Ravenswing

Dafydd Cerwys is handed the petition by a bright young heroine in his office in Steel Canyon. Apparently she felt that he would be a good name to get on the signature list: having recently been given the Vanguard Medal, and placed on the Freedom Phalanx reserve list, War Crow's name has been in the news.

Dafydd examines the document carefully and then looks up, speaking in a soft, mid-Welsh accent. "Very worthy sentiments, but it's lacking any sense of history. I'm afraid I can't sign it."

"But..." she appeared crestfallen.

"Young lady, this city has been through phase after phase of hating the guts of its heroes. The only reason they are idolised currently is because of the Rikti War, and even then, a lot of people think anyone in a costume is a bad guy.

"Beyond that, historically, this city goes totally to the dogs whenever the heroes aren't around. Without heroes to inspire them, the citizens turn to drugs and gangs, the authorities become corrupt.

"I'll sign this petition when the people of Paragon can stand on their own two feet without sinking into the mud. Good day."

Maybe, though I'd point out that on her bedroom wall, she has a framed copy of the playboy cover alongside a framed, but rather yellowed, copy of her debut on page three of the Sun.

My timeline for her was a bit off, actually. I should have made her a little older. That is something where having more time to plan is a good thing. It was much easier to get Jason Caine's timeline correct, but I had 8000 years to play with on that one.

Addendum:

Apparently it is important that I mention that, when Despare first came across me, I was 'hiding' in a pillbox. The fact that I didn't mention this apparently makes me a bad person and a liar. As far as I'm aware, he didn't attack me until I'd left the pillbox, but not mentioning it before apparently makes me sound more heroic.

I just wanted to clear that up. Thanks.

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Oh jeeze, not yet another ex-playboy-model katana-wielding skantily-clad heroine running around Paragon... hehehe

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No, she was the first ex-playboy-centrefold katana-wielding scantilly-clad heroine. All the others are weak copies.

Someone was saying that they're running a Serenity LARP.
I can't believe there isn't actually a Star Wars LARP.

Hmm, RC, do you have some problem showing your face in public? Gas masks, big white helmets... it's not healthy.

Do you mind terribly if I plead the 5th on that?

You can also keep Jedi-and company in the Faculty. They always need new experimental subjects... err, I mean students, yes, students, they need new students.

...

Not that the old students have anything bad happen to them that requires their replacement or anything like that.

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so being seen with a ****** is pretty much expected.

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You made me inhale my coffee!!

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My plan to remove the other Cabal members is working!

It doesn't help that the Tarantulas (to give their correct name) operate in D&D Drow style, which means it's a matriarchy. There's a tendency for the population to consist of Dominatrixes (well, mostly wannabees) and men who like licking boots. Even though I'm fond of a little fetishistic behaviour now and then, I wouldn't touch that Faction with a barge pole. I'd either IC or OOC kill someone within a year and either is going to cut the life expectancy of my character.

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Vampire LRP : Imagine a 20 stone lady in a fishnet body stocking.

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I don't really have to. Some people think that's appropriate clothing for an LT event as well.

And why is it short, fat blokes always want to play elves?
It does nothing for your suspension of disbelief!

Oddly, Maelstrom (it's another LRP system, for those not in the know) doesn't seem to suffer from this as much. (This is going to come over as horribly sexist, but...) The "fit chicks" seem to be the ones wearing less clothes. Larger ladies seem more attracted to corsets and skirts the size of a barn. And there are no elves for the short fat blokes to pretend to be.

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The rules are good, though the new rules on oving people are going to cause more character deaths than any other change.

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Could you tell me what the word in bold is supposed to be, or means?

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I would like to go with the Tarantulas again but I shall have to see what info I can dig up at the convo of guilds and see if anyone remains from my years in the faction.

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There have been quite a few changes in the Trannies in the past couple of years. They lost several 'big names' from the command team. If you have any names and want to know where they are now, PM them to me if you like and I can ask around. The recently departed Faction Leader is a 'family friend' and my partner always seems to know more people than I've ever heard of. (I'm relatively new at LRP, she's been doing it for, must be a decade now.)

There's some probability we'll be at COG this year. We might be able to have a beer or something. I'm Vipers, so being seen with a ****** is pretty much expected.

Didn't take me too long. Ten Blast spells a day. Oh yes, the spell list includes other things than Blast, but who cares!

Incidentally, we worked out you need 12 mages to red mist an unarmoured target with only level 2 mages. I consider that a major improvement.

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By the way, my current LT character doesn't wear furs. He's more of a silk shirt, leather trousers, wasitcoat and great coat sort of man. Total ponce. And this year he gets to blow people's heads off at range.

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Oh my. Are you some leftover of a Hair-metal band?

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I have no idea what hair-metal is.

He's actually lifted out of the Forgotten Realms setting. He's basically a Deep Imaskari, and they're very swanky mage types with grey skin (that's the other reason for the heavy clothes, reduces skin area to paint). The description in Underdark actually specifies ornate great coats.


Seen the new rules yet, Gid? I'll be able to blow your hat off at ten paces.

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<SNIP>


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I actually think this explains a lot about the mentality of many (most?) live roleplayers

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Actually, it says a lot about a lot of LARPers who turn up to the big LT events, rather than the more core LARPers. You get what are known as numpties. They tend to turn up only for the biggest event at August bank holiday. Their costume is jeans and a heavy metal T-shirt turned inside out (which they think counts as heavy armour), and the weapon they are carrying is the largest and most lethal looking thing they could spend their allowance on. They proceed to weild this horror with all the dexterity and intelligence of a Bedrock let loose in a toxic waste factory.

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Give me a pen and paper game with some mates, pizza number and booze at the ready, any day over this.

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That sounds a lot like an LT LARP event, except without the PnP game. Oh, and if the booze is ready, someone's probably drinking it.

By the way, my current LT character doesn't wear furs. He's more of a silk shirt, leather trousers, wasitcoat and great coat sort of man. Total ponce. And this year he gets to blow people's heads off at range.

Was planning to be, but I'm so tired I doubt I'll even be playing. If I am, I'll not be doing anything which requires as much concentration as PvP.

Personally, I think a good roleplayer can build a good character from anything. A poor roleplayer will destroy a character no matter how much thought and planning went into it.

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The great characters are not those that are everything we expect, and so easily swallowed - they are the one's who surprise us, and yet are utterly convincing with those unexpected twists and unpredicted character details and realisticly individual psychology.

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None of that requires planning in any way. Some of the best RP I've had in game has been based around Velvet. Velvet wasn't even meant to do much apart from look slightly comical and be around GG while I couldn't play War Crow. I knew where her personality came from, but not what it was when I took her to the statue, and very few other people really knew what was going on with her either.

It wasn't until Fusebox died and came back, I think, that anyone found out how her mind worked and why she was constantly taking in 'strays'. She got really wound up about the way people were treating the revived Fuse, and basically told them they should be damn grateful to get the second chance she had never had. At that stage, I don't think anyone knew IC or OOC why Velvet had become a hero, and it came as a bit of a shock.

My point is that her character was as much defined and revealed by those around her. The only thing I had was a basic statement of where she had come from, why she lived in Paragon (she was born in Kent), and why an ex-Playboy model should be out hitting villains with a katana.

If I knew all about everything she could do in every circumstance before it happened, I would be an actor, this would be a play, and I would have no reason for interacting with anyone else.

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The other danger, and one that affects even the experienced roleplayers, is that one can easily end up reacting with one's own reactions

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Yes, that's a danger, but it's far less a danger in a computer environment than it is at a tabletop or in a LARP environment. Computer-moderated roleplay is expected to come with built in delays because you have to type everything. You also tend to be dealing with non-English speakers, dyslexics, you name it, so tolerance of slow reactions is a must. As a result, it gives you far more time to just sit there and think about what the character would do rather than letting your own feelings run the show.

Since this isn't a general purpose roleplaying hints thread, I'm quite happy to say "use the tools you have, give yourself time to think, be a better roleplayer for it."

My MM is around 10000 years old, and names her undead minions after her ex-lovers.

Jason - is one of my heroes.
Alex - short for Alexander.
Charley - short for Charlemagne.

Then probably go for:
Lance - you must be getting the idea by now.

Not sure about the Lich, maybe Merl.

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there's a hardcore gathering of Call of Cthulhu players in Bradford

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That explains almost everything about Bradford.


Look, just so we are aware that our hobby does produce a bunch of total idiots and it isn't all the media's fault (even if I think half of it is the media's fault), I shall recount the famous LT Head Wound story, for those who haven't heard it.

A few years ago, concerned at the number of head wounds in the yearly medical report, Lorien Trust (largest of the Fest-style LRP companies in the UK) decided to do something about it.

So, they made the head a non-target. Hitting it would not be a wound, so there was no point in targeting the head. People seen deliberately doing so, would be taken out of the fight. The rules were changed, and LT saw that they were good and sat back to see what happened.

Next year, the head wounds reported in the first aid report had shot upward. Bit odd. Why's this happening?

Yes, you guessed it, people were blocking with their heads!

Given an 'invulnerable' body part, the total [insert non-forum word for idiots here] were attempting all sorts of interesting moves to get their heads in the way of weapons. Given that these same numpties tend to go out and buy the biggest, most ludicrous weapon you can find to use, these people were putting their heads in the way of very heavy lumps of latex!

So, the rule went back to normal (a head hit is a valid hit, but you should avoid hitting the head) and the head wounds went down again.

To this day, however, the main injuries at an LT event are head wounds and twisted ankles.

OTOH, the police don't generally turn up to try to shoot the players.

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Its not the theft of pants thats the danger with RP'ing its the inherent satanism.

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?!?!? Since when is RPing inherantly satanic?

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I can't believe you fell for that one, FFM.

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Surely crosses, garlic and wooden stakes would suffice?

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White paint.

Spray a Vampire LARPer white and they'll run away screaming.

Maybe something in a nice pink would be good...

Works on Emo types too.

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Its not the theft of pants thats the danger with RP'ing its the inherent satanism.

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This is true, but I've had to lapse. Finding a virgin to sacrifice in Manchester is getting just too hard.

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this story is frankly embarrassing

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This story is another example of why I think the BBC news service is going downhill faster than Eddie the Eagle.

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In my youth, we had the armed response team show up to a live Vampire game we were playing in

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Yes, but if I was going to have to move in on Vampire LAPRers, I'd take guns. Big ones. Maybe some rocket launchers.


PS. I missed the reference to Shadowrun in the article. Persumably, he couldn't find a shop that sold leather lingerie, or rubber.

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Found this little story of what can happen if you take your Roleplaying too seriously:

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No, mate, you found a story about what happens if a sick person is given enough rope. The article says he was being councilled, and the psychiatrist needs to be lynched. Simple as that.

It's a funny story though: man steals lingerie because he thinks he's a female elf... um, since when have elves worn modern lingerie?

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i love IC arena fights, because my brain ends up interprating it in more detail than there actualy is.

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Having played around with IC arena fights a few times now, I'm slowly coming to appreciate how much fun it can be.

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We did the "War Crow vs The Vigil" Arena fight a while back. Considering it was about six against one, I thought I managed to survive reasonably well. We got the roleplay objectives right, and Crow didn't go down without a fight. Would have been cool if I'd managed to nail Nevermore, but you can't win 'em all.

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That all starts with having a really strong idea of your own character's tastes, beliefs, and identity.

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As you gain experience, this becomes less necessary, and it isn't needed at all if you're just new to roleplaying in CoX. It does depend on you and how comfortable you feel in winging it.

One of my best roleplaying characters... no, two of them, weren't planned out in more detail than a vague idea before taking them to GG the first time. Their personalities developed from interacting with other characters.

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You are going to have to react in real-time to all the weird and unexpected things that dozens of other people's imaginations and plot-lines will throw past you. The better you bknow your role, the better your rolepay will be, and the more enjoyment you'll get from it too.

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Roleplaying is roughly akin to improv-theatre, except there's no audience, just other actors. I find I get a huge amount of enjoyment out of reacting to a situation based on a kernel of knowledge about the character, and then going with how I feel that character would react in the given situation.

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My third tip

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Pet bugbear of mine. Please everyone read this and take careful note. A lot of people consider roleplaying to be like acting, and it is, but only vaguely. There's no audience, only other actors, and they have egos just as big as yours. There's no script, so you can't assume people will react in the way you want to what you say and do.

I've been around when world-shattering events have taken place in the GG world. I've listened to people say how wonderful it was to be part of this roleplay experience. I've looked back on many of them and thought "that was probably one of the most boring experiences of my life."

Hadn't actually thought he might mean Divine Avalanch...

If you slot it 1xACC, 2xRecRed, 3xDefBuff, the damage is terrible, but you get about 23% Def buff. Add Hasten and you should be able to have it overlapped twice (so, three buffs) about 75% of the time, assuming you always hit.

A kat/regen scrapper has a phenomenal ability to "absorb damage" if slotted up this way. It either misses you, or it gets soaked up in your regen. A kat/dark armour scrapper is theoretically better, but tends to run out of endurance before the fight is over.

Fair enough.

However, it stays since it has another purpose. Thus far, the suggestions have been to take one power earlier, and dump a load of other ones. I might as well not be a level 50, I don't need half the powers I picked. Getting rid of a useful one seems... wasteful.

Similarly, Tough could stay, perhaps gained later.

Has anyone seen anything I'm actually missing?