. This isn't anything unusual either, about 1/4 to 1/3 of the students in my (ivy league) program have no previous architecture experience at all.
A barbarian knows how to swing a weapon and hit opponents. That skill can't be unlearned. But when you multiclass you aren't both a pure fighter and pure barbarian. You have that ability to rage, but you don't rage as well as a pure barbarian, which has been curbed by your training as a fighter. You have those bonus fighter feats, but you don't have as many fighter feats as a pure fighter, representing less training as a fighter. This doesn't mean your combat experience gained as a barbarian has to be completely forgotten as if you were newly born, those past experiences can still be applied. If you are mostly barbarian with a sprinkling of fighter, you might not have learned the self-discipline to not rage-out at inappropriate times. On the other hand, if you are mostly fighter with a little bit of barbarian, you might have the discipline to control yourself, but in desperate times or on occasions when you need to overpower your opponent as quickly as possible, that ability to rage might emerge. This is also indicated with the development of your rage ability. If you have 1 or 2 barbarian levels, you can only rage once per day for a short time, so it is best saved for desperate measures, but with more barbarian levels you have more rages per day, indicating that you are more likely to rage out in combat. Also, your fighter training is indicated by your feats. One with more fighter will have more feats and therefore more trained weapon and combat skills. This doesn't make the character any better or worse, only one with different skills and strengths.
I think engineer and architect is a bad analogy. Fighter is kind of like the antithesis of barbarian- a relationship engineers and architects do not have.
When you became an architect, did your teacher hold you by the shoulders and tell you: By the way, all that engineering you did? That is absolute trash. Not even a science.
The difference of being a barbarian and a fighter is not just mechanics, its the character itself. I can't imagine a barbarian and a fighter learning from eachother.
"ok, ok, that sword trick you did was really good. But the next time you feel overwhelmed, scream like a mad man and slash wildly with little regard for your safety (-2 AC)."
"Oh, well I suppose I can put that into my routine."
Edit: I suppose it isn't worth arguing for though. if it makes people happy, then I give every barbarian fighter my blessing!
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RE: Arabel Builds
I'm sure the history of science knows multiple alchemists turned into chemists.
Precisely. Alchemists turned into chemists. Alchemists who may have realized the folly of their pseudoscience and began fresh with chemistry. They did not become alchemist chemists. They erased the nonsense they learned and became chemists.
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RE: Arabel Builds
In my opinion I would go as far as to say barbarian and fighter mixes cannot exist- barbarian fighter is an oxymoron. The idea that a barbarian could become a fighter only makes sense if in doing so he goes straight back to level 1. You can't just "stack on" knowledge that is completely against what you've been taught. It's like being an alchemist and then turning into a chemist, the things you'd learn as a chemist would completely discredit all you've learned as an alchemist. You can't be an alchemist and a chemist, you can't use alchemy and add your knowledge of chemistry to make it better.
You shouldn't be able to get the advantages of a barbarian with the added feats of a fighter. Rage? Why do you rage? You just spent 4 months in the barracks learning to hold a line, such a foolish outburst could cost your life and the life of the men who fight next to you. It's also the way you wield your weapon.
Why do fighters get so many feats? They've studied other warriors and practiced with them every day, training themselves until they are calculating fighters, knowing exactly when to hit and where to hit. Most barbarians don't think that way, at least they aren't as meticulous or methodical with their stance, the proper grip on their weapon, etc etc. You get the point, you can't utilize your rage while making use of those feats you picked up with those fighter levels.
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RE: Dr. Quickfix, or How I Learnt to Stop Listening to Players
Why? There's something a lot of players want to address.
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RE: Dr. Quickfix, or How I Learnt to Stop Listening to Players
A lot of great points here but I just want to comment on something briefly…
I don't enjoy themed factions. I don't like the "knight faction", the "necromancer faction", the "magic faction". I think it just polarizes everything and molds characters. I really enjoyed the way Arabel used to be, run by lords. Sure, each of them had a vague characteristic,
the "warrior (Deschurr)", the "schemer (Bhaliir)", etc, but it did not mold the characters so decidedly. There was room for plotting, intrigue, and the best part was that everyone was in the same city, a few minute's walk from each other. This forced different factions to find creative ways to disguise their plots and constantly vie for the loyalty of a portion of the adventuring populace. If I could have it my way, I'd ask for a peanut butter jelly sandwich, hold the MASSIVE crust (outlying areas).Now it's just...This is our land, that's their land, and to that direction is their land. Occasionally we'll go to their land and treat with them but that's about it.
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RE: Your DM Name
[DM] Testicle
I'd drop quests here and there, when the time is right.
I'd also be dependable; I'd hang tight even when plots become stale.
I'm always itching for a good plot line.