Non-HPU RP: Jade Star Academy OOC

[CyberDragon]

Where did I imply that?

[Buster]

having the teacher talking about casters joining a guild after the fact. wasn't originally meant to work like that. if a guild wants in-house casters they sponsor someone to become one, and being recruited to a guild or choosing to join one happens *before* going through education, not after, so it can be tailored to the skills they'll need.

not too big of a detail in terms of the planned story, so i'm okay with changing it for the RP. just a world-building thing i didn't expect to come up.

[Buster]

hmmm... don't really want to interupt deske and CD, as any input from me would probably seem forced, but not much else happening...

except i can't shake the feeling i'm forgetting something.

[CyberDragon]

Oh. Well, I was actually sort of hoping for your input. What do you think will feel forced about it?

[Buster]

a note about multiple bonds, since it's been coming up by PM.

Is it possible?
- Yes

is it a good idea?
- Probably not.

Why?
- setting aside the possible psychological implications of having a mental connection to multiple other people, the biggest issue is destabilization of one's magical abilities. the easiest way to explain is a bit of a metaphor; picture the portion of the brain that handles regulating mana as a circuit. that circuit only has one on/off switch no matter how many things you plug into it. when the connection between mortal and etherial is 1:1, not an issue. 1:2 though? or 1:3? now you have a problem. cause each link is still going to be fed the same amount of mana regardless of which one you're using, the mana send down the links not in use is just wasted.

In D&D terms you've doubled your spell list at the cost of halving your spell slots.

and thats assuming the connections aren't 'leaking' mana due to incompatibility making them unstable.

[Gael]

Maybe I should get to work thinking up a partner for Snow then

[CyberDragon]

Deske needs a partner since Gameb18oy left.

[Gael]

Oooh, that sounds good

[Buster]

yeah retconning GB out is fine as long as deske is okay with it.

though gonna miss the lazy irreverent discount leafeon. what i remember of him was a neat concept.

[CyberDragon]

I've been speaking with Gameb18oy on Twitter and Discord. Seems he had trouble with his computer, but I don't know if he's planning on coming back. It didn't seem like he was planning on coming back soon.

[Deske]

I'm down with it. I hope that GB is going to be able to come back eventually.

[Buster]

sorry i didn't post anything this week, my weekend kinda got ruined, been feeling sick...

[CyberDragon]

I'm so sorry to hear that...

Hopefully it's nothing too serious...

[Buster]

pretty much every magic system ever has an equivalent to divination, considering it's the school of plot devices.

[Buster]

for those not aware of what goes on behind the scenes, (Ie: almost everybody) CD and i have been talking over discord about a few things, and one issue cropped up that ive been spending some time trying to fix, but i just can't. the main reason i can't fix it is the city's ability to withstand a siege will be relevant later.
whole conversation is here for context, but the important parts have been highlighted.
short version: incoming retcon.

Buster10/21/2020
Sorry if i haven't been entirely clear on this point, but the issue isnt so much which plants are the right ones as 'can we get them at all' in a short enough time period. you're in a city, the nearest hunting grounds are two days away because most people have to walk (they're not right next to settlements, they're a bit away from them cause the animal need enough room). changing whats on the menu takes time and she's in a bit of a panic over him being unable to eat most of what they have on hand at the moment.
CyberDragon10/21/2020
I didn't know that the hunting grounds were two days away. I thought they were closer.

Thanks for letting me know!
Buster10/21/2020
by modern standards they'd be an hour away, but the difference there is cars go MUCH faster than walking.
CyberDragon10/21/2020
Wouldn't they have magical transportation though, like the portals that teacher uses? Or some kind of rideable animal analogous to horses?
Buster10/21/2020
transportation spells only work one of three ways, shadow gates need to be conjured at both ends and can only be powered by the one who made them, light based teleportation requires clear line of sight and familiarity with the destination, warping via shifting into energy requires a conductive surface or chain of surfaces connecting the two points. they have their limits.
the exception being the gateways, but those are divine relics the means to create which was lost ages ago.
CyberDragon10/21/2020
No horse analogs either?
Buster10/21/2020
using horses for transportation/labor were a byproduct of domesticating animals. how can you have that with a species that doesn't?
CyberDragon10/21/2020
But... didn't static societies and cities depend on having a constant food source? Hunter Gatherer societies tended to be in constant motion because their food source would move from place to place depending on the season. If they don't raise any of their food, how can they stay in one spot long enough to have permanent structures like the academy?
Buster10/21/2020
they're not fully static, also they do have agriculture in the form of fruit orchards that let them stretch their food supply. the cities they have are a nececity of governance militarisation and education, a central authority of sorts. its one of the reasons their society keeps colapsing in on itself every few centuries; the cities are more desirable than the roaming clans, as you don't need to constantly relocate or hunt and forage. but the cities need the clans to survive, because they can hunt more easily. over time as populations centralize the system colapses and they have to start over.
but because the relics of what came before remain, the cycle repeats itself.
between that, and magic stripping away many of the nececities that would inspire invention (why invent aloys like steel if magic can manipulate metals better than a forge can but only if they're pure?), they're still in the bronze age despite having been around longer than humans have on our world.
and because they've been doing the same thing so long, despite it's problems they've gotten stuck in their ways.
the other main reasons for the cycle of colapse have to do with geopolitcs and economics so i'll leave them for now.
CyberDragon10/21/2020
Ok. That makes sense.
Buster10/21/2020
Also the top of the central tower was suposed to be the archamgus' office and an eight point star of battlements that would allow mages line of sight with the city wall on every side in times of war. Not an observatory. They have no need for an observatory as it astronomy/astrology play no part in the magic system.

Still trying to figure out a way to fix that...
CyberDragon10/21/2020
we could retcon that. It's one of my posts, so I can change it, and hasn't played any important roll in the story so far...
As long as we make people aware of the retcon and why it's happening it should be fine. We just explain that I made a mistake due to not knowing the lore during my time as GM.
Seems that observatory threw more than one wrench in the works.
Buster10/21/2020
A retcon wouldnt work. Other characters have already responded in ways that require that context.
CyberDragon10/21/2020
Only one player in one post, I think... We should change it before things cascade.
Buster10/21/2020
Its not as simple as fixing a mispelled name...
CyberDragon10/21/2020
I can talk to Roarin about it considering they're the only player who was impacted by that bit.
It'll be easier to fix the mistake now than completely reworking the lore to fit my blunder.
Buster10/21/2020
Hmmm...
CyberDragon10/21/2020
Its special circumstances brought about by a temporary change in GM. The new GM, me, didn't know the world the old GM had created, and had to make things up. Now the old GM is back. If we don't retcon some of the things I did, it'll get really complicated because what I did didn't have the story or world you built in mind. The worlds you create are very detailed and intricate. They have rules, and they stick to those rules. I GMed the game for a period of time without knowledge of those rules, so if we don't make some changes to what I did, you're going to have a hard time fitting what I did in with the lore.
Give it some thought.

[CyberDragon]

Made my part of the retcon. The top floor is no longer an observatory. It's the the archamgus' office and battlements.

I apologize for the confusion.

[Buster]

deske's post made me chuckle, considering the hints i've given so far... everyone gets one, yes, sure, and im the toothfary. LOL.
lets just say david and snow are right to be patient, but scarcity makes people covetous, and most dont have certain luxuries 'sparky' there has.

[Buster]

*pokes roarin*

[Roarin]

Sorry for the absence! I'm present!

[CyberDragon]

David is such an egghead.

[Buster]

would you guys mind if we timeskipped a bit?

this section was only really meant to get you guys familiar with the setting and eachother and has gotten dragged out far longer than intended due to complications i hadn't considered when i started the RP (didn't exactly predict i would quit the forum for most of a year and loose half of the party before we even got through the intro...) which has led to the material i was going to use for the main group having already been used up, or unusable, and several stranded stranglers cause i guess i didn't make it clear enough that my npcs are meant to be part of the setting, not main rp characters.

they're there more to flesh out the world, drop plot hints and give stuck players a nudge, not star in the show.

[CyberDragon]

I'd be ok with that. How much of a time skip are we talking about?

[Buster]

right before the ceremony that evening.

[CyberDragon]

Sounds fine by me.

[Buster]

we've got 5 active members, i want to hear from at least 3 before i make a decision.

[Roarin]

That sounds good to me! I wasn't sure what else to do atm anyways!

[GrimD@rk8290]

I'd be down for a timeskip if that is what you wanted to do, can't think of what my charaxters to do rn

[Gael]

Same here honestly

[Buster]

understood, keep an eye out for a large post, probably sunday.

[Buster]

So, CD made a good point on discord...

CyberDragon
Do you think exposure to the ethereal plane would cause any reactions with David's powers? Like, maybe cause him to start sparking, or temporarily take on his lightning form?

What the ice ethereal said regarding his instinctive plasma golem form made me wonder.
Buster
The etherial plane is thought manifested as form. Does david see himself as human or as an elemental?
CyberDragon
David is a young adult who experienced a drastic traumatic change that upended his life and altered the very nature of his body.

I don't think he fully knows what he is.
Buster
Then his form may reflect that when he enters the circle.
CyberDragon
One thing to note is that he's scared. When he first shifted, it was during the attack on his planet. The discharge turned the Varanians attacking him into jerky. He sees himself as dangerous... It's why he wears the insulating clothes and sometimes bottles up his powers.
CyberDragon
I'm not sure how it would react to that, but I imagine it wouldn't be a happy experience.
Buster
not how it works.
merely how he sees himself, visual only, no fireworks.
CyberDragon
Got it.
Buster
nebulous things like 'im special' or 'im dangerous' don't manifest.
CyberDragon
Ok.
CyberDragon
As a suggestion, it might be a good idea to mention that mechanic in the OOC as it could effect how the players choose to write their turns. For example, Deske might need to decide if his character sees himself more as a human or as a wolf.
Buster
i was going to have it pop up when they stepped in, but fair point...

[Deske]

So, is the form an individual takes how they interpret it, however metaphorical or will it be more concrete like an amalgamation between the two?

[CyberDragon]

I imagine David ending up being a sort of constantly changing half-form between human and elemental, reflecting his indecisiveness and crisis of identity.

But that might not be how it actually works...

[Deske]

Yeah, I've a couple of ideas, uncreative as they may be, depending on how it's supposed to be shown.

[Buster]

You have a mental image of what you look like, who and what you are right? If i asked you to close your eyes and picture yourself you could do it in an instant, without needing to think about it. For most the difference would be subtle, slight idealisations or simplifications of their normal appearance, but cd picked up on the fact that etherials see him as more than human.

[Buster]

running a bit behind, tonight, D&D ran longer than expected this weekend...