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Finals?! Are you back in school?Yeah, working on an associates in accounting. I'll have a post up this weekend at the latest. Nice. I'll probably wait to read your post before I write any more: no hurry. Maybe I'll have some Mage questions in the interim.
Finals?! Are you back in school?
I can type in the form and can "Preview" my post, but when I click "Sumbit Post" it just spins and then keeps me on the editing page. I can only get out with "Cancel".
I know that Ceridwyn will get automatically listed when the posting begins. I can wait until then---I just wanted to make sure that I hadn't configured something wrong in the character.
What does Ceridwyn think she's doing? Alright, here's what I'm thinking. Ceridwyn thinks that her "disability" of ongoing degeneration is a consequence of her magic―of her sinking the entropy that she sources from the objects of her Effects. As she considers (and then manifests) the changes in entropy that are necessary to bring about her effects, she presumes that the balance of the ordering must come from some personal reserve of hers. Although I haven't really worked out the salient part of the backstory in my mind yet, Ceridwyn's "mother" likely did not tell her enough of her background to be able to have come up with any better picture for her magic. Indeed, no one on this timeline really has enough evidence to give enough of an account of Ceridwyn's origin to allow for an understanding of her degeneracy. (And, really, those on the future timeline from which she came would not know of the "mother's" involvement and so would not understand the entirety of the situation, either.) Why doesn't Ceridwyn simply stop doing magic so that she can stop degenerating? Because Ceridwyn doesn't think that she can take a break from magic. She believes that if she doesn't explicitly tap her powers, that they will build up and stochastically tap themselves in random (no pun intended) ways. (This idea is kind of like the time-travel abilities in Ruby Red.) Indeed, her belief in an uncontrollable aspect to her powers is the reason that she ran away from home―she believes that her presence around her "mother" would affect the mother. It is not meant to be ironic that Ceridwyn was, in fact, affecting her mother; however, I intend the mother/Ceridwyn effect to be more of an aura residual on Ceridwyn's part and a Pattern entanglement on the mother's part. Ceridwyn's various levels of misunderstanding of her effect on her mother certainly contribute to her view of her own magic. If we run this campaign long enough for Ceridwyn to become aware that her Effects are purely her own will, that realization will only come after addressing and understanding the situation with her mother. I don't expect that confrontation to be of the hero's journey sort―but I'd love to dramatize it on the page someday. I dig how Ed is going to abstract his prose as a way to communicate Yellow's world view. I don't plan to get fancy in that sense, but the inner monologue of PbP seems to admit of me describing Ceridwyn's subjective calculus of her effects, which should be fun. If we want to make the campaign a little slip-streamy, I could imagine writing disordered prose as Ceridwyn works her magic and/or degenerates. That is, a lot could be done with switching around the order of words or the order of letters (double meanings, ambiguous meanings, decent into gibberish, increasingly chaotic prose which lacks the potential to do much useful work, metaphorically running a spell as an engine between high- and low-entropy agents in a scene, etc.). I'm open to discussing that. Does this make sense? Does this work? *** Also, I see Yellow and the GM listed among the characters for this campaign, but not Ceridwyn. Do I need to change anything in my settings in order to appear there? And, is what I have described (here and in the profile) consistent with a 6-point Degeneracy? Do I need to take more (or less) and/or shuffle around anything else? I appreciate the leeway to explore more points of Flaws, but I think that 7 will work for me.
Like Ed asked, I'll work out her ... [idiom, sir?] before we get started. I am definitely interested in what she thinks and am working on it. Also, before we start, if you've read my story does it add up in terms of my point buys? I've switched my Spheres to four Entropy and two Time on the Profile. Mark: I'm waiting on a ruling for whether I need Life or Mind or anything instead.
What does Ceridwyn think she's doing? I'm still working on that... I'll have an answer soon; that is what I'm still struggling with. But, I don't expect her backstory to change at all.
So here's an attempt at summarizing her basic magical method as I see it: Recontextualizing reality into abstract mathematical forms (2 and 3 dimensional puzzles for Entropy, meter/music for Time) allows her to more readily manipulate ideas to visualize/"prove" her desired results; the more complicated the result, the more complicated the abstract form. For me, the whole idea is trying to get away from any recontextualization or re-expression, mathematical or otherwise. While certainly there are various descriptions of Entropy and thermodynamics and probability, they are all inherently limiting because they are descriptions of the thing: not the thing itself. By playing with a toy like a Cube, she can see the empirical fact in action, which is much better than reading a description of the situation. As an example, consider a Cube that is near a solved state such that one must take it into a less-ordered state en route to the hoped-for more ordered state. Seeing this play out on the toy gets her flow going to see all of the ordering and disordering necessary for her desired Effect. The less of her conscious self that she needs to dedicate to considering contextualizations of entropy, the better. (If she picks up more dots in Time, I can see her going from simple nursery rhymes for 1 dot effects into more and more complicated meters/rhythms/time signatures for higher dot effects; for powerful effects mixing Entropy and Time I see her going all-out John Cage Variations.) For Time, rhyme and music serves to channel her mind so that she doesn't have to. I certainly like the idea of the character of musical pieces being tied to the desired Effect. Variations is a good example, but is quite spatial and so would probably only fit certain situations. Another example of limited applicability would be Musica Ricercata by Ligeti; in particular, the seventh movement for piano. Although the composer gives a tempo marking for the left hand, it is really something where the musician would groove the ostinato at a tempo of their choosing and the right hand would have a very subjective temporal relationship. In some situations, this piece would allow her to really fire on all cylinders. However, even Ligeti willingly tied his own hands with this piece. He arranged it for wind quintet and, in doing so, had to fix a tempo because he had to pass the phrase from instrument to instrument―limited by the capabilities of the instruments themselves and by their need to interrelate. So, there may be some situations where the desired Effect is more like a wind quintet than a piano and she finds herself inspired, but limited. Nursery rhymes are comfortable (to her and everyone) and therefore are very Coincidental. Her focus grew from inherently wanting to become Coincidental to our timeline, so she has never even thought to stray beyond much her Flaw for Effects. Something like Messaien's Quartet for the End of Time could have some very energizing passages, but is more likely to have some detrimental effects on focusing. An attempt to summarize Yellow's basic magical method: Recontextualing reality into archetypal symbols, Yellow draws their meaning out of the Universe's subconscious mind (the Dreamlands) into the Universe's conscious mind (the physical world) to produce the desired effects; the availability of symbols limits his options for effects. (Of course, Yellow wouldn't say it this way, but this is my basic idea.) Nice. Is it possible that there are archetypes that humanity has not yet discovered/experienced? if so, can he use those without Vulgarity? or is Yellow limited to that which humanity has already dreamed?
One of the things I like about Mage is that you can usually figure out a way to achieve the result you're looking for with the means at hand, so long as you don't get caught up on a particular pre-conceived how and you think outside the box a little. I completely agree; that is how Mark described it to me. However, the other edge of that sword is that it doesn't matter what I spend my points on because I can just talk up a good story for an arbitrary Effect that is unrelated to my Spheres, etc. So, I want to play it straight and spend points where I ought to spend points or else the point limit is meaningless. My feeling is that I don't need Life or Mind except for my Flaw, which is already enshrined with points. I don't plan to use or to develop any Life or Mind abilities, so it is simply a perfunctory spending of points if the GM says that it is needed. As far as my character and the Effects that I expect to want to gameplay: 4 Entropy and 2 Time seems appropriate.
One dot in Life. Little more than Sense Life, but she must have some competence in applying Entropy to Life, if only to her own life.You can always affect yourself with your own magic, even without Life 1, so if that's the only real reason you're taking it you can spend that dot somewhere else. What you state was also my initial impression. However, the ladder of abilities for Life on p. 168ff are all self, self, self as if increased ability is needed even for self. My very first draft had one dot in Mind rather than Life. I'd be very happy with four in Entropy and two in Time and zero out Life and Mind, but I'll let the GM rule on that. One in Time seems too few for Ceridwyn and three in Time seems too many. I'm only considering Life or Mind for technical reasons—they are not informing my concept at all (but perhaps they should be!).
The most important thing is how you believe your magic works. You (and I) have to have that understanding, especially the methodology of creating an effect. I'm still good with the concept that we discussed initially:
I'm going to enter a sketch of her backstory into her profile now. I'll let you know when it's ready so that you can tell me if all of this adds up. I'll also switch my dots around while I'm in the profile---feedback there is also welcome!
I have re-read (and re-read) the section on the Spheres and am conflicted again. I think that I see where they are coming from now and that I should be heavier on Entropy than Time. I'll write up a bit of justification today or tomorrow for final adjudication by you two. I'm really not trying to get Ceridwyn stuck in development Hell here---now that I am sketching out her back story, this is starting to gel. Perhaps I'll drop my story outline into her Profile and then you can tell me where the dots need to be. What's your idea for her consultancy business? Does she only consult in certain fields, and if so, what are they? I think that she'll be focused on the manufacturing sector more so than services. My idea is that she can use her Intelligence to discern really subtle market needs and futures (in the commodities sense) so that she can help a business set itself up for success---kind of like a divine clock-maker, one small firm at a time. Not scrying; simply astute observation. (Like with Rick walked into Needful Things and called the Devil out.) In addition, magic-wise, she can be physically present at important negotiations and contract signings and factory tours in order to sway processes in her clients' favor. That latter point seems to be what White Wolf Entropy is about. Even though her origin is one of Time travel, I think that Entropy (and a little Life, but only on her own Pattern) will be more her shtick. I'll sketch out a story and you can judge for yourself.
BTW, I know there is no Wales in Dunwall; I simply want a little scaffolding. The backstory is coming together and I don't plan to invoke any specific Welsh culture or anything. I'm starting to really like the time-traveller idea for her. She will be natural-born in the future but her presence in our day and age will essentially satisfy the "living paradox" idea. I've got a pretty robust story of her arrival and childhood worked up and I am amending it as I read through the Mage book.
Much more pulp action hero than Bill Lee. More like the Rick Veitch version of the Question.I think I described my vision for Yellow to Mark as "a beat noir pulp hero."I'm thinking a lot of Bill Lee from Naked Lunch (only not high, because it's all real). Is that right? OK. I just went and read one of those. That is a lot more dynamic and physical than I was thinking---good to know.
I think I described my vision for Yellow to Mark as "a beat noir pulp hero."I'm thinking a lot of Bill Lee from Naked Lunch (only not high, because it's all real). Is that right? OMG, correct me, 'cause I can't get Peter Weller out of my head, now.
Any objection to Ceridwyn as a name? https://www.behindthename.com/name/ceridwen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z8seQb9FoE If surnames are in use Dunwall, then I'd probably argue for Chamser = ferch + amser meaning "daughter of time" in Welsh. That is, if we go with a supernatural or supertemporal origin for her, then the I'd work her illegitimacy into her origin story. I'm pretty sure that she's going to look a lot like Vastra's domestic/lover Jenny from Doctor Who. I'm going with Welsh because I think of our city as London and I want her to come from outside the city; Wales seems like a good idea.
I think I described my vision for Yellow to Mark as "a beat noir pulp hero." I'm thinking a lot of Bill Lee from Naked Lunch (only not high, because it's all real). Is that right? I'm also thinking existentially in that if your character is pure dream, etc., then mine should perhaps be mundane. That is, if not a foil, then an least a contrast so that it will be rare that both characters are ever both in their element simultaneously. I don't mean mundane as in boring---more like really tied to the not-dream world.
Mark did a good job of explaining the system to me in person---there seems to be a hard count of dice but a whole lot of roleplay around the rote and the situation, etc. I'm not really reading for the rules; I'm reading in order to get a feel for how and when magic will make its appearances. For right now, I'm really working on how she would have developed her understanding and abilities as a necessity of her disability/exceptionality. The actual quantitative mechanics make sense and 80% of my character came together on paper pretty painlessly. The discussion about attributes is a good one. I'll have mine transcribed for you to look at soon. Some of my open questions for my character are about your character, so it will be good to iterate.
I've emailed you the character sheet format. Got it. Thanks. I'll have my current draft transcribed in the next few days.
Hey. I'm in. I agree with lifting the limits. I don't have plans to exceed them by much, but it is good to not be constrained during conception. Ed, can you post or email me the plain text of whatever template you use for your character? (as you did for Helorus.) That way, I'll fill in my latest draft in that same format and we can compare apples-to-apples as we iterate on the designs. |
