Angel of Acheron
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Re: Angel of Acheron
by Oblivion Tue Mar 15, 2011 2:45 pm
Ideas for PCs in a bit more detail. Note under the "name suggestions" sections, those are just the ones I've thought up - if you can suggest better ones, be my guest :D Also, suggesting a flaw for each character.
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#1
- Spoiler:
- Elf Ranger > Spellarcher
Character is a pretty average member of an Elven forest village - no special caste or rank, simply a militiaman and the unlucky sod who gets picked to leave the forest and investigate the Cult's activity in Human lands. Has probably never even seen the Elven Royal City of Sentara, and likely this is one of few visits outside the Everelk Forest if not his very first. Spends much of the game disguised as a Human, using hoods, scarves, and long hair to hide his pointed ears and Elven features.
Main things we need to decide:- Involvement in the Elven war? He is unlikely to be a veteran, but might have been a child or "teen" equivalent during the war.
- Opinion on other races - xenophobe, isolationist, neutral, accepting, or deferential ("we were the fools for starting the war, thinking we could rule")?
Name suggestions: Isendel (nice, but with Iolanthe might want to avoid), Arandir. Whatever name we pick, might be good to choose a similar "humanized" name he uses after leaving - say, Arandir becomes Adrian. Otherwise it'll be a stretch to have NPCs not say "Hmm that kinda sounds like an Elven name. You're not an Elf or a halfblood are you?"
Flaw: Undecided. - Involvement in the Elven war? He is unlikely to be a veteran, but might have been a child or "teen" equivalent during the war.
#2
- Spoiler:
- Moogle Bard
"A wandering minstrel I, a thing of shreds and patches..." A bard looking for a story. At first the only party member to know of #1's Elven nature, due to meeting him in the forest/as he's leaving the forest and deciding he would serve as interesting inspiration for her tales. Given the party's rather low melee capability, she'll have a bit stronger combat presence than most bards - effectively a Bard/Swashbuckler combination.
Main things we need to decide:- Character needs something deeper than "follow #1 around because he's a good inspiration". While that would be enough to keep her in the party throughout the story - as things unfold he DOES become a centerpoint for a great story, or at least that's my hope as the game maker ;) - it makes #2 rather one-dimensional and shallow if that's it.
Name suggestions: Kupanna. Whatever it is it needs to either have "Kup" or "Mog" in it, as per normal Moogle naming standards.
Flaw: Arrogance ("I'm the best!") or Inattentiveness ("Yakyakyakyak Oh wow monsters just snuck up on us")
#3
- Spoiler:
- Iolanthe, Human Witch > Summoner
A witch native to the wild plains and landscape of the Greenhaven Plains around Lake Miaabrie. Possibly the latest in a long line of such, she has served as her mothers and grandmothers before her as a local wise woman, medic, midwife, sage, and seer for years. When her advice and warnings regarding cult activity in the area went unheeded, she responded by blighting the crops of the town; in response the Cult has encouraged the villagers to seek out adventurers or passing soldiers to hunt her down. This draws the attention of #1 and #2 as they reach the village, and only when they finally track down Iolanthe's location do they discover the depth of the Cult's activity in the area. Upon driving them from the village, Iolanthe chooses to accompany them to Port Haven, suggesting the news be brought to the attention of the Order of Righteous Retribution headquartered there.
As the party adventures, she discovers the mystical Magicite and learns the art of summoning Phantasma.
Main things we need to decide:- Why does she remain with the party after escorting #1 and 2 to Port Haven, rather than returning to her village?
- What abilities exactly does a Witch have? I imagine her as mostly White Mage, with some buff/debuff abilities (Time/Green Magic) and maybe a few minor Black Mage spells (Toad is a must).
Flaw: Wrath - I see her having a temper. - Why does she remain with the party after escorting #1 and 2 to Port Haven, rather than returning to her village?
#4
- Spoiler:
- Orc? Alchemist/Machinist
An ex-cultist, once part of the group in Eriude, who flees and abandons the cult after the party defeats them and the Wickerman. He is found later in the Dwarven mining outpost of Grumbar's Gate, drowing his sorrows in dwarf ale. After an initial scuffle, he joins the party to atone for his misdeeds.
Main things we need to decide:- Involvement in the Cult - how high/low ranked was he? Just how much does he know? (Probably not much, and/or less than he thinks he knows is true.)
- Race - I really like the idea of the Orc Alchemist (smart Orc is a nice twist on the norm), but if it's unappealing I have no qualms with switching him to Human.
Name suggestions: Galvanar.
Flaw: Undecided. Self-loathing maybe? - Involvement in the Cult - how high/low ranked was he? Just how much does he know? (Probably not much, and/or less than he thinks he knows is true.)
#5
- Spoiler:
- Kilroy, Human Thief
A scoundrel and rival who hounds the party for some time, stealing and generally making a nuisance of himself. Leaves behind distinctive graffiti when he can get away with it, which is fairly regularly. Eventually should get on the bad side of the Servitors/the Cult/Wolf-And-Raven and have to be rescued by the party.
Main things we need to decide:- How long until he joins after his introduction?
- Why does he stop being an annoyance and become an ally?
- He's party member #5 in a 4-per-party game; who leaves to make room for him and why?
Flaw: Recklessness. - How long until he joins after his introduction?
#6
- Spoiler:
- Satyr Mystic Knight/Monk
A member of an elite order of mage-warriors known as the Enlightened Fists, dedicated to staving off the Dark Plea's abominations from the Mountains of Madness to the north.
Main things we need to decide:- Gender.
- More background info.
- Why does s/he leave the front lines and join the party?
Name suggestions: Too much undecided to even start!
Flaw: Undecided. - Gender.
#7
- Spoiler:
- Hishari, Naga Black Mage
A member of the Naga race, who stand guard against the Shadowlands to the north of Senkakku. Hishari is likely a shugenja - an elemental priest - in rank.
Main things we need to decide:- Same thing as #6 - why leave the front lines to join the party?
- More background info.
Flaw: Undecided. - Same thing as #6 - why leave the front lines to join the party?
#8
- Spoiler:
- Veran, Vandan Blue Mage
Veran the Sable Shard, AKA The Informant, joins the party after spending quite some time serving as an NPC contact, ally, quest giver, and information provider. A former conqueror, she was freed from her mental connection to Vanda by Merody many years ago, and has devoted herself to protecting the city of Port Haven - and by extension all of Atlas - from the inevitable Vandan attack.
Main things we need to decide:- Can't think of much here. This character is pretty much set.
Flaw: Greed. Not for wealth or possessions but rather knowledge and the power it brings.
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Re: Angel of Acheron
by Sparky Tue Mar 15, 2011 3:49 pm
For 6 and 7, I figure the bad guys do horrible things to their hometowns or something along those lines, thus giving them personal motivation. As for the 5th party member issue, I kinda figured this would be where you get the option to rearrange your party - no one necessarily leaves, but he can take someone's place in the fight.
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Re: Angel of Acheron
by Oblivion Tue Mar 15, 2011 4:27 pm
Well the thing is both their locations - the Shadow Isles in Senkakku, and the Mountains of Madness in the Ice Claw - are already pretty badly thrashed by the enemy, they're both on the front lines of an unending war. The only real idea I can think of is that the Cult or the Servitors (or maybe the Broken One - he's a fairly decent one-man wrecking crew, and ends up stalking the party) attack directly (perhaps in tandem with an abomination/shadowlands attack) and the two PCs leave because this other enemy has showed its face.
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Re: Angel of Acheron
by Sparky Tue Mar 15, 2011 4:34 pm
Makes sense. Alternatively...one of them is the last survivor of their village and willing to go with any group so long as they don't have to stay in the wreckage.
Actually, an idea for Kilroy - the bard gets kidnapped or something.
Actually, an idea for Kilroy - the bard gets kidnapped or something.
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Re: Angel of Acheron
by Oblivion Tue Mar 15, 2011 4:47 pm
That could work.
The plan for the next line of the story is that they get to Olympia, speak with whoever they were being sent to speak to, and those people reveal that there has been an increase in unusual magical activity lately that seems to be focusing around the four elemental shrines where the crystals are housed. (FF game, elemental crystals are a given :) ) This is from Wolf's agents (Zoltan and Hector) stealing portions of the crystals' powers to make the crystals they will use when binding Culex and bringing him to this plane.
The PCs are sent to the various shrines to investigate, and find them in chaos with the elemental creatures and guardians there extremely hostile (due to the invasion and theft); furthermore Gilgamesh shows up looking for fights a few times and the Broken One starts stalking the group.
In the middle of this the party needs to divide (one group going to Senkakku, the other up to the Ice Claw), but I'm unsure when or why.
The plan for the next line of the story is that they get to Olympia, speak with whoever they were being sent to speak to, and those people reveal that there has been an increase in unusual magical activity lately that seems to be focusing around the four elemental shrines where the crystals are housed. (FF game, elemental crystals are a given :) ) This is from Wolf's agents (Zoltan and Hector) stealing portions of the crystals' powers to make the crystals they will use when binding Culex and bringing him to this plane.
The PCs are sent to the various shrines to investigate, and find them in chaos with the elemental creatures and guardians there extremely hostile (due to the invasion and theft); furthermore Gilgamesh shows up looking for fights a few times and the Broken One starts stalking the group.
In the middle of this the party needs to divide (one group going to Senkakku, the other up to the Ice Claw), but I'm unsure when or why.
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Re: Angel of Acheron
by Sparky Tue Mar 15, 2011 4:52 pm
The ranger loses a bet that he can snipe an apple off the NPC's head. The Ice Claw has a good place to hide till the heat dies down, and Senkakku has good defense attorneys.
Alternatively, that could be the thing I'd mentioned where there's the big threat of Culex's gang in one direction and the small but still unigonrable threat of the cult in the other direction.
Alternatively, that could be the thing I'd mentioned where there's the big threat of Culex's gang in one direction and the small but still unigonrable threat of the cult in the other direction.
Sparky- Posts : 499
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Re: Angel of Acheron
by Oblivion Tue Mar 15, 2011 5:10 pm
Sparky wrote:The ranger loses a bet that he can snipe an apple off the NPC's head. The Ice Claw has a good place to hide till the heat dies down, and Senkakku has good defense attorneys.
That's what I was thinking as well. I figure the Servitors would be the ones out in Senkakku - their planar reach lets them get places the Cult couldn't, and thus the latter hasn't infiltrated the closed-doors, xenophobic nature of the islands yet. So a group (I'm going to say #1, #2, and maybe Kilroy) heads to Senkakku to deal with the Servitors there and recruit Hishari, while the rest (Iolanthe and #4 - she still doesn't trust him out of her sight maybe? - and Kilroy if he doesn't go with the other group) remain on the mainland and head up to the Ice Claw where the satyr joins.Sparky wrote:Alternatively, that could be the thing I'd mentioned where there's the big threat of Culex's gang in one direction and the small but still unigonrable threat of the cult in the other direction.
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Re: Angel of Acheron
by Sparky Tue Mar 15, 2011 6:12 pm
I was actually thinking you break it up this way, assuming most people play things like I do and favor a party and leave the rest to rot and never level.
Favored party: Actual threat, take a less dangerous form of transportation -- much fewer encounters, higher level enemies
Meh party: Cult, more risky form of transportation -- many more encounters, lower level enemies
So the Meh Team will get a decent chunk of XP with lower risk of total party wipeout and a chance to catch up.
Favored party: Actual threat, take a less dangerous form of transportation -- much fewer encounters, higher level enemies
Meh party: Cult, more risky form of transportation -- many more encounters, lower level enemies
So the Meh Team will get a decent chunk of XP with lower risk of total party wipeout and a chance to catch up.
Sparky- Posts : 499
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Re: Angel of Acheron
by Oblivion Tue Mar 15, 2011 6:13 pm
Main problem I have with that is that if you let the player choose the party when it splits, dialogue becomes impossible to write :P Since you don't know who you'll have and who you won't. Hence, I avoid it like the plague - if the party divides, it divides into set groups.
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Sparky- Posts : 499
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Re: Angel of Acheron
by Oblivion Tue Mar 15, 2011 9:25 pm
- Spoiler:
- [17:13:08 15/03/11] @ Sparky : also replied
[17:14:33 15/03/11] @ Oblivion : Yeah saw
[17:15:34 15/03/11] @ Sparky : was haeY
[17:16:27 15/03/11] @ Oblivion : heh
[17:17:01 15/03/11] @ Oblivion : That and I'm a mean bastard who likes to force the player to use the whole party >_________________>
[17:18:10 15/03/11] @ Sparky : Also fair. I was suggesting it to force them to level their weak ones up by putting them in all of the fights
[17:18:29 15/03/11] @ Oblivion : *nodnod*
[17:18:49 15/03/11] @ Oblivion : I never intend to cut the player off from going back to a lower-level zone to level up weak party members if necessary, either
[17:18:57 15/03/11] @ Sparky : right
[17:19:18 15/03/11] @ Oblivion : Nothing quite like getting to a new zone with tougher monsters, being stripped of your highest-level party members, and finding out "oh hey I can't kill anything here but I can't go back"
[17:19:25 15/03/11] @ Sparky : Let's just say if we were doing this with the FFIX dudes, Quina and Eiko would be so fucking in the Reject Squad
[17:19:47 15/03/11] @ Oblivion : Hahah
[17:19:57 15/03/11] @ Oblivion : Quina actually was in my main party for most of the game when I played.
[17:20:06 15/03/11] @ Oblivion : I didn't stop using him until I got Amarant
[17:20:16 15/03/11] @ Sparky : Quina annoyed the shit out of me, and Blue Magic wasn't worth it
[17:20:23 15/03/11] @ Sparky : Amarant was all right
[17:20:34 15/03/11] @ Sparky : My party tended to be Zidane/Vivi/Garnet/Freya
[17:20:37 15/03/11] @ Oblivion : Yeah that's something I intend to fix with Veran, I like Blue Magic too much to have it be just another useless party member
[17:20:47 15/03/11] @ Oblivion : Zidane/Garnet/Freya/Amarant here
[17:20:52 15/03/11] @ Sparky : Swap Freya and Steiner from time to time
[17:23:38 15/03/11] @ Sparky : <_<
[17:24:05 15/03/11] @ Oblivion : But yeah... I pretty much have the exact opposite style of play lol
[17:24:29 15/03/11] @ Oblivion : "X has leveled up!" Sweet, remove them from party and replace them with someone else
[17:24:46 15/03/11] @ Oblivion : continually rotating people as they level
[17:25:11 15/03/11] @ Sparky : I usually keep them somewhat even...but Quina was my new Navi
[17:25:16 15/03/11] @ Sparky : The annoying thing that would not die
[17:26:55 15/03/11] @ MessiahForHire : Hahahahaha
[17:27:02 15/03/11] @ Sparky : And I never got into blue magic
[17:27:09 15/03/11] @ Sparky : Neat concept, requires far too much patience
[17:27:41 15/03/11] @ Sparky : Hmm...I could wander around for 20 minutes and hope the ogre casts firefly dust on my mage...or I could go play a minigame
[17:28:07 15/03/11] @ MessiahForHire : Hahahaha
[17:29:45 15/03/11] @ Oblivion : Yeah. I'm thinking I'm going to do something like FF8's idea for Veran - enemies that cast Blue Magic drop Shards, which she can use to learn their spells
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Re: Angel of Acheron
by Oblivion Tue Mar 15, 2011 10:06 pm
More pictures.
Char #1?
Possible idea - animal companion for Char #1 (needs name)
Char #2
Iolanthe's fox familiar (needs name)
Char #1?
- Spoiler:
Possible idea - animal companion for Char #1 (needs name)
- Spoiler:
Char #2
- Spoiler:
Iolanthe's fox familiar (needs name)
- Spoiler:
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Re: Angel of Acheron
by Oblivion Wed Mar 16, 2011 12:34 pm
Moar music
The Abominable (Wolf-And-Raven's Theme): Theme/Battle
The Necromancer's Cloak (Theme of the Burning Cult)
Veran's Theme
Cazok (Sort of an insanity theme, maybe associated with the Dark Plea's spawn, or perhaps Zoltan the Warlock)
RAGNAROK (some late-game scene of awesomeness. I just like the song :) )
Timid Girl (Possible PC theme - the moogle or the naga, I was thinking. Iolanthe is many things but timid is not one of them. ;) )
Blood Red Hurricane (Possible PC theme. Otherwise an area theme.)
Escape the Castle! (Fleeing/Escape/Chase Theme)
Capitol (BGM for the city of Olympia, and by extension theme of the kingdom.)
Evil Victorious (a late-game area theme on Vanda or Acheron, likely)
Valas Castle (World BGM for Vanda.)
The Aftershock:
Version 1
Version 2
Version 3
Version 4
The Sequel: The Final/The Speed of Light
(I really like this song, and didn't know about version 2-4 until today. Has a very "Chase the Badguy!" vibe to it, as opposed to "Escape the Castle!" which is more "We're being chased/something's happening, run away!")
Danger in the Town (Another "oh no bad things are happening" tune. Possibly associated with the Servitors, since we already have a theme for the Cult, but not .... "weird" or "alien" enough I think. Need something more like Culex's theme below, IMO.)
The Unforgivable (Late-game event theme?)
Heroic Confrontation (Merody's theme. Plays once - in the massive scene of PC Party vs HORDES OF ZOMBIES, Sentinels [Graine, Dakkon, Zeike, Veran] vs. Even More Undead, and Merody+Veran+Iolanthe vs. Alzir)
Silent Guardian (Possible PC theme.)
Splitting Edge of Emotion (I have no idea what to use it for but I like it.)
Hivemind (An area theme for Acheron.)
Voyage of the Four Friends (Possible PC theme. Otherwise just a good heroic song.)
Heroic (Endgame song. The returning victorious heroes after the Final Battle.)
An Invulnerable Enemy (There is one invincible enemy in the game - Lich Alzir, a sidequest boss at the endgame. The beginning of the battle is him being indestructible and you having to survive until Gilgamesh shows up. Might use this for that battle, until that point at which it changes to Gilgy's theme.)
The Forgotten Plains / The Valley (a couple of soft, quiet area BGM themes)
Distant (A sort of menacing theme. Probably a BGM or event song for Vanda or Acheron.)
Shadow of Malevolence (A really nice, dark theme. Running out of things to use battle songs on though, since I have the necessary Battle/Boss/Unusual Battle/Special Boss songs already picked and it's not suitable for FINAL BOSS.)
Boneshackle Basin: Version 1/Version 2 (Another area theme.)
Forces United! (More heroic stuff! Dunno what for.)
The Land of the Forgotten/The Land of Nowhere (More Area music. Wasteland-ish.)
Searching in the Wastelands (See above.)
C'thalas (The name makes it NEED to have something to do with the Dark Plea. Too Lovecraftian to pass up.)
Airship Theme!:
FF5 Style
FF6 Style
FF7 Style
(Reone has a TON of songs. I haven't listened to them all yet, but can probably make use of a lot of them for the more generic stuff - area BGM, etc.)
The Second to Last Boss (NOT what it will be used for. BGM/theme of an Illusionist and the area they trap the party in late in the game.)
And last but not least....
Culex's Theme
Battle versus Culex (No I did not keep the FF4 Boss song they used for him in SMRPG :P)
Possible Final Battle Theme
The Abominable (Wolf-And-Raven's Theme): Theme/Battle
The Necromancer's Cloak (Theme of the Burning Cult)
Veran's Theme
Cazok (Sort of an insanity theme, maybe associated with the Dark Plea's spawn, or perhaps Zoltan the Warlock)
RAGNAROK (some late-game scene of awesomeness. I just like the song :) )
Timid Girl (Possible PC theme - the moogle or the naga, I was thinking. Iolanthe is many things but timid is not one of them. ;) )
Blood Red Hurricane (Possible PC theme. Otherwise an area theme.)
Escape the Castle! (Fleeing/Escape/Chase Theme)
Capitol (BGM for the city of Olympia, and by extension theme of the kingdom.)
Evil Victorious (a late-game area theme on Vanda or Acheron, likely)
Valas Castle (World BGM for Vanda.)
The Aftershock:
Version 1
Version 2
Version 3
Version 4
The Sequel: The Final/The Speed of Light
(I really like this song, and didn't know about version 2-4 until today. Has a very "Chase the Badguy!" vibe to it, as opposed to "Escape the Castle!" which is more "We're being chased/something's happening, run away!")
Danger in the Town (Another "oh no bad things are happening" tune. Possibly associated with the Servitors, since we already have a theme for the Cult, but not .... "weird" or "alien" enough I think. Need something more like Culex's theme below, IMO.)
The Unforgivable (Late-game event theme?)
Heroic Confrontation (Merody's theme. Plays once - in the massive scene of PC Party vs HORDES OF ZOMBIES, Sentinels [Graine, Dakkon, Zeike, Veran] vs. Even More Undead, and Merody+Veran+Iolanthe vs. Alzir)
Silent Guardian (Possible PC theme.)
Splitting Edge of Emotion (I have no idea what to use it for but I like it.)
Hivemind (An area theme for Acheron.)
Voyage of the Four Friends (Possible PC theme. Otherwise just a good heroic song.)
Heroic (Endgame song. The returning victorious heroes after the Final Battle.)
An Invulnerable Enemy (There is one invincible enemy in the game - Lich Alzir, a sidequest boss at the endgame. The beginning of the battle is him being indestructible and you having to survive until Gilgamesh shows up. Might use this for that battle, until that point at which it changes to Gilgy's theme.)
The Forgotten Plains / The Valley (a couple of soft, quiet area BGM themes)
Distant (A sort of menacing theme. Probably a BGM or event song for Vanda or Acheron.)
Shadow of Malevolence (A really nice, dark theme. Running out of things to use battle songs on though, since I have the necessary Battle/Boss/Unusual Battle/Special Boss songs already picked and it's not suitable for FINAL BOSS.)
Boneshackle Basin: Version 1/Version 2 (Another area theme.)
Forces United! (More heroic stuff! Dunno what for.)
The Land of the Forgotten/The Land of Nowhere (More Area music. Wasteland-ish.)
Searching in the Wastelands (See above.)
C'thalas (The name makes it NEED to have something to do with the Dark Plea. Too Lovecraftian to pass up.)
Airship Theme!:
FF5 Style
FF6 Style
FF7 Style
(Reone has a TON of songs. I haven't listened to them all yet, but can probably make use of a lot of them for the more generic stuff - area BGM, etc.)
The Second to Last Boss (NOT what it will be used for. BGM/theme of an Illusionist and the area they trap the party in late in the game.)
And last but not least....
Culex's Theme
Battle versus Culex (No I did not keep the FF4 Boss song they used for him in SMRPG :P)
Possible Final Battle Theme
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Re: Angel of Acheron
by Oblivion Thu Mar 17, 2011 11:25 pm
More pictures!
Phantasma:
Ifrit
Shiva
Ramuh
Kirin
Sylph
Seraph
Carbuncle
Phoenix
Ixilichtra
Alexander
Leviathan
Ragnarok
Bahamut
Todash
Also, a late game image of Wolf-And-Raven:
Phantasma:
Ifrit
- Spoiler:
Shiva
- Spoiler:
Ramuh
- Spoiler:
Kirin
- Spoiler:
Sylph
- Spoiler:
Seraph
- Spoiler:
Carbuncle
- Spoiler:
Phoenix
- Spoiler:
Ixilichtra
- Spoiler:
Alexander
- Spoiler:
Leviathan
- Spoiler:
Ragnarok
- Spoiler:
Bahamut
- Spoiler:
Todash
- Spoiler:
Also, a late game image of Wolf-And-Raven:
- Spoiler:
What's basically happened here:
Wolf is supposed to be a tragic villain. Evil as hell, but I want players to be kind of sad for her. She's a Doppelganger, a creature with the ability to take any form... but has no real family or racial culture of her own, she can only copy others and insert herself into their reality for a while. She has existed for thousands of years, searching for a place to "belong". She thought she found it with the Yuan-Ti, who eventually allowed her to perform the ritual that transformed her into one of them... at least in appearance, without stripping her of her metamorphic powers. But then the Yuan-Ti were eradicated during the war against them and the Sky Callers several thousand years prior; what few survivors there were, like Wolf, scattered - and she retains her Doppelganger immortality, while the other Yuan-Ti have likely died of age or other causes in the interim. So without them to be a part of, she turns to the Vandans and submits herself to Culex as a new people to claim membership of.
In return for her service throughout history, Culex decides to have her be the first citizen of Atlas to be transformed by Acheron's corrupting waters. He opens a portal, diverting small streams of two of the three rivers to pour over her - the river Styx, which gives those bathed in it immortality, resiliency, and strength; and the river Acheron, which corrupts their bodies into new forms tainted by the Dark Plea's power. He spares her being bathed in the first of the three, the river Lethe, which would have wiped her memories away and erased her personality. She is reborn as the image above, the first display of what Atlas's population will become when Acheron claims the planet as its own and drowns it in the waters of its rivers. (It changes for each planet Acheron conquers - hence why she becomes this, and not a crystal-creature like Culex and the other Vandans.)
I haven't decided if in her new form she'll retain her Doppelganger shapeshifting abilities, but I'm leaning toward no.
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Re: Angel of Acheron
by Oblivion Wed Mar 30, 2011 12:05 am
So yeah, no I haven't forgotten about this, and I managed to keep most of my free-roaming thoughts on this rather than Forumstuck while at my first day of work. Wonder of wonders eh?
- Spoiler:
- Basic planned progression of story:
Phase 1: Cult and Servitors cause minor, but swiftly growing, troubles. The two are obviously opposed to one another, coming to blows occasionally when their goals cross (which gives our PCs some advantages from time to time). Cult simply stirs up trouble; Servitors assault the Four Elemental Towers, stealing pieces of the Elemental Crystals and riling up the natives (thus making them hostile when the PCs show up shortly after).
Phase 2: Both groups' plans advance. Servitors manage to bring Culex and a small group of Vandan invaders to Atlas; Cult makes strides in bringing Eldritch Abominations out of the Mountains of Madness and spreading the Dark Plea's influence.
Phase 3: Wolf-And-Raven revealed to be the power behind both groups via her many aliases, tying their goals and intents together (and pitting them against each other to weed out the weak/foolish/stupid/unlucky). Wolf answers to Culex and Alzir. The two groups are still ignorant of this, and continue pursuing their separate goals: the Cult trying to direct the Dark Plea's attentions to Atlas, the Servitors looking to bring Alzir and a larger invasion force there.
Phase 4: Triggered by Alzir's death: when the Servitors summon him to Atlas, he, his troops, and an undead army storm Port Haven, but are beaten back by the PCs, Veran and the Sentinels, and Merody. Culex usurps control of the Vandans and claims the position of Dark Mage. Servitors begin serving Culex's goals directly while he returns to Vanda. Cult shattered (either by PCs or by an Abomination getting out of hand); survivors either scatter or merge into the Servitors.
Phase 5: PCs follow Culex to Vanda. Culex rallies the warrior and mage forces to his side; the PCs mostly deal with those as enemies and "commoner" or "worker" Vandans as NPCs in the various towns they visit. Eventually learn of Culex's plan to travel to Acheron's surface.
Phase 6: Journey across Vanda, back and forth to Atlas, and possibly to the 3 other moons (Temrath, the Wind-element world, and the two that need names, one is a Fire-element world and one is Water, Vanda's crystalline structure making it the Earth planet), making their own defenses against Acheron's corruption. Sometime in the middle of this Culex departs.
Phase 7: Learn of Acheron's nature, the Dark Plea, and the final preparations for the trip. The journey to Acheron. The only true "point of no return" in the game.
Phase 8: Journey across Acheron, final stages of the game. Learn of Culex's true intents.
Obviously the later Phases need fleshing out, and I still need to decide exactly WHAT the answers are to a lot of the later questions. Culex's goals are really the only thing I have fully decided on. One thing I have decided is what Acheron IS - it's the frozen, decapitated skull of some ancient and unbelievably powerful being, probably the Dark Plea's former body. Perhaps a dead god/dess? Not sure yet.
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Re: Angel of Acheron
by Oblivion Thu Apr 14, 2011 9:23 pm
I did it again. Managed to spend a day daydreaming about something other than Forumstuck (mostly). Two weeks between huh? :P Would probably help if I had less Homestuck music/fan music on my MP3 player and more FF stuff, but that gets monotonous more quickly. ;)
- Spoiler:
- I'm half tempted to tell this story in a Homestuck style comic rather than as a game. If I go that route I'd remove a lot of the FF references and just make it a stand-alone story except for Culex's presence. That and I'd need a way to draw on my computer, since at the moment all I can do is draw on note paper then take a pic via cameraphone and upload. Also I would practically require myself to learn Flash. ;) Though that's something I've been wanting to do anyway....
Storyline wise, I've worked out what the Dark Plea (which I may possibly be renaming, right now "The Dark Song" is what I'm thinking) exactly is, and the nature of both it and Acheron itself. Acheron, quite some time ago, was once a flourishing, advanced world where both science and magic were highly valued and progressed. The ruling powers of that society pushed their advancements heavily, resulting in some dangerous creations; when things came to odds, said creations became weapons of war.
Someone on Acheron activated one of the most powerful creations - an untested engine of destruction. I'm thinking it was a person desperate to bring an end to the fighting by any means. The weapon was far more powerful than estimated, though, and eradicated all life on the planet; the souls of the sudden dead were left stranded, corralled by the power of the weapon's technology and magic and stunned by the swiftness of their demise; their collective force gathered and pooled, eventually producing a gestalt consciousness: the Dark Plea/Dark Song.
As Acheron floated lifeless in space, the mad mind of its former inhabitants began warping the reality of the world, changing it to fit its ever-twisting perceptions. The resulting taint produced a world transformed into a frozen hell, fed by three corrupted waterheads flowing from pole to pole before suddenly rejecting gravity completely and spilling their vile flow into space.
As a consciousness created by a reaction to war and strife, the Plea/Song is innately attracted to such. Worlds that dwell in heated conflict draw its attention, and the power of the gestalt souls of its former population is enough to propel the planet without care for gravity or physics. It is this attraction and propulsion that brought it to its four current moons - Eferigos the Burning Moon, Vanda the Crystal Moon, Periceil the Ocean Moon, and Temrath the Storm Moon. Each of the new moons' inhabitants has been warped by their world's exposure to the rivers of Acheron, and themselves changed as well; each moon's population is uniquely mutated. Their minds are also altered to subconsciously serve the Plea/Song's goals of spreading its madness and corruption; thus, they seek out new worlds and drive them to further strife and conflict, thus attracting Acheron's presence and furthering the cycle. Hence why the Vandans have been stoking Atlas's peoples to warfare for centuries, and at the time of the story it's just about to pay off.
At the end, the Plea/Song's collective consciousness merges with Culex when his crystals are shattered, destroying his ward against the corrupting influence; when he is defeated the gestalt is exposed for a moment and (still working on the exact method how) shattered by the hero(es). (One idea I had for this was an ability of D&D's Arcane Archer class, which the main character was partially to be based on; one of their abilities is a "black arrow" that instantly slays anything it hits, but which only one could be made in the AA's entire life and had to be made with the express killing intent against a specific target in mind. He could mention this several times during the game, neglect to use it during the final battle, then choose to kill the Dark Plea/Dark Song with it.) The corrupting influence of Acheron is destroyed, and its mind-affecting controls over its moons released. The peoples of those moons remain in their altered forms, but are free to live as they will. Acheron itself, a long-dead planet, falls apart as the heroes flee; its moons settle into orbit alongside Atlas, becoming sister planets around its sun.
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Re: Angel of Acheron
by Oblivion Thu Apr 21, 2011 11:02 pm
Hey look I drew something that wasn't Forumstuck related. Shock and awe.
Sketch of Iolanthe.
Sketch of Iolanthe.
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Re: Angel of Acheron
by Oblivion Thu Apr 21, 2011 11:29 pm
And another. The Informant, complete with scary shiny glasses of opaqueness. I could not get her right arm to look right for the life of me.
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Re: Angel of Acheron
by Oblivion Fri Apr 22, 2011 12:44 am
Decided (for no reason other than because it amuses me) that most controllable characters (all except the first two, The Informant, Wolf, and Culex) will be introduced by a MSPA-style nickname that happens to have the same initials as they do. "Controllable" or "playable character" in this context meaning the same thing it does in MPSA, a person the reader can "give commands" to.
The list thus far is as follows:
The list thus far is as follows:
- Spoiler:
- (Char 1) - no alias
(Char 2) - no alias
Iolanthe W??? - Intrepid Witch
Celdrich Bartimaeus - Courageous Bishop
Kilroy Dann - Kleptomaniac Daredevil
(formerly known as Gilgamesh) - Gilded Gladiator
Galvanar Sciarmighn - Guerrilla Sectarian
(Char 6) - ???
Hishari S??? - Heedful Shugenja
Courtney Keldoun - Commander Of The Knights Dragoon
Wolf-And-Raven - no alias
Culex - no alias
The Informant/Veran - no alias
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Re: Angel of Acheron
by Sparky Fri Apr 22, 2011 9:37 am
Character 1: Oliver Prefect/Obvious Protagonist =P
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Re: Angel of Acheron
by Oblivion Sat Apr 23, 2011 1:51 am
If only because Oliver isn't a very elven name. ;)
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Re: Angel of Acheron
by Oblivion Sat Apr 23, 2011 10:56 am
I am posting this here more for posterity than anything. Spoilered for the sake of your eyes.
My idea was to take the pics I took with my camera into GIMP and line-draw over them with a mouse as best I could. I learned a few things from this attempt. One, that you should use the smallest brush possible - I used the second-smallest and this probably would have looked a lot better if I hadn't.
Two, use the highest zoom possible. 200x doesn't cut it. 800 is better.
Three, the bucket is not your friend. Fill color by hand with the pencil/paintbrush.
- Spoiler:
My idea was to take the pics I took with my camera into GIMP and line-draw over them with a mouse as best I could. I learned a few things from this attempt. One, that you should use the smallest brush possible - I used the second-smallest and this probably would have looked a lot better if I hadn't.
Two, use the highest zoom possible. 200x doesn't cut it. 800 is better.
Three, the bucket is not your friend. Fill color by hand with the pencil/paintbrush.
Oblivion- Posts : 672
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Location : Abort/Retry/Fail? -
MessiahForHire- Posts : 296
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Location : Land of Colour and Dusk
Re: Angel of Acheron
by Oblivion Sat Apr 23, 2011 10:34 pm
It actually was in a layer above the base drawing, hence how the basic outline is the same and there are no notebook lines; I'm still getting the hang of layers beyond that. Suggestions? :)
I'm debating doing more of the Homestuck style, without the lighter/darker outline shades and just use the primary colors for borders, using alternate shades (or black lines) for details only as necessary. (Separating chin from neck, layers/locks of hair, etc.). Will try that next and see if I prefer that look.
I'm debating doing more of the Homestuck style, without the lighter/darker outline shades and just use the primary colors for borders, using alternate shades (or black lines) for details only as necessary. (Separating chin from neck, layers/locks of hair, etc.). Will try that next and see if I prefer that look.
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Re: Angel of Acheron
by Oblivion Wed Jul 20, 2011 8:12 pm
So... as I've been pondering about this project more over the past few days, working out some of the story kinks and trying to direct the idea away from the FF-fangame that it started out as.
One thing I decided was that Witches would be tied to the Fey as the source of their powers and abilities, and in addition to doing magic and some of the other special abilities she has, in place of Summoning Iolanthe would be able to make pacts with certain Fey to work with her by manifesting through her familiar. Mechanically, it produces the same effect; just the source and the method is different. That said, now that I'm not tied to the FF mythos, I can be a bit more original with the creatures she makes pacts with.
So, any suggestions of not-too-overused creatures that could serve as her "summon" replacements? I'd like to stray away from the commonly-used monsters like 90% of your D&D critters, but some suggestions would be helpful. :)
One thing I decided was that Witches would be tied to the Fey as the source of their powers and abilities, and in addition to doing magic and some of the other special abilities she has, in place of Summoning Iolanthe would be able to make pacts with certain Fey to work with her by manifesting through her familiar. Mechanically, it produces the same effect; just the source and the method is different. That said, now that I'm not tied to the FF mythos, I can be a bit more original with the creatures she makes pacts with.
So, any suggestions of not-too-overused creatures that could serve as her "summon" replacements? I'd like to stray away from the commonly-used monsters like 90% of your D&D critters, but some suggestions would be helpful. :)
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