Getting Underway

[devlin1]

So thanks, fellas, for turning out today. Hopefully nothing we talked about was too disorienting or difficult to "get"; like I said today, there's a lot of rather unusual conceptual stuff around which one must wrap one's head, but once one does, one gets used to it.

Let's take the next few weeks to iron out the wrinkles so that the next time we get together, we can pretty much get right into it. I'm happy and eager to help any of you with anything, and I'm especially looking forward to working out the details of your characters' backgrounds and personalities-- and names. While you're welcome to come up with Chinese names (if you don't know it already, check out http://www.gaminggeeks.org/Resources/Ka ... /index.htm), it'd be cool to have some descriptive English names in there, too. I have a couple ideas (below), but these are your characters and I'm not going to tell you what to call them. I just like coming up with names for these kinds of characters, because they're usually so off-the-wall. The given names, anyway. The last names are pretty ordinary, I guess, by Chinese standards.

But anyway.

Albert, I'll keep reading up on the Secret Arts of Intrigue to avoid any further confusion. I like the direction your background's going with the whole brother thing, and the frustration and resentment a courtier might easily feel about being used by someone else as a political tool. So let's flesh that out further. Since your character is so well-spoken and eloquent, I thought a good name for him might be something along the lines of Sword Poet. It just sounds very... I dunno. Respectable.

Sam, I think figuring out your guy's origins (if you haven't already) will fill in a lot of the other blanks. I like his speed and flashy fighting style. What if he's a reformed (or at least former) bandit? This could even have something to do with his "family curse." Reforming could be his attempt to atone for some past misdeeds (his or his forebears') that brought this misfortune on him. Maybe gaining status in the Wulin will please Heaven and convince the gods to remove this curse. If you had this background, you might want to think about spending a few Destiny on Friends or Information Broker, to represent some former associates.

Jake, I keep wanting to call your guy something like "Contemplative" or "Thoughtful." Or "Sagacious," but that's a just a little close to Sagacious Zu from Jade Empire. Actually, your character has a few things in common with Zu, now that I think about it, but whatever. Conceptually, your guy's pretty well-defined, but look at what else you can do with the Destiny you have left-- I know you're going to take a look at the various Loresheets, which is good, and think about a possible clan Affiliation, or maybe a point or two of Status within a clan, so we can easily associate you with one of these two clans and, by extension, the other PCs.

And both of you-- Jake and Sam-- I had a kind of wacky idea for you two based on the practice combat we ran tonight. Your characters are such opposites in every way: fast vs. slow, artful vs. brutal, even block vs. dodge (and if you like the reformed bandit idea, Sam, bandit vs. monk). Think about the possibility of being friendly rivals. I think there's a lot of fun to be had there.

Andy, your guy's named and your Destiny's spent, so that's all good. I know you were already working through background ideas tonight, and you've got that secret society thing going on, so... good. We'll keep reading on the Daoist Magic stuff so we can make good use of it ASAP in the game. That's it for now, I guess. That's what you get for being ahead: neglect.

The more you guys give me in terms of background, the more I can tailor things to fit your characters (i.e., make each character look cool). But you're all experienced gamers, so you know that already.

[jimmy corrigan]

so how's about this: golden tongue blade. "golden" reflects one of my favored chi, "tongue" for my ability to disparage or otherwise manipulate opponents with my words, and "blade" for, well, you know. i like it. what do you think?

[devlin1]

[quote="jimmy corrigan"]so how's about this: [i]golden tongue blade.[/i] "golden" reflects one of my favored chi, "tongue" for my ability to disparage or otherwise manipulate opponents with my words, and "blade" for, well, you know. i like it. what do you think?[/quote]
I'm down. Very appropriate. Golden Tongue Blade it is.

[J@ke]

I’ve been thinking about my guy the last couple of days and I was thinking of something like the name Stone Something or Something Stone. I’d like to emphasize the dichotomy of his nature. OK, tell me if this is too corny! I was thinking instead of a stone column maybe he could use a log. It sounds stupid as I’m typing this but in my head it looks real cool. I like the image of him holding up this log to block a bunch of incoming arrows. Or one of those chain/dagger things and having it bust though the log and stop a fraction of an inch from my face. I was thinking the stats would be slightly different then the column, maybe –5 speed instead of –10 and then 5 less in strike or attack or whatever the third score is called! Another cool thing is he could either walk around with the thing over his shoulder or bust up a tree and make himself a new one each time. That and I might like to be able to talk to birds.

[devlin1]

[quote="J@ke"]I’ve been thinking about my guy the last couple of days and I was thinking of something like the name Stone Something or Something Stone. I’d like to emphasize the dichotomy of his nature. OK, tell me if this is too corny! I was thinking instead of a stone column maybe he could use a log. It sounds stupid as I’m typing this but in my head it looks real cool. I like the image of him holding up this log to block a bunch of incoming arrows. Or one of those chain/dagger things and having it bust though the log and stop a fraction of an inch from my face. I was thinking the stats would be slightly different then the column, maybe –5 speed instead of –10 and then 5 less in strike or attack or whatever the third score is called! Another cool thing is he could either walk around with the thing over his shoulder or bust up a tree and make himself a new one each time. That and I might like to be able to talk to birds.[/quote]
Well, there is that Animal Speech talent.



There are stats for a Big Club, but it sounds like you really want a wooden version of the Stone Column, which is cool. Maybe make it -10/+10/+15. It's already a Note 10 weapon, which means it's big enough that you can use it to block projectiles. I'll make sure plenty of arrows, daggers, and chain swords are aimed in your direction.



Good stuff.

[jimmy corrigan]

[quote="J@ke"]... Another cool thing is he could either walk around with the thing over his shoulder or bust up a tree and make himself a new one each time. That and I might like to be able to talk to birds.[/quote]birds be all: "dude! wtf! why you be tearin' up my crib and shit?"

[devlin1]

Good point. If I were the kinda guy who routinely ripped down trees to use as weapons, I'm not sure I'd want to understand animals.

I do really like the idea of Jake's guy walking around, sans weapon (maybe an ordinary staff?), and just grabbing a handy tree/column/whatever as the mood strikes him. Read about those Kung Fu Marvels, or the section on breaking things. Those style rolls will be pretty important for us, I think.