Rystil's Next Game--You Pick!

[Eluvan]

Just a note, though--the Saxons are still the invading barbarian bad guys for the moment, though they have a strong foothold in the south and east. Even so, Mordred and his allies were driven back at Camlin and have been unable to launch another effective assault into Caer Gwinntguic yet...but their numbers are growing, and trouble is brewing in the east.

Right, okay. So not-quite-Anglo-Saxon England then.

It's all good.

I'm interested though - what is your take on the Arthurian legends for the purposes of this game? Obviously they've been interpreted and reinterpreted all over the place. Was Arthur a fine, upstanding paragon of Christian goodness? Or was he a more ambiguous figure? Is the general tone one of heroism and valour and so on, or is the setting more gritty and dark?

Oh, and allow me to add my voice to the clamour for a fast-moving game. I'm finding myself frustrated with the slow pace of a lot of PbP games, and the idea of a more swiftly flowing game sounds great to me.

 

[Rystil Arden]

I voted for homebrew.

I just like homebrews as long as the info is up front.

And ... I'd be interested in being in a game that moves. I think my games that I DM move pretty well ... but the games that I am a player in are pretty slow. So if you are looking for a player that is willing to post in a game between 1/day up to 4/day ... I'm in.

If you allow psionics, I've never played a psionic warrior. Would be willing to give that a try. If you don't allow psionics ... then I'll figure something else out ... Heh. I've got this "awakened" talking badger that is amuzing some of my players at the moment!

Well, I do like fast-moving games: You'll notice that my current games can be very fast-moving at times (the ones I GM at least, though the ones where I'm a player are usually slow ), and I've seen 100 posts in a day in one game once , but that was definitely an aberration.

I'm a big fan of psionics and allow it in most of my games, but there are no psionic characters in the starting region for Kiss of Darkness, so in that particular game, it wouldn't be allowed. But in the spirit of keeping the Balance between yes and no, I will mention that I do allow characters to play races with LA and racial hit dice, and I'll build up a progression for you starting from level 1 if there isn't one. In my face-to-face game, one player played an azer cleric who was quite an interesting guy.

As far as up-front info, the world of Kiss of Darkness is rather interesting in that it is fairly insular--there is a fairly wide area that has been explored, but there are highly dangerous regions that have caused the vast majority of the world to be a mystery for modern-day scholars. Exploring the unknown is something that my Face to Face players really enjoyed after they played through the Kiss of Darkness storyline.

 

[Rystil Arden]

Right, okay. So not-quite-Anglo-Saxon England then.

It's all good.

I'm interested though - what is your take on the Arthurian legends for the purposes of this game? Obviously they've been interpreted and reinterpreted all over the place. Was Arthur a fine, upstanding paragon of Christian goodness? Or was he a more ambiguous figure? Is the general tone one of heroism and valour and so on, or is the setting more gritty and dark?

Oh, and allow me to add my voice to the clamour for a fast-moving game. I'm finding myself frustrated with the slow pace of a lot of PbP games, and the idea of a more swiftly flowing game sounds great to me.

I'm interested though - what is your take on the Arthurian legends for the purposes of this game? Obviously they've been interpreted and reinterpreted all over the place. Was Arthur a fine, upstanding paragon of Christian goodness? Or was he a more ambiguous figure? Is the general tone one of heroism and valour and so on, or is the setting more gritty and dark?

Well, I have a bunch of unusual takes on different things, stemming from a variety of different sources as well as my own imagination, and most of it is something that the characters don't know for sure. I will say this though: I had a discussion with someone on these boards who thought that Mallory was the first person to write down the Arthurian legend, and that made me giggle. Gildas, Bede, Nennius, Geoffrey of Monmouth, and even Gerald of Wales made mention as early as the 6th century AD, Marie de France's Lais were in the 12th century, with several Arthurian in theme, and the main originator of much of what would become modern Arthurian legend was Chretien de Troyes, also in the 12th century, and those who continued his unfinished works. Then you get to the Pearl Poet, who is the first one that most modern readers know (this mysterious author wrote Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, among others). Then the Vulgate Cycle, where things start to become recognisable to the Mallory-readers and spread out, and then finally Mallory, last of all.

The general tone is of heroism and valour...at least on the surface! Gritty darkness and betrayal lurk beneath the veneer of polite chivalry.

Yup, I like fast games too

 

[Eluvan]

Well, I have a bunch of unusual takes on different things, stemming from a variety of different sources as well as my own imagination, and most of it is something that the characters don't know for sure. I will say this though: I had a discussion with someone on these boards who thought that Mallory was the first person to write down the Arthurian legend, and that made me giggle. Gildas, Bede, Nennius, Geoffrey of Monmouth, and even Gerald of Wales made mention as early as the 6th century AD, Marie de France's Lais were in the 12th century, with several Arthurian in theme, and the main originator of much of what would become modern Arthurian legend was Chretien de Troyes, also in the 12th century, and those who continued his unfinished works. Then you get to the Pearl Poet, who is the first one that most modern readers know (this mysterious author wrote Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, among others). Then the Vulgate Cycle, where things start to become recognisable to the Mallory-readers and spread out, and then finally Mallory, last of all.

Well that's all reassuring. I'm pretty deeply into my history, so it would have been frustrating to play an Arthurian-related game with a DM who thought that Mallory invented King Arthur.

Of course, I guess it likely won't matter that much since it seems like Kiss of Darkness is extending its lead. Oh well, that looks pretty awesome too.

I particularly like the theme of exploration you mentioned... that sounds fun to me. I'll have to think about what kind of character would synergise well with that.

 

[Rystil Arden]

Well that's all reassuring. I'm pretty deeply into my history, so it would have been frustrating to play an Arthurian-related game with a DM who thought that Mallory invented King Arthur.

Don't worry--I did extensive research into Celtic Mythology and Arthurian legend and then took a course in Arthurian Literature and Celtic Colonisation, so I'm pretty set (not that I used everything I saw, mind you )

I particularly like the theme of exploration you mentioned... that sounds fun to me. I'll have to think about what kind of character would synergise well with that.

Keep in mind, and this may be important, that the exploration theme is not emphasised too much in the initial story involving plots and cults and conspiracies, although actually, when I think of it, it kind of is, and there's a bunch of fun research that could be used to help out in the adventure, perhaps the first time a Bard would actually be a useful character--I think my Face to Face players paid an NPC Bard to use his Bardic Knowledge for them to help out. The truly hardcore exploration came about in the later stages (which you couldn't honestly call Kiss of Darkness any more), after the players had explored the first storyline and levelled up a bunch and wanted to tie up some loose ends.

 

[Eluvan]

perhaps the first time a Bard would actually be a useful character

Ouch, harsh.

It doesn't take much encouragement to convince me to play a bard, so that's one possibility. It's been a while since I've played a rogue, so that's looking like quite an appealing option too. I'd probably go for one or the other.

The truly hardcore exploration came about in the later stages (which you couldn't honestly call Kiss of Darkness any more), after the players had explored the first storyline and levelled up a bunch and wanted to tie up some loose ends.

Would you be planning on potentially taking the PbP game that far? Or would you call it a day after the 'Kiss of Darkness' adventure was over? I want in either way, but I'd be particularly joyous to learn that there was potential for long-term advancement.

 

[Rystil Arden]

Would you be planning on potentially taking the PbP game that far? Or would you call it a day after the 'Kiss of Darkness' adventure was over? I want in either way, but I'd be particularly joyous to learn that there was potential for long-term advancement.

There's always potential for advancement if the players want to continue. You should see the ideas I have with my four Spelljamming games--they are all four set in a persistent universe, so shared NPCs have appeared in multiple games, and I'm thinking that if characters wind up ~ the same level and end an adventure at the same time, I might allow them to hop between games or even switch out, keeping their persistent characters in a Living RystilWorld kind of thing I might do that here too.

 

[Eluvan]

Woah.

Sweet.

 

[Rystil Arden]

It doesn't take much encouragement to convince me to play a bard, so that's one possibility.

I love the Bard archetype dearly, but I hate the 3.0 and 3.5 Bard. Because of this, I've played characters such as: A 3.0 Wizard/Virtuoso who had full Wizard casting and all the Bard songs, a Telepath masquerading as a Bard with her psicrystal set in her lute, and a Spelldancer. One cool thing in the Post-Arthurian setting is that it uses all of my variant Bard classes and PrCs, and I've made quite a few. Oisin, for instance, is a Skald, which has Full BAB, 4 skill points, and songs a bit slower (but still Inspire Courage at level 1), with no magic.

 

[Eluvan]

Hmmm. If you don't mind me asking, why no love for the 3.5 bard? The 3.0 bard I thought was lacking, but since the 3.5 revisions I've never had a problem with the class. What don't you like?