Character Development Thread--Discussion

I think the general idea was a sci-fantasy kind of setting in the vein of Destiny or Hyper Light Drifter. Lots of potential in that.

Should we start building it?

The basic concept sort of sounds like Frontier minus the Wild West theme, which I'm fine with, since it never really worked out.

FWIW, though, I've never actually heard of a work called Hyper Light Drifter. I looked it up, but I wanted to raise the point as far as descriptions based around being like a specific setting go.

edited 31st Oct '17 6:41:25 AM by nrjxll

Right, well, given how much money Bungie put into marketing it, everyone knows what Destiny is at least.

That's like... fate, right? What does it have to do with elastic cables?

If it's red, it ties two soulmates together.

I know nothing about Destiny's setting.

Hyper Light Drifter is set in a continent where once peacefully coexisted at least four great technologically advanced civilizations, which is now covered in ruins due to their creations turning against them, and a following series of more localized disasters ranging from ambiguously magical death cults and hostile cannibalistic tribesmen to mass petrification. The only place life retains some normalcy is the hub, a town inside the ruins of an once great city between the four nations. There is a general sense of mystery in the areas, and the little lore found in-game is either implied by the placement of creatures or objects in the areas, extremely ambiguous stories told in form of pictures by a few characters and a series of hidden tablets written in a strange script that were eventually decoded by a few fans, that give hints of what may have caused this destruction.

But honestly, I think Gault was referring more to the mysterious aesthetics.

My Amy response was a result of me misreading the earlier posts, lol. Sorry about that Ryuhza.

Yeah, having mystery is an important part of it. I think sci-fantasy would work best because what with characters from our various sci-fi and fantasy worlds intermingling anyway, sci-fantasy is what it will turn into as a matter of course.

I thought it might be something like that, but I figured it was just easier to adapt it into the story than clarify it a bunch of times.

So... Project × Zone? Now that I think about it, my batch of characters for Adventure wouldn't be out of place in Sakura Wars.

You know what? Warriors Orochi (read: fuse anachronistic settings together) the hell out of the setting. Giant medieval castles fused with cyber punk factories, 80's Ukrainian ruins infesting an elven grove, wyvern in a parking garage, etc. Might get schizophrenic at times.

edited 31st Oct '17 7:29:22 PM by WillDeRegio

I mean, I'm liking the general sound of a mysterious sci-fantasy ruins sort of setting, so don't take that as a criticism of the general concept.

Do we want a hub town? I'm assuming yes - it offers a lot of narrative convenience.

I actually like the idea of a hyper-light drifter setting. I like it a lot.

Originally I figured for backstory, some corporate or government entity makes a series of supply points (either on the ground or maybe flying above as floating cities*) across the planet where the PC's can supply and rest which also lets the groups choose whatever biome interests them.

• I actually only thought of the floating cities as I was writing this since I'm listening to prospective "How to colonize venus" plans in another tab. The more I think about it, the more I like it.

edited 31st Oct '17 9:02:05 PM by Slysheen

Huh, the 'floating city' idea sounds like it would have a lot of advantages.

@Adventure: Regarding the Hub Town, I'm of the opinion it should be about central to several of the locations. I know some people wanted Express II, and admittedly having trains fits adventure fantasies in general. It would thus allow for moments of simple conversation going between areas if desired.

I'm also still in favor of a 'ruinous beauty' kind of approach, aka Hyper Light Drifter or Horizon Zero Dawn. Not so sure regarding an overarching mystery, but CDT Adventure essentially being a natural cobbling together of fractured universes seems rather fitting.

Picking up the pace on liner a bit so Mina can start with the interacting.

I also like the idea of a flying city because it opens up the option of scouting from the air and I'm a fan of describing views from planes, ships, ect.

I'm pretty fine with any mix of rustic/ruin/SF/fantasy whatever as long as there's a fairly stable and moderately technological base site on the ground somewhere as well from which my characters can operate.

Planning on bringing in six characters then splitting them into two or three teams to keep the number of my own characters to a manageable level in each group and interact with more regions.

I would rather have the hub be firmly on ground, as a town built inside ruins. I know Ragnarök Proofing is a thing, but seeing everything in ruins and then one big floating city is a little weird. I'd rather have the hub be the most "normal" place (well, as normal as something in the setting can be) and the more fantastic ones being further away, so there could be a more "neutral" zone.

(EDIT: also, I want trains in the hub. I can't have trains on a flying city. Well, I can, but it would feel weirder)

I also dislike the idea of "supply points". I feel the existence of an organization who already explored the place, set up mini-hubs and continuously re-supplies them robs the place of its mystery and sense of loss.

I do approve the idea of mixing ancient and modern elements as long as it isn't random. After all, my suggestion for an area in the new thread is a mega-necropolis built by several cultures over to course of millennia, crypts, graveyards and mausoleums built on top of each other.

edited 1st Nov '17 3:23:02 AM by EternaMemoria

I do have a character I'd like to bring in for Adventure (the matriarch of Rebecca and Phagora's coven), but to say true to her, she will require a warm environment, or at least a section. Perhaps we could have an area that feels like a jungle or desert?

I like jungles and deserts. One of the characters I may or may not introduce (the previously mentioned giant) would work very well in a desert, since there are less things to accidentaly stomp, and I am not set on the climate of the Necropolis.

(That area has no metaplot planned and isn't from my setting, being merely an evocative image stuck in my head, so if anyone wants to expand on it or help define how it is like when the thread approaches, feel free to do so).

Regarding a desert, I am keen on having an area where the remains of gigantic beasts lay- Imagining it being a very desolate area barring some possible odd patches. So it would be a good spot to insert whatever giant machine / mecha or organic beast, and surely a witch would have plenty to do there.

Hearing all this, I'm starting to wonder if it would be better to not pin down too much about the Adventure setting beforehand so people can develop more as they go.

I can support that.

...Is it my turn in Dream or are we waiting for someone?

Just as a heads up, I've totally lost my home internet connection. I can't believe it will last all day, but it's already been eleven hours, so.

That's appalling! You'd think they'd have better contingency planning than that and have things set up so they could get connectivity reestablished faster.