Once Upon a Time (in an RP I was in)

[WyvernSlayer]

Thanks to the geezer thread I've inexplicably found myself reminiscing about cool/funny/stupid things I've done in old RPs.

So I've got this thread to shame Falaflame for everyone to see and contribute to.

EDIT: This isn't limited to RPs on FEP, by the way.



To wit:

I remember being in an RP with Falaflame where I was RPing two characters at once.  One of them was female.  Fala's character and her were so totally an item.

And that's where bromances come from, kids.

[Swift_Assassin]

I currently re-reading my first Maddox rp from Radiance lost. Apparently, crossbow bolts are attracted to Hyperions, because the very first fight Maddox has in the rp, he gets a crossbow bolt to the collar bone from a guy he charged head first.

And there was the budding romance between Maddox with Cless's character Io, both of whom started out liking Laguz more than other people and Io having a fear of Beorc men. Io even had two rps where the sole purpose was finding a man, the first of the two sparking their first support and the latter including a npc shipping her hardest to get them together. They were probably a support away from actually admitting their feelings and moving on to more, but the final two rps the pair were in had a love-triangle started between Maddox/Io/Alex, when ended in an unfinished rp in Io's family home. There was also the unfortunate fact that RL Maddox was 31/32 at the time and Iodyce was 19.

I also remembered all the rampant quoting I used to do in the RP at that point in time...which actually started getting on my nerves as I went back through it.

[WyvernSlayer]

Hyperion is actually an old English word meaning "bolt magnet."


I used to think the readiness with which everyone socialized in Wardea/Skylessia was silly. Like, sure I get it, but how often do people in real life walk up to you, introduce themselves, and propose that you both go on an adventure? I used to have my characters react accordingly.

Shmuck: "Hey fella, you look pretty strong. I'm <so-and-so>, we're looking for people to help reclaim this treasure. Would you like to join us?"
Me (as Adrian or Satsume): "Piss off I am drinking here"

[Swift_Assassin]

That does seem really weird. Sure, there are some types of people who'd probably fall into the category easily, but none of mine ever did that. Granted, I barely rp'd in Skylessia or Wardea, but still. Tyber Fen was usually on duty as a soldier the first half of his rps (except one where his wife was kidnapped) and the second half was just with the same few people as a member of Talon. Trouble always found Maddox and he always became unwitting allies with the characters. His catchphrase was asking for introductions, followed by introducing himself. Alwin had two rps were trouble found him, then the rest was part of the Scarlet Blades. Lucien's only rp was a call for mercenaries.

Could there be an even weaker rp hook than that? Okay, yes, I guess there could be. But I still prefer the whole strife pulling them together angle.

[Gazetteer]

Clare and Tyber kept running into each other, as like... acquaintances. They never knew each other super well, though, so it was always:

"Hey, Clare."
"Hey, Fen."
"Killing laguz again, I see."
"Yep."

[WyvernSlayer]

It's funny you mention that bit about "strife pulling the characters together." I ran an RP where that was the whole premise. Like, all of our characters had previously signed up for a thing and didn't really know each other, and then we all got trapped out in the elements overnight during a blizzard.

It was sort of a revolutionary premise for an FEP RP at the time. And people complained because there was no combat. *shrug*

[Swift_Assassin]

I think the Daein characters probably had more character development in that rp, at least, the ones who defected mid-rp. The first rp Tyber and Clare were together in was fighting alongside Tomislav, and the very last one had them both in Crimea as traitors with Clare engaged and Tyber returning to Daein as a member of the resistance.

Also, I must have hated Alwin. Sure, the party he joined for most of his rps weren't the best at it and the leader of the Scarlet Blades bunnyed a lot in his posts, but those were the fastest rps I've had in RL. He'd probably end up with severe ptsd and a drinking problem by the time he died. He kept seeing horror after horror, ended up drinking from a bottle of blood he thought was brandy, fell off a tower, constantly getting knocked out, and dealing with a curse that fought for control of himself. Then there was the Left 4 Dead themed rp which probably didn't help him at all.

[Gazetteer]

Were the Scarlet Blades Fernand's mercenary group?

[Swift_Assassin]

Yeah. Each of us in it were paired with a tarot, Alwin was the Tower.

[WyvernSlayer]

Seems like everyone was in their own little RP group back then. At least you guys had a fancy name. :O

[Gazetteer]

Radiance Lost was super cliquey. Somehow, much moreso than Sky, despite Sky having like... been seemingly intentionally designed to create cliques, what with Flaming Journeys and Advanced RPs. I think it might have had something to do with the nation leader structure breeding a small group of members beyond the mod team who had a lot more power and agency over the setting than other members did -- we were kind of clannish, and our lore and storylines got super impenetrable, so... it makes sense that other members would also create their own little groups so they could have people to consistently RP with too.

[Swift_Assassin]

Yeah. Tyber had very little rp options due to dropping into the loyal Daein group when everyone was running anti-Daein rps. Tyber's only rps that he had before becoming traitor were things involving his wife being kidnapped and his wife being killed, the latter of which caused his defection. Tyber was fortunately that he was able to split from that into Resistance through the Talon Squadron he was in with Lara Brand. Maddox had a lot of rps with Laoise, Solan, Io, and Kurt; his fellow ambassador, his king, potential love interest, and 'friendly' rival(?) respectfully. Unfortunately, like my luck with Endal in Dark of Night, all the members of the Gallian government were gone, leaving the sole PC representative of Gallia, Maddox Hyperion. Aren't I also the sole active representative for Etruria now, too? And to explain all the time he wasn't in Gallia at that point was that the upper crust of Gallian society were calling the shots and hated Maddox with a passion. Alwin, of course, had most of his rps with the Scarlet Blades. Robert Schirmer(Predecessor of Wolfram Caron) only had one rp before I retired him to a npc that occasionally ran into Alwin. He had the issue of being a dragon branded Daein man who was involved in the pre-Tomislav government. Lucien Chevalier, also, rather unfortunately had one rp.

[WyvernSlayer]

Ahh, so the secret to not having millions of characters to keep track of is to not RP yourself into a corner by sticking with a group!

[Swift_Assassin]

Or...you know. Not having the misfortune of multiple half-year rps. I swear, Tyber went through four or five of them during his RL run.

I would still have lots of characters to keep track of regardless. Even during Dark of Night, I had Shad(first main, later npc), Maddox(first merc), Daren(npc, later main), Lennox(npc), Cassandra(npc, worked for Daren), Marcus(npc, worked for Daren), Kendrick(Second merc, Dark Brotherhood member), Leon(Third Merc, member of a monster hunting group), Carla(Fourth Merc, member of that holy order group), a small unit of soldiers under Daren(npc), Blaine Matrir(npc)...and that's all I remembered in the last few minutes. I DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM

[Darth_Slaverus]

Bit of a necro, but man, this thread makes me feel old, even though the oldest days of FEP were way past my time. I still look back fondly on the time I spent RPing on FEP during the days of RL and Sky Gen 2... Being a teenager with an overactive imagination was great. I miss playing as Cassandra, Raphael, and Aurora. Maybe even Everal.

Quote:Radiance Lost was super cliquey. Somehow, much moreso than Sky, despite Sky having like... been seemingly intentionally designed to create cliques, what with Flaming Journeys and Advanced RPs. I think it might have had something to do with the nation leader structure breeding a small group of members beyond the mod team who had a lot more power and agency over the setting than other members did -- we were kind of clannish, and our lore and storylines got super impenetrable, so... it makes sense that other members would also create their own little groups so they could have people to consistently RP with too.

Speaking as someone who was new to FEP when RL was in full swing, I think you've pretty much hit the nail on the head. I can't speak to Sky's first gen, but for RL it felt to me like you had to "break-in" to a clique, or else you were stuck scavenging for RPs. From what I remember, newer members who joined roughly around the same time tended to form their own groups because of that. Mind you, I don't think most of the vets were being intentionally elitist or anything like that. It's just, once characters formed a bond with others, it was natural to want to develop that bond further, which leaves less room for new relationships. The cliques, I felt, were an unfortunate side-effect. I wouldn't be surprised if RL's subjective grading of character profiles played a part, too. In Sky, there was a lot more parity among new characters, since everyone was level 1. RL was all over the place in that regard, and despite initially liking the greater possible range of levels, I feel like RL's grading system was... vulnerable to bias, and encouraged people to write absurdly long profiles.

Getting back on topic, I did all sorts of crazy things in both RL and Sky 2, that I would do again in a heartbeat. Between fighting wireframe statues of the Greil Mercenaries and hacking down chandeliers by throwing greatswords at them while pilfering Oliver's tomb in Treasure is a Mad Mistress (My first completed RP and one of my all-time favourites), rescuing an obviously guilty child-assassin from prison on the assumption she was blameless in To Redeem a Murderer, and being one of the few beorc characters to slay a dragon laguz in RL during Border Enforcement, there are so many good memories I'll always treasure.

I even got a C support in the end, after years of D supports.

Anyway, I'll try not to be consumed by my own nostalgia. I hope everyone I met and played with on FEP that I haven't been able to keep in contact with is doing well in their lives, and feel free to drop me a line if you ever wanna reminisce about the good old days.

~Darth

[Swift_Assassin]

Is it really a necro if on topic?

As you mentioned, the extra levels for more elaborated profiles was essentially a carry over from Dark of Night. I remember my profile for Maddox, and Daren, both needed me to write in reasons why two guys constantly training and fighting weren't more than level 20/3 at the age of 51. For Daren, it was a bit easier, as he had retired from active duty to raise his kids(as he was already 30 when they were born) and then returned to become an officer. For Maddox, he'd have periods of time he was incapacitated and was forced to recover the old fashioned way. For 16 damn years on and off.

Maddox' next incarnation in RL was only in his 30s. In fact, the following three incarnations of Maddox he was in his thirties. In Radiance Lost, Maddox was 31/32 as I mentioned above. Here he is single and was on the cusp of a relationship with Io. In Radiance of Elibe, Maddox and Daren(who didn't exist in RL) was 37. And apparently in that timeline Shad's sister was born when he was six instead of eight. Here, is the traditional incarnation of Maddox, where he left his wife and unborn son to venture off as a mercenary. And the third following incarnation of Maddox was in Dragon Age After Effects he was 35(which meant he was born in the Blessed Age, which became the Dragon age when he was 5). That version of Maddox was unwed, Daren became Bann of their house following their father dying at Ostagar, and Maddox went off to join the Grey Wardens after the events of Dragon Age Origins but just before or during Dragon Age Awakening. And then he made his return as an almost 50 year old man in Lennox and Shad's backstory in Insurrection as a revenge motivation for something else that happened in backstory.

Oh that Dragon Age one made me remember something fully about Wolfram Caron. So, originally, Wolfram was Robert Schirmer, my Radiance Lost dragon-branded Shaman who had machinations of Kreia-ing Dark magic. He was reimagined in the Dragon Age rp as Wolfram Caron, with Caron being the default surname of the Human Orlesian Warden in Dragon Age Awakening, should you decide to carry over a save where you sacrificed your character in the end of Origins. This Wolfram was a descendant of a noble family in the Free Marches, who fled with his sister to Fereldan as a baby after the rest of his family was offed and was taken to the Circle of Mages in Ferelden after his magic developed to a point they couldn't hide him. He fled the Circle years later when the assassins came after his sister and he saved her. He made a pact with a Desire Demon while attempting this, and became a Blood Mage in the process. He then fled to Orlais and joined the Wardens there, before eventually being sent to join the Fereldan Wardens after the Blight ended.

Every single day he was with the group after they met up, he had to be tended to by their medic. By the time the rp stalled, he had used to much of his own blood attempting to stop a rampaging berserker, used up too much mana performing a magic display to celebrate a successful joining, used up a lot of blood and wounded fighting another pc(we implemented a pvp dice roll for this as the guy was too obstinate to not fight them and he cheated the dice rolls) and then when attempting to enter the fade physically, the group was ambushed on the other side which resulted in rocks shooting into his torso, which left him pretty much bedridden until the stall happened. That was all within the span of 4 days with the group.

[Andy]

I can with confidence say that ALL of FEP's RPs have been clique-y. Ever since the very beginning (Svael Albendroth, Tyler Hitori, Evandele, Kuru, Vallistrix, Uber-Denning(SaS's orange-flavored Denning rip-off), Stanley de Carmona, etc.) It's something that I'm not sure we'll ever be able to fix, really.

Now, with RL, I loved it so much, though I hated that stupid rule about not being related to characters from FE9 and FE10, though through ambiguous wording I managed to get two profiles approved that broke that rule. I think TextOnlySword caught my first one, though. First character, Lysis Melanasil (yay for recycled DoN names!), was personally trained by Soanvalke (Stefan in the English translation, but TOS didn't remember that off the top of his head). And my second character, Aerandir (Tolkien Elvish. Yes, I am that big of a nerd) was a guard in Tauroneo's (descendants') household.

Lysis was one of the only characters I ever wrote so well that I think it actually built on the setting (Most of the time, anyways). I remember in each of her gradings (except the first, because that one took forever and IB didn't leave any comments) that either they commented 'she broke a little, it was good to see a character react differently from the rest of the ragey bunch' or 'kudos for giving me a stark reminder about the consequences of life' or sommat. See, she never saw 'opponents' when she fought. She saw people. And in her first RP, she, along with a Vulture Laguz, threw a Red Dragon off a cliff and heard the crunch. Thus began her long arc about how to deal with the killing. She was just getting over it when RL ended.

Aerandir was different. He was taught how to kill, should he ever need to, and my plan with him was to get him to become the next Black Knight and help liberate Daein from King Tomislav. He had a Zweihander that was black as night and vampiric, and could project that life-sucking ability for a ranged attack, but it was random (planned to remove that modifier as he leveled up).

I think it was mid-Sky1 that I started experimenting with character arcs. I can't say whether or not I've gotten any better at it, but I'm gonna keep on doing it.

[WyvernSlayer]

(05-01-2016, 12:11 AM)Darth_Slaverus Wrote: Bit of a necro, but...

I'm sure the RP mods are going to be all over your infraction with the righteous zeal of oh who am I kidding, don't worry about it.


I think I did one real attempt at a character arc back in the Wardea RP.  It felt really strange to me to have a distinct goal in mind, and to essentially map out the character's progression toward that goal, so I've never revisited it.  Now all of my characters are the token support mooks.  They have backstories, but I try not to inject them into my RPs because I just assume everyone's in it for themselves and they don't give a crap about my characters' expositions.

[Andy]

Planning a character arc? How do?

I've never really done that, just sort of adapted and wrote as I went along.

[Lightascetic]

(09-12-2016, 11:05 AM)Andy Wrote: Planning a character arc? How do?

I've never really done that, just sort of adapted and wrote as I went along.

You have a chance to do that, now that Ambrose knows a crazy lady that can see random blips of the future =P

She could see something interesting, like him killing someone he loves or a near-death experience. Death and stuff, 'cause we love to torture our characters... Did that concept carry over from the old site?!