Destiny - A fantasy MU*
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I am idly working on a new mu* (I keep scraping things when I am unhappy with it). I have been getting awesome input from @Rook and @Kanye-Qwest on theme stuff. I would love more staffly types to give a hand with plotting theme things and putting the things together.
We're on Rhost (That is what Rook prefers) and he's going to code (I imagine he would not object to help) and the loose plan is to be a little heavier on the code side of things (how much I am still back and forth because there were a lot of things about Firan I liked and a lot I didn't and there's a lot I like about, say Shangrilia and a lot I don't. Same with Fallcoast).
Right now my focus is theme and I would love others to discuss the theme stuff with. At the moment the VERY basic idea is:
Destiny is thus far set in a world other than Earth but likely similar settings. It has 7 Gods and for one reason or another the planet is dying and the Gods can not stop it. The loose idea was the planet was not originally 'made' by the Gods. There will be multiple species (Right now I have Elf, Orc, Shade, Merfolk, Human, and Nymph. I might change some of them). There will also be nobility (So sue me, I like Lords and Ladies type settings). The Gods will be VERY meddlesome in the lives of people.
My plan is to allow players to be able to do things to completely change theme, within reason. Like Joe Smoe can't storm in play for 5 days and be like 'I made all this happen! I'm the king now!' or debunk the belief of the Gods.
There's little I am set in stone on so anyone who /wants/ to help can totally make suggestions and changes can totally happen.
Also, to note, I prefer to keep positions like 'head staff' as an uneven number so there is rarely a stalemate.
Lemme know if I my lack of skill at advertising has convinced you to do things like help me.
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Interesting. But why?
What made the worlds?
What did you like about Firan?
What did you like About Shangrila, and Fall coast?How can use the things you did like, and draw on themp to better you game?
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Question1: Why what?
Question 2: Still working that out, hence wanting fellow themers.
3: I enjoyed the crafting code (not to the extreme sense of Firan. Like /needing/ to eat and sleep to get 'energy'). I liked picking skills like.. um.. cooking and having something tangible to show for it. Or being a tailor and seeing people buy something they like. In essence I liked having things to do in down time. Going out to some random spot 'outside the city' to find flowers or herbs or something. The social system was pretty cool, when it wasn't being painfully abused. Like gaining social credits for being in top fashion or being able to take people down notches for doing shit that was abnormal or lifting someone up for doing something epic. Mind, most of the time I saw the social system used for tearing people down over anything else (most of the tearing down came from staff, though, which we've all noted was a thing with the staffers who had less scruples than others). I'm sure there's more I liked but it's been a lng time since I solidly thought about it.- I enjoy the more free form RP style of Shangrila and Fallcoast. I like Shangrila's Kink system but I would not use it but the idea behind it as a way for people to have RP hooks. IE it'll have things like 'Political' 'Social' 'Combat' 'Sexual' etc. Then people can do a 'kinks' search and go 'Oh, hey. X people, online, like Y so, I ought to see if they want to start up a little scene about it.' or along those lines. Basically just to connect them.
I have no answer to the last one. Bettering a game is subjective. I know I am very whimsical with my ideas. One thing I might find fun is not practical in practice, as an example. Which is also why I need fellow people to bounce ideas back and forth with, if left to my own devices I'll just randomly start mashing things together and hope it makes coherent sense and doesn't, you know, seem like it's just ideas squashed together to work.
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I do appreciate the small uptick in people making original theme games. Gives me the slightest bit of hope.
The premise sounds promising, but I would point out that you should probably be prepared for everyone and their dog apping into the nobility, unless you give a good reason to spread out playerbase into something other than just that.
Still I'd probably play it regardless.
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Themeatically, you could have it be that Noblity is an position earned, so that if your 'born into ' or rise to it, culturally you're expected to continue.
If you're an excellent weaver, you're expected to continue to weave, or a farmer, you're expected to continue to farm?
I do like the idea.
I guess my next question ( as I build Worlds for fun), becomes:
Magic? technology? what is the flavor?Are we talking Steampunk? Or Neolithic? Bronze or Iron Age? Future space age? Or a world that was once 'High Tech but has been knocked into a kind of REtrofuturism?
If there is Magic, how does it work?
If there is technology how does it work?Are the two mutually exclusive?
Can Nobles not have it but commoners can? Or there way around.I would be interested in helping to theme such a world, but it might also go over board. But I can at least help build out the basics?
Like I know I lately having been jonesing for particular flavored MU* but it might not be to your liking?
It does seem to hit alot of those notes you were talking about. -
Themewise I don't want to force people to stick with something. IE they make this badass weaver and while playing they discover 'weaving is no fun for me to RP aobut. Just not my thing.' I don't want them stuck on that thing for always. In CG I am thinking of going along with a list of professions that give some free skills or something then it costs a little less to take the skillls/aptitudes in that profession skill set. If you veer out of it the XP cost raises considerably. This is both to help people know what to focus on skillwise for their chosen profession while encouraging people not to take everything and their freaking brother. It might be a little more stick than I prefer but it might stop the over run of people taking just the most profitable professions and giving people chances to legit shine in their line of work.
Magic: Yes, how it works I am /loosely/ considering set spells that are connected to each God. So, there would be 7 spell sets, primarily (how many subsets in each one is negotiable still). And a friend brought up a valid point on this next angle: Magic is hereditary (that is not the friend's point, I'll get to it). How it is done is magic is passed down from a parent and only 1 child can gain the magic. IE if a mother has twins the magic from /her/ blood goes into one child and if the father is magically inclined his magic goes into the other. The parents can continue to use magic until the twins are of age (16, as an example) then their magic fully passes on and they lose their abilities (It keeps the magic relatively under control and there is not 50 million magic users).
Also to control the excessive nobility I was /considering/ limiting how many nobles there can be. IE 1 noble to ever 3 commoners or something like that. I did like @Coin's limits thing for spheres.
The rest of the questions I have not solidly thought about yet.
@Songtress I would
help. Even if things go overboard. To me that is the point of having more than 1 staffer type involved in the creative process. We can spit out all the ideas then reign them in and find some where to balance things out and remove what doesn't work.
Tech: Still pondering
Flavor: I am open on discussing that. Rght now it's probably lingering in BRonze Age or Early Iron age, as I prefer sword, bows and arrows, etc over guns and junk.But, this is not necessarily a solid thing and could change as more theme gets sorted out. -
Thematically, let's take @Songtress's idea and run with the Bronze Age. That does fit the general idea of multiple gods in a pantheon who appear to have direct interaction with mortals, at least from mythology. Whenever you introduce a pantheon - even one that's largely absent and only gives its worshipers some vague benefit (or social status) - you should hammer out a few things about them.
Is there a deity of invention? If so, with your ruling that the theme of the game should be at the whim of the players (not a bad thing, mind you, that's a good idea -- though perhaps difficult in practice), does the deity of invention cause someone to have a breakthrough and be able to create a battery using stuff their player found on Wikipedia? A small invention like an electric battery - assuming it's allowed and available to everyone - would jump your society forward very quickly from the Bronze Age. Humans like to build things and then we like to build things that work with what we've previously built. A good example of this is the cellphone and the ubiquitous comment of "there's an app for that." So, how will this work?
How do the different religious groups interact within their organization? Are they policed internally? Is there a Spanish Inquisition that no one expects? Do you have factional differences in the way that the deities are perceived? Can someone Martin Luther it and walk up to the nearest cathedral/temple/synagogue/mosque/whatever and post a writ on the door indicating what's wrong with their religion? If not, why not? If so, what happens to this person?
How do the different religious groups interact with other religious groups? Does one group believe that their god is the One True God? If so, is it possible for someone to enforce this by marching an army on another high temple and burn it to the ground, then rinse and repeat with the other deities? Have they had this in the past? If so, have they all come to a general truce? Or is it more like the Greek/Roman/Egyptian/early civilization prior to monotheism idea where the gods are generally observed by everyone at different times?
What do people think about magic? Is it something that frightens them? Judging by the fact that there are races other than humans, I would assume that people would be used to seeing things slightly out of the ordinary. But, say someone calls upon the great thunder god and smites someone else with a lightning bolt: how is this seen by both common folk and the nobility/priesthood (the classes are largely similar - or are they? It's your world, after all. That's just the historical precedent)?
Also in regards to magic -- can someone display a talent for magic at an early age? If so, where does it come from? Do people assume they're blessed by a particular god, or that it's an inherent ability within that person? How are these people treated as children? What do their parents think about them?
How many cities are there and do these cities have different patron deities? Does a noble house hold sway over each city sort of like in Game of Thrones where the Starks hold Winterfell, the Boltons have their islands, etc.? If so, how many noble houses are there and how important are they? How does your government work? Is it an Athenian city-state system, or do all of the nobles fall in line for a high king/queen? How does this affect the players? Can players become that high king/queen? Can players become the leaders of their noble houses? The assumed answer to those last two questions is yes, considering that theme will be able to change.
Other questions to consider when I think of them.
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@icanbeyourmuse said in Destiny - A fantasy MU*:
Magic: Yes, how it works I am /loosely/ considering set spells that are connected to each God. So, there would be 7 spell sets, primarily (how many subsets in each one is negotiable still). And a friend brought up a valid point on this next angle: Magic is hereditary (that is not the friend's point, I'll get to it). How it is done is magic is passed down from a parent and only 1 child can gain the magic. IE if a mother has twins the magic from /her/ blood goes into one child and if the father is magically inclined his magic goes into the other. The parents can continue to use magic until the twins are of age (16, as an example) then their magic fully passes on and they lose their abilities (It keeps the magic relatively under control and there is not 50 million magic users).
@somasatori said in Destiny - A fantasy MU*:
Also in regards to magic -- can someone display a talent for magic at an early age? If so, where does it come from? Do people assume they're blessed by a particular god, or that it's an inherent ability within that person? How are these people treated as children? What do their parents think about them?
I think it would be kind of cool if, given that in the setting magic specifically comes from the gods and that the ability to use magic is both hereditary and temporary, that magic users are also essentially the setting's clergy. Reproduction is basically a divine mandate or duty, to ensure that the gods' power remains a tangible force in the world -- after all, if magic is ONLY inherited and a person dies without passing it on, doesn't the magic then die as well? Maybe magic users are in some way avatars of the gods? And channeling this power through a mortal body ages them or breaks them down in some way, so the need to "pass the torch" is at least somewhat urgent (that way you don't just have magic users holding on to their powers until they're ancient or whatever).
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I don't know that they would really show any signs of magic, perhaps a mark or something is set on the child until they come age. Then the mark disappears. I think magic users, and the magic heirs, would be considered blessed, yes. Playing off @Wizz's idea a little.. Perhaps magic users are not exactly clergy but avatars as they suggest yet they part of the Clergy in a sense. tHey would be, for lack of better term, 'Voices of the Gods' and I don't think the parents would die off after the magic is passed on. Although, I am considering the angle that if they kill off their children (as a friend expressed concern that players would do that) they age considerably quicker or the power is just /gone/. Because of the nature of the magic I would stipulate that magic users are rarely (as in it would be an extreme case), if ever, sterile. The Gods, after all, would not really be looking to have the powers they give to people just end. I would probably limit 5 magic users per God, which would technically be 10 if you count their Heirs. That is, about, 70 characters that could be Magic users. So, it's not like it's overly taking from people. I don't think we'd hit that limit even if we allowed multiple alts (Although, I think so everyone has a chance it would be limited to 1 Magic user per player so everyone has a chance to be a magic user even if it is not exactly what they want). I'll probably put lots of spells in but people can't take outside their School of Magic. Example: if they were born of a line from the Fire God's Magic they can only use Fire Magic. I am still considering this angle and trying not to over limit it while still making magic users seem blessed over OMG common.
Regards to the Gods I do have a few ideas for them, though, I need to get the information off the wiki thing I had but can't get at anymore. I don't know like, anything, about wiki stuff. @Rook is working at making it so we can, at least, get the information. But the VERY loose premises of them is they are connected to a Cardinal Virtue and a Deadly Sin. As in, say, the God who is linked to Life would be.. um.. Hope as a virtue and.. um.. Lust as a Vice. Each time a player does something that connects to the Virtue, as the God sees it, they are blessed. Maybe a Commander of the Military is in a losing battle against some big enemy. He gives a rousing speech to his people and inspires hope in them all. The God connected to this virtue feels the inspired Hope and blesses the Commander and his people with temporary strength or something and it helps them mow down their enemies and while they lose some the majority of them get back to the rest of the military. Although, in the same scenario the Commander does all the same actions but the defeat in his words is there but this time he inspires the side of a God connected to.. um./. Wrath. They are cursed with a berserker attitude and while they still mow down their enemies they also blindly kill each other two. Perhaps taking out the whole unit or allowing very few to make it back to the main military, leaving the forces that many people shorter. While I have ideas on the Gods, I am still considering more details on them. I don't think there would be many monotheist types on the game, honestly. That thought might change the more I go along.
I can not answer all the questions with absolute certainty right now, honestly, because it IS only me doing theme stuff with ideas from @Rook and @Kanye-Qwest when they both have time. Hence why I am looking for those who want to come give a helping hand.
For how far along I am (most of it is note..ish form): https://sites.google.com/site/destinymush/
I had more stuff on the wiki thing but I can't get at that until I can extract it from the wiki thing (If you're a wiki guru and can make the magic happen I will totally send all the things over). It's literally just 1 or 2 pages of notes I had on it. I have old theme stuff for another idea still on there but I don't care about that. I just want my pages of notes.
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@icanbeyourmuse My only suggestion about theme design is this: Don't do theme design by committee.
Have one person (or very tiny group who know each other very well and have a proven record of bouncing ideas off of each other) do it. You can fine tune things later but that initial stage, in my experience, isn't one where wider collaboration pays off.
Come up with something that excites you, that makes the game's primary participants go "I want to do this so badly". Then do it.
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I don't think I agree with the 'tiny committee' suggestion and having to know each other well. There is going to be nothing really new if you go with 'just people you're really close with and, in my opinion friends are less likely to say if they disagree with some than someone not super close.Besides, however the size the group is as long as there are ground rules agreed by everyone when discussing something you can barely know each other and make things happen. Businesses do it all the time, after all.
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@icanbeyourmuse Hey, it's your game. You asked for opinions, that's mine. What you do with it is up to you.
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I think the world should have been created by the Prime God, who is dead and from his body rose the 7 new gods, but the world was made of his body and essence, and though it has taken great time, it too is finally following the Prime God into death and the new gods, lacking the power of the Prime are unable to halt it's death which frightens the Gods because if the World which was made from the Prime's body is also failing, then they too, could end.
Each God is going to undertake to make their own world for their followers and truest of believers, but they don't realize that they lack the power singly to create a whole world (Or maybe they do, but just don't want to admit it to themselves or anyone else for that matter), and the seven must work together, as one, and even then they will need the strength that all of the intelligent beings worship can grant them in order to even attempt it...
So how do you get 7 disparate entities to act as one, how do you get all the worshippers to truly /believe/ in this one thing, since they'd have to give power to another God but their own? What heroes will rise up to guide, or doom, the world?
Anyways, just ideas off the top of my head after reading the initial post. Use or not as you see fit.
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I like the first part, @Lithium . Hummm. It would also explain the striving to survive on a dying planet angle and WHY the Gods can't just magic it away. One of the 7 Gods is going to be a 'dark God', or the God they shun/few worship it. So, this is an awesome idea. Let me see what sort of literacy magic I can spin this all into.
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@icanbeyourmuse How about: The gods are tied to the world (I like the idea of a prime creator God) so the gods are watching the world die, they're facing the possibility of their own mortality. Then they look down to the creation itself and remember all the little mortal things they play with. Now not much has been mentioned of the other species (their relationship with the gods and possibly their own magic could be interesting), yet humans are inventive, we're smart, reckless and stupid often in a way that gets surprising results. Seeing this the gods hope to use us. Suddenly they're taking more of an interest. Humans with magic are suddenly finding they're being given responsibilities, they're playing with something the gods gave them time to pay up. The magic types are the new religious leaders, they're prophets and servants for the gods or their gifts dry up. Into this you could add less healthy magical, things that draw. power from the world, this adds external tension, especially if there are other species that use this magic as standard.
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I am doing something vaguely along those lines. I'll show the IC history once I am done writing it. Hopefully it'll be interesting.
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Okay! right now the Schools of Magic (Not decided on the spells) is and vague notes on the Gods:
School of Water/Ice - Connected to the God of Ice. The vice is Sloth and the Virtue is Temperance. This God is also considered the God of Wealth.
School of Fire - Connected to the God of Fire. The vice is Wrath and virtue is Fortitude. This God is considered the God of invention/crafts/creativity.
School of Air/Wind - Connected to the God of Wind. The vice is Greed and the virtue is Hope. This God is considered the God of Battle and Protection.
School of Earth - Connected to the God of Earth. The vice is Gluttony and the virtue is Prudence. Not decided what this one is associated with.
School of Light/Soul - Connected to the God of Life. The vice is lust and the virtue is Faith. The god of love, marriage, sex. First God.
School of Darkness - Connected to the God of Death. The vice is pride, the virtue is Charity. The God the guides the lost in both death and life.
School of BLood - Connected to the God of Darkness, the Forbidden God. The vice is envy and the virtue is justice. This is the god of chaos, evil, and is not openly worshipped anymore. using the magic is considered a great sin.
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This is still tentative and, I think, answers some of the questions I missed.
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Earth is missing the most obvious association. Farming. Fertility. Nature.
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It's no secret that I'm putting my spare time into a fantasy game as well, so here's a tip that I've found very useful:
Start with the IC History.
Do not work on anything else. Get this done and out of the way. The folks at helped develop L5R less-than-subtly pushed me in that direction, and now I understand why.
What I'm constructing is not 1/10 as elaborate as what you're attempting here.
Regarding your schools of magic and Gods: It sounds as if each God needs their own backstory. Why do people consider the God of Ice the God of Wealth? Where's the connection? Most mythologies have Gods as characters, and it is humanity that assigns each their aspects.
For instance, Hades is the God of the Underworld because that was the kingdom that Zeus assigned to him. He isn't really the God of Death, not like the Grim Reaper might be; rather, he is the caretaker of the Dead. Hades is generally associated with wealth and commerce as well because of the Persephone myth, but Hermes is also connected with wealth and commerce because he's generally the God connected with good fortune.
So, stories! Think of the stories behind the Gods. Their affiliations will extend naturally from there.
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@Ganymede I might end up disconnecting the associated things like 'wealth' but I am not certain. Or I'll decide how it works when I work on the specific God itself.
I think I am almost done the over all history. I'm pretty happy, so far, on what's I've done.My only issue is I have yet to find a world name I like and a name for the original God.
