NyNES Preview: Carnival of Pen and Sword

Nylan

Nylan

Characters Welcome
Joined
Feb 27, 2004
Messages
5,910
Location
Clow Country
Preface
I have decided to create a “NES” entirely based upon something that has been a fundamental part of NESing since the very beginning: collaborative storytelling. However, rather than just creating a world where people control countries without much in the way of rules, I have decided to take this aspect of NESing and point it in a different direction. This is a writing tournament, and I have loosely based it on the popular Original Character Tournaments. Through participation in this competition, the members of the NES forum will weave together a cohesive story with a life all its own.

Details:
Spoiler :
(Vague, Preliminary) Plot Summary
Word is announced of a fighting tournament being held in a mysterious, abandoned amusement park far from civilization (known only as “Carnivale”), and the prize for winning is listed merely as “one wish”. Some fighters come of their own accord and eager to fight for their chance to make their dreams come true or change their lot in life. Others are…compelled. Upon arrival, there seems to be no way to get back out, except perhaps…

The Tournament
You will create a character and enter them in the competition, beginning with an entry where they find themselves in the amusement park that will demonstrate a little of their personalities and what they are capable of (NOTE: This is submitted before matchups are posted and the first round begins). Each round, you will be paired up against another player. Each of you must write a story with your character defeating your opponent’s character. The mod (who may or may not be influenced by other readers) will select which story was better and that character will move on, while the other will be eliminated from the competition. Victory goes to the last character still in the competition.

Spectators
Those who are eliminated from or are not part of the competition may post what are known as “spectator entries”, where a character of their creation is in the carnival observing the competition. There is an observation tower in the middle of Carnivale, where the friends and family of competitors have been invited to watch the competition. Spectators do not have to stay in the tower; however, any character on Carnivale grounds is free game for the competitors.

Rules
-Anyone can enter! :) Please don’t hesitate to give it a try. Have some fun writing!
Fan-characters will not be accepted. Do not introduce any characters from an existing franchise you do not yourself own. Any sort of special abilities, magic powers, or weapons you bring with you are allowed, just remember that good story writing is the name of the game

-Characters will be allowed to summon, have familiars, use magic, etc. However, you cannot squeeze an army into one slot as a single “character”. If you include more than one person in your battles, then one must be your primary combatant while the other offers minimal aid

-Battles can be written however you like, so long as they end in your defeat of your opponent. Of the utmost importance is preserving story canon (entries from the winners of previous rounds) and capturing the personality of your opponent’s character.

-Battles don’t necessarily have to end with your opponent’s character getting mutilated or focus entirely on your character’s sweet moves. The focus should be on creativity and originality, and it just has to be a “defeat”. Write the way you like to write, and don’t be afraid to express yourself or try something new. Essentially, just demonstrate your character defeating their opponent, and give the judges a reason to want to see more of them.

-Since a nice clean 1 – 2 – 4 – 8 – 16 – 32 tournament isn’t likely, we are going to have to improvise. If there is an odd number left, a group may have three contestants. Matchups will be randomized each round to ensure fairness.

-Lurker comments are encouraged, so long as they are on topic

-The judges’ words are law

-Above all, HAVE FUN :) That’s what it’s all about, really


I’m looking for thoughts you guys might have on refining the ruleset (feedback on the matchup system in particular would be much appreciated :)). My rules are deliberately sparse to allow for player creativity. This tournament is meant to be yours, after all. I am also more than willing to field any questions and clarify anything in there you don’t quite understand. I didn’t really do much proofreading, after all.

Fire away!

EDIT: Please note Kraznaya and LightFang will be my co-judges.
 
This game reminds me of a forum game we had a while back (sadly I think it got purged) called the Stadium of Superheroes, or something, and Splime GMed it. Essentially the concept was that a bunch of superheroes were fighting in a tournament and it was pretty similar to this in that people were matched up in different events and what you did as a player was write up your strategy and how to defeat the other player. This game has an emphasis on storytelling, whereas the other game took into consideration statistics generated by your character when you created it.

So for example in the other game I had a Pop Star character who had a booming voice (+Range, or something) but was physically frail (-Power). And the GM kept the stats in mind when detailing fights.

There was another game that was slightly more freeform called Journey to Nowhere that's slightly more analogous to this game too, except again the GM was the one who judged everything and put it together. There weren't any stats per se, but still the players didn't write the update; that was up to the GM.

I only mention these so you could maybe glean a few ideas (or maybe not, who knows.)

--

At the moment I'm kind of tied up on writing, because I'm co-GMing Snakes and Foxes 3, which involves a lot of writing about battle outcomes, and I'll soon be hosting m-NotWIII, which will involve yet more writing, but I'd be happy to judge if you'd take me.
 
Thanks! I'll definitely look into that :)
 
If anybody else actually does, joining.
 
Sounds interesting. I can't promise rapid stories though.
 
The second judge is present, and thinks that perhaps a fleshing out of the carnival would give players a better idea of what they're fighting in.
 
Well, if I can think up an interesting character concept, I will probably join. Give me a day or two.
 
Kraznaya said:
The second judge is present, and thinks that perhaps a fleshing out of the carnival would give players a better idea of what they're fighting in.
Click to expand...

Working on it :p
 
Sybrus clicked the two claws of his mechanical hand together, rhythmically. He was in a crouched position, cloaked in the darkness of the underilluminated room. The silhouette he gave was that of someone who has no longer entirely human- much of the left side of his body was gone, replaced by slim metal and machinery. The toes on his artificial foot twitched and chittered against the floor, like some broken insect. In his remaining organic hand, he held a staff, with sharpened blades on either end.

He looked up. Unkempt, black hair blocked a clear view of his face. It was human, with a dark grin plastered upon it. Some metal plating was hidden underneath his ear.

"So you're following through with this?"

"Damned if I do, damned if I don't."

"Fact. Good luck."
 
Are the battles a fight to the death?
 
Condor_green said:
Are the battles a fight to the death?
Click to expand...

They can be, but they don't have to be. That's entirely the decision of the writer. All we're looking for is "defeat". Be creative...just keep to the spirit of the characters' personalities.
 
Thank you.
Since this is the preview do you want us to hold off on posting our characters untill you have the main thread posted?
 
I see no reason why you'd need to wait unless you don't want people knowing about your character for a long time before the start. Also, characters aren't considered "final" until the start of the First Round, so you can still go back and change things if you don't like them as they are now.
 
Jiefin Huphata surveyed isolated Carnivale with a grin. Him and his brother both had the same goal: use the fighting prowess of the Huphata family to bring wealth and fame to their village home in the mountains. He itched his scruffy beard as he thought about it. With his iron will and huge muscles, there was no way for any of these toothpicks to stand in his way. He had climbed mountains and wrestled beasts, honning his strength and skill. His family and friends were living in poverty. But him and Benthuri would change that. Even now he wondered how Benthuri was doing in his tournament, and hoped he was okay.

"What am I thinking," Jeifin said to himself aloud. "Of course he's okay." He ended with a booming laugh.

He strode towards a massive tent, carry a large rock in his arms. He entered a rather dark room. Not noticing anyone, he slammed the rock into the ground and sat down on it.

OOC: Is it okay if this guy is related to a character from another NES similiar to this? It won't affect actual fighting, it's just for story material.
 
LightFang said:
At the moment I'm kind of tied up on writing, because I'm co-GMing Snakes and Foxes 3, which involves a lot of writing about battle outcomes, and I'll soon be hosting m-NotWIII, which will involve yet more writing, but I'd be happy to judge if you'd take me.
Click to expand...

If you want it, the job is yours :) I'll be sending some additional info later, but it's fairly straightforward and shouldn't take too much of your time.

Lord_Iggy said:
Sybrus clicked the two claws of his mechanical hand together, rhythmically. He was in a crouched position, cloaked in the darkness of the underilluminated room. The silhouette he gave was that of someone who has no longer entirely human- much of the left side of his body was gone, replaced by slim metal and machinery. The toes on his artificial foot twitched and chittered against the floor, like some broken insect. In his remaining organic hand, he held a staff, with sharpened blades on either end.

He looked up. Unkempt, black hair blocked a clear view of his face. It was human, with a dark grin plastered upon it. Some metal plating was hidden underneath his ear.

Somewhere, a door opened. Light spilled into the room, along with the cheering of a distant crowd. The time was now.
Click to expand...

Ninja Dude said:
Jiefin Huphata surveyed isolated Carnivale with a grin. Him and his brother both had the same goal: use the fighting prowess of the Huphata family to bring wealth and fame to their village home in the mountains. He itched his scruffy beard as he thought about it. With his iron will and huge muscles, there was no way for any of these toothpicks to stand in his way. He had climbed mountains and wrestled beasts, honning his strength and skill. His family and friends were living in poverty. But him and Benthuri would change that. Even now he wondered how Benthuri was doing in his tournament, and hoped he was okay.

"What am I thinking," Jeifin said to himself aloud. "Of course he's okay." He ended with a booming laugh.

He strode towards a massive tent, carry a large rock in his arms. He entered a rather dark room. Not noticing anyone, he slammed the rock into the ground and sat down on it.
Click to expand...

Great stories guys! I can see variety already, and these are just long enough to give your first round opponent an idea of who they are writing about without being a hassle to write.

OOC: Is it okay if this guy is related to a character from another NES similiar to this? It won't affect actual fighting, it's just for story material.
Click to expand...

As long as either you are the creator of the character or (if not) the creator gave you the ok, then that's fine with me!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

TerrisH
Out of the Portals, a Never Ending Story.
2 3 4
Replies
61
Views
8K
Aiken_Drumn
Aiken_Drumn
T
AI Jumbled Rumble : another set of AI Survivor Alternate Histories, with a twist
2 3
Replies
56
Views
5K
Keler
Keler
Blake00
Heroes of Might and Magic 2 Scenario Mod (& HoMM1 Addon) - Release Thread
Replies
6
Views
2K
CurtSibling
CurtSibling
Meteor Man
OVERLORD (1941 Start) - Second World War In Europe, North Africa, and the Soviet Union
2 3 4
Replies
71
Views
8K
Meteor Man
Meteor Man
Crezth
In the Beginning Was Napoleon: Game Thread
7 8 9
Replies
166
Views
13K
Plains-Cow
Plains-Cow
Top Bottom