Ok then.
If anyone read the "what you can do until coldstone is out" thread then you should know that according to the sanehatter we're supposed to be designing our games.
If you read the "parties.. yes or no.." type thread you would also know that it is still uncertain(to my knowledge) whether or not parties of multiple characters will be allowed. So since I'm sure almost everyone here wants parties to be allowed I'll just cut to the point. I think we should guilt all the programmers into allowing parties by listing the ideas for the characters that join our party throughout the games we design(please don't be offended, it was an attempt at sarcastic humor).
Ok so to start off this discussion I'll describe Jun, the thief, from my RPG.

Jun was born in Tenova, although she travelled east to Erinon at the age of 12. Her elven mother and human father were both killed before she was old enough to remember them, and she was raised by the local thieves. She is very skilled at the "shifting of ownership", and seeks only to benefit herself. She is in her late teens, and wears her hair in pigtails. No one really takes her seriously, until her blade is firmly lodged between their shoulderblades and their purse is securely placed in her hands. The only bad thing about having her in your group is that she is very independent, and will leave the party mysteriously, only to return a week or so later. She never talks of these excursions, but you assume that it involves the constantly shifting world of valuables, as they make their way from one owner to the next(legally or not).

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"You will suffer! You will all suffer!"
-Jon Irenicus speaking to the Cowled Wizards

All right, I'm a firm supporter of parties, so I'll sacrifice security of a few minor game details and let the whole world know how I feel.

Glitch is a mysterious young hacker you stumble across after he saves your life on the abandoned space station. Technology seems to bow to his every whim and there is no security he cannot purge. Little is known about his past, such as how he was found lurking on that monstrous floating prison. Perhaps he is a little too knowledgable upon subjects of this matter, as, depending on the choices you make in the game, he may betray the delicate bonds of trust and reveal himself as a Mole. Being very proficient in mechanics, he likes to battle inside his trusty mech armor suit, which greatly enhances power but stiffens mobility. Much is to be learned and gained from this ominous ally. If you have not already guessed, my RPG will be themed present urban/future, much like Final Fantasy VII. Tell me what you think, your voice counts. I would love to hear feedback. If you would like to share your talents, please email me at saphfires@hotmail.com.

Preceding content is copyright 2001 Saphfire Productions for their upcoming game and may not be reproduced in any way.

~Saphfire

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Quote

Originally posted by saphfire:
**Glitch is a mysterious young hacker you stumble across after he saves your life on the abandoned space station. Technology seems to bow to his every whim and there is no security he cannot purge. Little is known about his past, such as how he was found lurking on that monstrous floating prison. Perhaps he is a little too knowledgable upon subjects of this matter, as, depending on the choices you make in the game, he may betray the delicate bonds of trust and reveal himself as a Mole. Being very proficient in mechanics, he likes to battle inside his trusty mech armor suit, which greatly enhances power but stiffens mobility. Much is to be learned and gained from this ominous ally. If you have not already guessed, my RPG will be themed present urban/future, much like Final Fantasy VII. Tell me what you think, your voice counts. I would love to hear feedback. If you would like to share your talents, please email me at saphfires@hotmail.com.

Preceding content is copyright 2001 Saphfire Productions for their upcoming game and may not be reproduced in any way.

~Saphfire

**

Oops, I guess I just reproduced it. I mean, um, I clicked a button and this happened, um um blame ASW. Ya, blame ASW

I am pro party just for the sake of flexability, there are those who want parties, and those who don't but for the sake of completeness coldstone should have support for them.

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Apple Computer - The name of microsoft's research and development division
--------------------------------
Make sure you visit the Coldstone Hotline Server run by GlueBubble. The IP is:
65.4.86.190

Quote

Originally posted by saphfire:
**All right, I'm a firm supporter of parties, so I'll sacrifice security of a few minor game details and let the whole world know how I feel.

<snip>

**

Very cool. I like the idea of his mysterious background.

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Ladies and Gentlemen, as you know we have something special for you at
Birdland this evening. A recording for Blue Note Records...

Moonwing is a dragon, or now he is. Moonwing shapeshifts into various forms during his adventures with you, but prefers his dragon form the best. Moonwing cannot talk, or chooses not to. He is a very puzzling NPC, but will go along with most of your decisions. If you do something he does not like, he will inform you of this by either glaring, growling, or slashing at you. Moonwing is very deadly when it comes to fighting Orcs and Ogres, as they only use close range weapons. He swoops out of the sky to terrorize them with bolts of fire or ice, always keeping a safe distance. Overall Moonwing is a great addition to your party, but he tends to make other characters just a little bit nervous.

Wow, Moonwing sounds really cool! I think he should be a secret character though, and look different from a traditional dragon (more agile and ferocious). Not speaking is cool, plus is makes the quest for his past even more dramatic, although I think complete silence is best. All lines by him should read, "...". Anyway keep us updated.

Regards,
~Saphfire

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yeah he is the hardest to get. I didn't actually intend on giving him any lines, but if he's with you at the end of the story, well let's just say things get kinda interesting.

Now it's time for me to introduce Kayalin the nymph.

Kayalin is a blonde woman of unknown years. At first glance she appears elven, but her completely grey eyes give away her true origin. Kayalin is one of the few remaining Nymphs. Most of her family had made the metamorphosis into a Astral Wanderer, which looks a lot like a butterfly. Kayalin is one of the many characters that go through appearance changes. She has over 2 of them. Eventually she will begin shifting into the Astral Wanderer form, but only so she get's wings, which adds an interesting twist to the plot, and her love affair with Derron(a necromancer). Kayalin's main purpose to the party is her powerful spell casting. In fact the thing she seems to say the most to her party members is,"Stand back!" as she unleashes forces of incredible destruction.

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"To put it simply: you
will all burn.....slowly.
Yes, slowly.. I like
slowly"

Carry is a simple man. He grew up on the banks of the Traebul where it flowed into the Great Inland Sea. Although he was only a few miles away from the outskirts of the bustling city of Halodin, he stuck to his family's small farm and tended to their animals.
Sometimes Carry found himself moving things with his mind and setting pieces of furniture ablaze before he knew what he was doing. His parents quickly realized that he had a natural inclination towards magic and urged him to keep it a secret, fearing for his safetey. It was against the law of the land for anyone who had not been schooled as a Mage to wield magic. Carry's family had very little money, and so could not afford to send him to any sort of school. So instead, Carry learned to hide his power.
When the First Hussian war broke out he was drafted (along with everyone else) to fight the invaders from the North. He steadily rose to the position of light infiltraitor in one of his company's most highly decorated raiding units. After the war ended he returned home for a short while to sort out his affairs, then moved west towards the low hills on the Eastern border of Traebul.
There he found for a while a relatively quiet life as a low-rent mercenary and part time repair man. More importantly, he found there the freedom he had always wanted -- freedom to practice his magic. Even without training he was a force to be reckonned with.
One day the clouds began to rumble and a great ball of fire crashed to the earth just south of the Traebul/Hussian border, a region of strife and conflict despite the supposed "peace" between the two nations. Traebul, fearing a new Hussian threat, began to mobilize its army.
And as the tides of war begin to swell once more, Carry finds himself begin drawn into the fray.

I have yet to decide how open ended I want my game to be, but one thing is for sure: I want fully established histories for all my characters.

(edited for spelling)

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Do not follow me for I may not lead. Do not lead for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me, either. Just leave me the hell alone.
-Jedi

(This message has been edited by jmitchell (edited 03-06-2001).)

Ok this is the main character for my game:

<you choose name> is a male elf, considered an older teenager in elven terms(around 125 years old). <you choose name> was born in Kalathiel, where he grew up with his friends Elsara and Orion. He never knew his parents, yet lived a happy life in Kalathiel. He was sent by the Elven Senate to uncover some facts on a mysterious human known as Wilanthor and his contacts with the war in the north(Wilanthor seems irrelevent right now, but as the plot develops you realize his whole place in the scheme of things). <you choose name> traced Wilanthor to an ancient pagoda, which is where the game starts.

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"To put it simply: you
will all burn.....slowly.
Yes, slowly.. I like
slowly"

Well, I'll spit out one more character. I'm not sure really how important this guy is going to be to my game, but I liked him when I started designing him, so who knows.

Key Al-Husuvar is a Hussian Mage of War. More than that, his extensive training on the battlefields of the Traebulian War has given him experiance that even the Gellot* cannot match. However, his apparent distrust of athority (stemming from a childhood of petty crime before his induction into the millitary) has led him to become somewhat of a social exile in his own circles. Years of putting up with the snide remarks of his peers and the political blockades that impeded his rise to power turned him aside from the established path of the Magi.

He now resides near the Hussian/Traebul border and spends his days either wandering the hillsides and plains around his home or drinking away his misery in the local taverns. He sometimes takes his frustration and anger out on those not deserving it, and finds himself quite often in trouble with the law, despite his honarary titles and his healthy retainer from the Hussian Millitary.

Still, he is a natural mage of great power, and despite his trained specialization in elemental and organic magics, he has always had hidden talents in the somewhat darker magics of physical manipulation. Few have ever seen him use these techniques because of the destruction they can cause if used incorrectly/irresponsibly.

*Gellot: highest group of Magi in Hussin. Sometimes called the "Suicide Mages" by their enemies because of the self-destructive behavior of their Magics.

That's all for now folks.

(edited for grammar)
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Do not follow me for I may not lead. Do not lead for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me, either. Just leave me the hell alone.
-Jedi

(This message has been edited by jmitchell (edited 03-10-2001).)

Xsora used to be an exotic dancer in Erinon, but was "rescued" from that dismal career at the age of 13(she had been in it for 2 years). Her "rescuer" was the quarter orc Terone, a massive warrior of incredible strength. He entered the tavern where Xsora worked, proceeded to get drunk, and ended up starting a brawl. After several men were slain by him, Xsora, losing control of herself, began speaking strange words. Fire shot from her fingers, separating the fighting men. Terone was unconscious, and Xsora protected him from the other drunks with her new found powers. She ended up dragging the 23 year old Terone out of the bar, and they have become close ever since the incident at the bar. Xsora's unpredictable magic makes her extremely deadly in combat, as almost anything can happen. She is very beautiful, but can curse and yell with the best of them.
Xsora's main strength is that her enemies can never know what to expect. She can be healing her allies one minute, and raining down meteors on her foes the next. Xsora is a valuable ally, provided your party has significant resistance to fire.
Even an expert's spells can misfire....

Snak, the half goblin: No one knows where this guy comes from. It's clear he's a half goblin... he has goblin like features and human like skin and hair, but no one is sure how a half goblin can even exist! After all, the Goblins reproduce by releasing spores into the air, where they find a nice, wet spot and grow into Goblins. So how'd he get here? No one knows. He can't do much either, but for some mysterious reason has lots of money, making him a valuable addition to any party.

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Cross over the cell bars, find a new maze, make the maze from it's path, find the cell bars, cross over the bars, find a maze, make the maze from its path, eat the food, eat the path.

Eeeeww.... goblin spores!

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“If a little knowledge is dangerous, where is the man who has so much as to be out of danger?” - T.H. Huxley

Stay away from cliches guys. Goblins? They appear in pretty much every game. Orcs? Not much better. Elves? Use sparingly.

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Apple Computer - The name of microsoft's research and development division
--------------------------------
Make sure you visit the Coldstone Hotline Server run by GlueBubble. The IP is:
65.4.86.190

Good point, DarkBlade. This has been posted here before, but your comment leads into it so nicely, and it's been a while anyway:

The Big List of RPG Clichés: (url="http://"http://www.thegia.com/features/f990118.html")http://www.thegia.co...es/f990118.html(/url)

Most of them apply primarily to console RPGs, but it's still very worthwhile reading for anyone thinking to make a game. Just remember, clichés aren't all bad - you can use them successfully, but only knowingly and with great caution. I look forward to some great games soon!

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“If a little knowledge is dangerous, where is the man who has so much as to be out of danger?” - T.H. Huxley

Unfortunately, many fantasy gamers tend to lend their ears to the Tolkeinesque names of random characters...people believe that characters in fantasy RPG's have to have names like "Arelida" or "Langenor." No one really realizes that no one would ever name their child "Arelida" or "Langenor." Perhaps once or twice a long time ago. A very long time ago. With that said, let me introduce you to my character: "Ch Y Nox."

In my game, I hope to do away with last names at all. Why do we even have them? Lots of people got by with just "(name here)son." Others got by with 5 names. I actually hope to have quite a cast of characters who have no names at all. A name is merely something that someone calls someone else. That name isn't really yours. That name is just a synonym for you in order to ease communication. For instance, I could actually be named 'cybergnu' (perhaps I am...). My point is, it doesn't matter at all.

Ch Y Nox is the character's full name. There is no last, middle or first. It is simply his name. He is a ' (yes, that apostrophe is the name of a species) and is highly skilled at martial arts. He spent time on L9n and escaped due to his power. He is a brilliant fighter, and can put his mind to good use.

OrEd is another character, who is of the jaalY. He is a skilled mage, raised on the deserts of JAyL. He always wears white...the white robes of the j'Yl Masters. This robe is a special robe, called the Mü4R.

6 is a female character who is a huntress. She was trained by the goddess of the hunt, IsmRai.

-cybergnu

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"The Gnuey Boy"

Quote

Originally posted by DarkBlade:
**Stay away from cliches guys. Goblins? They appear in pretty much every game. Orcs? Not much better. Elves? Use sparingly.

**

Well the only major civilized races in my games are Elves (they'll have a new name, but I haven't got a good one yet, and they'll be substancially different, often having wings, in fact the only link between them and normal elves are the ears) humans (is anyone not gonna include em? regardless, the humans play no major role in my story), Sone (short people, not dwarves by typical definition because they don't have to have the beards and aren't so stocky), and Dii (humanoids with elven ears, any color hair, that live in the desert)...

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"You are the enemy of all that lives, Kerrigan"
-Zeratul

Well, as always it is your discretion. I would avoid using Tolkeinesque names if possible, they just seem like a bunch of letters jumbled together. Are we playing Dungeon's and Dragon's or something?

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Apple Computer - The name of microsoft's research and development division
--------------------------------
Make sure you visit the Coldstone Hotline Server run by GlueBubble. The IP is:
65.4.86.190

Quote

Originally posted by DarkBlade:
**Well, as always it is your discretion. I would avoid using Tolkeinesque names if possible, they just seem like a bunch of letters jumbled together. Are we playing Dungeon's and Dragon's or something?

**

Some mixed thoughts:

The trick with Tolkienesque (or any other "made-up" names) is to do them correctly and consistently. In Tolkien's case, about half of his names came from Norse mythology, and the rest from the languages he himself created. The names of almost all of the dwarves in The Hobbit are found in the Norse creation myth, where it tells of gasp the creation of the Norse dwarves! And "Gandalf" literally translates to "Magic Elf". The hobbits' names come from Tolkien's "common tongue", which he based heavily upon Old English. That's why the names in Tolkien seem to "fit" - each group of characters had names from a common linguistic origin.

There's nothing wrong with using made-up or borrowed names, as long as you remain consistent. Unless you have a very good reason (for plot purposes), two childhood friends from the same town would probably not be named "Fred Agnarson" and "Elisar T'skrae".

Unless you're representing a truly alien culture (and even then, there are better ways), use names that can be pronounced easily. You can use umlauts, tildes, apostrophes, glottal stops, and clicks if you want to, but don't be surprised if the average person gives up and simply ignores the changes ("L'mãö De!ûng" would probably be read by the average user (if he/she bothered to pronounce it at all!) as "Lemow Dekung," and not whatever you want the "true" pronunciation to be.) I assume cybergnu was joking in his post (use a smiley or something, would ya?), as those names certainly represent the extremes of bad naming practice.

Also, if you can't pronounce a name without laughing, don't use it! I remember reading a review of a book featuring a magical item called "Tambootie." How on earth did that get past the editors?! Then again, if I remember the review correctly (I never read the book), it also featured characters with names ranging from "Fred" to "Darville" to "Yaakke" and "Baamin." Maybe it just wasn't edited at all...?

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“If a little knowledge is dangerous, where is the man who has so much as to be out of danger?” - T.H. Huxley

Quote

Originally posted by cybergnu:
A name is merely something that someone calls someone else. That name isn't really yours. That name is just a synonym for you in order to ease communication. For instance, I could actually be named 'cybergnu' (perhaps I am...). My point is, it doesn't matter at all.

I couldn't agree more, a name is just an abrievation for an entire being, it is really the only way that you could ever refer to someone, by giving them an arbitrary identify which doesn't attempt to describe anything about them, ie: A name. I agree with you completely.

Quote

Ch Y Nox is the character's full name. There is no last, middle or first. It is simply his name. He is a ' (yes, that apostrophe is the name of a species) and is highly skilled at martial arts. He spent time on L9n and escaped due to his power. He is a brilliant fighter, and can put his mind to good use.