OOC by Cetherons beard!

[Adder]

I have a slightly different take on the Realmcrafting that you may have been familiar with under Soldier. Under the current moderation system there are two new and different areas where players are now entrusted to publicly provide input into Zerdargia; Realmcrafting and Storytelling. OK, so here is where the difference comes in; in the Centripax Realmcraft forum you will now find two different types of threads

Zerdargia [Realmcraft] General/ development
Zerdargia [Storytelling] General/ special

There will always be a general Realmcraft and storytelling thread running, but there may be additional ones where we are working on special developments or plotlines that deserve their own threads. An example of this could be

Zerdargia [Realmcraft] Veldar

I expect all players who are running a PC or a peer mod here to go and read these threads now and again, and I will typically link them in my signature line so its easy to see what is current. I don’t expect everyone to take an active part in threads but there is an almost unlimited amount of development work we can do to push forward the city, so your input will be appreciated. I might ignore it, but I will appreciate it.

I know that at the moment everything is on hold because of the war, but that up till now it has ebbed and flowed, which is the nature of these province wide plots. If we look at Malice as an example, then I don’t want us bogged down in a war that ties everyone down for seasons and means that nothing else happens.

On the other hand, until the war is completed then it’s a bit hard to be sure exactly what and who is going to survive the fighting so we need to careful not to waste our time. However, I think there is a lot of background work that we can do and there is a lot of knowledge and ideas locked up in the minds of the players here, so get over to the threads I’ve linked above and start contributing!


For those not entirely sure of the distinction between Realmcrafting and storytelling, what I want to see is simply, all ideas about locations and anything else physical or cultural about the city to be developed in the Realmcraft. Anything to do with plots, threads, modding etc to be in the storytelling.

You will see that in the Realmcraft thread, the first thing I want to develop are some descriptions about Zerdargia and its culture. It’s the sort of information that someone who comes to run a peer mod, or perhaps a new player needs to know – what’s the feel of the place, who are the Veldar and what is their role in the city – that sort of thing. I want to produce a general background sticky that in a page or so summarises the key facts about the city. Also in the Realmcrafting thread will be posted any new locations or ideas about adapting or updating existing locations.

In the storytelling thread, I expect to see details of any plots that you like to see. If you don’t want the outcomes to be public then you can PM me those but I still want to see the post there establishing that you want to run the plot or thread. Posts into self modded locations or where PCs control the location and so will peer mod you, do not and should not be posted into the Storytelling thread unless you want something really unusual. To be clear, the storytelling is merely to ask for a plot, suggest a plot, develop it into something interesting and to get approval for it. That is ALL ooc. The entire plot needs to be then developed IC in all its gory detail, no matter how much is repeating the Storytelling plot.

I’ll borrow Mystics and Soldiers points here:

Be creative. Help me help you. Come up with some wicked plots that we can all discuss and make work. I'm a pretty open guy who enjoys PC developement. I will not break the history of the city (go against it's structure), but beyond that - show me your imagination.

Have Fun! If a plot doesn't turn out the way you expected it to ... Have Fun. If you run in an election and lose ... Have Fun. If you buy or make a store and lose money ... Have Fun. Find another PC to RP with ... and Have Fun. This is a GAME. The purpose of a game is to ... Have Fun. If your favorite magic item finally shows it's flaw ... Have Fun. If you lose a fight ... Have Fun. Roleplaying is about interaction with fellow roleplayers, not always getting your way so RP with everyone in Zerdargia and ... Have Fun. I hope you are understanding the beliefs in Zerdargia ... Have Fun, Have Fun, Have Fun

No one is to peer mod unless I know about it. If training or modding a shop, just a simple post in there explaining that you are peer-modding will suffice. Any adventures set up without telling me will be deleted.

[Adder]

I have now posted up a new realmcrafting thread -
Zerdargai [City Profile] Discussion

I am creating a new codex for the city and it will form the main background document for the city where you can find descriptions about the city, its locations, what it trades and so forth.

I welcome your input into the above thread and I will use it to shape and update the look and feel of the city.

[Adder]

Okies I have renamed the thread and this will now be the general OOC thread for the city, so feel free to post into here with comments and questions.

Note that I have been playing with the building descriptions in the Codex, and I'd like to develop a look that will be unique for the city and make it much more obviously a dwarfen city. No problems with all you non-dwarfen PCs out there, but I want the city to have an in your face dwarfen look to it.

This will extend to the location threads which will as they are rewritten and refreshed have some description changed or added so that it fits with the overall feel of the city. So its important before that happens to ensure that we get the actual look right.

So, please have a look here and see what you think. If you have comments, can you post them here so that we keep realmcrafting in the appropriate place.

Thanks

[Adder]

I'm going to stop annoying Soldier by changing his city while he is away and go and play with my own. I'll be here to continue with the threads that I am currently running until Soldier takes them back. Its been fun working with you guys (I think there are only guys here - where are all the women!) and I look forward to continuing to do so for a while yet, so you aren't rid of me that easily!

Basks in the glow of his new siggie - and wonders if there will ever be any PCs in his new city

[Adder]

Okies, we are finally at the point where the real action is going to start. Up till now the defence forces within the city have not fought directly against the attacking PCs. This is likely to change very very soon.

Some of the PCs have been given acting rank. I expect those PCs to actually use that rank and command the forces that they have been given and that means that I expect to read about what their NPCs are doing. Some I have already thanks, but its going to become cruical.

Put very simply, whether or not Zerdargia ends up as a smoking ruin or not is going to depend on how well you roleplay this out

Currently the forces are split with mainly the 'guests' on the walls and they will continue to be busy there. Most of the resident PCs are going to be caught up in the fight for the shadow gate, and once the undead start pouring through it, some of them are going to survive the fall and will then be hunting you!

All PCs will have NPCs to control, but this will be down to the sergeants to distribute. The sergeants are in charge of their squads which include some PCs, and the PCs should be given charge of NPCs by the sergeants. The sergeants jobs are to make sure that everybody gets into the fight in the most appropriate manner.

My job will be to moderate how well you fight and not to be involved in the fighting itself. Be warned - if the enemy RP better than you then you are going to take casualties, let me rephrase that, you are going to take more casualties. Too many or if it gets out of hand then they are going to force you back.

Have fun! Don't be afraid to ask questions!

[Darius]

This sounds like a lot of fun... *insert slightly crazy grin*
A question: You said if the enemy RP better then we will take greater casualties. Presumably that means we going head to head with the "dark" PCs on the other side. How direct is this confrontation going to be, NPC vs NPC (controlled by PCs) and PC vs NPC, or NPC vs PC, NPC vs NPC, and PC vs PC? Or is this not really discided yet?

Now I'm wondering if my question makes sense...since its now the very early morning for me. Well, answer if you dare. =)

[Adder]

Well, since I don't know how the battle is going to go I can't be too precise about the answer. A couple of things that will influence the battle is that the 'dark' PCs tend to be arcane users while the 'good' PCs are not. So direct confrontation, one on one is going to be a little unusual, but certainly not impossible and if Avanthar were to step through the Shadow Gate right now then he would be face to face with some of the defending PCs.

My intention, especially for the members of the Veldar is that they will control NPCs. As I noted there will be a hierarchy of command with the players with PCs acting as sergeants having more responsiblity. There are however more than enough NPCs to go round and I do NOT intend to have to play them all myself. I intend to spend my time moderating and deciding what the results of the actions are, I don't intend to have to do more of the actions than I can get away with.

And just to be clear again, I don't know what the end result of the battle will be. And if anyone assumes that Zerdargia will win just because I am GMing here, then I suggest you look again at my siggie

Some of the actions that I will be forced to do will be cover the NPC mages (but if someone with experience wishes to volunteer then let me know as we have several Masters that need to play a key part in the defence). In addition Coulter will no doubt be delighted to know that the citizens of the city will also take part if the enemy get into the city and again this will need to be NPCed.

Finally, if any of the dwarf PCs or anyone who would like to NPC a dwarf and are prepared to go on a side adventure (bear in mind if you use your PC then they will miss the fight for Zerdargia, but I might allow you to NPC there) then PM me as I have something that I need to get set up, and its something that no dwarf would willingly miss.

[Adder]

The damage caused by the CoF attack on the city are as follows. This is so that you have some idea what is going on, and why some of the gate threads are impacted to a greater degree than others.

The CoF entered the city by the East gate and entered the residential district there where the gate is located. This means that with the main fighting being to the south of the city, the CoF are in the South and East of the city.

Residential district. This takes the main hit from the CoF attack
Compound. This being central to the city also takes a major blow from the CoF assualt.
Main Shadow gate. This is protected by Duncan
Church. Protected in part by Father Mikah.
City Wall. These forces are between a rock and a hard place since they are getting impacted from both CoF assaults. How well they survive will depend on Dhwae.

[Adder]

Okies, as you may have noticed, Soldiers account is now active again. Therefore I am stopping modding the war threads so that he has chance to catch up with where we have got to, and so that I don't cause any more damage to the city.

[Adder]

Hmmm, well as you may have noticed, I'm modding again, but apologies in advance for the short and slow posting, but I've got quite a backlog of threads to catch up on.

[Veleraen]

Just curious as to whether or not me and Norin are going to finish the Murder in the Streets thread and the Zerdargia Shadow Gate thread with you Adder. Just checkin' in to see if you're still in Zerd thanks.

~Vel

[Adder]

Its a good question. The answer is yes. I've got behind on posts and these are approaching the top of the list. Now all the war threads are on hold waiting for the Church Army post into the wilderness - just because last time it had such an impact.

[Veleraen]

I believe the church has posted in the wilderness thread now, as most of their forces have been decimated by their own attack. They're charging the lines with whatever remains of their forces I believe from what I have read.

Still waiting on your reply's. Thanks.

~Vel

[Adder]

<nods> I intend to post into Zerd this weekend.

[Adder]

Apologies to those who are still waiting for my posting but I am catching up slowly and expect to be back to normal posting soon.

You may also have noticed that Soldier is no longer modding Zerdargia. So now it's my aim to resolve the war as soon as is practicable so that the city can move on. Now there are a number of potential end games to the war and some of them lead to quite interesting and intriguing opportunities. So don't make any assumptions as to how the war will end but I am open to suggestions of where we go from here.