[Mage Blade] Let's Play a Game...

[MacLeod]

Michael? =)

Yeah, hey, whatever works for you, guy! I'm interested in the next phase of this thing.

[Lance D. Allen]

Yeah, color me red. I hit reply, and I was like okay.. Michael wasn't it? Michael Miller? That sounds right. When I reviewed it after hitting Post, I realized I messed it up. There IS a Michael Miller running around the Forge, though.

But yes, I think we've got enough to go on to finish this phase.

So we've got:
- Marry my Girlfriend
- Eating the Sun
- Rule the orcish empire
- Find out how <group> is connected to Leviathan

Part 2 of phase 1 is to pick one. Which one sounds the most intriguing? Anyone can chime in here, not just the people who made the suggestions.

[telperion]

Uncover the secrets of never ending youth to bolster your strength as high priest of Thetyr-Gypt Gundtken.

[telperion]

Or how about ... Uncover the secrets of never ending youth to grow political prowess.... Better?

[Lance D. Allen]

Tel (if I can call ya Tel)

Sounds good. I'd suggest one small adaptation, though.

Uncover the secrets of never ending youth.

Leave the why to be determined individually for each character, during play.

Any votes for which of these 5 we'd like to use for further exploration?

[DWeird]

"Marry the sun-goddess of the orcish empire, then eat her"?

[telperion]

I'm leaning towards rule the orcish empire or uncover the secrets of never ending youth...

[MacLeod]

Unashamedly, I vote for the one I suggested. =)
That theme is what interests me the most right now.

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Lance,

I'd rather not vote, but simply have you pick, influenced by votes so far as you see fit.

Best, Ron

[Lance D. Allen]

Ron,

I was basically certain you were going to do that.

For the record, the 'vote' stage of this isn't a hardcoded part of the system that's being tested. At the table, the group should just toss around some ideas and pick one by consensus that everyone likes. Given that this exercise is less intimate, and there's less context into which to insert your ideas for Endgame Goal, we're putting forward ideas, discussing them, then "voting".

I've been reading as the last several posts were made, but I decided to hold out until I got off work (i.e. now) to reply, as I sometimes have a tendency to over-respond.

So, looking at the votes, we've got one each for the orcish empire, never ending youth, and secret organization of Leviathan.. Then a mish-mash of three different ones.

My selection is going to be the orcish empire, based on the fact that it's the one that was voted for by someone other than the guy who came up with it.

So, as we move on into Phase 2, our Endgame Goal is going to be to rule the only orcish empire.

Phase 2 will be "character creation". Again, we're not going to get into the gritty nits or get too in-depth with back story or what have you. Let's focus on general concepts, while keeping the Endgame Goal in mind. If it takes more than 3-4 sentences to describe your concept, you're over-thinking it. Some rough guidelines is that your characters are probably in the 20-25 age bracket, though they can be a bit older, and even as young as 10. Write down some notes. Again, the main races are human, elven, dwarven, orcish. Don't feel pressured to play an orc if another idea is interesting, either.

Once you're done describing your concept, pick an element out of the 4 typical ones of Earth, Water, Air and Fire, or a 5th, Void to act as kind of like a zodiac sign. It should be roughly descriptive of personality type. Don't worry too much about how *I* might define the elements, just go with what feels right.

[DWeird]

Well, phase 1 ended, but what I'm about say is likely something I'd say if I were actually present at the game table, so here it goes anyway.

I don't have much love for "rule the orcish empire" as a standalone endgame, but I feel like it would go great when coupled with any (and I do mean any) of the other endgames proposed. Empire building is a pretty straightforward affair - you go around and bash in the skulls of those who say that an orcish empire isn't the coolest thing to have. When they're good and dead, the game ends... However, if you couple that with sniffing out a conspiracy, love (or at least marriage) affairs, mythic beings messing with the world, or sources of never ending youth, you give me a lot more room to wiggle around.

The orcish empire is great as a backdrop, but I don't really feel it as the focus.

As for the character...

Snikskab, the orcish runner. Gets information from one camp to another, quick. A showoff and a braggart, but, given that whenever a battle commences, he's always found running the other way, he's more often ridiculed - sometimes behind his back, sometimes to his face - than given respect. Vengeful, petty... and creative about it.

Air.

[Lance D. Allen]

D (if I can call ya D): Interesting thing here, and yes, it would definitely be brought up at the table.. What if we're not building an empire? What if we're taking an existing one over, from the inside? What if the initial situation instead starts with orcs as a slave race? None of that has been determined in this single sentence. But yes, the ideal state is that everyone is on-board with the Endgame Goal that comes up.

A point to consider is that your character doesn't actually have to want this goal. It's simply what the story will move toward, what we as players are theoretically interested in seeing happen. Your character can be staunchly against it, or orthogonally against it.. Maybe Snikskab isn't against an orcish empire, but he'd be pretty terrified of ruling it himself.

Good character offering. I'm definitely keen to see what else we get.

[Ron Edwards]

Human, barbarian ancestry, deeply trained in and committed to a specific magery/sorcery school, noted for ruthless and fair leadership. Let me know if that's enough to work with.

Best, Ron

[Lance D. Allen]

Ron,

It's enough for a concept.

I'd like you to choose your elemental "zodiac" sign, though, and a name would help for ease of reference.

I'm also curious (and curiosity is all it is) as to what magery/sorcery school you think would be an appropriate discipline for this character.

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Lance,

I think I need a little more context - can you point me to the right sources for Mage Blade reading? I tried to look through threads but got mixed up. I don't know if there are canonical wizard-mage-sorcerer schools or not, or whether I should be making one up. I also like to take character names seriously, and your description of "standard fantasy" isn't working for me. I need a little bit more to go on.

For this guy, the zodiac sign would be Libra.

Best, Ron