Rumpelstiltskin

OOC: Blast it! I feel like I've got TSTW! coming out my ears, and I still haven't managed to post in two weeks. IC: (Loadstone) The hall was bathed in a whitish-yellow glow. Loadstone halted the field just over everyone's heads, keeping Dragonfly grounded and forcing the Sharkmen to stoop or have their heads electrocuted. Having essentially robbed the Villains of their advantages, Loadstone held the field and nodded for the other Heroes to work their magic. A volley of concentrated blasts of air assailed the Sharkmen closing in on X-Calibur, knocking several of them off their feet and sending them flying toward Dragonfly. Ultionis targeted the Sharkmen who remained standing, using his precise marksmanship to target the creatures' dull eyes. OOC: I figure that we've got these playerless PCs hanging around, we might as well convert them to NPCs so we can keep going. At this point, H-D will be back when he gets back, and I get the feeling Snelly isn't coming back at all, as he hasn't even read the PM I sent him...It gives us a little more RPing freedom than sticking with our two characters and waiting for interaction. ~ Rumpelstiltskin

A magical Interpol sounds like a pretty cool idea, actually. I'm not sure I completely like the idea of wizards being found out, though - I think it's pretty clear in the books that they have all kinds of spells and charms preventing Muggles from finding them. And if they do, that's when you break out the memory charms and all's right with the world. I think that's part of the series' charm - all this is going on, and we're completely oblivious to it. If you make Muggles aware of it, not only is it a huge betrayal of the story's concept, you're also making it like any other magic or even superhero RPG we've had bouncing around in here: Magic users are distrusted, bunch of laws regulating them, yadda yadda. Or magic's the new technology, and everyone wants in. There's nothing special about it anymore. Not to mention, you'd be exposing one heck of a big universe. I mean, I think it was pretty heavily hinted at in the books that all those missing house numbers when you drive down the street are wizard addresses. Wrap your minds around that. EDIT: Not trying to shoot down concepts, though. Conspiracy theorists and witch hunters are fantastic ideas. ~ Rumpelstiltskin

JiMing: It has absolutely nothing to do with you whatsoever - your perceived lack of experience least of all. From what I can tell, everybody here is absorbed in making their own RPG, and quite a number of people seem to want to help you. They just can't because they don't know a thing about Dragonball Z. Heck, I don't even know what Dragonball is, nor do I care. The lack of help you're getting is called a lack of RPing interest, and it is anything but personal. If someone else were to propose a Dragonball RPG, they wouldn't be getting any help either. The sooner you come to terms with that, the happier you'll be. Basilisk: In regards to the post above, not all humans view things the same; why should any of Lovecraft's races (in this instance, the Mi-Go) be so one-dimensional that each individual has to believe and do things the same way? So what if there's a little diversity in interests? In response to the Harry Potter RPG idea I completely forgot to respond to: Well, I honestly could never imagine an RPG set at Hogwarts working. I mean, for the movie and books, that's one thing. But really, we've seen pretty much all it has to offer, we sort of went there with Harry, in a way. None of us want to RP about going to school, even if that school is Hogwarts. A workable RPG would have to be set in the adult world of HP. I'd take playing as an Auror over playing as a student any day. While I have no intentions of running an RPG, I'm just tossing out ideas for anyone else who might. I think that, given the dates of Harry Potter are firmly established - Deathly Hallows was in 1997 - we could get away with a modern setting, well after the books. And why on Earth stick to just England? Voldemort may have had the British Isles under his thumb for a time, but his influence barely extended into continental Europe. What were/are American wizards doing? How about the Chinese? Or South Africans? There's an entire world of witchcraft and wizardry, with room for dozens of Dark Wizards that, while they may not match Voldemort in terms of immortality or followings, certainly open up infinite possibilities for an RPG. ~ Rumpelstiltskin

For those of you still having a little bit of a hard time understanding the map physics of Multiversal Collision, here's a basic map concept explaining travel between the four worlds. The edges of each square are color-coded (Red=North, Green=South, Blue=East, Yellow=West) so that it's easier to understand walking south into the northern portion of the next world, etc. Each square is also color-coded, and the text is flipped in the proper orientation. Technically this is just to explain the concept; the worlds may very well be flipped or reversed, etc. Nothing official, in other words, just a basic aide. ~ Rumpelstiltskin

Oh, I never said I was sane. I mean, my whole BZP persona is based around a man who calls everyone "dearie" and punctuates his sentences with high-pitched giggles. You're just not my kind of crazy, dearie. I'm tempted to make my own world for MC, but I think I'm going to let the game progress for a little while before I try. See what everyone else is doing, how the game is progressing, that sort of thing. ~ Rumpelstiltskin

Y'all are just crazy, that's what I think. MC looks good to me; all it needs is a world-limit and it should be fine. I'd personally like maps, but I think everything needs a comprehensive map, so that's nothing important. ~ Rumpelstiltskin

Meh, anyone who looked at you cross-eyed in the 1600s was a witch. If they were naturally cross-eyed, that was just even more proof. Apart from a couple cryptids like Sasquatch and Champ, I can't think of anything really too weird that someone clearly didn't make up. Now that you mention Salem, I've always thought that was a great time-period for a story setting; I suspect that, given the nature of the trials themselves (religion and whatnot), that it would be off-limits for an RPG, but it's still interesting. ...Actually, in that same vein, have we ever had a Harry Potter RPG? And if so, an RPG that's set in the Harry Potter world at large? It's pretty well established that there are other schools of magic around the world (Salem Witches Academy, for example) . A wizarding RPG set outside of England and exploring magical cultures from other locales sounds like a pretty cool idea. Lol, I know. I can't help but think I'd like them better if they had come from Arizona or Idaho, though. ~ Rumpelstiltskin

Why does everything weird have to be in New England? I mean, in my experience we're all sensible, friendly individuals who enjoy our privacy, freedom, and the outdoors. Where Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft came up with all this hullabaloo is beyond me. ~ Rumpelstiltskin

Tell that to Lord Voldemort. He threw that spell at Harry more times than I can count, and, when his aim simply wasn't terrible, the spell kept rebounding or causing all kinds of hijinks. Quite amusing, actually. He could have won pretty early on if he hadn't been so attached to that one stupid, worthless spell. But on the subject at hand, definitely sounds like this is going to be an awesome game. ~ Rumpelstiltskin

Brilliant; I think your system of magic works pretty well, given those guidelines. It's actually quite similar to the system I was considering for the fantasy series I've been meaning to attempt writing. In the vein of keeping it from being too overpowered, though, should we consider the Three Laws of Disney Magic valid? No killing curses, love spells, or resurrection*? *These laws are quite loose, actually. You can kill someone with an exploding magical fireball, just not snap your fingers and he's dead. You can slip someone a love potion and they're hypnotically adoring you - until you stop giving them the potion and they snap out of it. You can't put a living, breathing spirit back into a body, but you can animate the body and let it wreak zombie/wraith havoc on your enemies. Call them laws restricting the easy paths in favor of more creative ones, if you will. ~ Rumpelstiltskin

Wow, I was expecting something totally different for the Multiversal Collision RPG as well. And I had no interest. This...this has potential. I may even join; I'm definitely liking what I'm seeing. But I'd like a few more guidelines on what magic can or can't do, as well as perhaps a better explanation on how it always comes with a price. I'll most likely come from Erde, should I join. Also, I perfectly understand the concept. For all intents and purposes, these sections of these universes have been ripped from their homeworlds and spliced together with pieces from other worlds. There is no seam, no barrier. In reality, those pieces haven't been moved, but there's a sort of barrier around it that is visually and physically connected to a similar barrier in that other world. Does the same process affect the world where these sections are from? For example, citizens of Earth from the real Britain might land on the other side of the removed portion, like it simply wasn't there? ~ Rumpelstiltskin

Hey, like I said, I'm just innocently curious. Lovecraft seems like it's way above BZP-level, so that's kind of what I was asking - how come it is perfectly acceptable to discuss so openly? I'd hate to be some 10 year old who stumbled across the summary above. There is a difference between murder and macabre/horrific nightmare creatures. I mean, if you want to censor out murder, you might as well start cracking down on most if not all CoT RPGs, since someone's probably been whacked in them. And heck, characters were murdered in Bionicle. There goes BZP. But like I said, I don't want to rain on anyone's parade or halt progress on the RPG, I was just wondering about the Cthulu-shaped hole in BZP's family friendly motto. Since apparently there is precedent, and nobody seems to have stepped in to say otherwise, please, feel free to party with your shoggoths. I'll stick to my obsessive-compulsive superhero addiction. ~ Rumpelstiltskin

Call me crazy, but doesn't anyone else think a Lovecraftian RPG is a bit too...mature for BZP? I mean, granted, clearly everyone here appears to be interested enough (and has enough knowledge to work from, it seems), but given the site's goals of remaining family friendly I don't think horror is the best genre to branch into. I'm not trying to shoot the idea down; I've always held that CoT has always been dominated by the older members and should have a little more leeway than the rest of the site, but I've seen people get reported for the mere insinuation of adult material, so I'm just curious as to why no one else seems to have thought that this was an issue... ~ Rumpelstiltskin

Reality was the height of BZP's RPGing culture. Plain and simple. The ultimate sandbox RPG. It's true, however, that magic ran rampant in that game, and bringing it down to a more manageable level is a great idea. Perhaps, in addition to the "each world has its own magic" sort of thing, perhaps a Once Upon a Time-esque "All magic comes with a price" rule would spice things up a bit? Either way, I'd be interested in seeing this unfold, if only from a viewer's perspective. ~ Rumpelstiltskin

OOC: Sorry, Kumata; wasn't waiting on you, been a bit preoccupied working on the Wiki. IC: (Loadstone) Loadstone threw his arms upwards, towards the floating balls of electricity. More electricity coursed from his hands, feeding into the flickering orbs until the buildup exploded outward in an electrical field, crackling along the ceiling and upper walls. Bolts of electricity crisscrossed with labyrinthine precision, forming a low-voltage electric quilt that left Dragonfly no room to maneuver anywhere but underneath it. Gritting his teeth, he began to lower the field, forcing Dragonfly lower and lower... ~ Rumpelstiltskin

OOC: As of your last post, Ultionis, Loadstone, Epsilon, and Skyra were leaving Siren at the security center, planning on making their way down to the next opening of the elevator shaft and using that as a shortcut to the bottom of the base. On the way, they ran into Prism, a teenage member of the Coalition, leading a group of Sharkmen. They killed off the Sharkmen, captured Prism, and interrogated him. It turns out that this is an old Coalition base that had been abandoned until the Coalition regrouped after the invasion. The facility is run by a woman called 'Triple-Helix,' but we don't know her powers yet. She stays in the labs on the lowest level, which is where we're now heading. Also, about two days ago, a mystery 'shipment' was teleported into the labs - conveniently timed right when Danielle Thomas was kidnapped, leading us to believe that Danielle might be in the facility. After knocking Prism out, we descended through the Elevator shaft to Level 2, where we met back up with X-Calibur, who was fending off a horde of Sharkmen. A Coalition member named Dragonfly also entered the fray, and he just shot out the lights. Everything you need to know about the ongoing battle is in Kumata's last two posts. I'll let him recap you on Centurion and the Robo Robbers plot, as I haven't been following that one closely. IC: (Loadstone) Dragonfly may have shot out the lights, but the corridor wasn't entirely dark. The electricity crackling along Loadstone's arms gave off enough glow to light up the area around him and cast everything else in dim, flickering shadows, those hardly enough to see by. X-Calibur's energy machete gave off a much fainter red glow, but it helped to pinpoint silhouettes that crossed in front of it. Loadstone, still shielding himself with his magnaboard, cupped his hands and lobbed balls of electricity into the air, attempting to brighten the hall enough for everyone to see. ~Rumpelstiltskin

OOC: We could start our own cyborg fan war. I yield; they're both equally awesome original characters. IC: (Loadstone) As the other Heroes took cover, Loadstone raised his magnaboard as a shield to absorb Dragonfly's laser fire. Electricity crackled along his arms, and he lashed out with lethal voltage toward the approaching Sharkmen, lancing a few stray bolts in Dragonfly's general direction to keep him on his toes. OOC: Kumata, should I PM The Zytrix and A Billion Cats, or have you done that already? I'd hate to bug 'em if you've already done it... Also, sorry for the filler IC; writers' block hits you at what seems like the worst times... ~ Rumpelstiltskin

...and TPTI swoops in after half an hour and beats me to it. Heck, I'd probably sit here for another hour if he hadn't. Not that I play X-Men or would play a DC-based RPG either, but I support the DC RPG idea. If only to watch a DC/Marvel smackdown between two rival RPGs... ~ Rumpelstiltskin

OOC: Given the length of time it's been since Half-Dragon even logged on to BZP, I'm going to slog on and see if I can't break the curse of the Coalition's Michigan Base plot. Everyone who's joined seems to have evaporated. Honestly, though, we've been in Michigan for nine months. The last time we had a plot last that long, we were fighting off that Manchine wannabe Kumata just posted a drawing of. IC: (Loadstone) Once Prism had been taken care of, the group lined up in front of the elevator shaft. The motion-activated hallway light barely shone into its depths, and a deep carpet of black was all they could see. Loadstone generated some electricity around his hand, but it didn't help much. Dissipating it, he summoned his magnaboard and stepped off into the darkness. He motioned for Epsilon to join him, and then he spoke up. "Skyra, why don't you go first?" he suggested. "Your powers are most likely to disrupt everyone else's decent. We'll follow you, and Ultionis can cover the rear and come last." Skyra nodded, stepping confidently into the shaft. He dropped a few feet before bouncing slightly on a cushion of air. Loadstone backed the magnaboard into the wall of the shaft to steady it, and Skyra descended into the darkness. Loadstone balled his hand, then tossed a shimmering ball of electricity down after Skyra, providing him with a source of light. When he had passed the opening for the next floor down, Loadstone swung the magnaboard around and followed with a shrug and a wave to Ultionis. The shaft was dark, cold, and mind-numbingly plain as they descended. Loadstone counted off the openings as he went, and when they had reached Level 3 the openings were lit by electric lights in the corridor beyond - this far down into the base, attempts at subterfuge had apparently been deemed unnecessary. With permanent lighting glowing out from the last few openings, the group finished their decent and alighted on the opening of Level 2. (Level 1 was blocked by the lift, and any attempt to squeeze around it or cut through it would have alerted the Coalition to their presence.) Now in more comfortably paneled and lit corridors, they made a few last-minute preparations and slowly crept out into the hallway... OOC: Where would I go to find X-Calibur, Kumata? ~ Rumpelstiltskin

I admit, the show is pretty good if you haven't read the books. Season 1 isn't so bad in that respect, but Season 2 threw the plot right out the window, introduced random elements from the rest of the following 9 books, and cobbled them together in a haphazard fashion with its own plot devices. ...And I was only content with about half the cast (although Kahlan and Darken Rahl were phenomenal.) Was that the one with the wheel that could change your age? I saw the movie on TV when I was little. Lol, not exactly: "The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again." It's a high fantasy series where they have this concept that time, people, and events are all part of a Pattern spun by the eponymous Wheel of Time. "The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills," as they say. They're my favorite books. ~ Rumpelstiltskin

EDIT: Agh, TPTI beat me to it. No, TSTW! doesn't have a discussion topic - we have a wiki instead. Because we're just that cool. Honestly, though, we've never actually needed one. The amount of OOC discussion has been negligible compared to the ICs, and any serious plot details are worked out over PMs. Personally, I see the concept of OOC topics as superfluous, but then again I'm not a part of any other game so I suppose I can't really judge. ~ Rumpelstiltskin