Posts made by Goldfish

@botulism The Confidant currently known as Chance.

I'm really into documentaries for inspiration. Probably because I didn't really get into fantasy and sci-fi until I was an adult and I always start from this base of reality when I get into creative mode.

I have disabled vet for a character now. What's in my streaming lists? Only everything I can hoover up about the war in Iraq, veterans, and life and times in the military.

@auspice I'm one of those itchy players who hates death and blah, blah, blah but this is soooo different.

If/When my character dies....he'll be back in the next story! And I have the supporting characters to play! AND there is a meta plot to continue on with my Archetype in the meantime! And if all my lovelies go down? They'll hand me another!

And then the story is done? Flip! Dust your archetype/PC off, we are at it again with something fresh! It really is freeing and my creativity is all sparkly and alive because I can play characters that I know I couldn't do long term for whatever reason. I don't have to think about long arcs and big goals. It's just fun and easy and it's fresh air.

@Botulism, it's god damn genius.
http://horrormu.com/ - Wave of the future shit right here.

I'm here for it.

Can I get a quick and dirty on the multiple praxis idea? In my head, that makes sense for New York with the burroughs and all but Chicago? What do?

You may want to note that Reno is Second Edition WoD/Chronicles of Darkness. It seems to be the only one on the list.

It came from the term "Goldfish grudge". A grudge that doesn't last because the person just...forgot it? That's how I took it at the time.
And that's me all day in this community. Last month's beef is highly likely to be called water under the bridge this month.

I just have a hard time holding a grudge. I can count on one hand how many people I will never, ever associate with. (I don't count the universally awful, like Spider, for example)

Byeeeee $25.00.

I can't really afford a hardcopy anyway and from what I've read so far, I ain't that hype yet. This can change between now and the 31th though.

But it's still Geist, man. Geist, sweet Geist....

I always seem to play lonely people. They hit the grid with few to no friends or close colleagues. I think this began as a shorthand for getting out and roleplaying because this goes alllll the way back to when I began MUing in roughly 2010. My first character was a vampire who worked from home as tech support before the embrace. But this doesn't mean they are loners. They want to meet people and hang out and connect. Once I realized this habit, I rolled up a character who had a rich and varied web of people he's loved and befriended. One is an actual statted Retainer and shows up in scenes. It's been a lot of fun to have so much to draw from.

My characters tend to be good hearted, well meaning folks. I don't play villains but I will happily play in the gray areas or have my "good" people do bad things. That's just not how they begin. I will also play the occasional asshole, but I'm so twitchy about IC/OOC lines that I keep it mild or aim it at NPC types.

Males have dominated in the last few years but that wasn't always so. I felt like my females came out flat and in an effort to try something new I latched on to males and haven't looked back.

I like to, as I say, hit characters at an angle. What I mean is, I steer away from the usual "cliches" and try and do something different with what I've seen out there. Mad scientist Ordo Dracul or uptight military guy. My OD would, maybe, be very mellow but cruel as fuck. My military guy might be a hot anxious mess full of baggage.

My favorite example is my current character Shane. His whole concept when I began crafting him was this: Make Norman Reedus different than what I've seen. He came out as a soft spoken, homeless, ex-con psychic who once had dreams of working in scientific academia. Cuz he's super smart. He's vain and keeps his hair dyed because god forbid someone sees his silver fox roots. He's a family man, driven by love. Most importantly: He's very clean. Leave that greaseball Daryl Dixon at home, y'all.

Lastly, there's my shelf of disabled characters. I've had more than a few and I think it stems from the whole "do something different" thing. Ex-Army redneck guy....in a wheelchair. The ultra religious tent revivalist...who is deaf. I got a blind vampire bubbling in the back of my brain right now. Let's hope I don't find the right Played By.

I have a very high tolerance for bullshit. I am patient and kind to all. I do my best to treat everyone with appreciation and care.

But I am less likely to come back for that second or third scene when:

Poses without substance. This one is hard for me to describe. I see it a lot in WoD players with a narrow focus. This character is X. And that's all. Fat. A witch. Good ol' boy. Magic. Religious. I suppose, it's flat characters and their flat characterization as their poses revolve around the One Thing that is their character. And it's like that is every scene. I'll take a pass on that. Not because I'm a snob, pfft. Naw. It's hard to put hooks into a character that's only going to discuss his love of comics or whatnot.

Blatant disregard for pose readability. I'm not talking about people with difficulties with words or typing. I'm not dragging the ESL-ers. I'm taking about the step above chat speak types that just oozes lazy. If I can't read it, I can RP with it. Even if I try very hard, it's usually not worth it. If you don't care, why should I?

TS pressure. I don't mind TS at all. I'm DTF. It's not something I seek out at all but under the right IC circumstances and with OOC communication, I'll go all night bay-bee. But when I was playing women, I always had this problem. You can almost feel the ickiness through the screen as they are pushing me in a way I am not comfortable. And given my usual laid back nature, I make it pretty clear when I don't wanna. If you push me? Consider yourself cut off. I don't have this problem playing men. Hrm.

I don't want my characters to die. Full stop. I don't spend upwards of a month crafting a character to have them ganked in their third scene. I don't spend a year with a character, all up in their head and shit, just to get iced.

99% of the time, I just play cautiously. I don't attend scenes with a Death Imminent warning, or I go in with a valid IC way to bail if the heat is too hot. He who runs away and all. Nothing is wrong with being a coward, if it fits with that character.

That being said, failure is fine. I will happily except a maiming. Maim away! I don't mind picking up the pieces after a failure, ICly. I don't even need an incentive. Thems the breaks.

I'll just take a pass on death.

@seraphim73 Haha, that's actually it. I'm stupidly shy so it's probably just a well practiced shorthand to have my character actually seek people to talk to. Playing extroverts is my other way. It's a lot of fun to play someone who is the opposite of myself.

All my characters lead lonely existences before play. One was a homeless drifter. One was a work from home guy. Another was just a drunk that pushed people away. Hell, the celebrity one was surrounded by yes men but he was oh so lonely.

They all end up having the same goal underneath it all. Resolve the loneliness. Reach out. The successful characters manage to do that.

I don't know why I keep following this pattern.

I feel a little crazy at times but I am coming to realize that it's just that creative stuff flowing.

Like the reason one of my characters always calls people by their whole name, by default (Frederick as opposed to Fred, for example) is because he was bred and groomed to be utterly formal and polite by his father. The father who was grooming him to take over the family business and fortune. He grew up to be a grungy sort of ex-con but damn it, this person's name is Rebecca, not Becky.

I interview my characters in the quiet moments. They talk to me, they tell me about themselves. If something doesn't fit, it gets corrected. If something is just amazing, it gets written down.

Quirks, menials, boring bits can get tossed into RP at times. One PC has a maid that comes in once a week. So in a scene set at home, I look at the day and decide if she's come over and what state is his home in. He's mentioned the maid once to an NPC but it's just a piece of fluff that winds up rippling through roleplay.

As defined by Reddit, where this idea is totally stolen from: In simplest terms, a shower thought is a miniature epiphany that makes the mundane more interesting.

Sometimes, I will be walking my pup or daydreaming and I'll go: "Oh. My. God. That is why my character does thing X!" and suddenly, a random quirk that my character does is brought into a deeper and sharper focus. Making my character more complete in my mind.

We're a creative bunch, I can't be alone in this. Character, plot, theme...we all have those moments. Those little epiphanies. Have you had any lately?

@thatonedude Oh, word. I hear ya. Player support is what I'm talking about. Being on staff, in both cases, was truly incidental. At least in my opinion given that in case #1, I was a fellow staffer and was shut down brutally. (It felt brutal at the time.) It could have very well happened again, even though I was on staff. To me, staffer or no, a bad idea is a bad idea, same as a good one.

@Auspice I've looked twice at apps too. Trice, even. But if TR taught me anything at all, it was to say Yes, but...or Yes, and...

I want to be that person that helps instead of hinders...even if it's cliche trash or rainbow haired dreck. I'm here to let the player bloom, even if I think your concept is just another TS ho. I'm gonna help you be the best damn TS ho you can be.

I wanna take a moment to show some love to supportive staff. Story time!
(TL;DR: Staff let me play what I wanted not only with full support but with assistance and even a touch of enthusiasm.)

Once upon a time, in the days before The Reach opened, Goldfish was a budding staffer. Goldie mentioned on the staff channel that they had a concept for a Hunter. A wheelchair using disabled vet in Task Force: Valkyrie. Oh, how excited Goldie was for their concept! It would be a challenge, sure, but they really loved their idea. It was barebones at the time but it was to be their first PC in the game and their fourth or fifth ever. Also, the first Hunter ever for Goldie was still new to World of Darkness and roleplaying in general. Poor, sweet, naive little Goldfish.

Enter Big Mean Hunter Staffer (Whose name is lost to the annals of time. Just as well. He was eventually fired.)
"No!" said BMHS. "Task Force Valkyrie would never recruit a guy in a wheelchair! Even if he is a skilled veteran of the military!" He all but said it was terrible and stupid. I'm pretty sure there was a "LOL" in there. Goldie tucked their fins and swam away, saddened not only by the nasty ableism but also the shooting down of their precious concept. One of their first concepts ever for, as stated before, Goldie was still new to the community. The concept went on the shelf, occasionally being picked up for use of various elements but never used in total. (TR folks might recall Travis and William. They both had elements)

Fast forward to 2018. Reno has moved to a new server and is under new management. Again, Goldfish is a staffer. They are older now. Wiser. They understand the systems and the fluff better than before. And again, Goldie is chatting with their fellow staff. Goldie looks to their concept shelf and sees their old disabled vet in TFV. Goldie remembers the previous reaction but forges ahead, dusting it off and putting it out for suggestion.

And they liked it! Staff helped Goldie to refine the concept, make it fit into theme, and offered ideas to further it. They nurtured Goldie and out of it came Nick: Disabled former marine turned Alex Jones for the paranormal. (ADAMSKI operative. He spreads lies on Youtube.) He's involved in plot and Goldie is totally engaged with him as a character.

Today, Goldie is the happiest fish in the bowl because of good, open minded, supportive and creative staff. It is a lot easier to just say No. It's harder to say Yes, and...

So this too long post is dedicated to all of you Staffers and Storytellers out there who support, boost, and nurture your players and their creativity. Folks like you all are the backbone of this community and I am endlessly appreciative of it.

Thanks for the explanation, y'all. This one ain't for me though. Just...eh...naw.

@darkdeleria BITN was mortal only. Not even Hunters (Capital H). The mortals could be monster hunting types but no one had another other than the standard supernatural merits, pre Hurt Locker.

Can someone give me a quick and dirty description of Demon and its themes? I've been in the mood for something different.

Relationship RP is my jam, yo. I love getting swept up in a story of personal drama with high emotional stakes. Best time you can have for free, if you ask me. I've been married several times of varying lengths. They all ended mostly because of idles or burnouts...or game closures.

From my recollection, I've been a husband more often than a bride. I think I give good groom. I have written vows, picked rings, researched proper attire and been a part of some lovely ceremonies, both private and public.

I just love it. No matter how many times it turns tits up, I go back for more.

Come play! We're seeing players coming in and doing stuff and people are talking about the fun they are having! Basically, we have it all. I'm Clicker on staff. Mortal/+ are my domain.

Meanwhile, I play Nick, a Hunter and Shane, who is a psychic with a lot of vampire friends. Because YAY cross-sphere!

We have werewolves too. >.>