I'd prefer age be decently broad. Honestly I wouldn't mind something that stretches from middle school to like postgrad college. Figure if schools are limited, rare, or hard to get to, it'd make sense to consolidate as many as possible into one (plus then grade schoolers can experience the fun of TA's!). Make some thing about how people coming to the school/realizing they can use magic/choosing to learn magic/ability to learn magic ties into puberty or something like that. Then you can have adults who teach younger students as well as ones for the regular graduates who only deal with the really advanced/high level stuff.
Post by Talon somehow locked out?? on Jun 20, 2016 20:40:02 GMT -5
I really don't like the idea of the post-apocalyptic surface world. I feel like we've just created a generic fantasy world instead of a successor site to FFU. I really feel like there needs to be a mundane 'real' world and a fantastic 'wizard' world, with a 'threshold' of some kind. The idea of a literal 'World of Magic' that exists as a pocket (or shadow) universe to our own defines that idea. It doesn't need to be terribly complex with a 'hedge' of a 'mirror' or anything. It's just a literal World of Magic that exists parallel to our own, and sometimes people get drawn into it.
"Fae" are the indigenous species of the World of Magic. Fae sometimes drag humans into their world and turn them into abominations like Vampires and Werewolves. Wizards are humans who came into this world on their own. They may have been wizards before they entered, and magic helped them enter, or they are humans who learned the secrets of the world of magic without becoming 'abominations.' Good Fae live among them and enjoy their company, and Bad Fae actively seek to destroy these invaders, and use their abominations to repel them.
So instead of having to learn the lore of this huge fantasy world and coming up with how your family and you fit into this post-apocalyptic world, you could be a bloke from Liverpool who had a bad trip and wound up in Magic World, and have been accepted to Magic School. Or maybe you're a fantasy writer who got really involved in your stories, or you're an occultist of sorts, etc. etc. The possibilities are endless.
I didn't mean a whole post-apocalyptic world, really. I figured a generic world with a small pocket that is what we have. The setting just would have been at the center of some battle, and so that particular area had issues. Just like a no-man's land leftover from battles. The only purpose was really to create a boundary/barrier. Could just be a place that space gets all wonky and it's impossible to find your way through unless you know how to or have some guide tool, or being brought there in some way. The only real divergence I'd like to see is that magic is there really, but otherwise it hasn't really impacted the main world unless we want it to or need it for canon purposes. I'd rather our lore really just affect our setting primarily and the world only as needed, not reinvent the wheel and create a whole new world and history. Makes things simpler for people coming in and more accessible.
Post by Amira Raines on Jun 21, 2016 1:06:41 GMT -5
Okay, so. I did a thing and it's probably stupid, I dunno. I kind of took from everyone's ideas and made a map of sorts. A terrible map, really, that I made in paint. Maybe it's mostly how I see how this is going, I dunno, but I kidnapped Australia because that's what I picture.
So, obviously, we have FFU on one side of this floating island. I made it kind of big and I'll explain why in just a second. Teagan was concerned about fresh water and stuff? I was thinking maybe have like a never ending waterfall or a pond or a lake of some kind? They could have some sort of magic underground plumbing system. Also, I put on there student apartments. I think it would be cool to be able to either have an apartment by yourself or with a friend. I put general population apartments on there as well as actual houses. Or, instead of Gen. Pop. apartments, we could have a city infirmary. I think that's pretty necessary.
I like the quest idea and I think it would be cool to put quests on a board inside the bar, or just outside of it. I like having shops because that kind of adds need for quests. Maybe Teagan, the bookstore owner and user of conjuration, has knowledge of a very valuable book that is rumored to hold spells to summon some sort of hell demon. This particular area could be very protected, so she needs someone who practices abjuration to go with her to help lower the defenses. We could do a trade system type thing. Teagan needs Amira, the abjuration partner, to assist and offers a book on elemental magic or something that Amira wants in exchange.
Jacob, Tim, and Mo were talking about the evil Fae, so I made an evil forest. I like everything that you guys have written on the Fae. The ones that disagree should definitely be away from the wizarding people. If any of them tried to attack, especially in the city where everyone knows magic, they'd be dead. It doesn't even have to be a forest. It could just be a line of trees and older building behind those trees or something.
So I kind of made a layout for the University itself (the arrows on top are flags; it's a castle). I was thinking five buildings (also, I like the D&D magic schools idea). On the outer edge of island is the abjuration building. Since abjuration are "protective spells. They create physical or magical barriers, negate magical or physical abilities, harm trespassers, or even banish the subject of the spell to another plane of existence." The Professor of Abjuration could be the one that just keeps a watchful eye on the barrier in case it comes down or something, while training his/her students. Another building could be the Conjuration/Divination Building. A third could be the Enchantment/Illusion Building. The fourth could be the Evocation/Transmutation building. The fifth could be a cafeteria, either for just the students or maybe for the residents not attending school as well.
You may have noticed that I left out Necromancy. Going back to literally every piece of literature ever, when people try to someone back to life, they never turn out quite right. They're missing part of their soul, or they try to kill the person they love. It always results in the moral of the story being "The dead should stay dead". Based off of that, I think that it would take incredible, incredible talent and skill and practice to bring someone back to life perfectly. Maybe FFU abandoned the training of necromancy because it just got too hard to bear, bringing all these people back, killing them/letting them live a meaningless life, only to do it again. There's only like one person who continued the challenge of perfecting necromancy and if they want training, students have to go to this particular person without any attachment to the school. Just a thought.
I like the idea of middle school aged students and up. Maybe specializing in one, then going back to school and learning another type of magic just to add to your experience. Maybe they just want to learn three and be an expert at those three, and then stop and take on some sort of job using all three of those magics?
After writing this, it would also make a ton of sense (maybe a lot more, actually) to move the cafeteria to the city a little bit, so everyone could eat. I like maps, they help keep me organized.
EDIT: I am so sorry these pictures are so small! I tried.
Last Edit: Jun 21, 2016 1:08:08 GMT -5 by Amira Raines
I do kinda like where Protege is going with the surface world kinda thing. What I was imagining is that, when on our floating island, we are good and relatively safe. We have our land to frolick around on, our forest to play in, our improbably lakes to splash in. But we are still only on an island in a world of magic that is not our own. Most people don't leave the island, due to knowing that there is no known way back to the "Real" world. Even more to the point, if they leave the island, the only place they have to go is hostile, inconsistent alien wilderness filled with fae. I kinda wanna create some parts of this wilderness, especially if part of the way new people arrive at the island is by escaping the fae or by accidentally finding their way into magical Faerie and getting picked up by humans before they are caught by the fair folk and subjected to their whims and likely eventually turned into abominations.
Also, another note from Morgan's thing- I like the idea of steampunk-ish technology being available to those in the city who don't do magic or are bad at it. Gunna bring up final fantasy IX again as my basic point of comparison, but also make the note that I'd like traditional modern technology to go haywire and cease properly functioning the moment someone enters Faerie.
Houses: Like I said, I do like the idea of the chinese elements for the foundation of houses, so I just did some basic wiki research and have qualities/emotions typically associated with each house. If we did that, the next step would be to put a name to each one. 1) Wood: idealism, spontaneity, curiosity 2) Fire: passion, intensity 3) Earth: agreeableness, honesty 4) Metal: intuition, rationality, mind 5) Water: erudition, resourcefulness, wit Leaning towards House Muryllis for either Metal or water, with house Roeswood for the other (or for wood, cuz wood). Then Windwaltz for Fire and Halifirien for Earth. Still would need one more for this.
Amira: I do like that we are already making a map, though my biggest problem right now is primarily a concern of scale. Other time can be spent nitpicking precise placement of features, but right now that one is the big thing. I didn't really picture the entire island to be taken up by mostly the university and the city, since then we don't have nearly as much margin to create new boards or flesh out the terrain of our city. Basically, while an entire continent in the more traditional sense for us might be a bit large, I think in my mind our floating island would have been at least the size of a small to medium sized state. Also, I think I was a fan of the idea of the academy being in the center of the city, with the city having been built up around it over time and expanded as more people arrived and the population grew.
One other thing. I saw the name Avalon mentioned. What do people think of it? Other possibilities that I think I have also been throwing around were Atlantis and Arcadia.
Post by TEAGAN TEAGAN TEAGAN TEAGAN TE on Jun 21, 2016 7:04:13 GMT -5
Having a muggle world separated from the magical world with differences in the passage of time could explain all of the anachronisms. Players could pick any era they wanted their characters to originate from, too.
I still like the idea of having had a major magical war down on the surface that made the area corrupt with wild magic. It adds chaos that we can bring into the story whenever we want, and it would be easy to have villains come from there. The fae politics seems like it may make things complicated, and I think leaving the surface world as a place of post-war magic nastiness leaves it open enough for writers to come in and create whatever political or resource struggles or battles for power they want.
I also agree with Amira to allow ages in junior high on up. We could do younger kids, but I suppose they would just get eaten right away anyhow. Having characters as young as in junior high allows us to have weak characters with a lot of potential. Not every character can be a powerhouse or a mature or experienced individual. There have to be victims that get preyed on by the predators and those who are naive and have no experience with anything or who do stupid things.
Mira-chan.... I can't believe you kidnapped Australia. Who even does that? The images get big when we click on them. Don't worry. The city and school plans are a good start. We could make the school itself (I assume we're going with a school instead of guilds or something instead) a little more quirky when the time comes. We could have some rooms deep underground or even stack them up into a windy twisted tower or something. Since space will be so limited on this floating land, the people living there will have to move and act conservatively while building and designing things. Buildings won't be as stretched out here as they are in most of the US. All of them may characteristically have basements or several floors or something. Rather than merely a school, if we go with the island plan, we'll probably have to coordinate the whole civilization there.
Leaving out the necromancy from the school is probably a good thing. Haha. With such a relatively small population, they can't afford to lose anyone to the experiments and practice needed for that. Speaking of which, how shall they deal with criminals? Throw them over the edge (literally)?
I think a points system would still be helpful for characters as they develop and grow. That way, we don't have randomly strong Mary Sues and can pace everyone reasonably. When a writer is ready to move a character up a level in a type of field, then he/she can pay whatever points are required.
EDIT: I think Muryllis should be metal. The character was all about rationality and logic. I don't have time to think of anything else right now, but doing houses based on personality themes like that rather than the study of elementalism should work. Any of those names should work for the island.
Now that we have a rough idea of the setting, I suppose we ought to determine what sorts of magical creatures/people/beings we want to go with. I personally like the idea of having monsters evolve into higher-ranking monsters after earning enough points for an evolution and meeting any other requirements, which would be specified by the writer. Instead of just having them evolve straight from goblin to hobgoblin to ogre or whatever, I think they should be able to evolve into different variations depending on what the writers choose. It would be fine if the writer came up with their own evolution trail and submitted it for approval. If it's like this, then we could have fledgling vampires that are stronger than standard humans and bite to drink blood but have no special abilities. They could become mature vampires, who are much stronger than humans in physical strength and possess a hypnotic effect to lure in their prey. They could then become true vampires, succubi/incubi, stinky nosferatu, or whatever. A zombie could become a mummy, lich, etc. We could do the same thing with lycans, faeries, dragons, arachne, etc. After the writer dishes out the points to level up their beastie, the character could sleep and then wake up in a new form with lots of aches and growing pains and hunger.
We could have true fae or pureblooded fae like Mo suggested and then have a ton of impure fae that was turned into monsters by fae magic or weird experiments or biting or whatever. I really like the idea of corrupting humans and turning them into monsters.
Also, what are we going to refer to the humans as? As humans, witches, wizards, magicians, mages, what?
Last Edit: Jun 21, 2016 7:09:51 GMT -5 by TEAGAN TEAGAN TEAGAN TEAGAN TE: Az posted ahead of me while I was fighting with my scanner.
Post by Shadow Clearwater on Jun 21, 2016 7:50:02 GMT -5
I don't know if I'm allowed to throw in a few verbal cents here.. so backhand me away if necessary.
Whilst I love the idea of this floating island, á la Asgard, I agree that some grounding in reality makes sites much easier to fall into. That was always what I felt was the core value of FFU; that you could be the average joe you wanted to be regardless of time/place. I'm a fan of bringing the fantasy element into a more technologically aware timeframe, but of having it be not entirely capable. It's no fun if people are wishing up OP spells and tech to do whatever the want, boundaries have to be in place. My favourite part of having this floating city is that perhaps there could be a medina of sorts beneath it; perhaps old tunnels and labyrinths converted into the poorer living quarters, built directly into the rock formations (or however it floats). In that sense for what Tim was suggesting, if you had the academy at the center, it would gradually build a divide between the wealth of the city and those living on the edges of the wilderness and those slumming beneath it. I also feel that this would allow for an exploration of creatures which could be super interesting? If you're thinking more final fantasy, creatures affected by mutations even those man-created and perhaps half mechanical would be f u h n. I guess my main rambling point is that I'd like to see it founded from a specific time period of real world before engaging characters in the consequences of what happens when two realms collide. Perhaps yes it has benefited them academically, but how has it affected the other aspects of life (the only comparison I can think of is FFVII and the stigma) with more problemativ outcomes.
Last Edit: Jun 21, 2016 7:51:20 GMT -5 by Shadow Clearwater: I probably haven't contributed anything at all because I definiely got distracted and forgot what I was typing.
Post by PMan the Draftsman on Jun 21, 2016 10:04:23 GMT -5
At work so I've skimmed some of this, but my quick thoughts on things:
Time period: I'd rather draw from one set time period, just to make things simpler and avoid the complications that can bring. If we do that and we get a Nazi wizard, from now on no one is allowed to make the joke "I did Nazi that coming". But yeah. Put in time travel and we'll end up with a plot where the Third Reich is on our doorstep.
Technology: I support a no electronics kind of thing. Technomacy would just get way complicated. Plus all the usual mechanical issues of steampunk tomfoolery can be explained with magic.
Don't have the time right at the moment to properly reply to this but to sum up-
Yes, awesome, not a big DnD fan personally but like the idea of expanding intoa bigger universe.
miss and <3 all of you!!!
Are you, are you Coming to the tree Where I told you to run, so we'd both be free? Strange things did happen here No stranger would it seem If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.
Only a thing while on mah phone at work, but the next thing I intended was to make a thread about creatures and stuff, which I'll be doing when I get home.
Post by Talon Windwaltz on Jun 21, 2016 11:11:56 GMT -5
Okay so -
I still cannot get behind post-apocalyptic surface, mostly because I don't like the idea of a super magical war on the surface. Tim's idea of the surface being the Fae Wilderness, the alien landscapes of the indigenous life to this realm, is where my vote goes. And the island being called Avalon works. Charli (Shadow) and I had a discussion in which she ended up saying what I'm trying to get across pretty eloquently:
"The focus shouldn't be on having a complicated setting, but rather the complications that arise from magic meeting mundane."
I feel like the 'crossing the threshold' should be an important part of the character, whether that is an abomination (like a Vampire or a Lycan) being stolen by the Fae and twisted into a monster, or a wizard who somehow crossed the threshold after discovering magic. Two character ideas that give you a glimpse of what I'm looking at -
-Romulus, the "14 year old vampire," was an American teenager named Nathan Prince. He had an abusive family life, and decided to run away from home. One night while he was sleeping under a bridge, a Fae appeared and pulled him across the threshold into Avalon, where she twisted him into a vampire. Romulus was a blood-controlled servant of the Fae, mindless and ravenous, and he was sent out along with two other Vampires - Israfel and Solus - to lead an army of vampires against Avalon. The war lasted a year, and ended when Agiel Firefox sacrificed his life to repel the vampires for good. The vampires, after a year of being away from their Fae masters, finally managed to return to some semblance of sanity. They still need to feed, but they are their own masters now, and probably still live on the island in order to stay away from their Fae masters while having steady amounts of blood.
-Leon Foster was a normal American kid growing up in suburban Massachusetts with his dad, his mom, and his sister. In high school, he joined the school baseball team. One day, he continued to miraculously hit home run after home run, and on his final home run, the game ended based on 'mercy rules.' Leon himself ran to go grab his ball, and ran, and ran, and ran...and ran...and by the time he realized he was no longer in suburban Massachusetts - or even the real world - he didn't know how to get home. As background, I like to imagine that his father (Gideon Foster) was somehow a wizard from Avalon who managed to escape back into the real world or was booted out.
I think those exemplify what I'm going for - the 'threshold' of the two worlds, and how most characters probably have an 'origin story' for how they wound up here. There's no reason somebody can't be born in Avalon to two wizard (witch?) parents, but the appeal is in 'mundane meeting magic.' The Fae, being native to this bizarre world, are inscrutable and the primary antagonists.
I also LOVE the idea of time being irrelevant. So you could have a character from the modern day, or from the middle ages, or the industrial revolution, or the Roman Empire, just accidentally wander over the threshold into this one time period in Avalon. But I think it's definitely super important that we limit it to time periods that have already occurred, because while Buck Rogers from the 25th century would be funny, it would just cause confusion. It should be emphasized that, theoretically, people from the future COULD cross the threshold, but that they just...don't. Because the chances of people crossing the threshold at all are pretty rare. (Rare in the sense that there have been almost 10,000,000,000 people alive in our world's history and we'll probably have about like 100,000 wizards TOPS in Avalon at any given time.)
EDIT: Forgot creatures.
My vote is just for - VAMPIRE - humans twisted into blood-sucking monsters, bound by their ravenous hunger to their Fae masters like starving dogs. After a time away from the Fae, they can begin to feed on their own terms, and ultimately return to some semblance of sanity. LYCAN - humans twisted into ferocious, savage man-beasts. Their Fae masters control their transformations, forcing them into human form or wolf form at their own will. After a time away from the Fae, a Lycan learn to control his or her own transformations, and therefore try and integrate into society. They naturally feel a pull towards the wild, and acting on impulse and instinct. FAE - The true, inscrutable Fae are probably best left for being NPCs. However, I see no reason there can't be other creatures such as Goblins Selkies Pixies And so on, which may have once been humans (or animals) cursed by the Fae or descended from humans cursed by the Fae.
EDIT 2: Forgot Houses.
My vote is for - 1) Wood: idealism, spontaneity, curiosity - House Cobalt/Pendragon?? 2) Fire: passion, intensity - House Windwaltz 3) Earth: agreeableness, honesty - House Halifirien 4) Metal: intuition, rationality, mind - House Muryllis 5) Water: erudition, resourcefulness, wit - House Marina (Not Roeswood, and also Super Magic Water)
EDIT 3: I'd like to explain my thoughts above. Windwaltz, Halifirien, and Muryllis all make sense. I want to change Roeswood to Marina because of the water connotations. I also chose Marina because while Marina represents those three qualities, she's also Super Magic Water.
I wanted to name the final house, "House Jeremiah" but Azrael was hardly idealistic, spontaneous, or curious. If anything, he's an argument for Water or Metal as well. House Jeremiah might be a fallen 'sixth' house that is based on Necromancy. I then thought 'House Rainier' for Ashelle, because she was certainly idealistic, spontaneous, and curious, but Rainier is an actual name and also a mountain in Washington and not really magical at all. 'O'Conner' is similarly not very mystical. "Ashelle" itself isn't even a very mystical name. Then there's also Genero, for Felix.
I then thought Orca (House Orca, House Call?) because he also emphasized those qualities. But 'House Orca' just sounds like a house named after a whale and not very mystical. I ultimately decided on Sparky because I felt that deserved being honored and I felt like those qualities fit him. Alternatively, we could go with 'Pendragon' for Morgan, IF Morgan thinks those traits emphasize Morgan (she, too, I feel best fits Metal, Water, or Earth.)
Post by Pman the Lunch Man on Jun 21, 2016 12:21:22 GMT -5
I don't see a post apocalyptic surface. I see something more like this:
School of magic set in some remote area. Infighting or early experiments gone wrong. Now a massive chunk of land has some weird taint on it damaging the land. The main area is fine cause the wizards could keep it from spreading in. But they can't reach far enough to keep it from spreading out. So it's like old fashioned gangrene treatment:amputate the affected section. They still need wizards to contain it and monitor it though so the community at the center has survived and grown. As for how they get there, maybe some find it on their own. Maybe some are pulled by the Wizarding council or whatever because they feel they will be useful. Maybe some were pulled by an unknown force with unknown motivations. And the whole incident/chunk of land missing gets written off as a meteor strike or something.
If we do allow variable times, will we just assume there is some magic that makes everyone speak English? Would it be possible for someone to speak a foreign language is they wanted then?
Teagan Offline: This board is full of nostalgia.
Aug 22, 2020 8:39:09 GMT -5
Missing the old MH: gotta say missing when MH and all that was around.
Nov 6, 2019 0:02:30 GMT -5
Willow_lazy: why tf are there 400 posts about adidas
Sept 6, 2018 17:35:57 GMT -5
Azrael: I'm not hard to find, since I'm the only one there who goes by "Azzy", I'm pretty sure. XD
Feb 10, 2018 16:44:41 GMT -5
Azrael: Dunno if anyone still pops by here from time to time, but if any of you mofos do and still feel like gettin' yo nerd on, I've been hanging around this here place a bunch recently: www.roleplayerguild.com/
Feb 10, 2018 16:44:10 GMT -5
Azrael: hold onto your pantaloons
Jul 25, 2016 5:16:43 GMT -5