DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Hall of Fame - Latest Top 10 completed games OAHE: Once upon an All Hallows Eve Character Discussion

Lets talk about characters and mechanics here.
Welcome.

Okay <props fists on hands and gives avid attention> Lets!

Yes, lets! I love the idea but know nothing about the mechanics.

I don't particularly like cats, but would love to play one.

I think I'd like to play a fat, lazy Manx cat, whose name is Gato Gordo and who speaks in a Spanish accent and thinks he knows how to speak Spanish, but whatever he tries to say in Spanish comes out garbled or just plain wrong.

Maybe I do like cats.

I honestly really want to RP the first cat that was "my" cat -- a half-Main Coon streetwise hunter. I really love the thought.

Ok so added a couple of more threads with the intro stuff so you can get a feel for things.

Much of the mechanics I can and will take care of. The bulk of the game is built around RP-ing. The true bit of mechanics that play a role for those who haven't played Fate is Aspects. Correspondingly invoking and compelling said aspects.

An aspect is something that is true about the character. For example Hot Shot Pilot. A good aspect is one that can be seen as both good and bad for a character depending upon the circumstances. More information can be found on the web, but I will assist in that as well.

The main idea you guys already have. Playing cats in a magical world. That is the key. The rest is window dressing for flavor.

I'm thinking of going for a lean and wiry ginger tom, with a bit of a vicious streak, young but ambitious.

A cat who accompanies her burden on all his silly adventures. Why, oh why, does he have to climb mountains? Protective and resigned to going all kinds of weird, stupid places.

When not hiking, she enjoys long naps in sunbeams in their apartment.

Tough I haven't played Fate for a few years, I really liked the aspects part of the game mechanics. And I hope Pande won't mind if I expand a little.

The idea is that reading your list of aspects gives anyone the main idea of what your character is about ie they describe the character. A previous character of mine had the following for example:

Child of the Moon
Tainted Blood
Gypsy Acrobat
Divination
Hunted by Black Hawks

So from just a few words and phrase you can almost 'see' the character.

Here's my idea...

Seer-On-High lives to climb. Especially inside, on the top of shelves, where everything is below to be seen. He can reach places where no one can imagine how, and from there see all. More than most, in fact, as he can step higher still, into Astral Space, and can also knock things off shelves to read the future in their broken bits. He's dangerous when he can leap on a foe from on high, but otherwise skittish and unlikely to stand and fight.

Or maybe it's more like Blitzer is a bad cat, always getting caught up in places he oughtn't have gotten and can't get back from, breaking things and jumping down with a loud thump to kick the bits about until he's chased from the room so his Burden can clean up the mess.

Nice. Getting some meat in with the discussion. I like Seer, Ghoul.

As far as two cats being masters of the same type of magic, it isn't as big a deal as it might seem. All of the cats will have plenty of skills to differentiate them.

And to reinforce what Gypsy is saying. By virtue of your aspects your character will be entirely different from another even if you were to match skills, skill levels, and magical powers (aka stunts).

The general rule of thumb will be no reason to roll dice unless the outcome of said roll would mean something interesting to the story.

For example, trying to get in a window and it is a leap from a tree. If getting is the goal, and there really is nothing exciting about the leap, then in the cat goes. If however, leaping might be important as the cat tries to escape the evil eagle swooping down, then maybe a roll is necessary. If the leap isn't the question but how the cat lands because of what it might do to its reputation and or Burden inside, then maybe a roll is necessary.

All aspects of the character are true. So for the earlier example of Hot Shot Pilot, it is always true and the character can be played that way. Extraordinary circumstances might make things interesting or a challenge but it in no way changes the base aspect.

Terror of the Alley (his chosen name -- please don't ask what his burden named him. The child was only 5 at the time, after all, and did not understand the principles behind the naming of cats) has single-pawedly wiped out nearly all of the rats from the alley behind his burden's dwelling. They are nasty creatures, rats, carriers of disease and biters of the young. And they taste good.

He is the stalker in shadows, the still death, the lightning paw. He is the defender of the weak and king of his land. He has sent a doberman running for shelter while yelping in pain. He has feasted on the foreign delicacy called parakeet. He has sent a chihuahua to the vet (to be fair, he did think it was a rat). And he has sacrificed the blood of numerous pigeons to keep his burden safe. He is magnificent of stature and of whisker. Who dare challenge him?

(yes, seriously, this was my first cat, I swear).

So I saw the character creation thread -- I get the descriptions of the power but I'm still a bit vague on the other stuff mentioned in the first post (Refresh, Aspects, Stress, etc). Is there something we specifically need to read to figure that stuff out?

Added another message specifically discussing the Aspects and which ones are needed. More information can be found on the web at

Aspects

Making a good aspect

Aspects and fate points

A list of aspects

In short though think of a phrase that is short and double edged. It should describe your character or a facet there of.

Does something like this work?


Leaper-of-Obstacles, true-named, was raised in a storm season and was given the kitten name Jumpy. To this day she finds it difficult not to flinch at the first crack of thunder of a nasty storm, punch of a nail gun, or beat of a bass drum. Her Burden named her Soot.

She is one who appears suddenly in a leap and a bound, and who moves easily from one edged place to another. She is also stalker of dust motes and the perfect sunbeam.

She is clever in discovering things hidden in the house her Burden doesn't want her to find. (Concealed tissues in tissue boxes are but one example of this, or treats hidden in a cupboard, or even ash left undiscovered in the recesses of the fireplace.) Her Burden does not stay still and often goes into the wilderness where she must follow to keep him safe. While sometimes this leaves her damp of paw, it is a sacrifice she is willing to make.

Unlike many, she will come at his call - who knows what mischief and stupidity he will do otherwise?

I'll also note that all of Fate's rules can be found here: http://fate-srd.com/

It's an ennie-award winning site with some excellent formatting and features for working your way thru the rules. And it's the full text of the Fate Core and Fate Accelerated Edition.

Raven that works just great.

Thanks Ghoul for the link, that is a wonderful resource.

Shadow-Of-The-Highest, Kitten-Named as 'Overeager', has always been an ambitious little brat pretty much since his eyes opened. His fur is ginger, mottled with stripes, with an odd white 'sock' of a different shape for each foot. His eyes are a brilliant emerald green when the light hits them, and a more envious, even invidious hue in the shadows.

He is brash and bold, always ready to contest even long-established ground, his hunting instincts as sharp as his claws. He has a lean and hungry look, but is not underfed: Indeed, he has the audacity to claim multiple burdens, a kindly old lady who offers food in the mornings to 'Tigger', and a rambunctuous young family who pay homage each evening to 'Fireball'.

He defends his territory with vigilance and violence: He might offer a warning if he's feeling generous. His relationships with neighbouring territorial claims is fractious at best: He is of an expansionist mindset and is allmost always willing to test the waters.

His love of the hunt has few equals, and he is most generous in his benefices of protection to those within his suzerainty.

Nice. Going to be fun to compel him into trouble.

Should be some tasty aspects to poke at.

One complete char in. I am here to assist those who want or need more paws on.

<waves hand wildly> please

I'm working on it, but I'll almost certainly need help, Pandemonium.

I'm now leaning more toward Namer than Warder.

With luck, I'll have a character statted up for you tomorrow.

All sounds fine and PMs have been commented and answered. Looking great gang. Wayyyyy better than a herd of cats.

I'm probably not going to get a real start on a character sheet until this weekend. Hope that's okay. I'm w/o a doubt going to need some guidance -- this system is absolutely nothing like anything I've ever played!

Is the basic concept I put above okay?

Absolutely ok, and yes the concept up above is a great way to start.

I am happy to help. The system really is pretty self explanatory in play. The character creation may seem daunting but it is pretty easy once we get talking and figure out what you want from your character in play.

Also as a note only to DJ to to anyone and everyone. If we figure out your character and in play you say "man this sucks, I made a few errors and would like to change X." The opportunity will be there. We are here to have fun. That is the whole point. So lets make the game what we want. I like the framework it is set in but I don't want it to hold us back from enjoying.

I will likely start a few solo threads or if players want to group, we can start there. Just let me know. Any way I meant I will start a few threads this weekend to start setting the scenes. But nothing will be irrevocable. Should people want more time or need more time, then that is fine. Prologue will lead to the adventure, and by that time I am sure all will be ready. It takes a bit of time to play these PBP games, doesn't it?

I should get mine up by tomorrow I hope.

And it seems that all magic types are covered and I can choose with impunity.

I have definitely changed my Warder to a Namer and have submitted a first draft of his character sheet in PM.

I'm going with a warder (mostly) and am happily tossing ideas back and forth in PM.

Put up a tentative list of characters and players. Those who have completed character sheets know who you are. Those who are a work in progress know who you are. It all works.

As another note for those who don't know the system. If and when a die roll is necessary, the roll is 4df. If a Fate point is spent to invoke an Aspect on a roll that can offer either a reroll (all 4 dice) which is good for when a -3 or -4 is rolled. Or to invoke an Aspect for +2. The bell curve of the dice cluster around 0, fyi.

I intend for most of the game to be systemless with the necessity of a roll only in dramatically appropriate situations. Otherwise I will assume a 0 result and compare it in my head for those other times.

Mostly though we will be looking for what makes a good story and going with that. Note the emphasis above. All of us are cooperatively creating the story. I may have a plot, or adapting to the player's choices, but if anyone in the game (heck even lurkers) has an idea for what would make the scene better. Then by all means lets talk about it.

Speaking of which. I will likely create an edited story log in a thread showing what is going on without the die rolls and or discussion. That way if stuff creeps in to the threads that we are playing in, we still have the ability to fix and edit the other thread when the time comes. It will likely lag as I have to have time to do it, but I am also happy to have other player's help. To that end I am not sure what the best manner is for the log. Would a Google Doc work for people that all of us could edit? As I understand the forum it is all or nothing as far as starting threads. And editing seems to be the moderator's job and or the person who wrote the post. I also don't want it to be too chaotic, as we will be herding cats anyway. But I think it would be cool to have the story thread available. Especially as scenes shift and we can close out chapters, so to speak.

What do you guys think?

Another question for you. Do you as an individual prefer a solo prologue or would you like to team with someone, and if so who? I am trying to refrain from "you all meet in a bar" kinds of opening gambits, in case you hadn't guessed.

Especially since a bar would probably kick out a bunch of cats? I'm probably willing to try either way. I'm not sure if concepts mesh enough for starters - that would be my hesitation.

I do have a question - in regards to territory, I know through helping with Spay and Release programs, that toms and queens generally don't squabble territorially across genders. Is this the case with this game or not?

What part do neutereds play in regards to territory?

Editing of a post can be done by the author, the moderator or any of the sysops, Pandemonium, if that helps any.

I've never used Google Docs. What are they cross compatible with?

Google docs require a gmail email account but once that is done, there is a single document stored on a google drive someplace that all of us can edit, even at the same time should we want that much chaos.

As far as territory goes, I think we will play it as a tool to be used for rp-ing. So it won't matter unless you (collectively or individually as players) or the GM wants it to matter. IE first question 'is territory going to be worth involving in this scene' if the answer is yes, then regardless of neutered, tom, or queen it will play into the scene. If the answer is no, then it doesn't matter what bits the cat has or doesn't have. That work?

So in this game, all but DJ and Ghoul can edit. Hmm, why did I make this a normal fora... LOL, that was a joke. So to do the log or story archive here, most of us can edit, no need to move it off site. Probably easier to have it available to us. Three quarters of the game can edit and fix the archive so that it will be a veritable work of art as opposed to a cat-tastrophe.

I can't edit... so I'm not sure what you mean. Or I can edit and don't know how?

It's the moderator of the forum I think, not all mods. One of these days I should probably get moderator title removed since I'm not running any games anymore!

I'm fine with the territory bit, I just wasn't sure though. Thank you.

I'm very familiar with google docs, and use them regularly. As for how we start, I'm open to any/all, including both, say a solo thread and a parliament session or similar summit. Perhaps a border dispute for a smaller scale, or seeking out information, or making use of a service.

I have the gmail account - that's my regular email address, so access to google docs wouldn't be a problem.

I could also use Google Docs if that's our decision.

I don't have a Google account & don't want one really.

You don't need a google account in any way, shape or form. All you need is for the document to be set up so those with the link to it, or those with certain email addresses, can edit it. Provided that that is the case, anyone can follow the link and have access.

OK And Pande, character emailed

Thanks AJ, had thought you needed one. Good to know you no longer do. For a long time that was the only way.

Thanks Gypsy, lovely character and nice pic.

For all if I have time today I will put up some starting threads. If not today definitely over the weekend. I have ideas for how all of the cats can start and then we can get to the intro adventure before they are drawn into the main event on ...<dun, dun DUN> All Hallows Eve of course.

Thanks!

Awesome. Sorry I didn't get back to you -- my weekend blew up. But I will try to get something to you tomorrow!

No worries. The Parliament thread will be on going, so what if you show up late And we can squeeze in an intro thread no problem. I knew we would have plenty of time. Cats never move very quickly even when they do.

<dashes around the place like a blaze of fur, stops suddenly and seems to never have moved>

Exactly

Raven, I'm not quite certain if that last comment in the Parliament was toward Seeker or another cat... So I don't want to reply to it if it's obviously meant toward someone else.

Any clarification available?

Sorry, G. I added that it was directed to Shadow since he was the last to speak to her.

Thought it might've been, so didn't want to respond defensively! Thanks!