Let's Design A Game (plot/setting thread)

[DraPrime]

This is the plot thread for the game being designed here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89494). The setting is also to be discussed here.

I'm gonna try to summarize the plot (as I'd like it to be) so far as best I can. Tell me if I missed anything.

B finds out about the split in God's personality. How he finds out about it depends on his background. At first he isn't believed, but eventually more evidence (possibly an increased amount of monsters and spirits) shows that he's right, and people believe him. Full blown war in the the church starts. The strict side moves to the desert, while the other side is in the greener part of the world. Corrupt church members on each side will attempt to manipulate this to destroy opposing factions, and to gain more power for themselves. B has the option of doing the following:

Allow the Forgiver to come into power
Allow the Destroyer to come into power
Attempt to restore the original personality of the god (probably leads to a temporary fix)
Kill the god
eliminate the church, limiting the god's influence in the world

Each decision has consequences of it's own. This will of course get more complex.

And it turns out the split was caused by the church splitting. Two corrupted archbishops fought for power, caused a rift in the church, and as a result the church split and the god, whose personality is shaped by his believers perception of him, split also. Which leaves to the interesting choices of how to end the game none of which leave you with a particularly warm and fuzzy feeling.

Specific Plot

The game begins on a train. Your sitting near the back, thinking about your past(Insert choices between rich, poor, or in between, soldier, ex priest, or gun for hire etc. etc. here) But now your starting a new life, away from your old town. You get into a conversation with an important and respected holy man, who is sitting right next to you, when suddenly a person comes to your car and tells you bandits are attacking the train. You then go over the tutorial, heading toward the front of the train and eventually defeating the bandits. Then you arrive at a town, and eventually somehow get sucked into helping a priest with an exorcism. After that whole ordeal(whether or not people die - you affect it?) you end up with the knowledge that god's personality is splitting, and you try to tell people. and the plot keeps going.

At first you aren't believed. The town rejects you and, depending on how far you push the issue, you may get run out of town. You hear of a caravan heading towards the western's new Capital/Major Town and you head over there with it. On the way you help defend the caravan and gain the trust of the people in it, spreading the word of the split personality issue (SPI, for short). When you arrive at the Capital/Major Town(along with many sidequests, optional party members, etc. etc.), you go to tell the spiritual leader of the SPI. He doesn't believe, and goes as far as almost arresting you. Then the holy man you met on the train shows up, but he's now been split into two people, one for each side of god. The two versions of the prophet manage wander around rambling and spreading fear, leading the church to believe you. The two versions of the holy man run away and spread fear and make people realize what has happened to God. The church asks you to silence the prophet(s). By killing one side you piss off the side of God that this holy man was linked to, forcing you to take a side. At this point the side of God that you angered uses his influence to get a civil war going, to get at YOU and to get the advantage over the other side of God now that this side has had his prophet killed. At the end of the game you find out that the holy man had been a manifestation of God sent down to unite people, but had been split by the internal squabbles of the church.

In the setting we will have a desert in the west. The west will be the far stricter side of the religious spectrum. They will be somewhat more technologically advanced than the east. They tend to use guns more. In the middle is a great mountain range that creates the desert. In the east we have a more temperate area. This is where the capital is, and the more relaxed part of the church resides. They don't use guns quite as much, and are a bit behind in technology.

This is what we have so far. Discuss what you would like to add, change, or remove.

[Setra]

May as well redo the vote for Western vs. Dark Ages/Baroque here.

Last I checked it was 3 to 3.

[Mr. Zook]

dark ages, but you may have laready couted me

[DraPrime]

Was me starting the whole dark ages/baroque thing counted as a vote? If not, let's assume that I voted for it. I also propose that voting end in exactly half an hour.

[Corrupted One]

Western as in old timey guns and a pretty deserty region. ( Deserty because these people's lives need to be set in a region where the magic stemming from this deity is necessary for life. Otherwise we will have to make it apocalyptic which we have already agreed is too generic. Baroque apllies mainly to the archetecture of the richer places while gothic archeticture is for the impressive churches.

We started out with a combination of the two. Why change it?

[String]

...Western, but you may already have counted me, so I suggest starting counting anew

[Mr. Zook]

good idea string

[Sneak]

I agree with Corrupted One. Why does it just have to be one or the other?

[Setra]

Votes.. here is what I have so far

Western:


[QUOTE=String;4823042]YAY for Western.


Western

Dark ages:

i vote we stay with the dark age type setting

I vote nay for the western theme
Myself

[Corrupted One]

Western as in old timey guns and a pretty deserty region. ( Deserty because these people's lives need to be set in a region where the magic stemming from this deity is necessary for life. Otherwise we will have to make it apocalyptic which we have already agreed is too generic. Baroque apllies mainly to the archetecture of the richer places while gothic archeticture is for the impressive churches.

We started out with a combination of the two. Why change it?


I am not voting western. I like the original idea of a combination of the two.

[DraPrime]

So we're gonna have dark ages/baroque/western/desert setting? Doesn't that seem kind of....excessive?

[Setra]

Votes.. here is what I have so far

Western:

I vote for western.

YAY for Western.


I vote Western.

Dark ages:

i vote we stay with the dark age type setting

I vote nay for the western theme
Myself

Was me starting the whole dark ages/baroque thing counted as a vote? If not, let's assume that I voted for it. I also propose that voting end in exactly half an hour.

[TFT]

The setting is already partially Dark Ages due to the setting plot... so I guess this is more about whether we add a bit of western to it or not...

[Setra]

The setting is already partially Dark Ages due to the setting... so I guess this is more about whether we add a bit of western to it or not...

Alright then
Edit:

Uh oh this thread is starting to approach the speed of the other one.

Quick! Edit posts instead of posting new ones!

[Mr. Zook]

i doubt that changes many votes but...

[DraPrime]

Uh oh this thread is starting to approach the speed of the other one.

[Corrupted One]

So we're gonna have dark ages/baroque/western/desert setting? Doesn't that seem kind of....excessive?

Well when you put it like that it does kind of seem that way. But western has nothing to do with the culture, it is simply included for the guns. And the desert is only there to serve as a badlands type place.

So really it IS just naroque/dark ages as the desert and western are there simply in terms of aesthetics.

[DraPrime]

Perhaps part of the world could be desert? Who said we need one kind of terrain for the world?

[Corrupted One]

Perhaps part of the world could be desert? Who said we need one kind of terrain for the world?

I hadn't considered that.. Maybe when the church split the two archbishops moved their churches headquarters to seperate sides of the continent/island/what settting this is and one lives in a desert type place with more of a western theme while the other is a dark ages oriented place?

[Mr. Zook]

i think that it just assumed since no one mentioned moving the setting around

[String]

Uh...When I vote for Western, it has EVERYTHING to do with the Culture. THe Wild West. The Frontier. all that jazz. I say Western because I want a western, not a Baroque/darkages with Guns and Sand.

[Setra]

Perhaps part of the world could be desert? Who said we need one kind of terrain for the world?
That sounds good to be.

Heck it could start out like a western then pull a bait and switch, then we end up with a Gunslinger in the middle of a vast civil war.

[Sneak]

Perhaps part of the world could be desert? Who said we need one kind of terrain for the world?

No, the whole world isn't desert, of course. My view would be that the player starts out in, say, the west, which is a desert/badlands type area, and then moves to the east, where the capital city is, a more greener and mountainous area.

[DraPrime]

I think the strict side should be in the desert. Desert life is tough and requires strong rules. It would make sense thematically. Now then, what do we want the other part of the world to be? And may I suggest that a mountain range separates the two parts of the world? After all, deserts don't just pop up out of nowhere. They usually are created because clouds can't get to them due to MOUNTAIN RANGES.

[Corrupted One]

Uh...When I vote for Western, it has EVERYTHING to do with the Culture. THe Wild West. The Frontier. all that jazz. I say Western because I want a western, not a Baroque/darkages with Guns and Sand.

Sorry if I was unclear in my previous post. What I meant was that when I suggested the merger of the two, that was what I meant. Sorry for the confusion :smalltongue:

[String]

Once again, Sneak has hit upon an idea that I whole-heartedly support. However, I am noticing a trend that once one idea is suggested, we go on for a good bit about it without all agreeing to it.

[Corrupted One]

I think the strict side should be in the desert. Desert life is tough and requires strong rules. It would make sense thematically. Now then, what do we want the other part of the world to be? And may I suggest that a mountain range separates the two parts of the world? After all, deserts don't just pop up out of nowhere. They usually are created because clouds can't get to them due to MOUNTAIN RANGES.

That's how I pictured the whole thing. With the original church old and forgotten sitting high up in the mountains...

@Stringy This is a time when guns are pretty ineffective. Primitive, and not the machines of death they are now. And not very widespread at all.

[Setra]

Hm...I dunno, Setra...I mean, once again it ends up being B in a Trenchcoat with a revolver...in the midst of the Dark Ages. It's not so much Bait and Switch as Cowboy in King Arthurs Court.
It still sounds awesome to me.

Edit: But I'm still picturing B as Billy Lee Black (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4822390&postcount=188)

[SilverSheriff]

I vote Western.

[String]

Once again, Sneak has hit upon an idea that I whole-heartedly support. However, I am noticing a trend that once one idea is suggested, we go on for a good bit about it without all agreeing to it.

Once again quoting myself because this thread is now as fast as the other while the other sits in stasis.

[DraPrime]

So hold on, what setting are we having? Do we in fact have the dark ages/baroque thing? Do we still want to have swords in the world, or do we just want guns?

[Corrupted One]

No, the whole world isn't desert, of course. My view would be that the player starts out in, say, the west, which is a desert/badlands type area, and then moves to the east, where the capital city is, a more greener and mountainous area.

Seconded. But I move that since the stricter side is centered in the desert, they have their own captial city of sorts. While the more lax side simply adopted the monarch's capital ( the official one) as their own.

[TFT]

dragonprime gave me an idea... What about if the plot is represented by the new setting. You have the capital city in the middle, with one side more western. You have your trains, guns, desert, all that stuff. On the other side you have a more baroque type area, where they are more citylike and have the other side's technology, but aren't as good with it and therefore use swords and make anti western tech stuff to combat it. This is causing the split, because the only empire, country, whatever is splitting, so is their God.

[Mr. Zook]

mountains are a good idea, they also allow for bandits to hide, creating hundreds of adventures

[Corrupted One]

dragonprime gave me an idea... What about if the plot is represented by the new setting. You have the capital city in the middle, with one side more western. You have your trains, guns, desert, all that stuff. On the other side you have a more baroque type area, where they are more citylike and have the other side's technology, but aren't as good with it and therefore use swords and make anti western tech stuff to combat it. This is causing the split, because the only empire, country, whatever is splitting, so is their God.

Genius. Seconded.

[Setra]

dragonprime gave me an idea... What about if the plot is represented by the new setting. You have the capital city in the middle, with one side more western. You have your trains, guns, desert, all that stuff. On the other side you have a more baroque type area, where they are more citylike and have the other side's technology, but aren't as good with it and therefore use swords and make anti western tech stuff to combat it. This is causing the split, because the only empire, country, whatever is splitting, so is their God.
Nice idea!

Thirded

[String]

Catseyes idea seems workable, although I'm not wholly won over. Sneak, your thoughts?

[DraPrime]

I actually like the idea that Catseye has going. The west is a tougher and somewhat more technologically advanced place. Their stricter lifestyle leads to more innovation. The east is more oldschool and has that sort of baroque/dark ages theme. All in favor?

[Corrupted One]

I actually like the idea that Catseye has going. The west is a tougher and somewhat more technologically advanced place. Their stricter lifestyle leads to more innovation. The east is more oldschool and has that sort of baroque/dark ages theme. All in favor?


I for one am. Yay.


Edit: Wow I went from pixie to dwarf in one day.

[Mr. Zook]

great idea, lets go with that idea

[String]

We've already got 5 Ayes, and if you're going along iwth it, DP then I guess there probably wont be dissention. I'm going with a tentative AYE, with the caveat that you won't be hearing much except Western ideas from me.

[Corrupted One]

We've already got 3 Ayes, and if you're going along iwth it, then I guess there probably wont be dissention. I'm going with a tentative AYE, with the caveat that you won't be hearing much except Western ideas from me.

I hope we don't need too but if this thread picks up speed perhaps we should consider two more threads for western and dark age ideas respectively.

[Setra]

With that settled.. what next?

[DraPrime]

Ok then, it's official. We will have a desert in the west. The west will be the far stricter side of the religious spectrum. They will be somewhat more technologically advanced than the east. They tend to use guns more. In the middle is a great mountain range that creates the desert. In the east we have a more temperate area. This is where the capital is, and the more relaxed part of the church resides. They don't use guns quite as much, and are a bit behind in technology. This will now go up onto the OP.

[Sneak]

Seconded. But I move that since the stricter side is centered in the desert, they have their own captial city of sorts. While the more lax side simply adopted the monarch's capital ( the official one) as their own.

I like this idea. The west could have their own grittier capital. It would be less pretty, i.e. more about function and less about appearance. Of course, it would also be more temporary and just starting up, while the eastern capital would already have its long established institutions.

I'll also go along with the split idea. Only I don't think the west and east shouldn't actively dislike each other before the religious schism starts. It should only be a matter of differing lifestyle—the people in the west moved there to start a new life out on the frontier and explore new technologies and places, while the people in the east are happy to sit in their mansions and castles, allowing the capital city to stagnate.

[String]

NOw that we seem to have chosen a setting (although I'm still curious about Sneak's thoughts) I think we should start on a bit more detailed plot outline. Are we agreed on having the start be in the Strict western setting?

[DraPrime]

With that settled.. what next?

How about how the game starts? We need a story going here. For now we just have a general idea of what the conflict will be like, and how it can end. So let's start with the beginning. How does the game begin?

[Corrupted One]

Ok then, it's official. We will have a desert in the west. The west will be the far stricter side of the religious spectrum. They will be somewhat more technologically advanced than the east. They tend to use guns more. In the middle is a great mountain range that creates the desert. In the east we have a more temperate area. This is where the capital is, and the more relaxed part of the church resides. They don't use guns quite as much, and are a bit behind in technology. This will now go up onto the OP.

We could began working on the classes/backgrounds/endings.

Someone had an idea I liked of the tutorial taking place on the train. The show you put on there ( a fight against bandits) leads the local exorcist in the town you are head to to force you to help him with an exorcism. Spirit tells you of god split, priest and girl die,l and you alone are left to inform the church.

[Setra]

NOw that we seem to have chosen a setting (although I'm still curious about Sneak's thoughts) I think we should start on a bit more detailed plot outline. Are we agreed on having the start be in the Strict western setting?

I believe Catseye made a good post already on how it might start out, let me find it..

[Mr. Zook]

maybe it should be the reverse because the catholic church banned crossbows beacuse they were too easy to use, similar to guns just point and pull, where as a sword needs skill as not to slice off your own arm
edit: never mined, this is obviously moot

[TFT]

The game begins on a train. Your sitting near the back, thinking about your past(Insert choices between rich, poor, or in between, soldier, ex priest, or gun for hire etc. etc. here) But now your starting a new life, away from your old town. You get into a conversation with the guy right next to you, when suddenly a person comes to your car and tells you bandits are attacking the train. You then go over the tutorial, heading toward the front of the train and eventually defeating the bandits. Then you arrive at a town, and eventually somehow get sucked into helping a priest with an exorcism. After that whole ordeal(whether or not people die - you affect it?) you end up with the knowledge that god's personality is splitting, and you try to tell people. and the plot keeps going. That sounds about right for what we have right now(Unless everything changed in the 15-20 minutes I wrote this..)

Maybe make it so he lived in the capital or something, and there you go.(Here you go Setra)
He/She, I just you he in there if I did at all for easiness.

[DraPrime]

We could began working on the classes/backgrounds/endings.

Classes are more of a gameplay thing.

[Sneak]

I still think the main character should be on a train (it would be new experimental technology) out to the frontier to escape the stagnation of the capital city and seek a new life, or perhaps to get away from whatever trauma occurred in his/her past. Before the train can reach the capital in the west, it is attacked by bandits. You manage to fight off the bandits, but then you're stuck in The Middle Of Nowhere™, a tiny town in the west. And here you offer your services as an exorcist, leading to the main plot when a spirit tells you of the schism or some such.

EDIT: Ninjad. Basically the same as Catseye's.

[String]

@Zook: But then we have a no-tech desert and a high-tech temparate, which eliminates the Western altogether, taking us to square one.


On the matter of Starting, I wrote this earlier today.

"""Perhaps having him be a drifter (wasn't that the first idea? Having him wander into a town and having this problem forced on him?) who stumbles upon the first town in the midst of a problem with a possession. After some introductory stuff, The Church in this town (possibly mostly 'Destroyer' following) accosts B for some minor thing (maybe a bar fight?) and ropes him into assisting the local exorcist in his attempt to free a townswoman from a possessing spirit. When they succeed (through either cutscene or some sort of Skill Challenge-esque thing), thats when the leaving spirit reveals that the God is being torn into two opposing gods by the Church's own squabblings (that was the idea we were going with, yes?). Perhaps the Priest is killed in the process of freeing the girl, or not. B goes to tell the church what happened, they denounce him as a heretic, and he's forced to move on for a bit. therein starts the main section of the game.


Also, I vote for the Tutorial to take place on a train that falls prey to a Train robbery on it's way to the first town."""

[Corrupted One]

Classes are more of a gameplay thing.

Then the background/endings?

[Setra]

Maybe make it so he lived in the capital or something, and there you go.(Here you go Setra)
He/She, I just you he in there if I did at all for easiness.
And I had just found it too :\

[DraPrime]

The game begins on a train. Your sitting near the back, thinking about your past(Insert choices between rich, poor, or in between, soldier, ex priest, or gun for hire etc. etc. here) But now your starting a new life, away from your old town. You get into a conversation with the guy right next to you, when suddenly a person comes to your car and tells you bandits are attacking the train. You then go over the tutorial, heading toward the front of the train and eventually defeating the bandits. Then you arrive at a town, and eventually somehow get sucked into helping a priest with an exorcism. After that whole ordeal(whether or not people die - you affect it?) you end up with the knowledge that god's personality is splitting, and you try to tell people. and the plot keeps going. That sounds about right for what we have right now(Unless everything changed in the 15-20 minutes I wrote this..)

Maybe make it so he lived in the capital or something, and there you go.(Here you go Setra)
He/She, I just you he in there if I did at all for easiness.

I like this. And let me state that the character's name is Biedrzycki. Why Biedrzycki? Because we thought it would be nice to have a running gag about how no one can pronounce it. And that's my last name. You can never have too much shameless self insertion.

Also I think you should get to choose which part of the world you came from. So if you came from the desert, but end up siding with the east some people from the west will call you a traitor.

[String]

Woot! Agreement! I love it!

[Corrupted One]

The game begins on a train. Your sitting near the back, thinking about your past(Insert choices between rich, poor, or in between, soldier, ex priest, or gun for hire etc. etc. here) But now your starting a new life, away from your old town. You get into a conversation with the guy right next to you, when suddenly a person comes to your car and tells you bandits are attacking the train. You then go over the tutorial, heading toward the front of the train and eventually defeating the bandits. Then you arrive at a town, and eventually somehow get sucked into helping a priest with an exorcism. After that whole ordeal(whether or not people die - you affect it?) you end up with the knowledge that god's personality is splitting, and you try to tell people. and the plot keeps going. That sounds about right for what we have right now(Unless everything changed in the 15-20 minutes I wrote this..)

Maybe make it so he lived in the capital or something, and there you go.(Here you go Setra)
He/She, I just you he in there if I did at all for easiness.


That sounds pretty perfect to me.

[Battlefield]

I like this. And let me state that the character's name is Biedrzycki. Why Biedrzycki? Because we thought it would be nice to have a running gag about how no one can pronounce it. And that's my last name. You can never have too much shameless self insertion.

I thought that it was his last name

[Setra]

Also I think you should get to choose which part of the world you came from. So if you came from the desert, but end up siding with the east some people from the west will call you a traitor.
I wonder, if your backstory is West, then wouldn't you possible start out in the east to escape it? Rather than the reverse?

I thought that it was his last name
Same here

How about John Biedrzycki :smallconfused:

[Corrupted One]

I thought that it was his last name

It is but because you can customize the first name he is called by his last.

[DraPrime]

I might not be posting until tomorrow morning, but I'll try to add what Catseye made as soon as I can to the OP. Discuss while I'm away.

[Mr. Zook]

yeah, we should probably give him a first & last name (we have one) and start moving one the back story, i like the old idea of a truamatic experience

[String]

I wonder, if your backstory is West, then wouldn't you possible start out in the east to escape it? Rather than the reverse?


Not neccesarily. If your backstory is the West ,then anywhere from 2-4 lines of exposition about "Moved to the east to see 'civilisation'....Some Civilisation. Coming Home." explains it.

[Sneak]

I wonder, if your backstory is West, then wouldn't you possible start out in the east to escape it? Rather than the reverse?

Same here

I think your backstory has to be in the east. The way I picture it, the frontier has been settled only fairly recently, not long enough for anyone over a very young age to have been born there.

And yeah, I think it is the last name. But the character should only go by the last name, I think—that way, no matter if the character is male or female, the voice actors can have one name that they need to say.

[Mr. Zook]

i gotta go, but i be back (as my govenator once said)

[String]

@Zook: I thought the consensus was that with the dark tone, having too angsty a character would make the humor too incongrous and that making the trauma itself humourous would be in bad form.

[DraPrime]

I think Biedrzycki is going to be his last name, but you pick the first name. People refer to him by last name, leading to the running gag of nobody being able to pronounce it.

[Setra]

Not neccesarily. If your backstory is the West ,then anywhere from 2-4 lines of exposition about "Moved to the east to see 'civilisation'....Some Civilisation. Coming Home." explains it.
This sounds reasonable..

I think your backstory has to be in the east. The way I picture it, the frontier has been settled only fairly recently, not long enough for anyone over a very young age to have been born there. But I think this makes more sense


And yeah, I think it is the last name. But the character should only go by the last name, I think—that way, no matter if the character is male or female, the voice actors can have one name that they need to say.
What, no He/Him/You? :smallbiggrin: *In Joke from another forum*

Edit: How much humor are we looking at anyways?
90/10?
50/50?

Edit Edit:

like Pirates of the Caribbean.
40/60 then?

[DraPrime]

@Zook: I thought the consensus was that with the dark tone, having too angsty a character would make the humor too incongrous and that making the trauma itself humourous would be in bad form.

You got it mostly right, but the idea was that we would keep the tone serious, but with occasional lighthearted humor. Kind of like Pirates of the Caribbean.

[TFT]

You could say that if your on the east's side your trying to convert the west, similar to the catholics going and trying to convert the natives in america.
EDIT: (as in, one of the choices since people were wondering how we could be going to the west side if we were eventually going to support the east side)

Humor: 85 - 15, enough for it to be there, but not enough for it to ruin the dark tone

[String]

Catseye, I think that the conversion bit would be something that depends on your backstory, but is definitely a good idea that we should include for one of the backstories.

[Corrupted One]

You could say that if your on the east's side your trying to convert the west, similar to the catholics going and trying to convert the natives in america.

Humor: 85 - 15, enough for it to be there, but not enough for it to ruin the dark tone


I though we were a drifter? Are we working for the East? I thought we started out completely neutral.

Perhpas drifter could be one of the backstories. Backstory ideas

Drifter: The player can decide which side he comes from. This background starts you out completely neutral. You are traveling to the other side for a new start.

Eastern Reformer: You hail from the east. highered to preach of God's love you travel to the West to spread the good news.

Western Reformer: You are from the hard west. Sent by the westerners to preach of the one true God's vengefullness and the need for a clean and pure life.

Eastern Diplomat: You can originally come from either side. But up until recently you were living in the east. You are now traveling to the west as a diplomat of the monarch to try and eastablish some connection between the two feuding sides of the church.

Western Diplomat: You have just returned from a fruitless diplomatic mission to the west on behalf of the monarch. you are heading back to the east to speak with the more lax side of the church. Perhaps you can talk some sense into them.

[DraPrime]

You could say that if your on the east's side your trying to convert the west, similar to the catholics going and trying to convert the natives in america.

But they're already the same religion. The way I envisioned it is that before God goes nuts they have some minor theological differences, but get along fairly well. Only when the knowledge of gods insanity comes, does the hatred really start.

[Geno9999]

*Five hours ago.* Oh, a new thread. Okay. *walks over and past it.*
*Five seconds ago* WHAM! (me hitting head-on to a wall where the thread is) HOLY *BOOP!* THIS IS HUGE!
Just some third person's thoughts, are there other countries? Or are there just the Western and Dark Ages countries? Also, I know this is a game but... How did the god get split by the arguing of Bishops, or is it just some thing like the different churches have different views of the god that are somehow wrong or misguided?

[DraPrime]

As far as where B comes from I think that should be up to the player. The player chooses between east and west, and when the player takes a side then there can be some drama there. If B is from the west, but sides with the east then there can be some accusations from his own people of him being a traitor.

[Setra]

*Five hours ago.* Oh, a new thread. Okay. *walks over and past it.*
*Five seconds ago* WHAM! (me hitting head-on to a wall where the thread is) HOLY *BOOP!* THIS IS HUGE! :smallbiggrin:


Also, I know this is a game but... How did the god get split by the arguing of Bishops
I believe it's because he is supposed to be shaped by his believer's perception.

[Sneak]

But they're already the same religion. The way I envisioned it is that before God goes nuts they have some minor theological differences, but get along fairly well. Only when the knowledge of gods insanity comes, does the hatred really start.

I agree with this. Also, does anyone have any ideas for the banner?

[String]

And so do I, Sneak.

On the banner:

I think you could have a Revolver and Bible at one end and a longsword and cross at the other.

[Corrupted One]

I though we were a drifter? Are we working for the East? I thought we started out completely neutral.

Perhpas drifter could be one of the backstories. Backstory ideas

Drifter: The player can decide which side he comes from. This background starts you out completely neutral. You are traveling to the other side for a new start.

Eastern Reformer: You hail from the east. highered to preach of God's love you travel to the West to spread the good news.

Western Reformer: You are from the hard west. Sent by the westerners to preach of the one true God's vengefullness and the need for a clean and pure life.

Eastern Diplomat: You can originally come from either side. But up until recently you were living in the east. You are now traveling to the west as a diplomat of the monarch to try and eastablish some connection between the two feuding sides of the church.

Western Diplomat: You have just returned from a fruitless diplomatic mission to the west on behalf of the monarch. you are heading back to the east to speak with the more lax side of the church. Perhaps you can talk some sense into them.


Following String's example

[TFT]

I think people 100% misunderstood where I was coming from, I meant what I was saying as, as String said, a backstory choice. And I think conversion wasn't the right word... maybe instead trying to get the West's thinking back in line with the east?

[DraPrime]

And so do I, Sneak.

On the banner:

I think you could have a Revolver and Bible at one end and a longsword and cross at the other.

That just made an important question pop into my head. What kind of religious symbols do we want for God in this world?

[Setra]

That just made an important question pop into my head. What kind of religious symbols do we want for God in this world?

A random symbol ♐

[Corrupted One]

That just made an important question pop into my head. What kind of religious symbols do we want for God in this world?

How about both factions have one? The strict one implies a strict and punishing god while the lax one seems peaceful and laid back. Each is a play on the original.

[Battlefield]

That just made an important question pop into my head. What kind of religious symbols do we want for God in this world?

a four-pointed star and three tablets

[DraPrime]

How about both factions have one? The strict one implies a strict and punishing god while the lax one seems peaceful and laid back. Each is a play on the original.

Yes, I like this. We should come up with an original religious symbol, and then design 2 variations on it, one for each side. Anyone here got some artistic skill?

[Corrupted One]

We could ask someone who makes avatars for help. Most people here have their own avatar and someone is bound to know somebody.

[DraPrime]

I will go to the avatar request thread and request that they make something. Hopefully I'll get results soon.

[Sneak]

I am an avatarist.

[TFT]

Well, we need to think of the symbols. Now, if you were in a religion with a strict god/loose god, what would you use that is easy to represent him? We need to figure that out first.


EDIT: Another thing we need to talk about, or at least start thinking about, cause we are discussing it in the gameplay thread: Party members. Who they are, why they join, how many each side has, etc etc. obviously west side people won't join you if your east side and opposite, so we will need probably need about 6 or 7: 2 for eastern or western, and 3 for neutral(If we can come up with that many. That is if we have somewhat permanent party members though, so nothing is decided yet.

[Corrupted One]

Well, we need to think of the symbols. Now, if you were in a religion with a strict god/loose god, what would you use that is easy to represent him? We need to figure that out first.


Good point.. Are there any shapes that are inherently threatening?

Also the way we present them and the background they are presented with make a huge impact on the game. That is to say a traingle for a religous symbol is pretty meh. But a triangle surrounded by flames and blood is more of an eye grabber.

[Setra]

Strict God: Whip
Lax God: Television

[Battlefield]

Let me try again

Strict: 3 tablets in a circle
Lax: a four-pointed star with two rings

[Sneak]

Here's some of my sample work, by the way.

http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/1035/andryoa5.gifhttp://img354.imageshack.us/img354/8739/br3dl1.gifhttp://img80.imageshack.us/img80/1348/shrikewb5.gifhttp://img83.imageshack.us/img83/9300/more2uj4.gifhttp://img364.imageshack.us/img364/8645/moreee9.gifhttp://img219.imageshack.us/img219/2990/rhaegar2ss8.gifhttp://img232.imageshack.us/img232/9906/jaqenkv5.gifhttp://img232.imageshack.us/img232/4716/lorasha0.gifhttp://img99.imageshack.us/img99/5606/auronfk9.gifhttp://img80.imageshack.us/img80/9695/barbix1.gifhttp://img228c.imageshack.us/img228/4750/fotckt3.gifhttp://img172.imageshack.us/img172/3894/boar2ru3.gif

As for inherently threatening, how about a fist?

[Geno9999]

Well, we need to think of the symbols. Now, if you were in a religion with a strict god/loose god, what would you use that is easy to represent him? We need to figure that out first.
For a loose god, I would go for crazy and chaotic but is in favor with freedom. For a strict god, he hates the other half, doesn't like people disagreeing with him, and is in favor with justice.

[Setra]

As for inherently threatening, how about a fist?That would work.

[Sneak]

I say the symbols should be a fist inside an eye, the lax one should be a sun inside an eye, and the original can just be a stylized eye.

[Corrupted One]

That sounds pretty good.

[String]

I like. Eyes are windows to the soul, they can represent an "opening of the eye" or knowledge, and whatnot. The fist inside the eye and the sun inside the eye are also good ideas.


EDIT: Geez...

[Setra]

What about the reverse? A Fist with an eye in it, and a Sun with an eye in it?

[Corrupted One]

What about the reverse? A Fist with an eye in it, and a Sun with an eye in it?

That sounds even better. The eye, the original symbol, is more of an afterthought. Showing how dilluted each religon has become! Genius.

[Setra]

Just a thought, but couldn't we have different names styles for the different sides? Western with more 'American' names and Eastern with more 'European' names?

I mean the guy with the hard-to-pronounce name is from the east right?

[Corrupted One]

Depends on your backstory.

[Sneak]

Well, as I said before, I think of the exploration of the west as a fairly new thing, so most of the people populating the west are still from the east. So they would have similar names. The few children that have been born in the west, though, can have different style names.

[DraPrime]

I thought his origins were optional, but that's a discussion for later. As for names, we really do need to come up with something good.

[Sneak]

I'm still of the opinion that everyone above the age of 2 years old is by default originally from the east, but maybe that's just me.

Anyway, are these something close to okay symbols? (http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/1213/symbolstv3.gif)

I wasn't quite sure how to go about putting an eye in the fist and still having it be visible, even with different colors...

[DraPrime]

Those are really nice Sneak. I vote we use them. Now we just need the original eye.

[Corrupted One]

I'm still of the opinion that everyone above the age of 2 years old is by default originally from the east, but maybe that's just me.

Anyway, are these something close to okay symbols? (http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/1213/symbolstv3.gif)

I wasn't quite sure how to go about putting an eye in the fist and still having it be visible, even with different colors...

They look fairly brilliant to me.

[String]

Incredibly brilliant if you ask me.

As a suggestion (althought I love these): To put an eye 'in the hand', you might've been able to have the fist going the other way (palm away) and palced the eye on the back of the hand. BUt I like these beter

[Corrupted One]

Incredibly brilliant if you ask me.

As a suggestion (althought I love these): To put an eye 'in the hand', you might've been able to have the fist going the other way (palm away) and palced the eye on the back of the hand. BUt I like these beter

Agreed. Also a fist doesn't really seem threatening if you can't see the knuckles

[TFT]

Looks like its time for us to discuss something new... maybe party members? We also need to make our town, the middle of the plot, work on the ending... So lets start talking about something.:smallbiggrin:

[String]

I'd like to talk about party member backgrounds, if we could. I'm just not sure on what our party member concepts all are.

Edit: Nominations and Voting for Project leader are going on in the Voting thread (the original thread), and I'll feel bad if i'm the only one up there.:smallfrown:

[TFT]

I'll see what I can remember without looking back... a cute brusier(sword) A more philosophical, analytical gunfighter, the dumb but strong swords man, probably some kind of western swordsman, an automatic member who is your best friend, someone said some kind of priest, we probably need a couple others, but those are the ones I remember.

[Corrupted One]

I'd like to talk about party member backgrounds, if we could. I'm just not sure on what our party member concepts all are.

Edit: Nominations and Voting for Project leader are going on in the Voting thread (the original thread), and I'll feel bad if i'm the only one up there.:smallfrown:


Well since dragonprime is leading this one, and warty had gameplay covered, I can't think of anyone better. Perhaps Catseye?

Anyway I will try to compile all our potential concepts so far.

Nevermind ninja'd

Anyway assuming we can still come up with others I propose making familiars/animal companions available as party members.

[String]

Hmmm. Thats an interesting idea. Were you thinking sentient animals? Or regular ones? It's an interesting concept, i'm just not sure it'd work.

I'm the one who sugested the preacher man


Also, if catseye has no qualms, i'll put him up on the nominees list

[TFT]

No qualms here, and as I was saying, I posted that without looking :smalltongue: I'm more of a second and command like person, but I'd be fine with leading.

[Sneak]

Okay...let's try to flesh out the story a little.

PC is from East, ships out to west to start a new life.
Train is attacked by bandits. PC and friend defeat bandits.
PC stuck in a town in the middle of nowhere.
Offers to help the local priest with an exorcism in exchange for food/shelter.
During exorcism, spirit tells PC about the divine divide.
PC shocked, tells people in town.
They don't believe PC, chase PC out of town and call him/her a heretic.
PC travels to the de facto capital of the west (the only real semi-established city in the new frontier) to speak to the de facto religious leader of the west. Doesn't believe PC at first, but then some supernatural event occurs that convinces him. (Lots of side quest opportunities here, since it's a developing city.)
Sends PC to talk to the real religious leaders in capital.
PC crosses mountains, working as a caravan guard for a merchant, and goes to the real capital, speaks to the religious leaders. They acknowledge that something has happened. They tell PC not tell anyone so as not to cause a religious schism. PC leaves.
They send assassins to kill PC to keep PC quiet, but somehow PC escapes or defeats the asssassins.
Servant overhears PC's story and spreads rumors amongst the common folk.
These rumors coupled with the unsettling supernatural occurrences is the breaking point. There are riots, people preaching on the street, etc, the church starts to split.
And from then on, it's more open-ended. You have to deal with the aftermath.

Or something like that. I think as it is it's way too much "Go from point A to point B to point C," etc., and I'm not really happy with the way the church splits. I just wanted to bring up the topic, mainly, since the middle of the story is pretty empty right now.

EDIT: Oh, and thanks for the compliments on the holy symbols. :smallredface:

[Corrupted One]

Hmmm. Thats an interesting idea. Were you thinking sentient animals? Or regular ones? It's an interesting concept, i'm just not sure it'd work.

I'm the one who sugested the preacher man


Also, if catseye has no qualms, i'll put him up on the nominees list


I had an armored bear in mind. Seems pretty far fected I know :smalltongue:

Maybe someone a bit more creative can come up with something better.

[Setra]

This is just something that spawned in my mind, I imagine the ghost as an attractive female.

B: By the power of God I cast you back into the hell you spawned from!
Ghost: The power of God you say? *seductive laugh* That poor wretched being...
B: *Shoots ghost in the face out of spite, even knowing this will do no harm* Watch your words
G: It really is a pity, the one sent to banish me... doesn't even know the fate of his own god...
B: *Loads a Holy Bullet, because what would any good Exorcising Gunslinger be without one* I'll repeat myself, go to hell. *shoots it in the face again*
G: *Wounded, begins to slowly fade* It seems my time was short... listen well fool, your god is no more... your silly religion.. has destroyed who he once was. Peace? Destruction? You fools could not choose.. and now have both... *fades away*

I was bored, I write/read/playvideogames when bored.

[DraPrime]

As far as characters go, I already mentioned that I'd like a character from B's past to be a possible party member. Anyone else here agree on this?

[alexeduardo]

As far as characters go, I already mentioned that I'd like a character from B's past to be a possible party member. Anyone else here agree on this?

well, it can be dependant of what backstory the player ended up choosing

right?

[Mr. Zook]

thats probably a good idea

[alexeduardo]

thats probably a good idea

Btw, what has the team agreed on so far?
Just so I can opinate without lookin' like a fool

[Mr. Zook]

i have no clue, as far as i can tell, both threads died and i have to leave soon any way (rl)

[Corrupted One]

Unrealated question. Calling the god's halves on the forum the "destroyer" and the "forgiver" may be fine. But in game maybe we should change them. remember, we don't want one side coming off as good while the other seems evil. Makes wiping out one side rather than the other actually seem like a benevolent act.

[alexeduardo]

Zor and Aster?

[Sneak]

The Judge and The Forgiver?

The Defender and The Listener?

The Passionate One and The Compassionate One?

[alexeduardo]

Hate and Fear?

Love and Respect?

Cloud and Cave?

[String]

The Warden and the Watcher? warden being the strict one

[Sneak]

The Judge and The Forgiver?

The Defender and The Listener?

The Passionate One and The Compassionate One?

The Speaker and The Listener?

I actually like The Warden and the Watcher.

[alexeduardo]

The Dog (strict) and the cat (lenient)?

The Bird and the Insect(strict)?

The Shepherd and The Farmer(lenient)?

I also like the warden thing. we should have a vote. But with more dudes, not just a threeway

[String]

So...lets narrow it down a bit.

[alexeduardo]

So...lets narrow it down a bit.

well, I likes everything so far (even Alexeduardo's ideas)

[TFT]

The Judge stick out in my mind, as well as The Warden for the strict one.

The Forgiver and The Watcher stick out in my mind for our lenient one.

[alexeduardo]

The Judge stick out in my mind, as well as The Warden for the strict one.

The Forgiver and The Watcher stick out in my mind for our lenient one.

the Judge and the Watcher?

[String]

Strict:

Warden
Judge
Zor
Speaker
Passionate One
Shepard
Defender


Lenient:
Watcher
Forgiver
Aster
Listener
Compassionate One
Farmer


Any more?

[Corrupted One]

Strict:

Warden
Judge
Zor
Speaker
Passionate One
Shepard
Defender


Lenient:
Watcher
Forgiver
Aster
Listener
Compassionate One
Farmer


Any more?


Idea. We could use more than one. In the real world none of the mainstream religons have just one name for their god. I am fairly sure we could use all of them if we wanted to ( not saying we should simply saying we could)

[alexeduardo]

Idea. We could use more than one. In the real world none of the mainstream religons have just one name for their god. I am fairly sure we could use all of them if we wanted to ( not saying we should simply saying we could)

well, I say we limit ourselves to three, maybe a fourth one the player has to infer, but any more would just be confusing

[String]

Hmm..I sortof like the idea, yet at the same time, I also think it might be too confusing...I had an idea to narrow it down to 3 choices aside by tonight, if anyone is interested.

[Sneak]

Yeah, I also thought about that. Because until recently, God would have just been one god with one name: God. So these separate names would be a new construct, and some might disagree on the naming of the different sides of divinity.

Anyway, here are the ones I like.

The Judge, The Warden, Shepherd.

Forgiver, Watcher, Listener.

[alexeduardo]

if anyone is interested.

I definately is!

also, I like:
Judge
Watcher
Defender

and

Listener
Farmer
Compassionate One

[String]

I agree with sneak, and also with his specific choices.

[TFT]

Sneak and I had the same first two, and I agree with his last two.

[alexeduardo]

Sneak and I had the same first two, and I agree with his last two.

So I gather it's settled then?

[String]

So we're looking at

Strict:

Judge 4
Warden 3
Shepard 2
Defender 1
Watcher 1

Lenient:

Forgiver 2
Watcher 3
Listener 4
Compassionate One 1
Farmer 1

the highest are Judge, Warden, Shepard and Listener, Watcher, Forgiver. Any thoughts?

[Corrupted One]

Yeah, I also thought about that. Because until recently, God would have just been one god with one name: God. So these separate names would be a new construct, and some might disagree on the naming of the different sides of divinity.

Anyway, here are the ones I like.

The Judge, The Warden, Shepherd.

Forgiver, Watcher, Listener.

Same here. And when I said the god could have more than one name what I meant was. Whever anyone preches of their god, they don't just say "god" over and over. And pronouns are boring so they spice it up. In a lot of games NPCs speak whenever you get near them. And since the difference between the two sides (should be) is clearly discernible if someone says" the Passionate One" it should not be confusing. That seems confusing and it seems I rambled so once again maybe an example can get across what I mean.


*poor elderly lady for in a small western town* The Passionate One will watch out for us as he always has.

*random evangelist preaching on street corner in eastern city* Turn from your ways! The Listener will never turn a deaf ear to the loyal!

*unidentified drifter on *(insert whatever form of transportation if used to cross from west to east) The Watcher will kept his vigil.. He will pull us through these hard times...

*random friar traveling Western roads* Judgement is at hand! And the Jude in this trial makes no mistakes! Turn from your wicked ways! Turn unto Zor!

Although I think Sneak's choices are pretty good although Shephard seems a bit compassionate for the strict god.

[alexeduardo]

I agree with Corrupted One, it would be nice to have real conversations taking place around you a la Oblivion or Creed

[String]

Well, we've narrowed it down, at least. Lets see what the others have to say, Dragonprime in particular (as its his thread) before moving on with that idea.

Back to Party member backgrounds? Anyone feel up to writing up a backstory or plot relevance idea for an old friend of B's?

[Sneak]

Back to Party member backgrounds? Anyone feel up to writing up a backstory or plot relevance idea for an old friend of B's?

Maybe it's just me and my anti-backstory stance, but I don't think B's friend needs to have a backstory either. Just establish that they've been friends for a long time and maybe wanted to come to the west together.

Honestly, even if the friend (let's call him/her C :smalltongue:) did have a backstory, why would it ever come up in conversation? Since they're already presumably good friends, perhaps even childhood friends, shouldn't they already know each other's stories? Imagine the conversation.

"So, uh...where'd you grow up? What was your childhood like?"
"Um...are you serious? You know all this already."
"Yeah, but uh, could you just refresh my memory?"
"Are you serious? You forgot? We grew up together!"
"Hey, hey, no need to get defensive, I was just curious!"
"What the hell, man!"
-C has left the party-

Plus, I think there should be at least one character where what you see is what you get. No complicated traumatic childhood, no dark and mysterious past to figure out as you travel together, just a normal person who is B's friend and wants to travel with him/her.

That's just mah 2 cents.

As for all the other party members, though, I'm happy to brainstorm.

Do we have a list of party member ideas anywhere?

[String]

I think a list of Party member ideas is somewhere on the Gameplay thread, tho I may be mistaken. There was a Cute Bruiser Idea, a Preacher and a few more that I cant remember.

[Mr. Zook]

just a thought, we should probably not have a diplomacy party member, as this should be the pc completely, however, if you want good interactions, you would probably not be able to be as optimized of a fighter as possible, which might be good or bad

[DraPrime]

I wonder, do we want any of these party members to be potential love interests?

[Sneak]

I wonder, do we want any of these party members to be potential love interests?

I was thinking about this too...I vote yes. Of course, there should be options for both male and female characters, and options for both heterosexual and homosexual leaning players.

But, I was also thinking that maybe there could be some love-interest that wasn't a member of the party? Like, perhaps, someone you meet out on the frontier, or someone who lives in the city? They could play some important role in the plot, maybe, but without being an actual member of the party.

[Mr. Zook]

I wonder, do we want any of these party members to be potential love interests?
thats pretty cheesey, its also been done and done and done and done and done and done

[Sneak]

thats pretty cheesey, its also been done and done and done and done and done and done

Perhaps, but falling in love in real life has been done and done and done and done too, but for some reason people still seem to do it. :smalltongue:

I think if we can pull it off with good writing, sure. If we can't then no.

[Mr. Zook]

good writing would be key, if we dont write it well enough than it will be recived as well as a big steaming pile of sh!t
also a side thought boy & girl charaters

[DraPrime]

Yeah we really don't want bad dialogue. Then any romance would look like what happened between Anakin and Padme. And we all don't want that, right?

[Mr. Zook]

i couldnt agree more
also, the spam filter on this forum sucks

[String]

I vote Yes on romantic possibilities within and without the party, although perhaps we should make sure that the romance is definitely optional if we're including both hetero- and homo- (and, by extension, bi-) sexual avenues.

[DraPrime]

One thing we could do to make these love interests more realistic is making some easier to obtain than others. Some you'll have to work for, and some will be pretty easy to get. It will make them seem more unique, and it will also make the players feel like they've accomplished something if they get the harder love interests.

[Sneak]

I vote Yes on romantic possibilities within and without the party, although perhaps we should make sure that the romance is definitely optional if we're including both hetero- and homo- (and, by extension, bi-) sexual avenues.

Yeah, I definitely agree. All the romances should be strictly optional. Even if we weren't including all sexual orientation options, the romances should still be optional.

@^ agreed.

Also, if we are having a romance, there's no way I'm writing it. :smalltongue: Any volunteers?

Perhaps we could hire out some of the writers from the Shipping thread? :smalltongue:

[TFT]

I'll see what I can remember without looking back... a cute brusier(sword) A more philosophical, analytical gunfighter, the dumb but strong swords man, probably some kind of western swordsman, an automatic member who is your best friend, someone said some kind of priest, we probably need a couple others, but those are the ones I remember.

Reposted from earlier in the thread. Love interestwise we should have them, and I agree with Dragonprime about harder and easier, and they should be well written(Meaning, not by me)

[DraPrime]

Well I'm a teenager so there's no way that I can write a mature romance. I'm too dirty minded to do so.

[Mr. Zook]

we can do that, just not to difficult or time consuming cause then theyll spend all their time on a love intrest which at this point does nothing except distract the pc

[Corrupted One]

It's going to take some original writing to pull this off as not just being another cheesy video game love interest. Also, maybe have to actually work to get a return of your emotions. None of this " Say the right thing and get laid at the end by all your party members because none of them get jealous or are to stupid to see you wtih another person even if they are present during the whole dialouge" bullcrap.

Once again to clear up any ambiguousness in my post I want our party members to be pretty hard to get. a player should actually have to invest in this relationship ( to some degree) to make it work. Also, make all potential love interest very jealous. B is a monogamist. Right?

[DraPrime]

B is a monogamist. Right?

I think it's up to the player. This is an RPG after all.

[Mr. Zook]

yeah, we should always remember its an rpg first whatever else second

[Sneak]

I think it's up to the player. This is an RPG after all.

Of course, if the player does try to court more than one character at the same time, the characters might not be too happy about that if they find out...

...but that's not to say that the player shouldn't be able to do it. :smalltongue:

[Mr. Zook]

deffinately sneak, you hit the nail on the head

[DraPrime]

Perhaps some of the love interests would allow an open relationship, while some wouldn't? I say we have about 4-6 potential love interests on each side of the war. Half of them will allow an open relationship, half won't..

[Sneak]

I say we should actually flesh out the plot first, and deal with the love interest plots later. Because we don't HAVE to have love interests...but we kinda DO need a plot. :smallwink:

If we want to work on the henchies' backstories, though, that's fine too. We can maybe designate who should be a love interest, and then maybe flesh out the love interest story later, if we want to/have time for it.

We need to get the overarching story down before we get bogged down in the details.

[DraPrime]

Indeed, we do need a story. And since I came up with the original "insane god" idea I get to be as lazy as I want. But the rest of you better get working. Work I say!

*cracks whip in an oppressive manner*

[TFT]

What we have so far (Bit more specifically):

The game begins on a train. Your sitting near the back, thinking about your past(Insert choices between rich, poor, or in between, soldier, ex priest, or gun for hire etc. etc. here) But now your starting a new life, away from your old town. You get into a conversation with the guy right next to you, when suddenly a person comes to your car and tells you bandits are attacking the train. You then go over the tutorial, heading toward the front of the train and eventually defeating the bandits. Then you arrive at a town, and eventually somehow get sucked into helping a priest with an exorcism. After that whole ordeal(whether or not people die - you affect it?) you end up with the knowledge that god's personality is splitting, and you try to tell people. and the plot keeps going.

New stuff I added in:
At first you aren't believed. The town rejects you and, depending on how far you push the issue, you may get run out of town. You hear of a caravan heading towards the western's new Capital/Major Town and you head over there with it. On the way you help defend the caravan and gain the trust of the people in it, spreading the word of the split personality issue (SPI, for short). When you arrive at the Capital/Major Town(along with many sidequests, optional party members, etc. etc.), you go to tell the spiritual leader of the SPI. He doesn't believe, go as far as almost arresting you, until some kind of miracle or supernatural event happens to change their mind. They task you with heading towards the real capital, this time alone or with whoever you want to go with you. Eventually you arrive at the real Capital.

Will edit more as I think of more.

[String]

Perhaps we should decide on our party members as well? I'll take a crack at a starting point for a 'western swordsman' (i'll include some mechanics hooks for all of us in Gameplay to take a stab at later). Note that anything referencing equipment or whatnot can be changed if we later decide something else regarding equipment on Party members.

Name: "Hatchet"
Concept: Western 'Swords'man.
Appearance: Hatchet is a young kid, probably around 19 or so, with a cleanshaven face and dirty blond hair that falls around his ears. He has blue eyes and his default facial expression would be some sort of broad grin. If his upper clothing is removed, a large symbol of the Fist Within the Eye is visible on his back.
Fighting style: He joins the party equipped with a hatchet, and recieves bonus es to hit and to damage with his personal hatchet.
Other thoughts: Hatchet can join the party at some point while B is traveling within the western settlements. When first introduced (or at any point thereafter, if B hasnt already asked), B can ask about his name. B: "Hatchet, huh? Got a last name?" H:"Nope". If B is good enough in Behavior Face Reading, then he gets the note "He brought up an emotional wall pretty fast." Hatchet claims to be joining B because "Well, yer goin' places I want to be." The first time that Hatchets upper clothing is removed, a dialogue option opens up about the Tattoo.

Hatchet agrees with any pro Lenient god actions, unless they involve letting someone hurt children, or murder parents. He will vehemently argue religion with any party member who supports the Strict god.
--

Its a starting point. Any critiques?

[DraPrime]

What we have so far (Bit more specifically):

The game begins on a train. Your sitting near the back, thinking about your past(Insert choices between rich, poor, or in between, soldier, ex priest, or gun for hire etc. etc. here) But now your starting a new life, away from your old town. You get into a conversation with the guy right next to you, when suddenly a person comes to your car and tells you bandits are attacking the train. You then go over the tutorial, heading toward the front of the train and eventually defeating the bandits. Then you arrive at a town, and eventually somehow get sucked into helping a priest with an exorcism. After that whole ordeal(whether or not people die - you affect it?) you end up with the knowledge that god's personality is splitting, and you try to tell people. and the plot keeps going.

At first you aren't believed. The town rejects you and, depending on how far you push the issue, you may get run out of town. You hear of a caravan heading towards the western's new Capital/Major Town and you head over there with it. On the way you help defend the caravan and gain the trust of the people in it, spreading the word of the split personality issue (SPI, for short). When you arrive at the Capital/Major Town(along with many sidequests, optional party members, etc. etc.), you go to tell the spiritual leader of the SPI. He doesn't believe, go as far as almost arresting you, until some kind of miracle or supernatural event happens to change their mind. They task you with heading towards the real capital, this time alone or with whoever you want to go with you. Eventually you arrive at the real Capital.

Will edit more as I think of more.

Well let's decide on what this supernatural event will be. I'm thinking that we have some sort of important prophet guy who is already established as a known holy man. He shows up, but there are two of him now, both arguing and raving. One of them seems to be ultra-strict, while the other seems to be extremely lax. Eventually both versions of super holy prophet man run away around the country side, spreading the knowledge of God's split. And of course everyone believes (rightfully) super prophet man because he's a respected holy figure.

[Sneak]

Okay...let's try to flesh out the story a little.

PC is from East, ships out to west to start a new life.
Train is attacked by bandits. PC and friend defeat bandits.
PC stuck in a town in the middle of nowhere.
Offers to help the local priest with an exorcism in exchange for food/shelter.
During exorcism, spirit tells PC about the divine divide.
PC shocked, tells people in town.
They don't believe PC, chase PC out of town and call him/her a heretic.
PC travels to the de facto capital of the west (the only real semi-established city in the new frontier) to speak to the de facto religious leader of the west. Doesn't believe PC at first, but then some supernatural event occurs that convinces him. (Lots of side quest opportunities here, since it's a developing city.)
Sends PC to talk to the real religious leaders in capital.
PC crosses mountains, working as a caravan guard for a merchant, and goes to the real capital, speaks to the religious leaders. They acknowledge that something has happened. They tell PC not tell anyone so as not to cause a religious schism. PC leaves.
They send assassins to kill PC to keep PC quiet, but somehow PC escapes or defeats the asssassins.
Servant overhears PC's story and spreads rumors amongst the common folk.
These rumors coupled with the unsettling supernatural occurrences is the breaking point. There are riots, people preaching on the street, etc, the church starts to split.
And from then on, it's more open-ended. You have to deal with the aftermath.

Or something like that. I think as it is it's way too much "Go from point A to point B to point C," etc., and I'm not really happy with the way the church splits. I just wanted to bring up the topic, mainly, since the middle of the story is pretty empty right now.

EDIT: Oh, and thanks for the compliments on the holy symbols. :smallredface:

That's what I said about the storyline, a few pages back.

Anyway.

I like the character idea, String. Is it intentional that he argues against the god whose holy symbol he has tattooed on his back, though? Just making sure.

EDIT: And I like that idea, Dragonprime.

[TFT]

That's what I said about the storyline, a few pages back.

Anyway.

I like the character idea, String. Is it intentional that he argues against the god whose holy symbol he has tattooed on his back, though? Just making sure.

EDIT: And I like that idea, Dragonprime.

Similar to the storyline I'm making... Great minds think alike, huh?

[String]

SNeak: Yes, it was intentional. I haven't figured out why yet.

[DraPrime]

Perhaps B could be ordered to "eliminate" the prophet(s). At this point the sides of the conflict have started to form, and the west tries to influence B into killing the lax version of the prophet, while the east tries to make B kill the strict prophet. Perhaps this could be when B has to choose between sides?

[Mr. Zook]

holy man, good idea
hatchet, maybe bounses on all melle attacks

[Sneak]

Similar to the storyline I'm making... Great minds think alike, huh?

Well, I posted mine first, so nyah nyah. :smalltongue:

Just kidding. We're both great. :smallbiggrin:

@String: Alright then. Just making sure. Actually, I like that idea...a follower of one side who became disillusioned when the split occurred and decided to switch over? Or something like that?

[Corrupted One]

I thought we were going with the whole " animals/plants mutating people going crazy spirits causing trouble" were the side effects of this SPI. This god is supposed to keep order, the result of his insanity should be utter chaos ( maybe as the game progresses we could have increasing levels of disorder).

[DraPrime]

Well I think the real chaos would be for later on. I think a highly respected holy figure splitting into two seperate people is quite chaotic, don't you?

[Mr. Zook]

yes, i agree w/ corrupted, b/c more chaos= more stuff= other stuff

[String]

Sneak: Yeah, something like that was the idea.
Zook: Yeah, bonuses to melee, and possibly a special ability...Thrown Hatchet, and the ability to retrieve it?

[DraPrime]

Perhaps B could be ordered to "eliminate" the prophet(s). At this point the sides of the conflict have started to form, and the west tries to influence B into killing the lax version of the prophet, while the east tries to make B kill the strict prophet. Perhaps this could be when B has to choose between sides?

I reposted this because it was the last post on the previous page and I was afraid people missed it.

[Corrupted One]

Well I think the real chaos would be for later on. I think a highly respected holy figure splitting into two seperate people is quite chaotic, don't you?

No:smallannoyed:


Kidding of course!:smallbiggrin: After seeing you second idea I like your first a bit more. B HAVING to kill one side or the other sounds brilliant.. Hard choices are often the best.. If we are voting I vote aye. But are we going to have him split in front of the people, or simply show up? Any chance we could make introducing him a bit more dramatic?

[Sneak]

I think at first, it should mostly be small supernatural incidents and rumors...people are beginning to suspect that something is going on, but they're not quite sure. Then, thing start to get worse (I like the splitting holy man idea) and people begin to panic. Chaos starts.

I also like the idea of more supernatural occurrences as the game goes on. Perhaps there could be an in-game timer to deal with different levels of supernatural activity at different times?

EDIT: I think maybe the holy man could be a recurring character...he would show up at several different points. Maybe he's even on the same train at the beginning of the game, and heading to the same place. So then, when he splits, it'll have more impact.

[Corrupted One]

I think at first, it should mostly be small supernatural incidents and rumors...people are beginning to suspect that something is going on, but they're not quite sure. Then, thing start to get worse (I like the splitting holy man idea) and people begin to panic. Chaos starts.

I also like the idea of more supernatural occurrences as the game goes on. Perhaps there could be an in-game timer to deal with different levels of supernatural activity at different times?


That was what I was thinking. As the game progresses and the split manifiests itself the sides grow even farther apart and began to hate each other which feeds the rift between the god's two halves which feeds the hatred which feeds.....

[TFT]

With the killing, we should probably also have the option to try to combine the prophet back into one person, maybe showing why the split is occuring

[String]

Hm.

Perhaps the Holy Man is even the man next to your on the train.


Oh MY FREAKING GOURD..

I really want feed back on this from everyone, okay?

What if this holy man is revealed in the last act of the game to actually be a manifestation of the God? Brought to the world to try and bring people together, this man has been split by the churches infighting, and serves as either a penultimate or final fight for B?

[Sneak]

Hm.

Perhaps the Holy Man is even the man next to your on the train.


Oh MY FREAKING GOURD..

I really want feed back on this from everyone, okay?

What if this holy man is revealed in the last act of the game to actually be a manifestation of the God? Brought to the world to try and bring people together, this man has been split by the churches infighting, and serves as either a penultimate or final fight for B?

I love both of these ideas.

Perhaps you would have a chance to have a chat with the holy man before the train is attacked, maybe even have a theological debate with him?

[DraPrime]

Hm.

Perhaps the Holy Man is even the man next to your on the train.


Oh MY FREAKING GOURD..

I really want feed back on this from everyone, okay?

What if this holy man is revealed in the last act of the game to actually be a manifestation of the God? Brought to the world to try and bring people together, this man has been split by the churches infighting, and serves as either a penultimate or final fight for B?

While that sounds like a good idea, we would need to axe the whole "kill one side of the prophet" mission because then you'd technically end the conflict right there, or is there some way around that?

[String]

Sneak:YES! FTW.

Dragonprime: One way around it would be to sortof side step it with "He's not the actual god, just a manifestation. However, now the ACTUAL god is pretty pissed off for killing his crystal dragon jesus" (Er...if you didnt get the reference, I meant his 'psuedo-jesus')

[DraPrime]

Well, one side of the god will be pissed off. In fact, I like the whole idea you added. This will give the other side of god a reason to hate you, and this side will use it's influence to make the civil war go into full swing, just to get at you.

[String]

Yes. That also gives a slightly more in game reasoning for all the crazy creatures attacking. The half of the god you pissed off is now targeting you.


Anyone else like this idea? Should we consider it canon?

[DraPrime]

I especially like this idea because it makes B "god's chosen one" in a new, and really unlucky way.

[Corrupted One]

Well, one side of the god will be pissed off. In fact, I like the whole idea you added. This will give the other side of god a reason to hate you, and this side will use it's influence to make the civil war go into full swing, just to get at you.

But if you combine both halfs no civil war. So maybe you have to choose? Also, even if this is just a holy man shouldn't he be an expert at healing ( or something else spiritual) killing him this early in the game wouldn't be easy. Maybe instead a quest/s to undermine one half or the other?

Or, alternatively make him one of multiple manifestations... going with this route you have alot more possibilities. Like wiping all of them out instead of the church to limit the influence of one god or the other. Or having the rest as optional quest to gain favor in the eyes of the church.

[Sneak]

Well, one side of the god will be pissed off. In fact, I like the whole idea you added. This will give the other side of god a reason to hate you, and this side will use it's influence to make the civil war go into full swing, just to get at you.

Although I think there should be a much bigger impact if you kill the strict manifestation instead of the lax manifestation. For obvious reasons.

And I think you should get an evil shift/karma drop/whatever if you kill one of the manifestations at all...I mean, even if the dude is crazy, you're still killing a person.

That brings up an interesting point. How are we handling alignment/karmic issues? Do we even need a system? I guess we can just let the player's individual actions, good or bad, affect the world, instead of making a system for overall reputation based on alignment.

[DraPrime]

Although I think there should be a much bigger impact if you kill the strict manifestation instead of the lax manifestation. For obvious reasons.

And I think you should get an evil shift/karma drop/whatever if you kill one of the manifestations at all...I mean, even if the dude is crazy, you're still killing a person.

This is a video game with fighting. We can't really make killing morally objectionable or else B is going to always have to avoid fighting DURING A WAR to avoid being evil.

[Sneak]

But if you combine both halfs no civil war. So maybe you have to choose? Also, even if this is just a holy man shouldn't he be an expert at healing ( or something else spiritual) killing him this early in the game wouldn't be easy. Maybe instead a quest/s to undermine one half or the other?

I don't think you CAN combine both halves. I don't think you should have to kill one of the sides, though.

And I don't think killing him should be easy, necessarily, but it should be possible. After all, he's weakened and slightly insane now.

[DraPrime]

Although I think there should be a much bigger impact if you kill the strict manifestation instead of the lax manifestation. For obvious reasons.

I must be dense, because I don't know what these reasons are :smallconfused:

[String]

Sneak: I like the idea of just shaping the world, and making impacts on your companions, but no "Good" and "Bad" meter, or endings that depend on where you are on the 'scale'. I think the choices you make should affect the ending, not your Dark Side Score :smalltongue:

[Sneak]

I must be dense, because I don't know what these reasons are :smallconfused:

Well, maybe not. I was just thinking that the strict god would be WAY more vengeful than the lax god.

As for the moral objection to killing, there's a difference between fighting in a war or killing bandits in self-defense and murdering someone. B's player will just have to decide whether the ends justify the means, as far as killing goes.

@String: Agreed.

[DraPrime]

If we must have some sort of alignment meter, we shouldn't make it good vs. evil. We should make it law vs. chaos since that seems to be the theme in this game.

[Corrupted One]

I don't think you CAN combine both halves. I don't think you should have to kill one of the sides, though.

And I don't think killing him should be easy, necessarily, but it should be possible. After all, he's weakened and slightly insane now.


But you must make some kind of choice, right? The player can't stay in the gray area forever.

[TFT]

Well, I think we need to make a desicion of whether or the god can ultimately be combined at the end. So start debating... now!

[Corrupted One]

Well, I think we need to make a desicion of whether or the god can ultimately be combined at the end. So start debating... now!

I think we agreed earlier not to give a fairy tale ending? I propose if we do decide to make combining the halves an option, we make something bad happen as a consequence of it. Like, you have to kill some of the more zealous members of each side, including some extremely likeable, genuinely good people.

[DraPrime]

Since we all seem to like the holy man idea, here's a sort of finalized version I've come up with. I want to see if you all approve.

You first meet the holy man on the train, and have a discussion with him. Later on after you find out about the whole "god is insane" problem, he eventually shows up, but now split in two, one being really strict, one being really lax. He is the proof that makes people believe B. The two prophets run off and start spreading the knowledge of god's split. B is sent to kill the prophet(s). He kills one part of the prophet, pissing off the god who was linked to that part. This forces B to take a side, since now one side of god is exerting his influence to kill B. At the end of the game B finds out that the holy man was in fact a manifestation of god sent to unite people, but the squabbling of the church split him in half.

Does this sound good to everyone?

[String]

Yeah, but even if you c an reunite the two halves, it may not be a fairy tale. I mean, all the crap still happened...

[Mr. Zook]

@ dragonprime yes, but in reuniting, big explotion, kills b, leaves best friend to pick up pieces, a convienient segway to part II

[DraPrime]

Well I don't think you should be able to reunite the holy man halves. This is the way we plan on making B take sides. As far as combining the actual sides of god, lets make it a choice at the end. We should in fact have some character try to talk B into it before he goes off to kill one side of god at the end. I think if we do have god get combined there still should be massive consequences.

[Corrupted One]

Yeah, but even if you c an reunite the two halves, it may not be a fairy tale. I mean, all the crap still happened...

So does that make you pro or against the ability to unite them? :smallconfused:

[Corrupted One]

Well I don't think you should be able to reunite the holy man halves. This is the way we plan on making B take sides. As far as combining the actual sides of god, lets make it a choice at the end. We should in fact have some character try to talk B into it before he goes off to kill one side of god at the end. I think if we do have god get combined there still should be massive consequences.

Seconded. Or at least have to do a massive amount of dirty work to have it happen. In regards to your other post dragon prime, are we gonna have other manifestation/vanguards/prophets/servants sent by the god ( they existed long before the split) who are either physically split, or mentally. As a result of the latter they go insane and corrupt/kill/taint the area surrounding them.

[String]

Yay for reuniting the God itself.

Nay for reuniting the Holy Man

[Corrupted One]

Yay for reuniting the God itself.

Nay for reuniting the Holy Man


It seems most people feel that way. So I am guessing we don't have to vote on the holy man as uniting him seems a pretty bad descision plot wise.

[Sneak]

Yay for reuniting the God itself.

Nay for reuniting the Holy Man

Agreed.

How about this: the holy man's halves both go semi-insane and start trying to kill each other in public places, thus endangering innocents? So one of them HAS to be killed, and there's no moral backlash for doing so?

As for consequences to reuniting the God...to do it, the leading holy men on both sides have to all be killed in order to stop the arguing and allow God to heal? And for doing this, people on both sides will despise B afterwards.

[String]

I like that idea.

Alright guys, I'm off for a bit. I'll be on later. If someone could give Hatchet another look over and critique, or perhaps add other things, I'd appreciate it. Or maybe add another party member.

[DraPrime]

Seconded. Or at least have to do a massive amount of dirty work to have it happen. In regards to your other post dragon prime, are we gonna have other manifestation/vanguards/prophets/servants sent by the god ( they existed long before the split) who are either physically split, or mentally. As a result of the latter they go insane and corrupt/kill/taint the area surrounding them.

I'm not sure about that. I think if it happens more then the shock value of it will eventually wear down.

I also had an idea for a consequence of killing one of the prophets. The side of god that B angered sends spirits to possess B. At some point B will be successfully possessed and B will go on a rampage killing many people on his side (mostly mooks. We don't want to kill off too many plot important characters). This would not only be interesting because of the consequences, but because the player could get a chance to fight his allies which would be something fresh and new during the game.

[Corrupted One]

Agreed.

How about this: the holy man's halves both go semi-insane and start trying to kill each other in public places, thus endangering innocents? So one of them HAS to be killed, and there's no moral backlash for doing so?


Or maybe have that happen if at first you refuse to kill them when sent ( and specifically state it is for moral purposes) and then later on you are forced to kill them. You objected because of moral reasons and were forced to kill one. But if you choose right away you simply kill them. That way the player's moral choices affect the outcome ( at least from a moral standpoint)

Players more compassionate are relieved from alot of guilt ( making their player more representative of them.)

Same is true for the more fiery ones.

[String]

Corrupted: Brilliant! I like that idea! Dragonprime, you should perhaps start compiling these agreed upon things to the OP.

[Sneak]

Or maybe have that happen if at first you refuse to kill them when sent ( and specifically state it is for moral purposes) and then later on you are forced to kill them. You objected because of moral reasons and were forced to kill one. But if you choose right away you simply kill them. That way the player's moral choices affect the outcome ( at least from a moral standpoint)

Players more compassionate are relieved from alot of guilt ( making their player more representative of them.)

Same is true for the more fiery ones.

Yeah, that works.

As for the possessing thing...I'm not sure. I think it might be too much of a WTF random moment. And then after it happened, everyone would hate you.

[DraPrime]

Well I already added some of that stuff, but I'm not sure whether or not we agreed on what Sneak said about the two holy men trying to kill each other. I do like the idea that Corrupted had. So if we come to a consensus about what Sneak and Corrupted said, I'll add what's appropriate.

[Sneak]

Or maybe have that happen if at first you refuse to kill them when sent ( and specifically state it is for moral purposes) and then later on you are forced to kill them. You objected because of moral reasons and were forced to kill one. But if you choose right away you simply kill them. That way the player's moral choices affect the outcome ( at least from a moral standpoint)

Players more compassionate are relieved from alot of guilt ( making their player more representative of them.)

Same is true for the more fiery ones.

I think we've agreed on this.

One more idea, though. How about after the holy men split, they both set off towards the capital in the east? That way, you'll have to chase after them in order to kill one, thus giving you a reason to travel to the eastern capital. That way you'll get a chance to visit both capitals, although the one in the west isn't really an 'official' capital.

[TFT]

I thought we agreed the east didn't have a capital, but had just adopted the middle one as their own, due to their laidbackness? I agree that there should be more of a chance to see the east side, however.

[Corrupted One]

I think we've agreed on this.

One more idea, though. How about after the holy men split, they both set off towards the capital in the east? That way, you'll have to chase after them in order to kill one, thus giving you a reason to travel to the eastern capital. That way you'll get a chance to visit both capitals, although the one in the west isn't really an 'official' capital.

Sounds good. With the other "feeling" the death of the other and telling his capital. Which is how word gets around.

Unrelated: Questions. How active a role does this god have on this world? Does he regularly intervene? Does he simply grant magic to certain individuals ( i.e. priests) who carry out his will ( or are supposed to)? Or does he manifest himself only when the need arises? Does he have vanguards and servants who he uses to make his will know/enforce it? If so can we use them in our plot to show how the split is affecting things?

[Sneak]

I thought we agreed the east didn't have a capital, but had just adopted the middle one as their own, due to their laidbackness? I agree that there should be more of a chance to see the east side, however.

What I thought was that the ACTUAL capital of the country is in the east, and the capital in the west is really just a de facto capital by virtue of being the only real city in the region, although it's still in development and construction is not completely finished. Remember, the people in the west were in the east until only recently, and there had to be a capital even before the west was settled. (Also, just because the god they follow is laid back doesn't mean that EVERY person in the east is laid back, or even follows that aspect of the god. Also, laid back =/= unorganized.)

But yeah, I think exploration of the east is a much needed thing.


Sounds good. With the other "feeling" the death of the other and telling his capital. Which is how word gets around.

Unrelated: Questions. How active a role does this god have on this world? Does he regularly intervene? Does he simply grant magic to certain individuals ( i.e. priests) who carry out his will ( or are supposed to)? Or does he manifest himself only when the need arises? Does he have vanguards and servants who he uses to make his will know/enforce it? If so can we use them in our plot to show how the split is affecting things?

I was thinking that in "the good old days" he used to manifest often, usually when there was a need of some kind, but as far as anyone knows, he hasn't manifested for a long time. So the only people that remember "the good old days" would be those very old geezers who sit on their front porch in a rocking chair with a shotgun and complain about those goddam kids on his lawn. God normally makes his will known to the priests, and they tell the rest of the world and try to carry out his will. Of course, it's not EXACTLY clear how much of what the priests say is actually God's will and how much of it is just the priests trying to pass off their own will as God's. In recent years, though, he's been silent.

[Corrupted One]

What I thought was that the ACTUAL capital of the country is in the east, and the capital in the west is really just a de facto capital by virtue of being the only real city in the region, although it's still in development and construction is not completely finished. Remember, the people in the west were in the east until only recently, and there had to be a capital even before the west was settled. (Also, just because the god they follow is laid back doesn't mean that EVERY person in the east is laid back, or even follows that aspect of the god. Also, laid back =/= unorganized.)

But yeah, I think exploration of the east is a much needed thing.



I was thinking that in "the good old days" he used to manifest often, usually when there was a need of some kind, but as far as anyone knows, he hasn't manifested for a long time. So the only people that remember "the good old days" would be those very old geezers who sit on their front porch in a rocking chair with a shotgun and complain about those goddam kids on his lawn. God normally makes his will known to the priests, and they tell the rest of the world and try to carry out his will. Of course, it's not EXACTLY clear how much of what the priests say is actually God's will and how much of it is just the priests trying to pass off their own will as God's. In recent years, though, he's been silent.

Well I guess we can decide tomorrow ( or when everyone else is on). For know I must sleep. Night all.

[String]

WEll, I'm back, at any rate.

[Sneak]

Any comments on the last few posts, then?

[String]

WEll, I agree with you on the Capitals and possession topics as well as the idea that the two holy men set off to the East, giving you a reason to follow them. My thoughts on that are: "At what point?" So far, the basic outline I'm getting is:

Train. (Holy Man, possible theological discussion, probably comprised of a tutorial of the Social skill system)
Train Robbery (Tutorial for combat system.)
Arrival in small western town.
Get roped into assisting the local preist with an exorcism (I still like the idea of getting arrested for a bar fight).
Exorcism occurs, ending in the spirit/demon/whatever revealing that the God is split.
Attempt to tell the church and by extension the populace that God is split.
Heretic!
Possibly run out of town/jailed (I like the idea of it going two or three completely different ways, with the more mean/uncharismatic characters being sentenced to hanging and having to save themselves somehow, the ones who are at the midline being jailed and having to break out, and the ones who are more persuasive being run out of town. Maybe?)
Eventual travel to de facto western capital.
Run ins with Holy Man/Men?
---Holy Men make for East?---

I'm not sure what else is agreed on. I know we have a basic ending set, but I think we should work on this end too.

[TFT]

String, you do remember that everything agreed on is in the first post, and you can just look there right?

@Sneak, I guess I misunderstood about the capital. I assumed it was pretty close to the border of the desert, but more inside the east works too.

[Sneak]

The game begins on a train. Your sitting near the back, thinking about your past(Insert choices between rich, poor, or in between, soldier, ex priest, or gun for hire etc. etc. here) But now your starting a new life, away from your old town. You get into a conversation with an important and respected holy man, who is sitting right next to you, when suddenly a person comes to your car and tells you bandits are attacking the train. You then go over the tutorial, heading toward the front of the train and eventually defeating the bandits. Then you arrive at a town, and eventually somehow get sucked into helping a priest with an exorcism. After that whole ordeal(whether or not people die - you affect it?) you end up with the knowledge that god's personality is splitting, and you try to tell people. and the plot keeps going.

At first you aren't believed. The town rejects you and, depending on how far you push the issue, you may get run out of town. You hear of a caravan heading towards the western's new Capital/Major Town and you head over there with it. On the way you help defend the caravan and gain the trust of the people in it, spreading the word of the split personality issue (SPI, for short). When you arrive at the Capital/Major Town(along with many sidequests, optional party members, etc. etc.), you go to tell the spiritual leader of the SPI. He doesn't believe, and goes as far as almost arresting you. Then the holy man you met on the train shows up, but he's now been split into two people, one for each side of god. The two versions of the prophet manage wander around rambling and spreading fear, leading the church to believe you. The two versions of the holy man run away and spread fear and make people realize what has happened to God. The church asks you to silence the prophet(s). By killing one side you piss off the side of God that this holy man was linked to, forcing you to take a side. At this point the side of God that you angered uses his influence to get a civil war going, to get at YOU and to get the advantage over the other side of God now that this side has had his prophet killed. At the end of the game you find out that the holy man had been a manifestation of God sent down to unite people, but had been split by the internal squabbles of the church.

[Maybe you can refuse to help kill one of the split holy man at first, citing moral objections...but then they go slightly insane and try to kill each other, putting innocent people in harm's way in the process. You have no choice but to kill one of them.

Also, perhaps they flee to the capital in the east, thus forcing you to travel there in order to hunt them down.]

At the end, you have several choices.

Allow the Forgiver to come into power
Allow the Destroyer to come into power
Attempt to restore the original personality of the god (probably leads to a temporary fix)
Kill the god
eliminate the church, limiting the god's influence in the world

Each decision has consequences of it's own. This will of course get more complex.

[Perhaps there should be another choice, uniting the gods. This might be accomplished by killing all the leading religious figures on both sides, thus ending the majority of the religious argument and allowing the rift to heal. This, however, makes everyone despise you. You may be thrown in jail or sentenced to death as a result. Or entered into a witness protection program-like thing.]

Proposed additions in brackets.

[TFT]

I agree with the proposed additions, and I think the witness protection would be the best one for if you kill all the religious leaders. Seeing how the split stopped worsening, I would imagine the priests would understand it was ultimately for good what you did and would try to save you for saving their god(Its the least they can do)

[String]

I agree with the proposed additions, and apologize for not noticing the changes.

I also think the exorcism should function as a magic tutorial.

[Sneak]

I agree with the proposed additions, and apologize for not noticing the changes.

I also think the exorcism should function as a magic tutorial.

Hmm, I guess that works. Have we decided how exactly magic is going to work, and how much of it there will be?

[Corrupted One]

I agree with the proposed additions, and apologize for not noticing the changes.

I also think the exorcism should function as a magic tutorial.

Agreed. The proposed addtions sound cool. And I think ( I am fairly sure most people will agree with me) that most descisions ( at least important ones) you have a ( not this black and white but for the sake of explaining) evil, neutral, and good option. What happens depending on our choice and the situation. We could, in theory, have a hell of alot of seperate storylines and side quest/stories if we wanted to simply by creating a bunch that are determined by your combination of choices.

[Corrupted One]

Hmm, I guess that works. Have we decided how exactly magic is going to work, and how much of it there will be?

Magic is pretty much spiritual and, as some people have said, seems kind of bare/weak. We need to flesh it out a bit more so suggestions/additions in the gameplay thread would be appreciated.

[Sneak]

Okay.

How much of a role will exorcism play in the game? Would it be more of a side-quest-only thing? Maybe it would be one long side-quest path, where you build up an exorcism business, and eventually get a big reward if you follow it to the end?

[Corrupted One]

Okay.

How much of a role will exorcism play in the game? Would it be more of a side-quest-only thing? Maybe it would be one long side-quest path, where you build up an exorcism business, and eventually get a big reward if you follow it to the end?

If it is the former we will need to discuss the benefits. we also need to decide how hard it is. Is it a skill based minigame? A battle agiants a high level spirit? A combination of the two? The former revealing the spirit and the second making it available for attack. Or, for the more evil characters, simplying skipping the first and killing the person getting less of a reward but also much less hassle.

[String]

I like that idea about the exorcism business sidequest ...I had another idea for a long sidequest that involved getting the train up and running and therefore cutting down the travel time, but thats a nother topic.

[Corrupted One]

I like that idea about the exorcism business sidequest ...I had another idea for a long sidequest that involved getting the train up and running and therefore cutting down the travel time, but thats a nother topic.

Since the land is split and travel in the west ( along with life in general) seems like it is going to be rough we could have a few long sidequest ( or just one encompassing all of them) improving life and travel.

Same for the east. The leaving of the stricter side left a huge hole there. Fewer warriors and soldier ( the lenient types weren't soldiers for profession) so plenty of potential there.

[Sneak]

If it is the former we will need to discuss the benefits. we also need to decide how hard it is. Is it a skill based minigame? A battle agiants a high level spirit? A combination of the two? The former revealing the spirit and the second making it available for attack. Or, for the more evil characters, simplying skipping the first and killing the person getting less of a reward but also much less hassle.

I'd say no to a minigame—they tend to break immersion. I like the "first you have to find the spirit, then you have to kill it" approach, but I'm not sure exactly how it would work. One thing I do think we should do, though, is make it so you can only attack spirits with spiritual powers/magic. This'll give a reason for choosing the spiritual tree. And the evil path works too, I guess. Maybe you could pretend it was an accident, so that people don't hate you for murdering their children and spouses?


I like that idea about the exorcism business sidequest ...I had another idea for a long sidequest that involved getting the train up and running and therefore cutting down the travel time, but thats a nother topic.


Since the land is split and travel in the west ( along with life in general) seems like it is going to be rough we could have a few long sidequest ( or just one encompassing all of them) improving life and travel.

Same for the east. The leaving of the stricter side left a huge hole there. Fewer warriors and soldier ( the lenient types weren't soldiers for profession) so plenty of potential there.

Hmm. Maybe there's some way you could fix the train, or procure a horse, or something?

As for the "fewer warriors and soldiers" thing, yeah...I was also thinking that the less strict approach would lead to more crime, so maybe there could be a crime syndicate or some sort of organized crime in the capital city that you can join.

[Corrupted One]

I'd say no to a minigame—they tend to break immersion. I like the "first you have to find the spirit, then you have to kill it" approach, but I'm not sure exactly how it would work. One thing I do think we should do, though, is make it so you can only attack spirits with spiritual powers/magic. This'll give a reason for choosing the spiritual tree. And the evil path works too, I guess. Maybe you could pretend it was an accident, so that people don't hate you for murdering their children and spouses?





Hmm. Maybe there's some way you could fix the train, or procure a horse, or something?

As for the "fewer warriors and soldiers" thing, yeah...I was also thinking that the less strict approach would lead to more crime, so maybe there could be a crime syndicate or some sort of organized crime in the capital city that you can join.


Well both sides will have something missing after the split. Exploiting or fixing this will be up to the player and this will also make it easier to make all our mission's double bladed. Two options for two seperate types of gamers.

[String]

I like the idea of a crime syndicate.

Also, since it was brought up (although I thought it was in jest): I'm sorry if I don't contribute as many ideas beyond "I agree with Sneak" and "Hmm, maybe." Particularly late at night, Im averse to jumping wholeheartedly into a major discussion, due to a fear that we might miss something or "agree" to something that a larger portion of the group (Team?) might disagree with. Also, I much prefer to offer broad concepts, or small ideas, and have them be elaborated on by those with more skill at elaboration or mechanics. Most of what I say will be in the area of character development (which is moot while we don't have party members) and trying to keep the ideas from becoming this big mess of cross-genre ideas that ends up looking like a badly-optimized Bard: Does a lot, does nothing well. So, If I seem critical, I'm sorry, I'm just trying to live up to this position without being "RarMYGAME." Cuz it's not! It's OUR game.

Edit: Sneak, I'm sorry if I went too far, but I put your banner in my sig, and to do so, I hosted it on my photobucket. I can remove it from both if you'd like. Also, i'm off to bed in a few.

[Corrupted One]

I like the idea of a crime syndicate.

Also, since it was brought up (although I thought it was in jest): I'm sorry if I don't contribute as many ideas beyond "I agree with Sneak" and "Hmm, maybe." Particularly late at night, Im averse to jumping wholeheartedly into a major discussion, due to a fear that we might miss something or "agree" to something that a larger portion of the group (Team?) might disagree with. Also, I much prefer to offer broad concepts, or small ideas, and have them be elaborated on by those with more skill at elaboration or mechanics. Most of what I say will be in the area of character development (which is moot while we don't have party members) and trying to keep the ideas from becoming this big mess of cross-genre ideas that ends up looking like a badly-optimized Bard: Does a lot, does nothing well. So, If I seem critical, I'm sorry, I'm just trying to live up to this position without being "RarMYGAME." Cuz it's not! It's OUR game.

Edit: Sneak, I'm sorry if I went too far, but I put your banner in my sig, and to do so, I hosted it on my photobucket. I can remove it from both if you'd like. Also, i'm off to bed in a few.


We have a banner now? Awesome! :smallbiggrin::smallbiggrin:

Oh and the big speech was ok too I guess. :smalltongue:

[Sneak]

Well both sides will have something missing after the split. Exploiting or fixing this will be up to the player and this will also make it easier to make all our mission's double bladed. Two options for two seperate types of gamers.

I guess the downside of the stricter government would be a lack of civil liberties, so I guess the PC could either talk to government officials or take part in some kind of underground anti-government movement.

@String: Yeah, that makes sense. We don't want to do too much without a large portion of the team present. And the rest of your points are also good. Not that I was ever complaining about a lack of participation from you, anyway. And no, using the banner is fine.

It just means that I'll have to actually get around to revising it sometime...

[Dallas-Dakota]

I volunteer to make a map, if you need one....

[String]

*looks about* That sounds good! Welcome aboard. You might as well give us a rough one and we can all discuss it.