PreSLNES I: Masters of Ethereal

[Terrance888]

Sending Guidelines for what I want done this turn. Just look at them ok?

 

[Starlife]

Just waiting on Northen Wolf. Seriously Northen, I've given you tons of leeway in this and I've seen you sign up for 1 or 2 other NESes. I don't like writing the update without everyone's orders in, so I haven't started it yet. Let me know what's going on.

 

[Northen Wolf]

orders sent.

 

[Starlife]

I've started writing the update. Yay! Sometime this weekend definitely. I'm kind of taking it slow this time because I am getting ready to go overseas, while also (grudgingly) preparing this PBEM game with my friends.

Which reminds me: I will be gone for the month of June. I think this will be my last update before I leave, sadly. We have a few options as to how we can do things:

1. The next turn will last for all of RL June. 1 season.

2. All of RL June can be more than 1 season, and therefore a longer turn. Perhaps a whole year? What do you think?

I would like if you guys took the time I was gone to write some stories. I'll update myself on everything when I return. But keep our awesome world alive.

 

[LDiCesare]

There's little reason to have more than 1 season for a month if we can't get more orders during that time. I'd rather keep the duration of updates constant.

 

[thomas.berubeg]

I agree with LDi

 

[vruchten]

i agree: 1 season

 

[nutranurse]

1 season!

 

[Starlife]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. 1 season it is.

I don't want to continue beating a dead horse or anything, but I'm still thinking about introducing characters. Mind, these characters would have absolutely no effect on kingdoms or Wizards, but would rather be story-only player mechanisms. They can join a kingdom, but that kingdom would not experience any sort of bonus of any kind (absolutely nothing). The characters would exist for the sole reason for some players to tell stories (and for this NES to get some more players, perhaps, that are more character-oriented and do not want to juggle the ruleset). The inclusion of this dynamic would perhaps provide more story-telling, and a new perspective on seasonal events. For example, one character could join the Thuggee in their battle against Drakefang - the character would provide absolutely nothing in terms of game mechanics bonuses, but would rather be in an interesting situation to write about what has occurred. Some of you may think this would be useless, but I'd like some lore to be built up.

Bonus/actual game-mechanics-changing characters may still become available in the future, that do actually provide some sort of advantage to your realm. But not now.

 

[Immaculate]

Then do it. Don't ask for our opinions. Running a NES is not a democracy. Its a tryanical dictatorship. Its the only governing model that works.

 

[Starlife]

Then do it. Don't ask for our opinions. Running a NES is not a democracy. Its a tryanical dictatorship. Its the only governing model that works.

Damn straight. Thanks for the encouragement, Immaculate.

 

[Seon]

Then do it. Don't ask for our opinions. Running a NES is not a democracy. Its a tryanical dictatorship. Its the only governing model that works.

Can I sig that?

 

[Immaculate]

aye (5 char)

 

[Northen Wolf]

Players usually tend to create these story characters by themselves in stories. Even in my NES players named some individuals from 'unnamed group of random sex-less Followers' and used them in their stories/orders. I then included these followers and their names into updates - Little Ugag, Kuna, Garrote for few examples. I did not bother to update them on main page tho, felt no need to do so, because they did not play any other roles besides being part of stories and updates.

 

[Starlife]

Players usually tend to create these story characters by themselves in stories. Even in my NES players named some individuals from 'unnamed group of random sex-less Followers' and used them in their stories/orders. I then included these followers and their names into updates - Little Ugag, Kuna, Garrote for few examples. I did not bother to update them on main page tho, felt no need to do so, because they did not play any other roles besides being part of stories and updates.

Yeah. That's kind of the way I'm going about things. Some players on this forum don't want to play kingdoms. They want to role-play a bit more. So I am giving that option to them. But who knows. I'll probably post these brief rules on characters, only to find that no one joins to play as a character/party. But whatever!

 

[Starlife]

So here is some preliminary stuff about that concept. Taking a break from update-writing and map-making. So many awesome things are happening.

-

Spoiler :

Playing a Character or a Party
You may look at the rules and think that Ethereal is soaked in complicated inter-Wizard, kingdom-based intrigue. You are right about that, but such a gameplay style may not be suited for you. Perhaps you are more interested in writing stories about the rich world that Ethereal is, and going through the world with more focused aspirations. For you, playing a single character might be more interesting.

Here are some notes on what you must remember as a character or party:

1. Everything you do usually has no impact on the statistics or outcomes of events involving kingdoms and their affairs. Even so, players of powerful Wizards should still interact with characters when appropriate. However, you can be funded by a kingdom, which is no different than a kingdom giving gold to a certain project like building a market or exploring a certain area. In this case, you are not giving the kingdom any special advantage, but are simply a role-playing outlet for that activity.

2. That said, you can still join a kingdom and play within a kingdom or ally yourself with a Wizard. In such an event, you will be nothing more than another character in that realm. You can write about events that are occurring within that realm or battles that kingdom has fought from a soldier's perspective (for example). You cannot, however, as stated in Rule #1, alter the outcome of anything.

3. Playing a character/party is entirely story-driven. You have no orders to submit. You simply post a story about what your character is doing in the thread.

4. And that said, your stories can, in no way, effect the world or other players in some significant way unless approved by the moderator (me). This means your actions can effect the world and players, but not unless such is approved by me, thus included in the update.

5. You can only travel throughout the known world, which means the world that has been explored.

6. We are all mature, sane individuals (uh). When it comes to equipment and what you do, please be reasonable and please do not power-game. The moment you begin to power-game, is the moment you die. No, you cannot find the Uber-Death Sword and conquer the world. You can, however, travel around and interact with various NPCs with the knowledge given to other players so far in this game - thus elaborating on the history, culture, flora, fauna, and all other aspects of what I desire to be a fully breathing fantasy world.

7. In a way, as a character you have a lot of freedom to write about certain aspects of the world - you are basically a 'master of fluff' moreso than a 'master of Ethereal'.

All of this written and read, it is time to look at what you need for a profile to play a character/player.​

Name of Character / Player Name
Race: High Men, Barbarian, High Elf, Dark Elf, Dwarf, Goblin, Halfling, Orc, Gnoll, Beastman - self-explanatory!
Hometown: Where are you from? Please provide a city or castle shown on the map.
Occupation: Do you have a job or specialty? If so, what is it?
Skills: This is going to be simple. See below.
Inventory: What do you currently carry?
Physical Description: What do you look like?
Background: Who are you and why are you adventuring around Ethereal?

For a whole party, I'll allow up to 3 characters from the start. You can either create a profile for all of them, or lump them all into one profile.

As for skills. These are merely descriptive words for people to further understand your character. Your character is at least a little bit special, otherwise he/she wouldn't be going out on the open road. Each character can have 2 special skills. These should be as specific as possible. Don't give me stuff like, "Weapons" - rather, give me, "Sword-fighting" or "Dueling" even. Don't give me something like, "Magic", but rather give me - "Confusion Magic" (even elemental magics are too vague - be more specific). Don't say "Running" but say, "Long-Distance" or "Sprinting". And so on. Remember, these are simply descriptive elements. However, if your stories are good, I'll let you add onto skills. This can either be a new skill entirely, or a +1 to a current skill (Example: Sword-fighting +1). And that's that.

So, even though you can't effect the larger political/expansion workings of Wizards in Ethereal, you can go on your own quests and adventures. Where appropriate, I will supplement such stories. But mostly this is for you to be independent and write about the world of Ethereal.

Multiple-player Parties
I will allow character players to join together to create parties. The advantage of this will be that you will all share experience together in story-telling, and thus you can obtain new skills more quickly. It will also create a more interactive experience. You do not have to stay with your party all the time, either. You can find NPC characters to join a party if you are afraid of interaction with other human beings. They will be rare, though, and will not give you as much experience in your endeavors. But I can't really say. In a way, it really depends on what you do and how you do it.

One last thing: No, you cannot play as a Wizard. To be a magic-using character, it is more appropriate to call yourself a Mage or Sorcerer (or Druid, Necromancer, etc.). In Ethereal, the term 'Wizard' is for the almighty rulers.

That's it!

 

[nutranurse]

Ahhhh, well this expands the world rather nicely. I'd love to see how random forumites screw up the plays of nations. That gives me an idea for a NES....

 

[erez87]

So here is some preliminary stuff about that concept. Taking a break from update-writing and map-making. So many awesome things are happening.

-

Spoiler :

Playing a Character
You may look at the rules and think that Ethereal is soaked in complicated inter-Wizard, kingdom-based intrigue. You are right about that, but such a gameplay style may not be suited for you. Perhaps you are more interested in writing stories about the rich world that Ethereal is, and going through the world with more focused aspirations. For you, playing a single character might be more interesting.

Here are some notes on what you must remember as a character:

1. Everything you do has absolutely zero impact on the statistics or outcomes of events involving kingdoms and their affairs. Even so, players of powerful Wizards should still interact with characters when appropriate.

2. That said, you can still join a kingdom and play within a kingdom or ally yourself with a Wizard. In such an event, you will be nothing more than another character in that realm. You can write about events that are occurring within that realm or battles that kingdom has fought from a soldier's perspective (for example). You cannot, however, as stated in Rule #1, alter the outcome of anything.

3. Playing a character is entirely story-driven. You have no orders to submit. You simply post a story about what your character is doing in the thread.

4. And that said, your stories can, in no way, effect the world in some significant way unless approved by the moderator (me). Even if your stories/actions do effect the world, it will not effect the players of Wizards/kingdoms.

5. You can only travel throughout the known world, which means the world that has been explored. No, you cannot explore for a kingdom (remember: nothing you do can assist a kingdom in its raw statistics and mechanics).

6. We are all mature, sane individuals (uh). When it comes to equipment and what you do, please be reasonable and please do not power-game. The moment you begin to power-game, is the moment you die. No, you cannot find the Uber-Death Sword and conquer the world. You can, however, travel around and interact with various NPCs with the knowledge given to other players so far in this game - thus elaborating on the history, culture, flora, fauna, and all other aspects of what I desire to be a fully breathing fantasy world.

7. In a way, as a character you have a lot of freedom to write about certain aspects of the world - you are basically a 'master of fluff' moreso than a 'master of Ethereal'.

All of this written and read, it is time to look at what you need for a profile to play a character/player.​

Name of Character / Player Name
Race: High Men, Barbarian, High Elf, Dark Elf, Dwarf, Goblin, Halfling, Orc, Gnoll, Beastman - self-explanatory!
Hometown: Where are you from? Please provide a city or castle shown on the map.
Occupation: Do you have a job or specialty? If so, what is it?
Skills: This is going to be simple. See below.
Inventory: What do you currently carry?
Physical Description: What do you look like?
Background: Who are you and why are you adventuring around Ethereal?

As for skills. These are merely descriptive words for people to further understand your character. Your character is at least a little bit special, otherwise he/she wouldn't be going out on the open road. Each character can have 2 special skills. These should be as specific as possible. Don't give me stuff like, "Weapons" - rather, give me, "Sword-fighting" or "Dueling" even. Don't give me something like, "Magic", but rather give me - "Confusion Magic" (even elemental magics are too vague - be more specific). Don't say "Running" but say, "Long-Distance" or "Sprinting". And so on. Remember, these are simply descriptive elements. However, if your stories are good, I'll let you add onto skills. This can either be a new skill entirely, or a +1 to a current skill (Example: Sword-fighting +1). And that's that.

So, even though you can't effect the larger political/expansion workings of Wizards in Ethereal, you can go on your own quests and adventures. Where appropriate, I will supplement such stories. But mostly this is for you to be independent and write about the world of Ethereal.

Parties
I am not going to allow one player to control more than one character. Instead, I will allow character players to join together to create parties. The advantage of this will be that you will all share experience together in story-telling, and thus you can obtain new skills more quickly. It will also create a more interactive experience. You do not have to stay with your party all the time, either. You can find NPC characters to join a party if you are afraid of interaction with other human beings. They will be rare, though, and will not give you as much experience in your endeavors. But I can't really say. In a way, it really depends on what you do and how you do it.

One last thing: No, you cannot play as a Wizard. To be a magic-using character, it is more appropriate to call yourself a Mage or Sorcerer (or Druid, Necromancer, etc.). In Ethereal, the term 'Wizard' is for the almighty rulers.

That's it!

I wants updates!

 

[Northen Wolf]

If you want player characters, allow them to modify events for an example. Powerless story writing is not going to attract much attention IMHO.

 

[thomas.berubeg]

I agree with northen: I think they should be able to affect the game... and possibly screw with players. if you want a good example of how this works, take a look at FFHNES II