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Wait for the next release. I want usable mugs damn it!

55 (71.4%)

We can use the current one. I like the big trees and slightly smarter dorfs.

17 (22.1%)

I'll take .34.11 thanks. I want to know I'll get to kill things for sure.

5 (6.5%)

Total Members Voted: 77

[Splint]

Ah dun get it. "Because science" means....?

[Talvieno]

It means "because I was experimenting and spent an hour messing around with that picture you made, which happens to be one I particularly like, trying to make it look 'old' for no reason other than I wanted to see if I could, and I wanted to see how it would look if I could, in addition to the fact that the Dr. Urist Jones portions of her story are supposed to be written long after she's gone." "Because science" was just a lot simpler to write.

edit: to sum up: I was just experimenting with photoshop and wanted to see if I could make it look like an old, faded photograph.

[Splint]

Ah. Alright then.

[Talvieno]

You seem vaguely displeased... :( Maybe it's just my overactive imagination, but I don't know.

[TheKaspa]

Ah. Alright then.

After all, he wrote science, not !!Science!!

[Talvieno]

Ah. Alright then.

After all, he wrote science, not !!Science!!

Lol, very true. I somehow managed to forget. You can't really call it SCIENCE if it isn't !!ON FIRE!!, after all.

[Lennoxite]

I can't decide on just starting my character's story with an odd back story, or just starting out with his adventures in Spearbreakers. I'm new to this whole writing stories business. I guess all I can do is wait till I get a good look at my character. 

[Mr Frog]

I can't decide on just starting my character's story with an odd back story, or just starting out with his adventures in Spearbreakers. I'm new to this whole writing stories business. I guess all I can do is wait till I get a good look at my character. 

Backstory. Backstory first. Always. Even if you don't post it, it helps to have it written down -- the more detailed the better. It'll help make sure everything about your character meshes together properly, and allows you to develop your character organically instead of smashing together a bunch of traits ex nihilo.

It might be best to post a quick summary of your character's backstory, though, so that everyone knows what you're working with and/or can point out problems.

[Lolfail0009]

I can't decide on just starting my character's story with an odd back story, or just starting out with his adventures in Spearbreakers. I'm new to this whole writing stories business. I guess all I can do is wait till I get a good look at my character. 

If you have any other characters floating through your mind, why not adapt them? Using ideas in a variety of settings and scenarios helps develop and refine them more than simple thinking.

Spoiler: Pondering (click to show/hide)

Thinking about that, how many characters have I stemmed from the original 0009?

[Lennoxite]

I can't decide on just starting my character's story with an odd back story, or just starting out with his adventures in Spearbreakers. I'm new to this whole writing stories business. I guess all I can do is wait till I get a good look at my character. 

Backstory. Backstory first. Always. Even if you don't post it, it helps to have it written down -- the more detailed the better. It'll help make sure everything about your character meshes together properly, and allows you to develop your character organically instead of smashing together a bunch of traits ex nihilo.

It might be best to post a quick summary of your character's backstory, though, so that everyone knows what you're working with and/or can point out problems.

Well, my idea was that he was a young dwarf who was originally in a necromancer's tower who was apart of a group of novice necromancers, however he only learned a little when he causes an accident killing his mentor. The tower's denizens learned too late of his deed when he fled, seeking to forget his necromantic skill and live like a normal person, he learned basic survival skills and fighting skills as he set off for search of a town that knew nothing of him, through this he gained the love for battle and warfare. However, the people back at the tower decided that while he had very little knowledge known of necromancy, he could teach people that one small part and they could easily learn the full secrets of Life and Death with enough careful study and research. So, they send Ark'ensi (Funny name, I know.) to hunt him down or keep him under surveillance if killing wasn't likely. Yet, already Lennox had entered a society to exist normally, and Ark could to nothing except watch from the shadows, where Lennox hardly noticed. The little charade went on when Lennox realized that he could not forget his necromantic knowledge, no matter how small and soon enough the people caught wind of him being a neophyte necromancer, the realization tore him down to severe paranoia of all nearby. At that point, they sent him to an odd fortress called Spearbreakers among other normal people, presumably to die. As he traveled he nearly lost his mind to his paranoia, leaving him with thoughts of fear bouncing in his head for the rest of his days, with his skills of survival barely keeping him alive and well. In the end, he decided he could deny his necromantic fate no longer and embraced it, though without a book about the secrets of Life and Death he is at an impasse. Where Ark remains right now however, remains a mystery.

AND... That's it, its pretty bad. If I am not allowed to produce a secondary character then feel free to say.

EDIT: I am taking forever to read this thread, and I read the summary posted a few posts ago, yet I still don't know much about the inner workings. So do tell me of my contradictions and impossibilities if needed.

[Lolfail0009]

Well, my idea was that he was a young dwarf who was originally in a necromancer's tower who was apart of a group of novice necromancers, however he only learned a little when he causes an accident killing his mentor. The tower's denizens learned too late of his deed when he fled, seeking to forget his necromantic skill and live like a normal person, he learned basic survival skills and fighting skills as he set off for search of a town that knew nothing of him, through this he gained the love for battle and warfare. However, the people back at the tower decided that while he had very little knowledge known of necromancy, he could teach people that one small part and they could easily learn the full secrets of Life and Death with enough careful study and research. So, they send Ark'ensi (Funny name, I know.) to hunt him down or keep him under surveillance if killing wasn't likely. Yet, already Lennox had entered a society to exist normally, and Ark could to nothing except watch from the shadows, where Lennox hardly noticed. The little charade went on when Lennox realized that he could not forget his necromantic knowledge, no matter how small and soon enough the people caught wind of him being a neophyte necromancer, the realization tore him down to severe paranoia of all nearby. At that point, they sent him to an odd fortress called Spearbreakers among other normal people, presumably to die. As he traveled he nearly lost his mind to his paranoia, leaving him with thoughts of fear bouncing in his head for the rest of his days, with his skills of survival barely keeping him alive and well. Where Ark remains right now however, remains a mystery.

AND... That's it, its pretty bad. If I am not allowed to produce a secondary character then feel free to say.

EDIT: I am taking forever to read this thread, and I read the summary posted a few posts ago, yet I still don't know much about the inner workings. So do tell me of my contradictions and impossibilities if needed.

That is a really good backstory, actually. Most certainly defeats LFTON's.

Spoiler: LFTON's Backstory, generally covered in journals (I think), but read if you wish. (click to show/hide)

Nine, known also as Zedo Kixidralvictasal in another dimension called Idyllia, aliases of LFTON and The Darklight Ishoujitha, was originally from yet another dimension, Orsdralliah, but was trapped in Spearbreakers by the Greater Voidspawn Hydragon, Skouro. Both Spearbreakers and Idyllia loosely mirror each other in events (major war in Spearbreakers, major war in Idyllia), and as Zedo he leads a group called the Ishoujithadaslastar (literally "Dragon Knight Alliance") with a youkai outcast named Kyh Kijin against the Voidspawn. Unbeknownst to him, he exists on numerous other planes under the names Leftonin, Connor, Cor'Daz, and as 0009 the Audiomancer on a plane between time.

That last bit most likely won't make it into canon until the end of Spearbreakers.

[Mr Frog]

@Lennox:

WARNING: If you've read even 50 pages of this thread, you'll know that I am extremely tactless and cruel when critiquing. Do not click the following spoiler unless you're prepared to handle its contents calmly.

Spoiler: Enter if you dare (click to show/hide)

Paragraphs, dammit. Textwalls are intimidating to read and difficult to navigate.

Why did Lennox flee? It was only an accident. What was the nature of the disaster that necessitated his flight? These are important facts, but you're not filling them in properly.

Putting random punctuation marks in names is never cool unless it's for an actual linguistic purpose.
     On that note, who's Ark'ensi Ark:ensi supposed to be, exactly? You refer to this Ark@ensi person by name and tell us what he's doing, but never explain who Ark¥ensi is.

So, did Lennox actually teach anyone necromancy, or were the necromancers just being paranoid?
     Why are the necromancers so resistant towards others learning their secrets? The people who'd be open to learning such a thing would be likely wouldn't be hostile towards the necromancers as others are, and would in fact likely seek refuge at the tower, thus adding to the necros' strength.
     Since this aspect doesn't seem essential towards building a story arc, I'd suggest just dropping it and letting Lennox go unpursued. It sort of makes necros out to be Stupid Evil (which they admittedly are in-game, but gameplay != story).

Why would he head towards a population center when he's paranoid about being discovered, especially if -- as you say -- his paranoia had progressed to the point of full-on psychopathy?
     For that matter, why did he go insane at all when he seemed more-or-less fine to begin with? I'd understand being cautious around others after what he went through, probably even to an irrational degree, but -- and I'm not a psychologist, so don't quote me on this -- I don't think he'd have lost his mind like that in that way unless he had an unstable grip on reality to begin with. Maaaybe PTSD, but I don't think PTSD works that way either.
     Again, I think it'd be best to just drop the whole going-insane aspect, as I don't think it's necessary. Unnecessarily-cautious, definitely; paranoid in the pathological sense, probably not.

As far as stepping on toes goes... I did have a necromancer-related plot that I was writing behind the scenes and have recently been giving serious consideration towards resuming, but even that looks more-or-less compatible with this (provided you don't go into too much detail regarding the tower's operations). As far as its interactions with actual canon... I dunno, wait for Talvi to get on tomorrow; he has a better idea of what's going on.

[soulslicerjames]

Is it just me or is this fort starting to attract way more potential necromancers as residents than can written off as coincidence?  Splint, are you sure that when you chose to have Spearbreakers partially situated in an evil biome that the constant rain of blood was the only thing to show for it?

[Mr Frog]

Is it just me or is this fort starting to attract way more potential necromancers as residents than can written off as coincidence?  Splint, are you sure that when you chose to have Spearbreakers partially situated in an evil biome that the constant rain of blood was the only thing to show for it?

(For the record, my necromancer plot was to take place at the tower itself, not at Spearbreakers)

I kind of blame myself for this. It feels like Mr Frog started an arms race of PCs with 'kewl' superpowers or skills. Can't let one's Stu/Sue be less special than the rest, amirite? (No offense to Lennox, who took a different route and made his necro not a full necro.)

[Reudh]

I take inordinate pride in that Lord Reudh wasn't very Stuish except the whole 'hurriedly learning skills from Fischer so he could flee', though that was over the course of two months or so.