Posts made by Auspice

@Coin said in Magicians Game:

@Coin said in Magicians Game:

Just some advice: Give some real thought to how the learning of magic will be represented system-wise. Becuase if you let people just learn things at the same rate other games do, then the "school experience" will be lost rapidly.

Further thought on this because I actually did a lot of thinking on how to do a Magicians-style game using Mage: The Awakening--

I think one of the best things you can do is make "Learning Magic" one of the primary themes of the game, and build a lot of it around that. Let players come up with theories (both teachers and students), and have advancement be intrinsically weaved with learning/teaching magic. You can set up schedules, have players suggest courses, etc, etc.

So, while I do intend to make sure anyone applying to be a Professor/Lecturer sort does run scenes for classes, lectures, etc...

It is hard to run classes. I've done it on HP games in the past. I actually, around somewhere, have an entire Divination class schedule, suggested RP 'homework,' etc. I think at least one MU* borrowed it once upon a time. But the problem was? Few players ever got "into" it. It was fun for flavor, but I think it'd take some very devoted people to actually make it a big thing.

I'd love for it to be, I really would, but it would need a handful of dedicated players who are willing to run a couple classes/labs/etc a month.

@Coin said in Magicians Game:

Just some advice: Give some real thought to how the learning of magic will be represented system-wise. Becuase if you let people just learn things at the same rate other games do, then the "school experience" will be lost rapidly.

XP gain in FS3 tends to be much slower than, say, nWoD. Many games also throttle spends and require justifications for them. I will likely go a similar route.

'Your character is better at summonings? Alright, do you have logs either showing study/practice or execution?'

As for the darker themes- psychological distress (such as Alice's attempts to summon her brother), physical harm, etc., is very likely. In regards to rape, child abuse, etc., I would likely not push that on anyone as an ST, but I would also not make it verboten if, say, a PC wants to utilize it in a background or if it came up as part of a PRP in which all PCs have given consent.

Those themes are there and I'm not going to reject/deny them outright, but I'm also not going to foster an environment where anyone feels it's going to be forced upon them. Any instance in which they occur will likely require staff oversight/approval and signed consent of all players involved.

@Cupcake said in Magicians Game:

Will there be access to Fillory, the Library, etc?

Oh yes.

I do plan for the initial metaplot to lead to opening the way to the Neitherlands and to do so in a way to not just allow Fillory, but also to make up other worlds to set plots within (I would rather use this to, say, be Wizards in a WW2-like environment than to abuse the time travel devices).

Thank you for asking- I'd meant to put that in the initial post and forgot!

I've actually been considering a Magicians game since before the show. Read the books, loved them, and realized it'd be great for a MU*.

I'm not quite ready to dive in head first because I'm still dealing with those damn migraines (neuro on the 10th!), but there does seem to be a stirring of interest.

Few notes:

• I plan to use FS3 (AresMUSH if Faraday ends up ready by the time I'm ready); primarily because I've already plotted out how it would be structured, sheet-wise.
• It will be set modern-day, 1:1
• Characters will be students (or professors/lecturers), can app in at any of the 4 years, but after a PC graduates... the bit is either retired, or can apply to become a professor, guest lecturer, etc.
• Hedgewitches will likely only be NPCs / temporary plot PCs. Their structure (of safehouses, etc.) is too loose to use for PCs without severely altering their purpose/theme.
• This means other than plots, all RP will be around Brakebills.
• I intend to really play on the darker, more intense themes of the books.

If this seems like something you'd be interested in, let me know. I'm primarily seeking a coder, someone who can prettify a wiki, and folks who are willing to help flesh out theme files, policy, etc., and ST after opening. I don't need a big Staff and the wiki role can be temporary, but I just know that I am absolutely terrible with them.

@Thenomain said in Writing Prompts:

It was a dark and stormy night.

...

What?!

@Cupcake

I was on board with the idea of getting together with friends/family Friday nights to share dinner, foster positive relationships, etc. That's not a bad thing anywhere and saying it's inspired by Sabbath isn't bad either.

... but the rest of it, yeah. Especially, I mean, turning it into a tourism thing of going to places like Mexico just to have a massive crowd eat and, yeah, fetishize religious rituals? What the ever living fuck.

I'm putting this here since it could help with characters and plots as well as general writing. Sometimes I come across writing prompts that tickle my fancy. So I'm sharing them here. Feel free to add!

Lawyers Spoof Buzzfeed In Court Motion (Including, Yes, A Kitten Picture)

@Thenomain

Man, I just wanted a no ragrets to reply with. I didn't care if it was shopped. (I also wasn't yet wearing my glasses when I grabbed it; I just went with the first one that didn't show a face)

@Lisse24 - Well, consider the stress they're under and the fact they're trying to make THE BEST THING. I still plan to try kougin amman sometime. But I am buying the puff pastry- no way am I making my own.

@Ganymede & @Arkandel:

Srsly. Sexy cake. Even got a stellar 'crack' in it (important for a Madeira). It was delicious, too. The oranges I got were more sweet than acidic, so I was a bit worried about the flavor coming through but oh man did it.

I recently watched through the episodes of British Baking Challenge on Netflix. One challenge was a Madeira cake.

Shortly after watching said episode, I decided I wanted to make an orange one. With an orange rum glaze.

Today, for the first time, I modified recipes / used them as inspiration instead of just following a recipe to the letter...

...and omg it came out amazing.

@Ganymede said in Because Magic:

@Ghost said in Because Magic:

Why does it exist?
Why can people touch it?
Why does it behave the way that it does?
Why does any of this matter to the setting at all?

I add to this: what does it cost to use?

One of my favorite magical settings is Final Fantasy VI. Without going into tremendous detail, magic had to be drained from other living beings. Naturally, the villains captured and drained these beings, and used their magic power to fuel their war machines in ways that other conventional peoples could not oppose.

Good stuff.

Recalling back to the Peter Grant books? They discover that magic does take a toll on the user. It basically turns the brain into swiss cheese over time. So over-use is a Bad Thing (TM)... and has the added benefit, for the author, of meaning the characters often have to use non-magic means to solve things.

I thought it was a very clever way of overcoming those questions of 'Well if they can throw fireballs then why...'

This was spawned by something @surreality was saying in another thread. The 'Because magic' excuse is a common one and we see it used positively and negatively. The latter happens seemingly most often (in regards to it being negative / noticeable) when Staff outright has no answer and just doesn't want to deal. This is, in my opinion, the biggest weakness of an original theme game (that involves magic). We've discussed it before: original themes take work and a lot of it. Players will come up and approach things you hadn't yet considered. You can spend a year fleshing out a theme, building a game, and two days after the gates open... you have twenty jerbs to answer with things you never considered.

Look at all the 'fan theories' that abound for well-established properties, like Harry Potter. Almost always about things that don't come up nor have reason to in the main series.

The 'because magic' excuse is used often - notably when it comes to technology - and to varying degrees of success.

• Harry Potter: It's never fully explained. The best explanation we have from the books and JK is that the wizarding world doesn't use technology because magic fulfills all they need. Where this falls flat is with the Muggle-borns. There's been vague assumptions that technology and magic don't mesh, but we've never seen a truly, totally concrete answer on it (unless it's in some JK tweet I haven't seen yet).

• Dresden Files: This is where the assumption above comes from, likely. Dresden, for example, drives an old VW bug because his magic interferes with computers, so he has to drive a car without one. There's no real 'science' behind it, but it's at least made clear: he doesn't use tech because it doesn't play nice with magic.

• Peter Grant: If you haven't read these yet (Rivers of London is the first) and like the above, you should. They're like this lovely melding of the above two with one of the most enjoyable protags I've read. Anyway... Peter Grant, new wizard, finds that his cellphone gets fried when he uses magic. The chips in it literally disintegrate. So what does he do? He experiments. He tests range, intensity, etc.. I loved this and it really helped enrich the 'because magic' concept of anti-tech (Peter, for example, has to setup a 'tech cave' outside the main building he and Nightingale live in, so he can still do his police work or catch a football game).

It's one of the things I've studied. The 'because magic' excuse. You can't just handwave it because readers (players) will notice. Because it will vex them. Because it will ruin their immersion.

In HP, the balance of 'they don't use tech because magic does whatever they need' is there, so it's not as big a deal. In Peter Grant, the explanation is given that magic draws energy and the chips and resistors in devices like phones and computers are the first to go. The reasons are given (even if not in nitty-gritty detail) and it makes the world all that much richer.

Does every third born in a city grow an extra nipple in your setting? Why? 'Because magic' is vague and underwhelming, but 'Because a wizard cursed the family that founded the original settlement' gives something concrete and it adds just that more flavor to the world.

I think this goes for a lot of things and it's part of why original theme games are so few and far between now. I've got a world building worksheet that I used on one of my more established personal settings and even it left me just sitting there at times thinking 'I never once considered this,' even though I acknowledge that while a particular society's historical methods of entertainment may not be important to me right now, it could be later and it would definitely be important to someone playing someone in that world.

@Ghost said in What do you WANT to play most?:

"We will now discuss what the Ferengi refer to as oo-mox, which is spelled Oh-Oh-"
OH OH DONT STOP.

The class erupts in laughter. The Vulcan sighs.

Reminded me of: http://beka-tiddalik.tumblr.com/post/150425828285/roachpatrol-deadcatwithaflamethrower

Quote:
during orientation at a human college, vulcans are presented with a list of swear words.

“what is the word ‘fuck’ for,” the innocent young vulcans want to know. “surely there are more logical intensity modifiers.”

“yeah, you’d think so,” say the weary, jaded vulcan professors. “you’d really fucking think so.”

there is a phrase in vulcan for ‘the particular moment you understand what the word ‘fuck’ is for’.

WNOHGB (Where No One Has Gone Before), early '00s. It did have a playerbase spread out all over, but it was also big enough to manage it. Really rich space system, mercantile system, etc.. It was MOO, so I'm guessing fewer folks here knew it.

Loved that place (up until my ship was stolen, but yaknow).

Anyway, I think a Trek game now would have to focus on a single place. Probably a space station. And you'd need to allow for advancement for people in Fleet. The whole 'you must complete X number of projects and submit X number of logs each month' style of promotion may have worked when we were all in high school still, but it just doesn't anymore. Let people have their fun. Sure you don't want everyone being a Major, but ffs you can have more than three LTs.

@Ghost said in What do you WANT to play most?:

@Seraphim73 if I got a vote, I'd vote modern era. There's already a Hogwarts game set in that era, and there's something I like about the mix of modern technology and magic in the show that would be lost in the 40s setting. Further yet, the pop culture references wouldn't be as snappy.

It's just harder for me to get invested in older settings when the source material shows how neatly it ties into modern setting.

If I ever get coder / stuff I need, I'd be going with modern era. I've played games set in the 40s and I end up feeling limited more than anything. It's just not my cuppa.

Once @faraday is ready for more people to use AresMUSH and the new FS3 stuff, I will more than likely be starting a Magicians game.

I've got a lot of it knocking around in my head. I even know how I'd structure FS3. But I am shit at code.

https://blog.white-wolf.com/2017/03/29/white-wolf-and-world-of-darkness-berlin-invite-the-world-to-compete/

Have fun, you crazy nerds.

@Three-Eyed-Crow said in What do you WANT to play most?:

Original theme sci-fi. Though I'd also just like to see some not-overdone sci-fi, like something based off Star Trek or a newer property like The Expanse.

And actual sci-fi, not like... 'social game with a dash of sci-fi for flavor.'