Carcosa, the Tattered Shepherd |
A game that deals with insanity is probably going to touch on a lot of things that make people feel uncomfortable (even more so than a normal "evil" game). We're all adults though, so I trust we can handle the subject matter.
I find that when portraying things that are inherently uncomfortable to deal with, the best way of handling it is to allude to the actions without actually writing about it explicitly.
We all know that Lily is probably going to be indulging in torture and rape (probably simultaneously). We don't need to read long descriptions of it. A better way of handling those scenes would be do briefly describe the beginning of the action (building screams of passion and pain), then cut forward to the aftermath (Lacy happily rejoining the group while adjusting her clothes and leaving bloody footprints behind her, her playmate forgotten and likely dead).
We can treat all our various perversions this way.
Carcosa, the Tattered Shepherd |
I'm going to leave this here as a (hopefully humorous) example of how these kinds of things can go horribly wrong.
I was in a game a few years ago where one of the players was playing Thalia Winterflower, a priestess of Calistra.
Done right, that concept would be fine.
It was not done right. Check her posts at the beginning of the link. Then if you're still curious, skip forward to the end of the fight to see it continue.
This player tried to turn combat into soft core porn. To make matters worse, she tried to seduce every NPC we came across, picked fights with the other PCs, and went off on her own to do long, strange "diplomacy" scenes that usually involved her trying to leverage favors with sex.
It went all the way past "no fun" back around to "horrifying amusement"
I love the concept of this game, and I have zero hangups about sex or mental disorders. Actions that disrupt gameplay are another matter entirely
It is my hope that by addressing this here at the beginning of the game we'll be able to avoid some potential pitfalls.
So far I haven't been made uncomfortable or annoyed by Lily or any other player, but because Prae mentioned being uncomfortable I figured it would be a good idea to talk about this stuff.
The Gamemaster in Yellow |
Or she could just place everything in spoiler with the DISTURBING CONTENT tag clearly on it. I'm fine either way. Try being a teenager GMing a campaign for other teenagers, in an evil campaign, WITH the Book of Vile Darkness content available for their use. I have had situations come up back in the day that were VERY uncomfortable!
I, for one, will be using DISTURBING CONTENT warnings on some spoilers, particularly with a few of the Cult of the Yellow Sign 'ceremonies'. Anyone here read up on the Cult in Freeport? It was some pretty dark, unsettling stuff!
Lily Vorkink |
I'll probably do a mix of both, a safe her leaving and returning along with a DISTURBING CONTENT spoiler for the in between. But overall I'll try and keep the really disturbing stuff for moments when the story calls for it and not throw it around willy-nilly, Lily does have a subtle side after all.
That must have been very interesting with the BoVD and since you brought it up, how do you feel about researching spells from BoVD and other 3.5 books?
The Gamemaster in Yellow |
Posting will have to wait until sometime tomorrow. Something has come up that requires a bit of attention. I will explain a bit later, but don't have much time now. The gist of it is that a friend of mine needs my legal expertise (Studied law for a semester before I taught myself all the material that would be covered up until Masters level, due to me getting a rundown of each course by the graduates and pursuing my research independently, then got bored and switched my chosen field). Sorry to do this so early on and I hope this does not discourage anyone, as the wait is a few hours, not days or anything.
Posting will resume tomorrow and will, hopefully, pick up to TWO posts per day, should there be sufficient posts to require it. I should also have maps, NPCs dossiers with pictures (Even of the lowly scrubs like William!), and similar things.
I'm also considering making 'aged letters' with real life text and placing pictures online when letters are to be read, though I am unsure of how well that will work.
To answer your question, Lily, all material from the Book of Vile Darkness, Exemplars of Evil, and the few PC-friendly Elder Evils material will be allowed. Some things will receive a power boost, of course.
Praetorix |
Oh, man, BoVD is allowed, with power boosts?! I'll have to go find my copy, and dig up some of the cooler stuff.
Gonna have to look into the other stuff you mention.
As for the delay, don't worry about it, it happens.
Definitely excited for the twice per day posts, and I definitely will try to post enough to get two per day.
Whatever extra stuff you create for us will be viewed, used, and much appreciated!
Sarhashil |
I took a quick peek at them, I don't really see much in the way of stuff for the hungry at heart >.> but that's just me. Though the rules for torture and such make for an excellent guide for how he can help in that aspect. Much like a cat he does like to play with his food sometimes.
Carcosa, the Tattered Shepherd |
I gathered that much, but I meant specifics. =p
The most interesting stuff is the Necromancy spells that are all about giving someone a terrible rotting cyst inside their body, and then doing awful things with/to it.
Other than that, its mostly just shock filler or not suitable for PCs. (for example there's a feat that makes negative energy heal you, but you have to have sex with the undead to get it).
There is one particularly cool spell that deals 2d20 AoE to all non-demons in the area, but we can't really use that.
I remember it being a mediocre book with some interesting thematic stuff in it but not many mechanics that stood out.
Libris Mortis on the other hand, now that was a great book.
Praetorix |
It's only been around three days since GMiY last posted, I'd like to give it at least a week before officially jumping ship.
Would it be too much to ask for someone (not necessarily one of us, but possibly post to Recruitment) to pick up where he left off?
Not saying we have to, just looking at future options.
The Gamemaster in Yellow |
Hey guys! Sorry I haven't posted in a few days, I have been helping my buddy out with his defense that I mentioned. As of right now I have the power of attorney, at least until the actual attorney from Atlanta arrives and he can get better council. Still, my council FAR exceeds that of a public defender, as I've pointed out several things that the public defender he was going to get didn't even consider. Again, sorry for the posting issues!
Rynjin |
Sweet!
Sorry if we were sounding paranoid, it's just that a lot of GMs for PbPs around here spend a lot of time on recruitment, then up and disappear. There are currently 12 in my Inactive Campaigns section, almost all from he last year or so. =/
The Gamemaster in Yellow |
I believe that today is my last day performing any sort of attorney work! I am so ready to continue the madness of this campaign!
Just out of curiosity, does anyone with knowledge of the King in Yellow play ever wonder what happened to the royal family, or the vanished kingdom's inhabitants for that matter, after the land was subsumed by Carcosa? ;)
Itches- Thanks for the well-wishings! The lawyer I managed to procure for him has a 98% walk rate for his clients, which is exceptional really.
Rynjin- Don't feel bad about being paranoid. There's an old saying, 'fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me'. It's okay to be skeptical after being screwed over on a particular subject. I don't begrudge anyone for having doubts, particularly about the reality of these messageboards and what occurs on them.
Praetorix- I'm glad to help you all get in touch with your inner madman!
Praetorix |
It's ironic that it's legal stuff that's holding us up, as the original WotW is supposed to be all about Asmodeus and his laws.
Thought I'd point it out.
Also, as I said earlier, I have no experience with anything having to do with the outer gods or Hastur, but I'm excited to learn!
Itches |
I wondered how good of an idea it would be to go for crafting feats in this campaign?
Also I saw the feat Sacred Geometry. It looked interesting and a little bit confusing/time-consuming but I love math so that's no big deal for me. Would I be able to take that probably around 5th level or something and reflavour it to be more madness oriented?
Itches |
Ok, so do you guys think metamagic is really good then? Honestly i haven't played full casters much. My first one now in a home game is at 7th. Whenever i looked at feats to get, metamagic just seemed meh because it used higher spell slots when i want haste and fly or whatever instead. Then i tried out SG and it seemed to make metamagic worth using. Even if it doesn't work all the time (i have wasted a few spells from it).
Anyways I'll go with DM decision on it if it's not a good idea. Other than that question I'm ready to roll.
Praetorix |
Metamagic is actually fantastic.
You're a Wizard, so the extra casting time doesn't really matter to you.
Extend doubles the duration, whatever it is.
Intensified allows those lower level, dice-capped spells to be useful past their caps.
Dazing is one of the best magic feats in the game.
Quicken is just, obviously, worth taking.
Heighten is useful.
Maximize is good, sometimes.
Reach is nice.
Yeah, free metamagic, especially for PbP, is ridiculously overpowered.
Rynjin |
Hmmm, Metamagic is simultaneously the most powerful and most cumbersome thing you can do with magic.
Extend and Reach are good ones to actually spend a Feat on. Intensified, Empowered, and Dazing if you're a Blaster, with the first good if you're a Magus.
The rest are good as Rods. Craft Rod is the most powerful Craft feat besides Craft Wondrous Item. Quicken is probably best as a rod until you get 9th level spells, really.
As for Crafting Feats? As long as the AP isn't changed a lot, they should be marginally useful, especially between levels 8 and 12 or so.
Sacred Geometry is arguably the single most busted thing Paizo has ever made and I hope they fired the Freelancer that wrote it for that sourcebook.