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...Why, exactly, does the spell kill you? And is it still possible to use magic to keep your body biologically alive?

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We will remember - Until the skies will fall we won't forget


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It'd require so much blood, such a large string that it's completely impossible to do it and preserve your sanity. The liches are at the exact upper limit of string size. Sizes that allow you to stay sane at least-and they can only sustain basic functions and the mind while generating a small amount of excess energy that isn't used.

 

How powerful a string can a mortal, non-Lich being create? I believe you hinted that one could be made, but it may drive one insane. But assuming a particularly strong willed individual, could you make at least a minor string without any human sacrifices involved?

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor :flagusa:

"I disapprove of what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."


- Evelyn Beatrice Hall (often attributed to Voltaire)

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...Why, exactly, does the spell kill you? And is it still possible to use magic to keep your body biologically alive?

 

Because it's impossible to sustain every life function with magic. Too large a string.

 

Keeping your body alive with magic is likewise impossible for the same reason. The requirements are so large it might as well be impossible.

 

How powerful a string can a mortal, non-Lich being create? I believe you hinted that one could be made, but it may drive one insane. But assuming a particularly strong willed individual, could you make at least a minor string without any human sacrifices involved?

 

It'd take alot of animals.

I believe you find life such a problem because you think there are the good people and the bad people. You are wrong, of course. There are, always and only, the bad people, but some of them are on opposite sides.

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So what was said earlier about it being possible to use magic to keep your body looking normal was, in fact, not true.

 

In theory, if they want to devote some excess energy into keeping themselves from rotting away (which would take quite a bit of energy) then they'll stay the same for as long as they exist.

We will remember - Skies may fade and stars may wane; we won't forget


And your light shines bright - yes so much brighter shine on


We will remember - Until the skies will fall we won't forget


We will remember


We all shall follow doom

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So what was said earlier about it being possible to use magic to keep your body looking normal was, in fact, not true.

 

Vampires don't have blood flow in most fantasy settings. They still look alive. Just because the body is not functioning does not mean it is preserved; in fact, if it is preserved, then it is by default not really functioning.

 

It'd take alot of animals.

 

How much of a string could be formed using ones own blood?

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor :flagusa:

"I disapprove of what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."


- Evelyn Beatrice Hall (often attributed to Voltaire)

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Vampires don't have blood flow in most fantasy settings. They still look alive. Just because the body is not functioning does not mean it is preserved; in fact, if it is preserved, then it is by default not really functioning.

 

Quite. The organs and the like are preserved. But they don't function.

 

How much of a string could be formed using ones own blood?

 

An insanely small one that'd barely be of any use. And that's using all the blood.

I believe you find life such a problem because you think there are the good people and the bad people. You are wrong, of course. There are, always and only, the bad people, but some of them are on opposite sides.

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Wine, women and song, man. With a body that's preserved in much the same way a taxidermist preserves things, none of the three mean anything to you - no warmth to your body, no ability to get drunk, can't sing, can't even bloody kiss someone. Heck, without functioning lungs/diaphragm, speech isn't possible. You're mute as soon as you become a lich.

Edited by Ymper Trymon

We will remember - Skies may fade and stars may wane; we won't forget


And your light shines bright - yes so much brighter shine on


We will remember - Until the skies will fall we won't forget


We will remember


We all shall follow doom

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Wine, women and song, man. With a body that's preserved in much the same way a taxidermist preserves things, none of the three mean anything to you - no warmth to your body, no ability to get drunk, can't sing, can't even bloody kiss someone. Heck, without functioning lungs/diaphragm, speech isn't possible. You're mute as soon as you become a lich.

 

....

 

You can still control the body you realize. It just doesn't rot. You can technically breath, but it doesn't mean anything to you. It's optional.

 

You can move your lips, speak, move your fingers and the like. Functions dependent on blood (like bleeding for example) are technically possible. If you feel like drinking blood for the ability to bleed.

 

Don't think of the body as dead...think of it as being in permenant suspended animation. Consuming blood could, in theory, restore some limited function (akin to being alive but not really).

Edited by Basilisk

I believe you find life such a problem because you think there are the good people and the bad people. You are wrong, of course. There are, always and only, the bad people, but some of them are on opposite sides.

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So you can make the organs function when you need them to? Like, say, the digestive system? I think most people, upon learning that Liches can't get drunk, would probably decide that's a less-than-optimal way to spend eternity.

We will remember - Skies may fade and stars may wane; we won't forget


And your light shines bright - yes so much brighter shine on


We will remember - Until the skies will fall we won't forget


We will remember


We all shall follow doom

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So you can make the organs function when you need them to? Like, say, the digestive system? I think most people, upon learning that Liches can't get drunk, would probably decide that's a less-than-optimal way to spend eternity.

 

The digestive system probably can't be restored. The bacteria in it are dead. And no acid is being produced.

 

Consuming blood would just restore functions dependent on blood. You could, I suppose, try to preserve some functions, but they'd likely only work if blood is consumed. And when that blood dies, the function ceases. And it'd take more energy.

Edited by Basilisk

I believe you find life such a problem because you think there are the good people and the bad people. You are wrong, of course. There are, always and only, the bad people, but some of them are on opposite sides.

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So you can make the organs function when you need them to? Like, say, the digestive system? I think most people, upon learning that Liches can't get drunk, would probably decide that's a less-than-optimal way to spend eternity.

 

The majority of people that are so prideful that they would make themselves immortal at such great expenditure of life, would care more for their own lives being held for an eternity than for something a simple as that. Or, at least, that's my opinion on the matter. But I for one can't really imagine another reason.

 

Also, there are so many jokes about this conversation I wish I could be making, but not all are completely child friendly. And there are childs on this website. And no, that wasn't a typo, I do it on purpose.

 

Another question, Basilisk - could you create a magic weapon capable of severing the strings of a being like a lich, vampire, etc.? Perhaps a weapon created specifically to assist in the closing of gates, both large and as tiny in scope as the ones used to keep the (majority of) undead moving?

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor :flagusa:

"I disapprove of what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."


- Evelyn Beatrice Hall (often attributed to Voltaire)

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The "soul."

Fantasy verse designed by an atheist. Soul isn't a factor. :P I was hinting at the bigger creatures of the Outer Dark with the inactive gods bit.
No need to pull the a-card. I meant, label the magic-infused electrical impulses the "soul." Primitives call what they do not understand fanciful things. Attribute them to gods. Ooh, lighting and thunder. That's Thor and his goat chariot. Volcanic eruption. Typhon is stirring. We saw sparks when that lich transferred his essence into another body. Must be a spirit/soul. Edited by Madara: Mangekyou Master

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I still really don't get why the Lich-making ritual kills the body.

 

Lich-sized strings and living mages don't mix well. Excess magic builds up quickly. The risk of becoming a gate increases. You aren't using magic to sustain function ao it'll build up quicker. You'd go insane. You'd still need to sleep as well, and energy would be building up then.....and even assuming you made the string small enough to not go insane, it wouldn't be enough to power a Lich when you finally died.

 

It's a matter of practicality. Constant low-level exposure to magic doesn't do good things. Liches and Vampires stave off the effect for different reasons-Vamps consume the magic right away to sustain functions. Liches store low levels of it. Just low enough to not cause serious problems. Add the bits used to mantain life functions and you have trouble.

 

 

Another question, Basilisk - could you create a magic weapon capable of severing the strings of a being like a lich, vampire, etc.? Perhaps a weapon created specifically to assist in the closing of gates, both large and as tiny in scope as the ones used to keep the (majority of) undead moving?

 

Strings and gates need to be severed with magic. I suppose it would be possible....but it would require a large amount of blood.

 

The majority of people that are so prideful that they would make themselves immortal at such great expenditure of life, would care more for their own lives being held for an eternity than for something a simple as that. Or, at least, that's my opinion on the matter. But I for one can't really imagine another reason.

 

I'd say a couple hundred animal lives are worth less then one sentient life. But that's just me. With my lack of belief in an after-life or a soul.

Edited by Basilisk

I believe you find life such a problem because you think there are the good people and the bad people. You are wrong, of course. There are, always and only, the bad people, but some of them are on opposite sides.

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Strings and gates need to be severed with magic. I suppose it would be possible....but it would require a large amount of blood.

 

Basilisk. It is a sword. Family relic for a dozen generations of witch hunters killing dozens of people along with undead and miscellaneous monsters, with every generation adding more to it, and a particularly bloody start involving a couple dozen people being sacrificed for "the greater good" to create it? That should do it.

Assuming, of course, you can increase the power present in a weapon over time.

 

I'd say a couple hundred animal lives are worth less then one sentient life. But that's just me. With my lack of belief in an after-life or a soul.

 

How many people would actually go to the trouble, though? You made that fairly clear yourself that the people who do this don't generally use animals.

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor :flagusa:

Edited by Toa Levacius Zehvor

"I disapprove of what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."


- Evelyn Beatrice Hall (often attributed to Voltaire)

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How many people would actually go to the trouble, though? You made that fairly clear yourself that the people who do this don't generally use animals.

 

Actually the majority would. You people just have a sick obsession with using human resources so the conversation veered that way. :P

 

 

Basilisk. It is a sword. Family relic for a dozen generations of witch hunters killing dozens of people along with undead and miscellaneous monsters, with every generation adding more to it, and a particularly bloody start involving a couple dozen people being sacrificed for "the greater good" to create it? That should do it.
Assuming, of course, you can increase the power present in a weapon over time.

 

 

Probably suffice. But you'd need to directly hit the string or the gate for it to work.

 

And good luck hitting a target that small in the case of a string.

 

Edited by Basilisk

I believe you find life such a problem because you think there are the good people and the bad people. You are wrong, of course. There are, always and only, the bad people, but some of them are on opposite sides.

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Strings and gates need to be severed with magic. I suppose it would be possible....but it would require a large amount of blood.

 

Basilisk. It is a sword. Family relic for a dozen generations of witch hunters killing dozens of people along with undead and miscellaneous monsters, with every generation adding more to it, and a particularly bloody start involving a couple dozen people being sacrificed for "the greater good" to create it? That should do it.

Assuming, of course, you can increase the power present in a weapon over time.

 

>I'd say a couple hundred animal lives are worth less then one sentient life. But that's just me. With my lack of belief in an after-life or a soul.

 

How many people would actually go to the trouble, though? You made that fairly clear yourself that the people who do this don't generally use animals.

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor :flagusa:

 

That actually could work really well for any weapon, assuming of course that you could layer enchantments. Couldn't you in theory create a staff that had separate sections that you could form a small string to each section, allowing to draw upon the reserves as needed?

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*cough*Basilisk?The reason I ask is that I'd love to make an intrepid "scientist."Think Qyburn from A Song of Ice and Fire.

 

People mistaking natural events for the supernatural is common enough in any fantasy setting. So yeah. Comes with the territory.

I believe you find life such a problem because you think there are the good people and the bad people. You are wrong, of course. There are, always and only, the bad people, but some of them are on opposite sides.

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Actually the majority would. You people just have a sick obsession with using human resources so the conversation veered that way. :P

 

Hey, hey, hey. I asked if we could use animals. Your talk about making a pyramid and the difficult of supplying resources is why I stopped with that train of thought.

 

Probably suffice. But you'd need to directly hit the string or the gate for it to work.

And good luck hitting a target that small in the case of a string.

 

Well, by the time you're close enough to the lich for it to matter, it hardly matters. A sword strike is a sword strike no matter how powerful you are; unlike in games, if you're getting cleaved at then you're getting cleaved, not taking 1-10 damage plus strength bonus.

 

But that's good. I was afraid I wouldn't get to pull out Wraith-Striker from the closet of awesome sword names I haven't had a chance to use on the forum yet...

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor :flagusa:

"I disapprove of what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."


- Evelyn Beatrice Hall (often attributed to Voltaire)

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So, superstitious louts calling magic-infused electrical impulses transferred into new bodies by liches "souls" would be perfectly reasonable.

 

Considering liches actually need to transplant their physical brain to manage a body swap....not so much that one.

 

 

Hey, hey, hey. I asked if we could use animals. Your talk about making a pyramid and the difficult of supplying resources is why I stopped with that train of thought.
Which is why liches are rare. Few people have the resources and even fewer are sociopathic enough to try the people-fueled option. The most common people fueled liches would be warlords and the like. Since they'll use the blood of slain soldiers.

 

Well, by the time you're close enough to the lich for it to matter, it hardly matters. A sword strike is a sword strike no matter how powerful you are; unlike in games, if you're getting cleaved at then you're getting cleaved, not taking 1-10 damage plus strength bonus.
But that's good. I was afraid I wouldn't get to pull out Wraith-Striker from the closet of awesome sword names I haven't had a chance to use on the forum yet...

 

Quite.

 

Okay guys, I'm heading to bed. I'll get an actual rough draft up tomorrow. Thanks for helping to hammer out the magic system.

I believe you find life such a problem because you think there are the good people and the bad people. You are wrong, of course. There are, always and only, the bad people, but some of them are on opposite sides.

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Quick question... can people see my posts? In the past, my posts have actually been invisible, so are they right now?

 

I can see them just fine. I've just been overwhelmed.

 

I didn't expect this idea to be so popular.

I believe you find life such a problem because you think there are the good people and the bad people. You are wrong, of course. There are, always and only, the bad people, but some of them are on opposite sides.

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It is pretty awesome... much awesomer than my Bakugan RPG. But could you do the magical staff idea, or can strings be only attached to living/recently dead people?

 

I'll think on it.

 

Upon further thought. Ymper is kinda right. No reason the mind should be special-after all, if they don't know about nerves how could they preserve the ability to move? Magic takes up the slack. Liches don't need a material mind. That said, disrupt that field by, say, swinging a piece of metal through it.....and the effect is much the same.

 

Vampires are different-simply because they use a smaller string and require much less blood to make. They need to be preserved because less magic is involved.

I believe you find life such a problem because you think there are the good people and the bad people. You are wrong, of course. There are, always and only, the bad people, but some of them are on opposite sides.

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Technically, you don't even need the physical brain. Just the magically-preserved electrical impulse patterns.

 

...I had not thought of that.

 

Yeah sure. Go for it. Be difficult at this point in time, nearly impossible really. Since they don't know about electrical impulse patterns.

 

Hm. And you might lose your emotions. The ones linked to chemicals at least. Losses probably outweigh the gains. If you want to remain anything like a human.

.....

.....

.....

I just got a brilliant idea for a bad guy in this RPG.

Think Aleister Crowley, as a Lich.

The Possibilities........................

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The magic isn't necessarily evil, you're just really good at thinking of applications for it that you would consider evil.

 

Oh and sentient life is more useful for the sacrificial aspect of it. You'd need metric tonnes of cabbage to accomplish anything useful.

 

So, Basilisk, if a Lich wanted to make regular use of a blood bath (or, really, a person-puree bath) to keep their body functional, how many people would be required per day?

We will remember - Skies may fade and stars may wane; we won't forget


And your light shines bright - yes so much brighter shine on


We will remember - Until the skies will fall we won't forget


We will remember


We all shall follow doom

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A dark and gritty realistic fantasy RPG?

 

That's certainly a new one.

 

But why is magic all...evil?

 

Well I'd argue that deliberately going round telling the laws of physics to take a hike makes any magic inherently chaotic, but I think you more directly mean the murdering of people to make yourself immortal :P

I'd assume that since there exists some blood magic to preserve a body in an immortal state as a lich, there would be some lesser form that allows you to heal injuries. Just as an example of how this might be used for good (well, I say good, sort of depends on who you're healing and why). Its just a matter of perspective

Edited by Lord of Adders Black

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The magic isn't necessarily evil, you're just really good at thinking of applications for it that you would consider evil.

 

Oh and sentient life is more useful for the sacrificial aspect of it. You'd need metric tonnes of cabbage to accomplish anything useful.

 

So, Basilisk, if a Lich wanted to make regular use of a blood bath (or, really, a person-puree bath) to keep their body functional, how many people would be required per day?

 

Magic isn't inherently good, it isn't inherently evil. It just is. A tank can kill fifty men, is a tank evil? A gun has the same ability, is a gun evil?

 

Five or so to sustain basic function.

I believe you find life such a problem because you think there are the good people and the bad people. You are wrong, of course. There are, always and only, the bad people, but some of them are on opposite sides.

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Mind you, from what I understand here, you could be a healer that uses sheep's blood to go around healing the wounds of others. Yeah it's a little icky but I'd consider that pretty good as far as things go. Do you know how fast a sheep reproduces? It's frakking absurd. You kill one sheep, you get a couple liters to do as you will, you come back the next day, and you have twelve more sheep. Find a nice grassy field in a valley somewhere, don't let anyone know, and bamft, nigh-unlimited amount of dumb blood. Not as good as smart blood presumably but eh, you do what you will.

 

Question time!

 

  • Could I have a pouch of blood that is constantly drawing tiny amounts of blood to keep the blood fresh and not all dry-like, or will that consume too much power to be efficient?
  • How does a liter of sheep's blood compare to a liter of human blood?
  • Is there any sort of fast travel or teleportation in this world? It's pretty much a requirement for not having players stranded places with months of walking ahead of them.

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Mmh. If there's any sort of weather manipulation possible, you could screw with the weather to make the rain fall on a very specific schedule in a nice little valley with very fertile soil, give the optimum conditions for farming to a quiet little village.

 

Or, heck, Vlad Tepes is considered a national hero in Romania. Sure, loads of people would say that impaling people is bad, but there are others who would say that just about everybody he impaled kind of had it coming.

We will remember - Skies may fade and stars may wane; we won't forget


And your light shines bright - yes so much brighter shine on


We will remember - Until the skies will fall we won't forget


We will remember


We all shall follow doom

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Question time!

 

 

  • Could I have a pouch of blood that is constantly drawing tiny amounts of blood to keep the blood fresh and not all dry-like, or will that consume too much power to be efficient?
  • How does a liter of sheep's blood compare to a liter of human blood?
  • Is there any sort of fast travel or teleportation in this world? It's pretty much a requirement for not having players stranded places with months of walking ahead of them.

1. Might be possible, but eventually it'd become inefficient.
2. Not well. Fifty humans equals a couple hundred animals.
3. Nope. But I'll be using an OOC fast travel system to speed things along.
Edited by Basilisk

I believe you find life such a problem because you think there are the good people and the bad people. You are wrong, of course. There are, always and only, the bad people, but some of them are on opposite sides.

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Magic isn't inherently good, it isn't inherently evil. It just is. A tank can kill fifty men, is a tank evil? A gun has the same ability, is a gun evil?

Five or so to sustain basic function.

 

Tanks are not evil. The gun is not evil. The gun is good. The things you learn from watching Zardoz....

 

If you understand that joke, I have no reward for you; just empathy.

 

Which brings us to - Basilisk, how advanced is the technology in this setting, in terms of global setting and time period expressed in years BC/AD?

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor :flagusa:

"I disapprove of what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."


- Evelyn Beatrice Hall (often attributed to Voltaire)

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Which brings us to - Basilisk, how advanced is the technology in this setting, in terms of global setting and time period expressed in years BC/AD?

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor :flagusa:

 

Roughly Iron Age so far.

I believe you find life such a problem because you think there are the good people and the bad people. You are wrong, of course. There are, always and only, the bad people, but some of them are on opposite sides.

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Which brings us to - Basilisk, how advanced is the technology in this setting, in terms of global setting and time period expressed in years BC/AD?

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor :flagusa:

 

Roughly Iron Age so far.

 

So crossbows are quite out of the question, then? And steel being... well... about as rare as in Conan? Perhaps slightly more commonplace?

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor :flagusa:

"I disapprove of what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."


- Evelyn Beatrice Hall (often attributed to Voltaire)

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