BSS RPG -- Discussion & OOC

The D&D char thread has inspired an idea to me.

Let me explain -- RPing the character the test nailed each one of us, and writing a story in a joint venture kind of way. I.E, I start and write a few paragraphs, then Rune writes her own part to complement mine, and ETC. Written parts could be events, dialogue, or banter between us. All of us gets to write parts and we play off of each other.

Like I said, I normally am not much of a RP enthusiast, but this could be fun. Thoughts?

I am game so start a thread. I don't remember what spells a sorcerer gets.

Great idea! I'll join you guys in a day or three. In the meantime, a few questions, as I do not know how these things are normally done... Is the world Faerun? Should we all write in first person? Do we have a plot in mind?

Since I mentioned the Shadow Plane and the Prime material plane we'll assume we're in Faerun.

I have no perticular plot in mind per se, we'll see what happens. And yes, first person it is, I want this story to tell a story (word redundancy FTW) through the eyes of the protagonists AKA ourselves.

This should be fun.

So we write what we see and do not actually interacting on the other characters unless they give us an opening? I was wondering about that. We could conflict with each other if we aren't careful but doing it strictly from a first person perspective I think makes it easier.

I am the leat capable writer on this Board. You all are much better at writing than I am. No don't contradict me. Language is by no means my strong point and I know it. I have to think about this and see what I can come up with.

I trust you all to write openings/encounters. It will be strange at first but when the party has been gathered writing will be smoother.

I wrote the first post, and I give a backstory about Zarak. Feel free to write backstories of your own to flesh out this party.

So... which year is it? In Faerun, I mean.

Let's say 420

So, do we each enter the realm and make our way to a meeting point i.e. a tavern, a campfire, or do we just begin from the meeting point. Do we each tell our tale (background) and then do we go on adventures as a group?

Dam Zarak is the Dungeon Master so he will guide us. Sue, did you do the D&D Character Quiz to see what character you are? We are supposed to base our story on that character. Alas it puts me at a disadvantage because I usually don't play Mages, Wizards or socerers. Although I did do a Breton Mage in Oblivion but that was easy. Now I need to figure out how to play a human socerer. Think I will base it on the BG 2 Edwin he was rather roguish to say the least. I can't be evil though as my character is neutral good.:sigh:

I did complete the quiz, but couldn't get a result. I made certain java script was installed and still no joy. Then, whilst still on the quiz page, my machine began misbehaving and crashed. After that, I couldn't get my internet connection to work and I had to restore to an earlier point to sort whatever had happened out.

So, the bottom line is nope and I'm not keen to retry - unfortunately!

Zarak wrote:

Let's say 420

Which reckoning? As in, after the Time of Troubles, or before? I'm trying to research the world we'd be writing, but I cannot seem to make head or tail of it. You're a better nerd than I am, Gunga Din.

Nakia the Rogue wrote:

Dam Zarak is the Dungeon Master so he will guide us.  Sue, did you do the D&D Character Quiz to see what character you are?  We are supposed to base our story on that character.    Alas it puts me at a disadvantage because I usually don't play Mages, Wizards or socerers.  Although I did do a Breton Mage in Oblivion but that was easy.  Now I need to figure out how to play a human socerer.  Think I will base it on the BG 2 Edwin he was rather roguish to say the least.  I can't be evil though as my character is neutral good.:sigh:

I don't think it's really fun to play *ourselves* so let's say we're free to take liberties with whatever the results or what we would be supposed to be acting like.

RP is not about playing yourself, that's like the first (and only) rule in RPing.

I have no idea what any of this stuff means

I like Cara's comment on RPing. I plan on being a roguish socerer more chaotic good than neutral good. Actually that is more me than what that quiz came up with. A wild roguish chaotic sorcerer.

Trip, I am not sure that Dam Zarak know for sure what all this means. We are all in the dark until the dawn breaks. Then I am sleeping.

I didn't really think this through it seems

I guess the first part would be to write our respective backstories. Then once all protagonists have been introduced, the adventure will start.

I am not quite fond of meeting in a tavern, as a Shamanic Druid, Zarak despises the city and is quite likely to start a mass genocide or quite simply raze the town to ashes.

For now, let's focus on backstories. I will think of something to kickstart this piece of work.

PS grandma, I love the way you call me, it sounds like "That damn Zarak"

And Cara, yes, all of you are free to tinker with the formula and make your PC what you like. Zarak is a Druid/Sorcerer, so I am tinkering it to a Shaman/Warlock type.

If you prefer being a rogue, grandma, I am perfectly fine with it, it is, after all, your specialty.

Right. 'Twill be fun to write a half-orc with high INT. I'll just try to avoid mentioning any specific locations or empires, since I do not know which ones existed during the chosen year and which did not. By the way, do we care about lore and accuracy? I do not mean the basics of how D&D works, since that will obviously have to be preserved, but well, will things like "this settlement was not called that until 200 years later" or "this tribe was not descended from WhoTheHellEver, but from SomeoneElseEntirely" matter?

Zarak wrote:

Zarak despises the city and is quite likely to start a mass genocide or quite simply raze the town to ashes.

Heh, this could make a fine topic for a banter, as Runa (it seems more appropriate for a half-orc with original old icelandic genus femininum suffix for some reason) will be fascinated with civilization and will aim to emulate some of it's ways. Ah, nevermind, I shall leave that for the backstory. Now off I go, before Introduction to Iron Age eats me alive.

Wikipedia article on Faerum.  Just gave it a quick scan but didn't notice any dates but it does have a list of regions and major cities.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faer%C3%BBn

Here is a map image of Faerum which might help.

http://www.nj-pbem.com/data/General/Timeline1.htm - aaaand here are the dates. According to one of the reckonings, anyway, because there are five.

Faerun lore is pretty generic anyway so let's just use Forgotten Realms names of places and deities as a backdrop and run with it. Striving for some sort of accuracy when it comes to a made up world is a waste of time IMO unless we're actually making our own fantasy world.

In other words, big strokes on the canvas are more than enough for atmosphere, we don't want to get bogged down in the details.

Let's just pick a date if you want to and assume it's a parallel universe to do away with any supposed inaccuracies.

I suggest a few years (5 or so which would make it around 1363 DR) before the start of Baldur's Gate 1 so we get a fair idea of what to expect as far as geography and cultures in Faerun are concerned and just roll with it.

Fine with me.

Carabas, I absolutely second that! We would actually have to be quite mad to research it as we would, say, historical fiction. I only inquired because, well, I really do not know the lore and pretty much everyone seems to care about it more than I do. Glad to see 'tis not the case here.

I'm with you Rune. I have no idea about any of it

It's not that bad Trip, just making stories with the Baldur's Gate setting as a background. Basically let's just see what Dam Zarak does and roll with it.